Cockrell was one of Ryan’s first cuts as head coach of Bills
PITTSBURGH — One of the first cuts made by Rex Ryan with the Buffalo Bills was a cornerback who’s now the No. 1 cornerback of the team with perhaps the hottest defense in football.
Ryan, in his second season as coach of the Bills, was asked Wednesday why he cut Steelers shutdown cornerback Ross Cockrell in 2015.
“We were all excited about him. I was excited about him,” Ryan started. “But he got hurt. We had a scrimmage, he got hurt and really he never had a whole lot of opportunities in the preseason game. I think he might’ve played in one preseason game or something. And I get the brilliant idea of ‘Hey, maybe we should stash him on the practice squad.’ Well as soon as we did that, guess what?
“Unfortunately for us, Pittsburgh picked him up. Obviously he’s done a great job there and is playing really well for them.”
Ryan was asked why he doesn’t just blame GM Doug Whaley — the former Steelers pro personnel director — for cutting Cockrell.
“But see, Whaley knew him much more than I did,” Ryan said. “I own up to that. We were excited about him, and I was like ‘Well, you know, shoot, nobody’s seen him on tape. They’re going to think he’s coming off an injury.’ I just thought it made perfect sense that we could get him to the practice squad. Well, that never happened.”
Cockrell, a third-year pro in his second season with the Steelers, and his first as the starter, can be considered the Steelers “shutdown” corner since he’s been tasked with covering star receivers such as A.J. Green, Brandon Marshall and Odell Beckham Jr.
Cockrell had claimed after Sunday’s game against the New York Giants that he and Burns “had a system” and that Cockrell didn’t really have one-on-one responsibility with Beckham.
But Mike Tomlin credited Cockrell in that way at his Tuesday press conference.
Cockrell was asked to come clean on Wednesday.
“The NFL locker room is an amazing place. It truly is an amazing place,” he said with a smile. “There are a lot of stories floating around, going around. But like I said after the game, Artie and I had a system going. We talked to Coach Tomlin. We talked to Coach (Carnell) Lake about it. They knew what was going on. We knew what was going on. And, yes, I did follow Odell at certain points during the game.”
Cockrell was relayed what Ryan had said, that Ryan was trying to sneak him back on to the practice squad.
“That is exactly what they tried to do,” Cockrell said. “Obviously I ended up here. I’m excited to be here. Buffalo was a great experience for me. They gave me my first opportunity in the NFL. I’m forever grateful for that. But now I’m a Pittsburgh Steeler and we have a standard to represent.”
Does Sunday’s game also represent an opportunity to get back at Ryan and the Bills?
“No,” Cockrell said. “Hey, personal vendettas don’t usually get you anywhere. I’m just out here to play football. I love playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers and we’re out here to win.”
Memory lane
After Ryan finished explaining Cockrell, he paused and said, “Any other bad things you want to bring up?”
Ryan let out a hearty laugh. “You guys want to go back to my days in Baltimore when (Santonio) Holmes scored? I still think he’s shy of that goal line. But, yeah, unfortunately I’ve got a lot of nightmarish memories about Pittsburgh. I also have some great ones. I love the competition. Mike Tomlin’s one of the guys I respect as much as any coach in the league. He does a great job. We had some wars through the years, there’s no question about it.
“It’s great to see James Harrison still playing,” Ryan added without being prompted. “I think the world of him. He whipped Father Time. He whipped a lot of players and everything else, but he whipped Father Time as well. He’s still playing great.”
Ryan, who coordinated the Ravens defenses from 2005-2008, also was the head coach of the New York Jets and he was asked about those memories.
“I think we beat him once, but we lost that darn AFC Championship Game to him,” Ryan said of the 2010 season. “I still sit back and recall (thinking), ‘Well, hell, let’s just go in down (17-0) at halftime and regroup and come back at him. About that time (Ike Taylor) hit (Mark) Sanchez, (Will Gay) picks the ball up, runs for a touchdown. I was like, Oh, shoot, now we’re down another seven.’
“I knew we could come back. We did, but we ran out of time (24-19 final). Roethlisberger’s done that to a lot of people, too. That team, I’ve got a ton of respect for him. But I remember sacking him 10 times too once when I was in Baltimore as a coordinator. Right? Or was I hoping we did that? (Laughs) But I do have some fond memories and a lot of bad ones, too.”
New touchdown maker
Ladarius Green tried to convince reporters that he remained mentally focused during his long stint on the PUP list to begin his Steelers career, and Ben Roethlisberger verified that Wednesday when he said Green asks him a lot of questions.
