Wednesday's thoughts

Still no news on Darnell Stapleton, which I guess is good news.

Stapleton was actually down the field at this afternoon's practice tossing the ball back and forth with running back Mewelde Moore, who was also sitting out.

Mike Tomlin, however, still isn't saying what the problem with Stapleton is, other than that it's a knee problem.

© Tomlin is from the Bill Belichick school of talking about injuries. While Bill Cowher didn't want players talking about injuries, he was very transparent about them. If you asked about an injury, you usually got an honest answer.

Tomlin is much more guarded.

© The play of practice was one that most people didn't see - you really had to be watching closely to see it.

In the afternoon session, Lawrence Timmons came from the middle of the field pre-snap to line up over left tackle Max Starks. Quarterback Charlie Batch and the line stopped and pointed him out as a blitzer and Timmons backed off to the middle again before coming at the snap.

As Starks went to get a punch on Timmons, the linebacker deked as if he were going to take Starks on. But when Starks extended his arms, Timmons ducked at a dead run and blew around him. If it would have been a live drill, he would have killed the quarterback.

I probably didn't do the play justice, but it was a thing of beauty - unless you happen to be an offensive line afficiando. If that's the case, it was a Homer Simpson-like Doh! moment.

© With Ben Roethlisberger sitting out today, we got a good look at young quarterback Mike Reilly. All I can say is this: He'd better be very smart because he doesn't look like he has NFL-caliber arm strength.

© I really like what I see of young cornerbacks Joe Burnett and Keenan Lewis.

They don't always make the play - though Burnett had a nice interception this afternoon after dropping one in the morning – but they always look like they're in good position on the receiver.