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ARTICLE OMAR JACOBS PRESS CONFERENCES
OMAR JACOBS How do you fit in here? I'm excited to part of the tradition in Pittsburgh. It feels good to be with Ben Roethlisberger and the MAC quarterback strength still left. As far as the offensive, they stretch the ball down the field and do a lot of things with Ben Roethlisberger. I think they can do the same with me. How does your size affect your playing ability? I think getting bigger with the league. I think the guys are getting bigger and taller. I think the ability to take hits from those guys and stay in the pocket and not getting injured. I think being a bigger guy you can take those poundings. How would you explain being picked up this low in the draft after once being projected as a first round? I was a little surprise, but just knowing the nature of the draft, it's something that happens. A lot of guys think they are going to go high and it doesn't happen in the draft. I'm just happy to be a part of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Why did you come out early? Just looking at the strength of the quarterbacks coming out. When I came out I looked at all of the guys coming out and the class wasn't that strong with the depth of the guys coming out. Jay Cutler and you have Matt Leinart and Vince Young, but coming from my junior year it was just me and Matt Leinart, the top two quarterbacks in the nation. Knowing that, coming out that made the decision. I also looked at my offense [at Bowling Green], I lost two of my top receivers into the draft and two of my running backs, a center, and a right tackle, and a lot of defensive players. I had to look at that situation too and my family situation. It was a big part. It was not an easy decision to come out. What do you mean by your family situation? Just looking at my family and how they feel about it. It wasn't a big thing, it was just how they felt about the whole situation. What was your injury? I had a third-degree separation of my left shoulder. When did it occur? I think in the middle of the season, I think the 6th or 7th game. Did it affect how you played? I missed two and a half games. How do you account for your accuracy and throwing so few interceptions? Just being smart, manning the game well, and not forcing anything that isn't there. Has the success of MAC quarterbacks in the NFL raised the value that conferences quarterbacks? I call those guys the fore-fathers. Those guys paved the way for us and prepared a way for the MAC quarterbacks coming out now, with Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich, even Charlie Frye and Chad Pennington, those guys helped the MAC as an overall conference. They raised the eyes and looks at those conferences, by doing so well in the NFL helped guys like me out. Did you visit the Steelers? No, I only took one visit with the Miami Dolphins. Have you spoken to coaches on the phone? Yeah, I spoke to the coaches when they drafted me. That's the only time I have talked to the coaches. How do you see your opportunity here and the possibility of not playing for some time? I'm prepared to learn. Just to be a guy and just to come in and compete. I'm going to compete, I'm a competitor, and I'm going to compete for the job. Ben [Roethlisberger] is a great quarterback. If I have to sit for a while, and if my time comes it will come. I think I have to be patient to some degree and I want to be patient in Pittsburgh. Do you know Ben at all? I met him game-wise, but I haven't actually talked to him. Did you play against him? I didn't play against him, Josh Harris was the quarterback at the time when we played Miami of Ohio. He's been doing the same thing in college as he is doing in the NFL. Have people tried to change your throwing motion? Not really change it, maybe just change the fundamentals to make me more accurate. Like maybe raising it up a little bit, but I've been so accurate and productive that they really tried to change it that much.
