HEAD COACH MIKE TOMLINSaturday, August 2
Coach Mike Tomlin: I thought we had a very productive day today. We bounced back from last night's performance. We came in this morning with a young guy interest, as we gave quality rest to some young men that needed it and focused it that way. We gave some veteran players a little break so they could get their body back on and we came back out this afternoon and competed and worked on a different element of our football; some offense with some back-up defense and some other things. But it was a very good day, very productive and we will continue to move forward. I will give you a quick injury update. LaMarr Woodley has a groin injury. He will be characterized as day to day. Humpal, he tried to go last night but the hamstring injury did hamper his play. He can be considered day-to-day. Dezmond Sherrod had a stiff neck from the backs on backers drill from last night. He has got to get his head up and technique down. Hopefully this teaches him a lesson. He can be characterized as day to day. And then Ben Roethlisberger with a sore groin that I mentioned last night, was not able to finish. He can be characterized as day to day as well. Everyone else is status quo. I will answer any questions.
Ben didn't do any team stuff, just some seven on seven?
Seven on seven was it for him. We knew he was going to be a little sore coming out. He wanted to give it a go, see if he could get it warm. He did as much as he could do. We are exercising a little caution. It's always a quality opportunity to give reps to young guys like Dennis Dixon and Mike Potts. That's the way we approach it.
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What were your thoughts on the night practice; did you like what you saw?
I thought it was a good start and it started with the conditioning of the football team. I think this team is in great shape and that's allowed us to get off to a good start. We have a ways to go for some technical things, as does everybody. I've been pleased with our play action pass pocket. It's better than it was a year ago at this point offensively. Defensively, we have some young guys that are showing that they are going to be key contributors potentially. Of course, they have to step inside stadiums and confirm that. As to what we've seen to this point, we think that we have some young guys that we think can add to what we believe is already a good defense so I feel good about where we are.
When LaMarr is out, who is next up? Is it James?
When LaMarr Woodley went down today, we moved James Harrison over. We put Lawrence Timmons at right outside linebacker. There is such a thing, believe it or not, I know you've heard the catch phrase, as position flexibility. Now you see why we do what it is that we do what we do. James Farrior misses a day, Foote slides over, in comes Lawrence Timmons. Woodley misses a day, slide James Harrison over, in comes Lawrence Timmons.
You went at Lawrence right away, was that intended on your part?
That could be a possibility.
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Anybody featured tomorrow for the goal line drill?
It's going to be a good time. You know, it's always a crowd favorite. Our team looks forward to it. We're going to have a good time with that. It's going to be a best of seven. We are going to put the ball on the one-and-a-third yard line and the first team to four wins. So it could be four snaps, it could be seven. We will see how it shapes up.
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Do you know who your short yardage back is? Or is that up for grabs?
That's why we came and hopefully we will get a little window into who that potential candidate is tomorrow.
What do you think of Ike so far?
Ike has shown some great potential detail from a technique standpoint, but really those are the same feelings that I had about him last year. He is a professional. He is a veteran player but he always comes out here looking for the winning edge. I like where he is. I expect good things from him.
Is there anything that suggests that Ben's injury is more than just a couple of day thing?
No.
