Steelers Morning Huddle 7/27/2013
By Kim Myers
Huddle Up!
Courtesy: Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Now that all the Steelers players have checked into their dorms at Saint Vincent College, let’s get down to business, shall we?
Keisel arrives to camp in style
Making his 12th entrance into Steelers training camp, DE Brett Keisel topped last year’s entrance of coming in on a tractor by arriving this year in a huge black and gold dump truck. He dumped his luggage out of the back and hopped out the front with a black and gold hard hat on ready to go to work per Teresa Varley of Steelers.com.
"“Since it’s kind of a construction zone here I brought my hard hat. We are constructing our team. We are excited about this year. I think everyone has written us off but I think we can construct a championship team.”"
I love watching the player arrivals at camp. Something about seeing 300+ pound men carrying their suitcases and pillows into their dorm rooms just puts a smile on my face. I love Brett’s enthusiasm but I’m dying to know if he actually drove that thing down Route 30 or just into the entrance of the college. Keisel is entering the final year of his contract but still more than capable of contributing to a big year. The expectations on the Steelers defense are always high, even higher now following a disappointing 8-8 campaign last year.
Pouncey apologizes to press in person
Naturally with the player arrivals, the press was anxious to hear from Maurkice Pouncey, who last week issued a written apology following the “Free Hernandez” hat incident he and his brother were involved in. Ed Bouchette of the PPG reports how both Pouncey and Tomlin were questioned about the incident. Pouncey’s response to the press was,
"“You know what, man; I understand it was a serious situation. I apologized if I offended anybody. I’m here to play football, let’s move off from that. I know I took a lot of heat for it and I probably should have. I understand what happened and it’s pretty cool now, let things blow away.”"
Now we just wait and see when Ron Cook is going to write his article about how we’re not supposed to accept player apologies in person after they’ve already released a written statement. Like I’ve said before, I’m not minimizing the severity of the crimes that Hernandez is allegedly involved in, nor am I minimizing the stupidity of the twins for wearing those hats in public. But at the end of the day, Pouncey is right; he’s here to play football.
Coach Tomlin Presser
After the dorm check-in was complete the players all took part in their run conditioning test. Following the test, Tomlin addressed the media. Some surprises from Tomlin’s presser, aside from his decision to join Twitter (@CoachTomlin), was the fact that Mike Adams and Ben Roethlisberger will both not start the season on the PUP list. The four players beginning camp on the PUP are Heath Miller, David Johnson, Sean Spence and Alameda Ta’amu. Adams has received a full medical clearance and should be able to participate in the team’s first practice today. Ben Roethlisberger, who had minor knee surgery a few months ago, has “slight discomfort” but not enough to keep him off of the field. I hope they remain cautious when it comes to Ben’s knee. On one hand, there certainly isn’t a whole lot of running involved for the starting quarterback in training camp, and he won’t have any contact for a few more weeks but let’s not throw him out there just to avoid him starting the season injured. If Ben needs to sit in August so he’s on the field in November, I’m all for it. You can watch Tomlin’s press conference here.
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