Poteat likely to fill in for injured Townsend in dime defense
LATROBE – X-rays were negative on Deshea Townsend’s injured shoulder, but the Pittsburgh Steelers were awaiting results of an MRI taken Saturday before deciding whether he’ll play tonight against the Washington Redskins. Townsend, the Steelers’ third cornerback and member of the oft-used dime defense, injured his shoulder at Friday afternoon’s practice. The team left for Washington yesterday. If Townsend misses time, he’ll be replaced in the dime by third-year cornerback Hank Poteat.
The Steelers’ pass defense will be helped by the return of safety Mike Logan, who last year joined Townsend as the fifth and sixth defensive backs in the dime.
Simmons’ first start
First-round pick Kendall Simmons will make his first preseason start tonight because of an ankle sprain suffered by left tackle Wayne Gandy.
Oliver Ross, who’d been working with the first team at right guard since last year’s starter, Rich Tylski, was released, will move to right tackle. However, it’s not a certainty that Ross will reclaim his job from Simmons when Gandy returns.
“Kendall’s going to be very, very good,” said defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen. “He studies the game and that’s the most important thing. He’s strong; he’s quick; he’s aggressive. The difference with him and a lot of young ones is he studies the game. He improves every day. He’s a football player. I guess that’s all you can say.”
Said line coach Russ Grimm: “Oliver Ross, I think, is a good football player. He can bounce around.”
In other words, Ross is the team’s backup swing man along the line.
Allred all right
Tight end John Allred got off to a slow start. In fact, he dropped three passes in the first practice. But Allred, who sat out last season to recover fully from two torn right knee ligaments in 2000, has recovered nicely. Allred’s route running was one of the highlights on the Jets tape. He also played well on special teams.
“He has very good hands, can run and I like some of the things he did in the kicking game,” said Coach Bill Cowher. “He made a nice tackle on a kickoff. He gives us a big guy who’s blocking’s pretty good and he’s a very good route runner. He’s having a good camp. I think he’s another guy who’s progressively gotten better. That’s a tough battle right now at that position.”
Since Cowher said last week that Mark Bruener and Jerame Tuman have virtually clinched roster spots, and third tight end Matt Cushing is also playing well, Cowher was asked if he’d ever kept four tight ends.
“I can’t remember off hand,” he said.
When chided that former wide-bodied tight end Eric Green could have counted as two, Cowher played along.
“That’s right. I kept three and a half a couple years.”
Redskins notes
Last spring, the Redskins’ personnel department put a high grade on Simmons but couldn’t convince owner Daniel Snyder and coach Steve Spurrier to draft the guard instead of quarterback Patrick Ramsey in the first round.
Judging by the recent trade attempt for Chicago reserve guard Mike Gandy and an attempt to sign free agent guard Ray Brown, the Redskins may be rethinking their choice. The team’s problems along the interior line were exacerbated by an injury to left tackle Chris Samuels (sprained ankle). He’ll be replaced by prospective guard candidate Rod Jones, leaving Kipp Vickers, Larry Moore and Ross Tucker to man the three interior positions.
Also expected to miss the game for the Redskins are recently signed defensive tackle Daryl Gardener (back spasms) and kicker Brett Conway (hip flexor). Veteran defensive end Bruce Smith, 39, will appear in his first preseason game after extending his recovery from offseason knee surgeries.
The Redskins’ quarterback rotation: Danny Wuerffel in the first quarter; Sage Rosenfels in the second quarter; Shane Matthews in the second half. Ramsey is expected to receive a series or two late in the game.
Quotable
Steelers defensive coordinator Tim Lewis on how Kendrell Bell’s showing up on film this camp: “Coverage, coverage, coverage. He understands the idea of reading from two to one and back inside. He understands route combinations now and how people are trying to fool him. They’re going to take his aggressiveness and play off of it. He understands why and how people are going to do it. Coach (Mike) Archer has done a fantastic job teaching him and training him how to disguise.”