Ike Taylor knows there has to be a little break from the end of the football season until he goes into his offseason conditioning full tilt, but that doesn't mean he has been sitting around idle since the season ended.
"We played the last game on a Sunday and I was back at it that Tuesday," said Taylor. "That is what I do. I am just trying to stay in shape. I am still doing the same thing. I won't hit it again hard until March."
Taylor is one of the most driven athletes when it comes to working out, training with speed coach Tom Shaw in Florida during much of the offseason, when he isn't taking part in Steelers team activities. But for now he is working out on his own at a pace that will prepare him for when the full blown workouts hit.
"That's all I know, working out, training, being durable, being in shape and trying to stay injury free," said Taylor. "That is my process. Let my body recuperate, not hit the weights yet. It's been nothing strenuous, treadmill, fine-tuning and working on things I need to work on. I do body weights as far as pushups, sit-ups, ball squats. I do run four days out of the week. If I played football or not, running is important to the body so that is what I do.
"One thing about playing football and life in general is you need good health."
You also need a few others things, like resiliency, especially if you are an NFL cornerback.
After having a strong season where he shutdown many of the opponents top receivers, Taylor ended the season in a manner he would like to forget. On the first play from scrimmage in overtime in the AFC Wild Card game against the Denver Broncos, quarterback Tim Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown, with Taylor in coverage.
While Taylor was down for a bit following the 29-23 loss, he knew he couldn't remain down. That's not in his DNA.
"This isn't my first time. I have had some bad games and I probably am going to have some more bad games," said Taylor. "You have to have more good games than bad. It's just the response you have, going through the adversity. Some people never bounce back from adversity. It's all how you respond. It starts mentally.
"Everybody can't bounce back. I can. No question. That's all I do."
Taylor is already looking forward to the official start of team actvities this season. After spending the entire offseason last year working out either on his own or with only a handful of teammates because of the NFL lockout, Taylor is looking forward to the team's offseason program that will kick into gear in a few months.
"I missed being around the guys, being around the locker room, coming in here and talking to the staff, coming in early and staying late," said Taylor of last offseason. "I missed the routine. I missed the guys. From the end of July until the end of the season and then you have OTAs, we are around the guys a lot. The guys become family.
"I miss the guys now. I miss them already."
