CASEY AND THE RUN TEST
by Dale GrdnicThere certainly are a number of differences between second-year Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and the club's former boss, Bill Cowher, but one striking similarity is that neither took it lightly when one of their players came to training camp overweight and out of shape.
Like he did a couple times in the past from Cowher, eighth-year nose tackle Casey Hampton drew Tomlin's ire after the team's conditioning run test - eight 100-yard runs that consisted of "eight, 100-yard sprints where players jog 50 yards back and walk the remaining 50 yards with a continuous running clock'' - when he could not finish.
Hampton, who attended the Steelers' mini-camp the first week in May, missed all the remaining organised team activities (OTAs) due to "personal reasons.'' Since he weighed much more than his target weight and was unable to finish the conditioning test, Hampton was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list until he is able to prove to Tomlin that he's in shape.
"He's not in well-enough condition to participate at this point,'' Tomlin said. "He's overweight and not conditioned well-enough to participate... He won't wake up (Monday) and be able to go. He's got to go through a process, and we've got to take him through that process. So, we'll just live day-to-day with it until he's at an acceptable level of conditioning and weight.''
When it was noted to Tomlin that Hampton missed nearly every offseason workout, other than the mandatory mini-camp, the coach said there was no correlation to that and the player's conditioning.
"There were other players like that who came in here in great condition... so, it's about coming to camp ready to play football,'' Tomlin said. "Unfortunately, he's not at this point. I'm disappointed any time that we can't go full steam ahead with all our people. So, it's something that we'll deal with and something that he'll have to deal with. Hopefully, we'll get it rectified in a timely manner.''
Veteran safety Troy Polamalu also missed every OTA except for mini-camp while training on his own in California. However, Polamalu was in excellent condition, Tomlin said, albeit with a mild hamstring strain.
"We'll see where he is, but we may hold him initially some on Monday,'' Tomlin said. "But, as you saw, it did not prohibit him from running the conditioning test because he did not have to sprint at full speed. He's in great shape, but we might be a little hesitant to turn him loose at full speed (Monday) morning.''
Actually, Polamalu (hamstring) and offensive guard Chris Kemoeatu (triceps) were also placed on the PUP list with Hampton. Neither is eligible to practice until they are removed from the list.
There were a number of Steelers who earned a bye during the run test because they attended all or at least a substantial amount of OTAs. That group included Chris Hoke, Deshea Townsend, Hines Ward and Ryan Clark.
There is additional disciplinary action that Hampton will receive, but Tomlin declined to disclose it at this time.
"This is part of our registration for camp,'' Tomlin said. "In order to participate (Monday morning) in practice, you have to report by 4 p.m., get a physical, get weighed and complete the run test. He didn't get an element of that done in a satisfactory manner.''
Hampton completed five of the eight 100-yard sprints with run-backs. However, during the ones he barely finished, other big linemen like Max Starks, Trai Essex and Kemoeatu were some 30 yards ahead of Hampton on the backstretch while he was just crossing the goal line.
The media was unable to watch the run test from the field for the first time, and Tomlin prohibited the event from being filmed.
"I wanted the guys to focus on executing the conditioning test,'' Tomlin said. "It's part of the registration process not for public consumption and not practice... By and large, I thought our conditioning was very positive.
"Some guys were in great shape. They exhibited that out there in the test, and we march on. (The test) is a great gauge of conditioning, but at the same time it keeps people safe from pulls and so forth by the way the test is structured.
"We wanted to make sure that these guys are in great cardiovascular condition without exposing them to potential injury, because we came here to play football, and I think we did that,'' Tomlin added.
The most aerodynamic Steelers player during the run test clearly was wideout Nate Washington, who was sporting a new Mohawk hairstyle.MONDAY MORNING PRACTICE >>>
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