Santonio Holmes was MIA because of a death in his family and will be gone until Sunday. That will afford Nate Washington an opportunity to run with the ones in his attempt to hold off rookie Limas Sweed for the No. 3 job.
Washington should be able to do that - at least initially.
Sean Mahan was out with a sore back Friday night, giving Justin Hartwig his first shot to work with extensively with the first-team line.
Hartwig actually looked decent, which means Mahan will likely be back sooner rather than later. That is, after all, how he basically beat out Chukky Okobi last summer. Okobi was injured too much for a true battle for the spot to take place.
Lawrence Timmons was the star of the backs on backers drill. The way he was exploding through would-be blockers, I thought they must have showed him film of Kendrell Bell in his rookie season. Of course Bell was exploding through offensive linemen, not running backs.
It was a former Steelers linebacker reunion as Jerry Olsavsky, Jason Gildon and Kevin Greene were all here Friday night.
Greene has been working with the team's outside linebackers through out camp, while Gildon arrived here to do the same.
Olsavsky is a linebackers coach at Youngstown State and was in town to watch practice.
Might there be a lot of crow being eaten around Pittsburgh with regards to Mr. Timmons?
ReplyDeleteSorry about Santonio. My condolences and prayers go out to him and his family. Sounds like a good practice.
ReplyDeletedale & friends....
ReplyDeleteIt only seems like yesterday when just about every fan was trying to dismiss Mr. Timmons as a bust(Typical Pgh. fair weather reaction). Their memories will be short if he continues his spectacular practice translates to the games. I have a couple of questions, Dale. Do you really believe we'll put Dixon on the practice squad or even outright release him??? Another camp observation: Is James HArrison the 2nd coming of Greg Lloyd or what? Thanks for the feedback.
-Sasquatch
Jerry O, Jerry O! The blocked punt vs. Houston in 1989!
ReplyDeleteI also remember the illegal pick against him in Super Bowl 30 that freed up the Cowboy for their first TD.
Dale, have any of the back-up lineman like Prince or Clement shown any promise in the first week?
ReplyDeleteTimmons is showing the sudden explosiveness they liked of him coming out of college. Didn't see much of that last season. He was still feeling his way around.
ReplyDeleteClement shows good strength, but he's a step slow, not that he needs to be super fast.
Yeah, I think Dixon could be a PS candidate.
Dale, other than by injuries, is there any indication as to when Hartwig will get his turn with the 1st string? I think Mahan will be a solid backup but I couldn't stomach another season of him getting blown up by every decently sized nose tackle he faces.
ReplyDeleteThe Steelers aren't going to risk losing Dixon by putting him on the practice squad. Batch is a free agent next year and Dixon will be Ben's back up then. Dixon will be dressed each game as the 3rd QB this season.
ReplyDeleteAlso, how's Scott Paxson doing on the DL?
Paxson is OK, nothing great. His arms are very short, hence his nickname "T-Rex" from his teammates.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Paxson at Penn State. I'd say he was thought of as "ok" there, but all he did was play every down, anchor the DL and make the big plays.
ReplyDelete