THURSDAY AFTERNOON PRACTICE
by Dale GrdnicGrowing up in the Pittsburgh suburb of East Liberty, attending the Linsly School in Wheeling, W.Va. and then matriculating to Penn State, Eddie Drummond always was able to keep tabs on his hometown Steelers.
Now, Drummond can do so from close range, as he signed a free-agent contract with the Steelers Thursday. A seven-year NFL veteran, Drummond is a return specialist, kickoffs and punts, but he also can be a slot receiver. He will wear No. 18 with the Steelers.
"I was in Detroit at (Super Bowl XL), and I was going crazy cheering for the Steelers,'' Drummond said. "So, I'm always going to be a Steelers fan, and I want to play football as long as possible. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to end my career here... A couple other teams contacted me, but when the Steelers contacted me I got back here as quickly as I could.''
The Steelers created a roster spot by reaching an injury settlement with offensive tackle Jason Capizzi, who injured his right foot. The club has yet to put punter Daniel Sepulveda (right knee surgery) on injured reserve.
"Jason Capizzi has a foot injury that will require some surgery, so he is out,'' Mike Tomlin said. "(And) we added Eddie Drummond. We needed a guy like that... to add to the competition. But he's a return guy who has other special teams capabilities as a gunner covering kicks.''
Nose tackle Casey Hampton spent the bulk of the practice working out with the Steelers conditioning assistant Marcel Pastoor on the lower field, while his team baked in the afternoon sun during Thursday afternoon's training camp workout at Saint Vincent College. Hampton also rode a stationary bike during practice.
Place-kicker Jeff Reed capped one special teams session with a 55-yard field goal that just cleared the uprights. Reed has been especially sharp this camp and made five straight in this drill.
Safety Grant Mason, getting more reps with Troy Polamalu and Anthony Smith on the sideline, made that time pay off Thursday with an interception on a long pass by Ben Roethlisberger that was intended for Santonio Holmes. It's Mason's second pickoff this week.
Rookie fifth-round draft pick Dennis Dixon from Oregon has not looked comfortable, at least on a consistent basis, so far and nearly threw another interception. However, inside linebacker Larry Foote couldn't come down with the errant toss and put himself through a series of pushups as punishment.
Tight end Heath Miller had a rare misconnection on a pass from Roethlisberger that barely cleared double coverage to the sideline. The pass had nice touch, but Miller had it knocked out of his hands by linebacker Donovan Woods, an undrafted rookie free agent from Oklahoma State.
The Steelers have attempted several wide receiver reverses this week in camp, and for the most part they've been successful. The club was 1-for-2 Thursday, as Willie Parker dropped the ball, instead of handing it off to Holmes. In all fairness to both, the defense appeared to snuff out the play. Wideout Nate Washington ripped through a hole in the defense after he took a handoff from running back Rashard Mendenhall.
Speaking of Mendenhall, the club's No. 1 pick has not disappointed so far. He has caught everything thrown his way out of the backfield and has proven to be a tough inside runner, which is critical to the Steelers' offensive scheme. Parker also has had a good camp, but his reps have been limited in favour of Mendenhall and second-year player Gary Russell.
Left tackle Marvel Smith, cornerback Bryant McFadden and inside linebacker James Farrior (groin strains) all returned to practice Thursday. Safety Anthony Smith (groin) tried to go, but was unable to get through a few reps. Tomlin said he might be out for more than a day-to-day basis. Defensive lineman Travis Kirschke was given one day off to rest some bumps and bruises. Linebacker Mike Humpal left practice early with a slight hamstring injury and is day to day.FRIDAY CAMP NEWS >>>
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