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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Wednesday update

Willie Parker practiced today and looked good running around. Parker appears to be ready to go this week against the Redskins.

Of course we thought that before as well, only to have him suffer setbacks with his sprained knee.

Today's practice was indoors thanks to snow in Pittsburgh, so there's less of a chance he'll tweak the knee again.

© Hines Ward, Deshea Townsend, Marvel Smith, Casey Hampton, Ryan Clark, Keyaron Fox and Ben Roethlisberger sat out practice today.

Roethlisberger said he expects to practice Thursday.

Ward, Townsend and possibly Hampton will as wel.

© Clark really wants to play this week and looks good moving around. Of course he's not nailing anyone with his injured shoulder right now, either, so that makes a difference.

© Mitch Berger said the team will make a decision Friday on his status. Clark said the same.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the updates Dale.

I really hope Clark can go this week. I'm sure he really wants to play against his old team too... Not to mention, we need him against Moss.

Anonymous said...

I think Taylor would be the one covering Moss with Polamalu or Timmons covering their TE (Cooley, I think).

Dale Lolley said...

Taylor would be the deep guy, taking away anything over the top to Moss.
He said today he really wants to play as a way to honor his buddy Sean Taylor, who he started with in Washington. It means a lot to him.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that's what I was referring to - old team, Sean Taylor, old stadium, etc. = extra motivation. I wasn't implying that Clark would be covering Moss on his own, but he would be an asset with over the top help... Look what happened when he left the game against the Giants... They hit a deep ball to our 2 on 4th and 6. I don't really trust Carter back there.

Anonymous said...

I read that Woodley didn't practice because of a calf injury... Any need to worry??

Dale Lolley said...

No. Just resting him. He'll play.

Patrick said...

I hope this team comes out flying this week. Hit them in the mouth, pound Parker and Moore, hopefully hit short passes to Miller, Ward, and maybe Moore in the flat? (I know, what a novel idea for our offense) to open up long shots to Holmes and our new deep threat Washington. Easier said then done, I know.

I really think the gameplan on O should be simplified against strong defenses and let the D do the rest. That might make the games very tight and nerve wracking, but I think it is the key for this team this week.

Though I'm going to semi-contradict what I just said with simple, and hope that eventually we designate Dixon #2 and get some packages in for him to start throwing people off. If Ben gets injured, just bring in the #3 in Leftwhich. Is my thinking crazy here Dale? (and yes I'm stealing this from the PG's question of the day, but its something I've thought since he was drafted)

Anonymous said...

Patrick,

I've been thinking the same thing about Dixon... I'm sure many people have. Hell, have him practice some kick returns too!! I know this will never happen, but it seems like a waste of great athleticism on the bench every week.

Dale, what kind of work does he get in practice? Any chance they put in a package or two for him down the road?

Patrick said...

I don't think Dixon be much of a kick returner like ARE was, he is tall and thin. I'm trying to think of a comparable player, but hes basically a QB with a ton of athleticism and speed. ARE was a QB at college that had more tools to be a WR.

Speaking of ARE, think about how valuable of a player he is. You don't need a 3rd QB wasting a roster spot, or a specialty punt returner, he's a decent number 3 WR and enables you to open your playbook to all kind of tricks and gadgets. Didn't he even hold kicks for awile? which makes the other team think twice about bull rushing for a FG block.

I don't know if hes worth what the Redskins gave him, but he is one of the most efficient players in the league. He saves about 3 roster spots.

Just something on my mind lately.

Dale Lolley said...

They haven't done anything with Dixon other than have him play QB to this point.