Steelers notebook
Annual night practice session competitive and a little bloody LATROBE -Steelers coach Bill Cowher didn’t know how the blood became splattered all over his sleeve, nor did he want to know the source. He just figured it was part of another night at the goal line for his football team.
“I think I’m OK. It’s not mine,” Cowher said. “But it was good. The last period was a spirited period.”
The Steelers concluded their annual night practice session at Latrobe Memorial Stadium with their first goal-line session of training camp and the offense scored touchdowns on both series.
Starting from the five-yard line, Jerome Bettis was tackled for a loss in the open field by Chad Scott, but a play-action pass from Kordell Stewart to Dan Kreider netted the first touchdown. The second team scored on four running plays by Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala.
Of course, the proud Steelers defense took umbrage to the first-team offense’s plan of attack.
“It was goal line. Pound it,” said linebacker Joey Porter. “They say they’re going to pound it, well pound it. Don’t hit me with a pass on the second play.”
“I never saw anything in the rulebook that says you can’t throw at the goal line,” said Cowher. “The defense has been strong against the run and somewhat susceptible to passing plays down there. But it’s very competitive right now and that’s a healthy thing.”
If not a little bloody.
INJURY REPORT: Wide receiver Plaxico Burress and defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen suffered groin injuries last night, but Cowher doesn’t believe either injury will be a problem.
“We’ll see how they feel [Thursday] and go from there,” Cowher said, deflecting any comparison to Jerome Bettis’ groin injury last year. “There are so many degrees. Obviously, with Jerome, he felt the thing tear off.”
Linebackers Kendrell Bell and Pernell Griffin returned to the practice field Wednesday morning.
Bell had strained a trapezius muscle lifting weights Tuesday morning and missed that day’s only practice. Griffin, a rookie free agent, was activated from the Physically Unable to Perform list that he’d been on since injuring a hamstring during the opening-day run test.
ZEREOUE SCARE: Running back Amos Zereoue received a scare in the morning practice when he took a shot on his left knee while running with a screen pass.
“I just banged it,” Zereoue said after practice. “There was pain for a few seconds and then it went away.”
Zereoue, the team’s outside running threat, also reported no side effects from his recent liver problems. A cyst that forced him to be hospitalized last spring was a concern at the beginning of camp and Zereoue considered wearing a flak jacket, but he hasn’t worn the protective gear.
“I just got some scar tissue in there that’s kind of hard,” he said. “Every time I reach up and try to grab the ball or something it hurts, but other than that it’s cool.”
And the flak jacket?
“I felt I didn’t need it,” he said. “The liver’s not elevated like it was before. I don’t really need it.”