The Steelers began their third week of OTAs - one before mini-camp, two after – without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
And that's looking like it will be the norm for the remainder of the process. It does not appear that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is in any hurry to reinstate Roethlisberger anytime soon.
Perhaps that's a good thing since Roethlisberger showing up at an OTA at this point would be a major, major distraction.
Who knows? Maybe the Steelers have asked the NFL to drag its feet on this one.
With Roethlisberger still MIA, Byron Leftwich and Dennis Dixon split snaps with the first offensive unit.
I'm not a fan of counting snaps, so I don't do it. But I'd guess it was about a 60-40 split in favor of Leftwich.
© James Harrison and Aaron Smith skipped workouts today.
Veteran Andre Frazier stepped into the No. Okie, while rookie Jason Worilds backed him on the second unit.
Ziggy Hood replaced Smith.
43 comments:
How have Lefty and DD looked Dale? Either one looked sharper than the other?.
I agree, Ben not being around right now is probably a good thing.
Thanks, Dale. How did Ziggy look in the first team defense?
It's football in shorts. There's no real hitting, tackling, etc., so it's tough to say who is looking good and who isn't.
That said, I'd have to say Leftwich looks better throwing the ball.
I have liked what I've seen of Dwyer. He looks faster than advertised.
Ed Bouchette pretty much said the same thing about Dwyer. Can't wait to see him get hit. Take that back, I can't wait to see him get absolutely drilled and how he responds.
He could be a steal and combined with Ben's problems, hopefully the offense features some nice running. Could be the silver lining to all this and what everyone has been asking for.
Glad to hear that Ziggy is (for now) finally the #1 backup.
Hopefully it won't be long before Worilds leapfrogs Frazier. Frazier brings nothing to the OLB game, and is overhyped on ST. I know Worilds is a rookie, but once he learns his responsibilities, I can't imagine there'd be much/any dropoff.
Dale,
Have any of the rookies drawn the ire of the coaching staff or is it typical rookie BS? Also, how are the rookie WR's looking, are they as fast as advertised?
how has sanders looked catching the ball?
How childish to go onto a blog to write something like that. I guess you're one of the banned posters from the SCI forum who is mad at Wex?
Grow up!!!
My guess: a disgruntled former employee.
Then again, this blog has always moved quickly to delete vulgarities. Maybe it's the O-R its own self.
Look up Dwyer highlights on Youtube. I don't see any SEC defensive backs catching him once he breaks free. I cannot believe that he fell that far in the draft.
If you haven't seen it yet, you will be very very excited that the Steelers got this guy when you see him in action.
what is the problem with Jim Wexell? He has made the freebies at SCI, shape up or ship out!!! Blitzx
Some non-freebies have also shipped out.
who cares about the non-freebies if they won't conform to the rules? Please let them go and start their own message bored!
Guys, that kind of language will not be tolerated on this blog - regardless of who it is aimed at.
Don't make me crack down on the moderation of this site. It's a pain for me and your comments won't make it onto the board in a timely fashion.
Jim Wexell calls potential customers freeloaders and bans customers. Business 101, the customer is king. Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. This is something you learn in pre-K.
I was a customer @ SCI 2 years ago. That stopped when Jim Wexell attacked me on a subject I did not agree with him. And why pay $8.00 a month when there are plenty of free Steelers resources.
leave Jim Wexell alone he is a terrific lover - Joe
Jim Wexell made me the best chilli one time and he tore my ass up!
First, I would like to take the time to tell and thank Dale for being a terrific writer. Second, I have no problem with Wex. He is a great writer and I am a member of SCI but I am also afraid to post anything on his board because Wex seems to lash out or hence...take his frustrations on various people if you don't agree with him.
Jim Wexell has a man-gina.
How has Randel El looked in OTA's?
Jim Wexell is my uncle and now I am mad!! I might even contact my friend, Lawyer Phil! Now talk amongst yourselves while I stalk my uncle.
-SteelerBill
"Look up Dwyer highlights on Youtube. I don't see any SEC defensive backs catching him once he breaks free."
Unless you were only watching video of GT's games against Georgia, then you didn't see an SEC defensive backs catching Dwyer because GT plays in the ACC. Bahahah!!!!
Wex has banned people who were personally attacking other posters. One guy was banned because he told Wex to go fist himself and to ban him.
If people have to act like HS kids they should be banned. People need to grow up and realize a message board should not become your life.
Wex and Dale disagree on Ben. I don't think while they're at OTAs they're telling each other to fist themselves or Dale is taking Wex's criticism of Ben personal.
That has been the biggest problem on that board, posters taking 3 posters criticism of Ben as a personal attack on them. Then whining because Wex won't make them leave Ben alone. So they start personal attacks on those posters and/or Wex then whine that Wex is taking their side because they agree with him.
So like I said people are acting like a bunch of kids.
Stole your gerbil?
Well that explains why he just came through buying a jar of vaseline.
Sorry Anonymous at 8:53. Thats not near the truth. Shiftyone is the crux of the problem over there. He hasnt had a single football related post since he showed up. He is either attacking Ben or attacking other posters and they get interjected into every thread, even those not about Ben. Jim has banned others for less or for flinging the crap back at shifty. Jim is being very biased and has turned on most if not all of the longtime posters, just due to his feelings on Ben. Jim has lost all credibility as a journalist.
Jim Wexell is what some other countries call a "tyrant".
Let's keep the discussion here about football please. Again, don't make me start filtering everything or this board will take up waaaaay too much of my time.
Did Ben fist Wexell or the other way around?
