Connellsville’s McCrae giddy about 1st practice
LATROBE — The Steelers put on the pads for the first time Sunday at their Saint Vincent College training site and it was a very spirited workout.
When it was over, Connellsville grad Terrence McCrae was tired, yet still giddy about his first full-pad practice with the Steelers.
“It was rough, but that’s what I expected,” McCrae said. “This is Steelers football, so I wouldn’t expect anything less. I may have been a little buttered at first, but I am excited to be here with the Steelers.”
All in all, McCrae didn’t get a tremendous amount of snaps in team drills, but he said that is to be expected.
“Coach Tomlin came into our receivers meetings earlier and said they are looking for people to step up and show we are capable,” McCrae said. “But we were also told that we probably wouldn’t get a lot of reps in the first week. Their plan is to get the veterans some work, then work us young guys in to give them some rest. I’ll get more reps as time goes on.”
McCrae had an interesting response to 6-5 receiver Plaxico Burress signing with the New York Jets, instead of the Steelers. McCrae is 6-3 and, without Burress here, may have a chance to earn a roster spot. If Burress had come to Pittsburgh, McCrae may have had to settle for a spot on the practice squad.
“Me being a free agent, it probably does help my chances that he is not coming here,” McCrae said. “But it would have been great to be able to work with him, learn some of the tricks of the trade from a taller wide receiver like him.”
The highlight of the session, which lasted two and a half hours under steady and steamy sunlight, was the play of rookie running back Baron Batch, the team’s seventh-round draft pick from Texas Tech and Midland, Tex.
In the backs-on-backers drill, which is a good test of how running backs pick up blitzing linebackers, Batch was paired against Stevenson Sylvester and easily won the match-up. Next, he took on Jason Worilds with similar results. Worilds asked for a rematch and was granted one, only to find himself patting the youngster on the head after Batch had beaten him again.
All the while, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was calling out Batch’s name, egging on the linebackers. Finally, the coach asked if there was a linebacker who wanted to take on the rookie.
James Harrison stepped up and it looked like a “Welcome to the NFL, rookie” moment was just ahead. But Batch held his own against one of, if not the best blitzing linebackers in the league. Harrison hit him hard, but Batch held his ground and kept the would-be sacker off of the would-be quarterback.
Off to the side watching the drill stood Hall of Fame defensive tackle Joe Greene.
“That boy’s from Texas,” was all Greene had to say.
About the same time on an adjoining field, McCrae was paired up with starting free safety Ryan Clark in a 3-on-2 passing drill. McCrae caught the ball before taking a hard hit from Clark. But McCrae kept his feet, reversed his field and took off for more yards.
McCrae later took a turn on kickoff coverage duty. In team drills, McCrae took another hard shot from cornerback Bryant McFadden and could not make the catch.
Was a good first workout, both for the Steelers and McCrae.
“I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks,” McCrae said.
The Steelers are off Monday and resume practice with a full-pads session scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday.