Each week Steelers' defensive coordinator Keith Butler, offensive coordinator Todd Haley and special teams coordinator Danny Smith share their insight in exclusive interviews that can be heard on SNR every Thursday beginning at 12 noon.
This version of Coordinators Corner will give you a sneak peak of what to expect each week, but this just touches the surface. Read what they have to say, but take my advice, listen every Thursday at 12 noon for the full interviews or check back there later in the day for the archived versions. It will be worth your time.
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Fastest 15 minutes:** Every morning, Wednesday through Saturday, starts with a special teams meeting for the Steelers at the UMPC Rooney Sports Complex. It's a chance for special teams coordinator Danny Smith to set the stage for each day, and for what to expect overall in the week's game preparation.
"It's divided up," said Smith. "We do a couple of phases on Wednesday and we practice them. We do a couple of phases on Thursday and we practice them. Friday is what we call 'Fast Friday'. We put a little of everything together. It's the fastest 15 minutes in football, no mistakes, we drill all of those things. Saturday morning we come in and review that tape. The less plays we have to look at the better we practice."
Two hands equals drop: Dropped passes have been a hot topic this week after Sammie Coates had several against the New York Jets. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley gave his take on what constitutes a dropped pass, as well as Coates staying strong last week.
"When I coached receivers for seven, eight years, if you can get two hands on it, two hands to touch it, you should catch it, regardless if somebody is draped on you. Now if it's tipped or knocked away, it's not a drop. When you have two hands on the football, you have to catch it. That's your job.
"Drops are going to happen. It's part of the game. I just want guys to pride themselves on catching the tough ones. I thought Sammie was an up and down day, but what I thought was really good is he came out of the game for a couple of series, I told him to keep catching balls on the sideline because we are going to need him and he we got him back in there and he made some big plays for us."
Throw records away: On Sunday the 4-1 Steelers face the 1-4 Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium, and defensive coordinator Keith Butler isn't convinced that Miami's record is an indication of what type of team they will see.
"They are a good offense from what I have seen," said Butler. "They are a good football team. It's going to be a tough challenge for us. Everybody says 1-4, but there are no easy teams in the National Football League, especially if you go into somebody's stadium. They are going to be pumped to play us. It's a natural thing in the NFL. We can't go in there blind about what is fixing to happen. We are going to get their best game. We better come prepared to play a good game. If we don't we aren't going to like the end results."
