STEELERS HEAD COACH MIKE TOMLINJANUARY 3, 2008
Do you need to see anything from Troy (Polamalu) before you decided his status for Saturday?Absolutely we do. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for him. Today was a big day for him. It didn't necessarily show itself on the practice field. It was a big rehab day. He took some steps. Tomorrow he will be ready to give it a shot and we'll see where he is.
Will he try to go tomorrow?
He will not try tomorrow. He will do tomorrow. He will practice.
Is it his call or yours?
Collective - my call, his call, everybody is in agreement that Troy needs to practice tomorrow.
If you see him limping around and he says he is fine, what do you do?
I'll watch him closely tomorrow.
How is Allen Rossum?
It's a similar situation. He showed us more today. I thought today was encouraging, the running that he did. We need to continue to move forward. It's getting close. We're moving up on 48 hours within kickoff so those guys are running out of time in terms of showing us they are capable of contributing.
Will Willie Reid be ready to handle returns if Rossum can't go?We have a couple of candidates there. Willie has been involved. Najeh (Davenport) has been involved. Cedrick Wilson has been involved. Santonio (Holmes) has caught punts this week. We'll leave no stone unturned and make sure we have quality men back there ready to play.
There are no qualms about having Najeh return kicks and then play running back?
No. It's time to leave it all out there. We're not going to save any nuts. We're not going to squirrel them. We're going to be ready to play.
That goes for Santonio too?
No job too small this week.
Is it possible for you to activate Jeremy Bloom from the practice squad?
It's an impossibility based on playoff rules. You get to make one move from the outside in on a weekly basis. We made that move with (Jason) Capizzi. It's an impossibility. He is a practice squad player.
Bill Stewart was named head coach at West Virginia. You worked with him before. Can you talk about that hiring?
I'll tell you, he is a special man in my life for a lot of reasons. He gave me my first job. He showed me how to express the love and enthusiasm I have for this game as a coach. He cares about people. It oozes out of his every day existence. He is an awesome coach. He is an awesome man. I am extremely happy for him. I am happy for West Virginia, President (Mike) Garrison and those people over there. They truly picked the right man for the job.
What did you think of their win in the Fiesta Bowl?
It was football justice if you will. If you know Bill Stewart you love Bill Stewart. Last night was football justice.
Can you talk about the call you made to the West Virginia president?
I would like to leave that private. I don't want to leave private my support and the love I have for Bill Stewart.