As someone who has no dog in the fight other than the fact that I like Wex. That is not exactly true. Shiftyone does attack Ben in almost every thread that is true. Although he did not attack other posters until he started getting personally attacked.
Posters need to realize Shiftyone calling Ben the Big Predator is not an insult to them.
That is what Wex has tried to get through to the posters and then he is personally attacked.
You personally attack the guy who runs the site and you risk being banned, that should be common sense.
Like I said people need to grow up and realize it is a message board and everyone stop the personal attacks just because someone says something you disagree with or because it makes you mad for someone to say something you don't like about a player.
Sorry Dale, for the non football post.
To quote "That has been the biggest problem on that board, posters taking 3 posters criticism of Ben as a personal attack on them. Then whining because Wex won't make them leave Ben alone. So they start personal attacks on those posters and/or Wex then whine that Wex is taking their side because they agree with him.
"
The problem is that those '3' don't figure into any other conversations. That's ALL they post on. And sorry to burst your bubble, but they're interjecting themselves in insulting ways into threads where there is no maliciousness at all which then creates discord.
It's be one thing if they were told to restrain themselves as well, but it doesn't appear to be so. The overriding inference you can take from the staff is that the attacks are OK and the defense of Ben is not.
The overriding impression is that the three are allowed to run rampant because Jim agrees with their side of things. When you're the guy in charge and responsible to order on the board, that's a bad impression to be giving the populace. There's a thread on Natalie Gulbis saying Ben's a great guy where one of the three - without instigation - tosses in a devil picture and another, again uninstitigated - comes in to attack ben again. Response from staff? Apparently nothing. Making 'the three' out as victims is nothing but ludicrous.
It's one thing to have a differring opinion. It's quite another to force it on everyone at every chance in everythread on Ben that arises.
Once again that's an attack on Ben.
I'm sorry that you obviously don't see the difference.
That is a thread about Ben. I agree Ben discussions should not be in non-Ben threads. However if the thread is about Ben then they should be allowed to give their opinion of Ben.
However it is not just those three. The other side is just as bad at bringing Ben or one of the three up in a thread.
That board has an ignore feature use it. It's only three posters who strongly express their negative opinion of Ben.
If you don't like how Wex runs his board, find another board or start up your own and run it the way you want.
Subscribe to Wex's site and read the subscribers only board. You have many options and yet you want to whine and complain.
So when everyone but 3 people are sick of the attacks, and are extremely put off by them, it's OK to excuse and encourage the conduct of those three?
And sorry, when the conversation isn't accusatory, popping into be accusatory isn't acceptable form.
You can start a thread on someone. The discourse can be normal and civil and someone who pops in to say 'guys a flaming jag off #$@#$%@$%@%$' and so on. It has no place in the discussion and the conduct has no place in a community. It should be dealth with.
You can't encourage or support add-on's like 'but he's a rapist' when you're in a thread about how great the pass to win XLIII was. (That's an example, not necessarily an actual thread).
Just because a comment is not directly accusatory at another poster doesn't make it acceptable and OK.
When a post is made exclusively to deviate the discussion and incite people - which is exactly what those comments are intended to do - it's the job of staff to step in and stop it. Regardless of which side they agree with.
Sorry, but I do see the difference. Boards are about discussion. These types of comments aren't discussion. They're hijacks to further a personal stance and/or to incite others. You're naive or biased if you think 1/2 their posts are actual opinion designed to further discussion as oppose to inciting others.
I wasn't around in those days, but was it 'acceptable' for people to pop in and say Kordell was gay when there was a thread discussing his play in a game? After all, it's just an opinion of him right?
There's a clear difference between offering an opinion and and contributing to a discussion and simply being a jerk about things. That's not to say the pro-ben crowd hasn't crossed the line - they have. However, the only ones to be discipline for crossing that line appear to be the pro-ben crowd while the '3' skate, repeatedly. It's not wrong to ask why.
BTW, who's to say i'm not or wasn't a subscriber?
You're right, you, i mean Jim, can run his site the way he wants. Those methods have already alienated a lot of people and cause them to cancel their subscriptions. Sad to see he/you value the incitations of a newbie more than people who've been around 10 years or so in some cases.
Sorry, but if the '3' were out for actual discussion, i'd probably see things different. They're not, and you know they're not.
Apparently, though, regardless of the topic of a thread about ben it's perfectly OK to post inciteful comments that have nothing to do with the actual discussion at hand simply because in a thread that has to do with ben, all comments on anything he's ever been accused of doing and calling him a rapist, etc are fair game because they're opinions of him.
If you believe that, that's sad.
What did I say? It's wrong for them to bring up Ben in a thread not about Ben. However more than half the time it is not one of them that brings up Ben, but someone from the pro side who says something about Ben or about one of the posters in the thread.
As for calling Ben a rapist it happens everyday when people are discussing football and I imagine it will only get worse the closer to the season as it gets. There are Steelers fans and NFL fans and non fans that will always believe he's a rapist. But so what? It doesn't hurt me and it doesn't hurt you.
As for Kordell, yes people called him gay, they still do on message boards all the time. But once again, who cares? It doesn't hurt me. I can choose to read what I want. I can also choose to ignore any poster.
The administrator or moderator's job is to control the breaking of rules. Which usually is profanity or personal attacks on a poster.
Once again it is a message board, you don't have to read it, if you do want to participate on the board you can put posters you do not like on ignore. If you don't like how the board is ran, you have the choice to leave. If you are a subscriber you can stay on the pay only side. Why whine and complain about it?
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