“But they’re not questions that you would expect from a guy who hasn’t been around here,” Roethlisberger said. “They’re questions that you expect from a guy who has been here and has been studying, focusing and really understanding what’s going on. I just see growth every day from him.”
An example was the 20-yard touchdown pass to Green that put the Steelers ahead 21-7 Sunday.
“I don’t want to give too much of the play away,” Roethlisberger said. “But that was a called play, a no-huddle type called play. I saw something from the defense and thought he could get that. Their safety, (Landon) Collins, is a really good safety and was biting on some screens. I don’t even think he had run that specific play yet, and so for me to call it and for him to execute it flawlessly, to me, speaks volumes for the work he’s put in, mentally. To not even get that rep, physically, but mentally to be ready and able to do it and be the ‘actor,’ the fake block, and make the play. So that’s just awesome on his part.”
Snow expected in Buffalo
Snow was expected to begin falling Wednesday night in Buffalo and 12 inches are being predicted to be on the ground by Friday night. Forecasts call for 1-4 inches on both Saturday and Sunday. Steelers linebacker Arthur Moats, who played in Buffalo from 2010-14, just shrugged.
“I went there from Virginia, where we would get a couple of inches of snow and everything would shut down,” Moats said. “So up there, my first year, the day before Thanksgiving, we got 36 inches of snow from 3 to 6 in the afternoon, after practice. It was insane, but it was after practice and the next day I thought — because when it snows in Virginia you’re not doing anything that day or the next day — but I thought we would have practice canceled. But they called everybody, mainly the first-year players, and they said, ‘Hey, make sure you’re on time tomorrow morning.’ We were like ‘Dude, you see that snow outside?’
“Oh, yeah. That’s how they do things. But coach was like, ‘Don’t be late.’ I didn’t even have a car that works in this type of weather, so all of us in that particular neighborhood carpooled and everyone was riding in the truck to get to work. Crazy man. And if you can’t drive, snowmobile.”
Shady hung up
Bills running back LeSean “Shady” McCoy took Pittsburgh reporters through a myriad of topics on a conference call Wedesday. He talked about how he predicted three years ago to buddy Antonio Brown that Le’Veon Bell would become one of the best backs in the league; how McCoy has endured eight years of NFL running by not taking “a lot of direct shots”; how much he respects Tomlin and how he and the Steelers back in McCoy’s Pitt days “showed me the right way to do things before I got here.”
McCoy even spoke honestly about Steelers star defensive lineman Cam Heyward being out of the lineup.
“I’m glad that he’s not playing,” McCoy said. “I hope he gets healthy soon, but it’s a good thing he’s not playing. He’s very disruptive, especially in the run game. He’s definitely a difference maker.”
McCoy went on to praise the Steelers defense this way: “They’ve got some hitters at safety. And then I think the power of that defense is the linebacker corps. (Lawrence) Timmons, he’s a heckuva, heckuva player. One of my worst games was against him. He did very well. And then (Ryan) Shazier, he’s one of those freak-of-nature type of athletes. He runs sideline to sideline and he has that toughness. All around they’re a good defense. And then you can’t forget the monster, (James) Harrison. You better know where he’s at.”
McCoy was asked if the Bills — leading the NFL in rushing offense — are the best running team on which he’s played.
“This is probably one of the best. You know why? Because we do so much. I’m sure the Steelers are preparing for a lot of different looks. You name it, we’re doing it. That’s what makes us unique as an offensive group running the ball. And also the guys up front are a lot better.”
The interview, though, came to a crashing half when McCoy, who advertised for an infamous “ladies only” party in July of 2015, was asked if he would go about hosting such a party differently these days.
“Is that a serious question?” McCoy asked. “Or are you joking?”
“No, I’m serious,” said the reporter.
McCoy hung up.
Injury report
Missing Wednesday’s practice from the Steelers were K Chris Boswell (abdomen), LG Ramon Foster (not injury related), DT Javon Hargrave (concussion), WR Darrius Heyward-Bey (foot) and S Shamarko Thomas (concussion). Limited were QB Ben Roethlisberger (not injury related) and RB DeAngelo Williams (knee).
Missing practice from the Bills were DE Lorenzo Alexander (not injury related), LT Cordy Glenn (back), LB Lerentee McCray (concussion) and WR Sammy Watkins (foot). Limited were TE Charles Clay (knee), CB Ron Darby (concussion) and WR Robert Woods (knee).