Simmons will miss time because of diabetes
LATROBE – Kendall Simmons missed the start of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp Saturday with the onset of diabetes, which forced him to lose 30 pounds in a relatively short time this summer. With a family history of diabetes, Simmons was diagnosed with the condition earlier in the week and had been receiving medical support as late as Friday, the day players were scheduled to report to St. Vincent College.
Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert said the starting right guard could miss as much as two weeks of camp, but doesn’t believe it’ll force him to miss time in the regular season.
Simmons reported to camp Saturday and told reporters he’d already regained 10 pounds to push his weight back up to 307.
“It’s going to be a week or so,” he said. “I’m going to go out [Sunday] and do some lifting and work out, just to see what my blood sugar’s going to do. … The faster I get back to moving around a little, the better.”
Said Colbert: “Depending on how quickly he gets the weight back, and they figure out the medication, it’ll be a gradual thing. We’re not worried it’ll extend into the season or anything like that. He’ll be back in training camp unless there’s another setback, which we don’t anticipate.”
Simmons noticed the weight loss and also complained to Steelers physician Dr. Anthony Yates about frequent urination. Yates diagnosed the problem and Simmons was briefly hospitalized.
“Again, we cannot underestimate the seriousness of this condition,” Colber said. “[But] it’s also something that once under control people function very normally. We’re happy it didn’t happen during training camp or in the season. You never know, in the heat problems develop and it could’ve been much worse.”
Polamalu Update
Simmons, last year’s No. 1 pick, is out, and so is this year’s No. 1 pick, Troy Polamalu, who officially became a holdout Friday at 6 p.m.
“You know how it is with No. 1 picks,” said Colbert. “First day of camp, he’s not here. There’s no reason to talk about it. Negotiations are ongoing. Who knows where he is. We’ll deal with the people who are here.”
Colbert said that since talks are ongoing he isn’t concerned about a prolonged holdout.
“It’s always a process. It always takes time,” he said. “The communication’s good. It just takes a little bit of time.”
Polamalu is expected to miss Sunday’s 1 p.m. practice as well.
Casey Strikes out
Former NCAA indoor sprint champion Leonard Scott, an undrafted rookie free agent wide receiver, put on a disappointing performance at the Steelers’ annual run test, which opened camp Saturday.
Scott struggled mightily, but he finished all 14 of his sprints. Veteran Casey Hampton couldn’t say the same. The ever-expanding nose tackle had to stop after 10 sprints. Kendrell Bell stepped into his spot for three sprints and Hampton returned for the last one.
“Casey’s got a ways to go,” said Coach Bill Cowher. “He’s not where he needs to be by his own admission right now. He’s got a ways to go. That’s disappointing.”
Hampton is well over his listed weight of 320 pounds, but Cowher wouldn’t say by how much.
“I don’t want to go public with that. He knows where he’s at and we talked about where he needs to be,” Cowher said.
Running back Jerome Bettis was put on one of the top performances of the run test – along with Mark Bruener, Jabari Issa, Brett Keisel and the usual array of sprinters – and Bettis even went so far as to admit to his weight: 252 pounds.
“I’m only down about two or three pounds,” said Bettis, but Cowher said, “His weight’s as low as it’s been in the last three years.”
X’s and O’s
Connellsville’s Phil Braxton was cut Thursday night to make room for Lamar Slade, a rookie wide receiver from Pitt. Slade caught 48 passes for 649 yards and four touchdowns last season. … Punter Josh Miller (knee) and Simmons have been placed on the physically unable to perform list but are expected to be available for practice in a couple of weeks.