Linebacker Lawrence Timmons was back at practice Wednesday in a limited basis as he further tested his sore ankle, pushing forward toward playing Sunday in Chicago.
He did not, however, work in the team portion of the practice.
Getting Timmons back would be huge for the Steelers, who will be playing without strong safety Troy Polamalu.
© Limas Sweed was limited in practice Wednesday with a foot injury.
© Jeff Reed was named the AFC's special teams player of the week for his performance against Tennessee.
© Ben Roethlisberger was a little more open with the media on Wednesday than he usually is.
Roethlisberger usually talks in cliches and gives very short answers as he purposely tries to be bland.
Perhaps his most interesting comment came when asked about the 'Steelers' mentality.
"I think some of it comes from that being what the Steelers always did in the past. I always say you have to keep up with the times. That’s kind of evolving into a passing offense - league wide. People talk about the Steelers and the run game because we want to be physical. When you want to be physical, people assume that’s the run game. But that can mean a lot of different things. I guess you can go all the way back to the ‘70s and we were a grind-it-out team. We’re not that ‘70s team. We’re our own identity and that includes a lot of no-huddle stuff. It’s been good."
Dale, how did Timmons look? Was he favoring the ankle much?
ReplyDeleteI know with Troy out, we need a physical speedster to cover Forte and their TE, but it's a long season and I wouldn't want this injury to become a nagging one for Timmons.
What are your thoughts?
Ed Bouchette reported that Timmons tweaked his ankle during practice today and that Limas Sweed has a mid-foot sprain. Sounds like both will be down on Sunday and Keyaron Fox and Shaun McDonald will both have to step up.
ReplyDeleteDale, I believe with the type of quick-twitch athletes that Timmons and Palomula are, they are kinda like sports cars. If they aren't at 100 percent, you might as well leave them in the garage. No need to rush either back until they both are 100 percent. Palomula has shown in the past that his play drops off quite a bit when he's dinged up.
My question to you, Dale, is if you think this run game is fixable with the current personnel that this team has. It seems like everyone is ready to give the Ravens the division this year because their OL and run game are far superior to ours. Could we see a backfield of TE/FB David Johnson and FB/RB Tank Summers in short yardage this week. Thoughts?
I think that timmons needs to get rested. If the bears offense was confused by the packers brand new pieced together from spare parts 3-4 defense, then what's going to happen against the best defense in the league? I think we'll be just fine. let timmons heal, Keyaron Fox is a more than adequate replacement for the time being.
ReplyDeleteIMHO, BR is going to have a major knee or shoulder injury sooner rather than later given his preferred style of play. Opposing defenses are just going to tee off on him - like the Steeler D does to other qbs.
ReplyDeleteI hope we start to use the no huddle BEFORE the 4th quarter.
ReplyDeleteGood for Ben for coming out of his shell and saying something interesting for once. He's got the arm and we've got the receivers, so let's use them.
ReplyDeleteTimmons looked decent. It's tough to tell because I don't know what the assignments are.
ReplyDeleteHe was back at practice again Thursday - Sweed sat out - so he's still a possibility.
It will likely be a game-time call.
As for the running game, I think you might start seeing more Mewelde Moore.
LeBeau has built his defense and players around the philosophy that the Steeler offense will be a ball-control and time-consuming drive one. If the defenders don't have to spend a lot of time on the field, it's easier for them to go full blast all the time. It's part of the reason LeBeau's defense has been so good.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if BR and BA truly understand this. The impression I have is that both think the offense is a stand-alone part with no relation whatsoever to the defense.
According to the Post Gazette, Sweed is out for Sun. & Timmons will definitely play although he may not start. I hope they start Fox & rotate Timmons in. For one thing, Timmons hasn't played for like 4 weeks. Easing him in would be a good idea. But I've also been really pleased with Fox's play & don't have issue with him starting in that spot until Timmons is ready to take over at 100%.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they should just sub Timmons in on 3rd downs and passing situations like they did last year. Let Fox start again
ReplyDeleteadamg
ReplyDeleteYou don't need a good running game to control the ball and win time of possession. Against the Titans last week we won TOP by 8 minutes, 36 min to 28 min including overtime and that was with us throwing the ball 43 times. During our Super Bowl season of last year we had an average TOP of 31:41 min which was about 3 minutes better, on average, then our opponents. Our TOP last year was about the same as the Super Bowl season of 2005 too.
just so we compare apples to apples, the steelers controlled the ball for 4:32 in overtime, which the titans obviously did not have an opportunity with the ball.
ReplyDeletetherefore, T.O.P. during regulation was roughly 3 1/2 minutes on our side. certainly not dominating. and, well, we did not dominate the game either.
Anon, I agree you can control the ball without a traditional running game if you are a dink and dunk team like NE or a west coast offense like Philly. Those teams get the ball to their RBs by throwing short passes or screens to them rather than handing off.
ReplyDeleteBut neither of those are the Steelers' offense. BR rarely takes the quick, short pass as his first option like Brady or throws to his backs like McNabb. BR likes to sling the ball downfield and so much of the offense is just BR running around in the pocket until someone breaks loose or he gets sacked. There's no rhyme or reason or rhythm to the offense. Because of this, I'm not surprised the offense struggles or goes 3 and out much more often than it should.
Da Da DAAAALEE
ReplyDeletecan we get some predictions my man?
I'll give mine. (and anonymous can critique it, call me Patricia, and check my spelling - hes kinda like my secretary)
Steelers 23- Bears 16
I see some FG's in this one. I'm a bit concerned for the Steelers since CHI really can't start 0-2, this is a big game for them even though it's only week 2. I'm also worried about the Steelers Oline doing much against another good Dline. I think this game could look a lot like the Eagles game last year (which was pathetic).
I see the Bears moving the ball, but the D clamping down when it counts most, resulting in FG's. I see Pittsburgh getting some turnovers and/or nice returns to set up good field position and again, more FG's.
Thats all I got for this week.