Wide receiver Plaxico Burress is happy to be back at Steelers training camp, returning for the first time since 2004, the final season in his first stint with the team.
Burress, the team's number one draft pick in 2000, signed back with the Steelers last November and was forced into a crash course of learning the offense.
Now he has the advantage of a full training camp to get acclimated and plans on taking advantage of it.
"It's always good to get ahead, get a good, clean start with everybody else," said Burress. "It's good to be able to get into football shape and rehearse the playbook over and over so when you hear the plays called you can go out and react instead of thinking when you get to the line of scrimmage.
"Last year I came into the situation and the guys were already a little bit ahead of me. I hadn't had a lot of time to digest this kind of offense and how to execute my time. I have the opportunity now here at training camp to come in and compete with all of the guys and I couldn't ask for more."
Burress, in his 12th NFL season, knows there are going to be people that question the receiver group because of the departure of Mike Wallace to the Miami Dolphins, but he likes what he sees in this year's unit.
"I think we will be just fine," said Burress. "I look at guys like Antonio Brown and how he stretches the football field and how he makes big plays down the field. For Emmanuel (Sanders), I think this is going to be his breakout season. Jerricho Cotchery is the most consistent receiver that I have been around. He is tough over the middle.
"We are all out here just trying to get better in the passing game. We just want to try and execute."
Tight end Matt Spaeth will be seeing more snaps during training camp with both Heath Miller and David Johnson on the PUP list, but he also expects Miller to work hard as he fights to get back on the field after his ACL injury last year.
"He's so professional in everything that he does," said Spaeth. "I don't know his timeline or what's going to happen. I don't want to make predictions but I'd say this, he's so professional, he does everything exactly by the book and he works hard and he's working really hard at getting back. It wouldn't surprise me if he was back (for the start of the regular season)."
