WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON PRACTICE
by Dale GrdnicHeavy thunderstorms for a couple hours Wednesday afternoon couldn't wash away the injury bug from Saint Vincent College, and it struck at the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp once again.
Left offensive tackle Marvel Smith (groin), wideout Limas Sweed (cramps), inside linebacker James Farrior (groin), tight end Cody Boyd and running back Mewelde Moore (illness) and offensive tackle Jeremy Parquet (cramps) joined the Steelers growing list of walking wounded for the afternoon practice. Sweed and Parquet were hobbled late in practice, while the others never made it onto the field.
"We have (Thursday) morning off, so I guess I did all right with the scheduling,'' Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "These are the dog days of summer, and things start to wear on the guys. But that's the nature of this business.''
Smith and Farrior joined safety Troy Polamalu (left hamstring), offensive guard Chris Kemoeatu (triceps), safety Anthony Smith and cornerback Bryant McFadden (groin strains) on the sideline.Polamalu, Kemoeatu and nose tackle Casey Hampton, who hasn't been on the field with his teammates for three practices now, are still on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. The others are day-to-day, Tomlin said.
Second-year punter Daniel Sepulveda is scheduled to have surgery to repair the ACL tear in his right knee Wednesday, Aug. 6. He could miss the entire season, but the Steelers have yet to put him on injured reserve. The club could make a roster move in the next couple days, but there's no hurry right now.
Fourth-year offensive lineman Trai Essex has been Mr. Versatility so far in camp. He opened as the starting left guard, while Kemoeatu has been out, but with Marvel Smith on the sideline Essex slid over to the starting left tackle spot.
"Kudos to him,'' Tomlin said. "The lines are getting short because some guys are down, but that's part of it. Trai was solid at left tackle, but he also played right guard some to finish this thing after Parquet went down.
"That's part of his value as a veteran player, position flexibility, and it's a distinguishing characteristic with him. But we strive for that in all our guys.''
Third-year wideout Santonio Holmes caught a long touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the 11-on-11 drills. He got behind corners Ike Taylor and Anthony Madison and safety Grant Mason. Holmes split the seam to beat Taylor again, as well as safeties Ryan Clark and Tyrone Carter.
Holmes has been particularly sharp so far during camp with success on short passes as well as long bombs. In the short passing game portion of the drills, Holmes is used line a running back coming out of the backfield to get him the ball in the open field where he can be so dangerous.
"Santonio has a knack for getting behind people, and there's a reason why he led the NFL in yards per catch last year,'' Tomlin said. "It's part of his game.''
Linebacker Keyaron Fox, in his fifth season from Georgia Tech, and fourth-year offensive lineman Willie Colon tussled for a while following a play, but they eventually were separated before any punches were thrown. The same with Essex and outside linebacker James Harrison, who were entangled after a play.
The two biggest defensive plays included an acrobatic interception by Clark, who out-dueled Sweed for the football and sixth-round draft pick Mike Humpal from Iowa, whose pads were popping all afternoon when plays were run his way. One particularly rugged hit knocked back No. 1 pick Rashard Mendenhall a bit.THURSDAY CAMP NEWS >>>
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