Coach Mark Whipple RE: OMAR
JACOBS Omar Jacobs is a really, really talented young man. He had a tremendous sophomore year at Bowling Green and then had some injuries. I watched the Wisconsin game and was really impressed with him when it was on regular TV. He had some injuries and came back. He's a guy that has size at 6-4. Of all the quarterbacks left I thought he was the one guy that had a chance to really be a good player for us. We're excited about him. Talking to him on the, he's ecstatic. I think it's a real good fit for us. The only problem is in my meeting room we'll have more MAC [Conference] updates than anywhere in the country. It will be interesting between Ben [Roethlisberger], Charlie [Batch] and Omar. What are his injuries? He had a foot that didn't keep him out. Then he had a shoulder. Really it wasn't anything. You could see how he changed throwing the ball at the end of the year. You go back to his sophomore year he threw 41 touchdowns and four interceptions. He was healthy against Wisconsin and I watched him throw some balls in the middle and he threw the deep ball pretty well. I didn't really see him in the last part of the year. In the middle you could see where he wasn't really that healthy. I don't remember exactly what [his injury was]. When I met him at the combine he has real big hands and is a physical presence which I think is really important in our league. He's not quite as big as Ben but Ben will come back and say, 'I couldn't see [an open receiver].' I think the height factor is something I can't coach and he's got that. He worked out of the shotgun. Will he have to learn to take snaps under center? Ben worked out of the shotgun and most of these guys now do. I think I'm better at this situation than I was a few years ago, learning from Ben and some of those things. More importantly I'm not going to teach him the footwork or throwing mechanics, I'm going to teach him the offense so then he can get some confidence. Then we can work on some of those other things after practice, mechanics that might help him. Will you change his throwing motion? No. You just ask, 'Does he throw a tight spiral?' I think in Pittsburgh, New England and the northeast that says something. He did. He threw a tight spiral. The ball should be easy for the receiver to catch. I'm not going to change that. He's 6-4 and he's a little low. I didn't see him get a whole lot of balls batted down on the tapes that I watched. Can you describe his release? I think everybody throws a little bit different. In our league you have to throw it [from different spots] just to get around some guys. He's not going to throw it over top when Max Starks is your tackle. It's a different way. The one thing is that he's getting the ball out there. I thought that where he threw the ball was on time and in a place where the receivers can make a play. A lot of guys may throw it a little behind, but the ball was there where [the receivers] could make something happen. Until you work with him it's more about learning up and getting in and out of the huddle. We've been through that with the wrist bands. I'm not concerned about it. Physically, I think he was one of the best guys out there. How is his mental toughness? When I met with I wasn't going to give him a playbook. They're so nervous at the combine. Some guys do that and it's not my style. I wanted to see what he was like as a person. He handled that atmosphere in Indianapolis really well. I'll find out [his mental toughness] two weeks from now in mini-camp. Is he mobile? He's more of a pocket guy. He can get out. I don't remember what his 40 time was exactly. He's got a real good feel for the pocket. He's not a statue but he's a guy that can get out of the pocket but the thing I like was that he was looking down field. He was saying that, 'I'm a passer. I'm looking to make plays.' You're not going to have to say, 'get out of the pocket and look downfield.' That's what he's doing naturally. Will teams still question MAC quarterbacks' abilities? Just look at the success that they've had. [Chad] Pennington was in the playoffs. Look at Ben's success and Byron [Leftwich] has done well in Jacksonville. Charlie [Frye] started up in Cleveland and had some success. In my room it's not a problem. There are guys that come in from all over. There was a slight on DI-AA, then you had [Steve] McNair and Kurt Warner had a pretty good career. Is the MAC producing quality players? Being in the NFL now the concern is that there aren't many guys under center. High schools are going to the spread offense and we're not seeing a guy who can drop back five, seven steps and is comfortable. That's just the way that football is going. Those questions are going to come up more. It's not about the MAC it's about guys being in the shotgun all the time. That's just going to keep coming. Is the NFL going in that direction? I don't think so. Physically you can't. These guys are so much faster. I see Ben on Mondays and say, 'It doesn't look like you've been hit too much.' [He replies] 'What are you talking about?' He's a big guy but every time you throw the ball, you may release the ball but you're getting banged, you're getting hit and these aren't little guys. I think that's the one thing that Ben did such a good job with last year. At the end of the year he's bating his time and not trying to get out of the pocket, where the protection is. I think that's what Omar naturally does. It's about health as well. We found out about that last year but in this league you can't worry about that, you have to make the next play. Did you look at Bruce Gradkowski? We looked at them all. The size fact came in with Omar and he went out early. I really felt like that was a big thing at Ben. Give this kid another year back in that system. He did early in his sophomore year. There's good players coming out of that conference in the quarterback position with statistics and winning games. With Bruce he is a competitor and a great kid. It was kind of more the size and that extra year. We aren't looking for him to come in and start obviously. That's just how I felt. Do you need to get Omar ready in case of an injury? I tell those guys in [the meeting room], 'We're all in this together. When you stink, I stink.' Coaches lose and players win. That's really what it comes down to. Ben didn't the attention he got two years ago. We have good people here who can help one another. Go back to where Ben was, what an asset Tommy [Maddox] was for me and Ben. That's the same thing that Omar's going to find. I think that's why we have so much success is the players and the staff in this organization. When you're a Steeler you know you can turn around and get help. Are you set at quarterback with Ben, Charlie, Omar and Rod Rutherford? Yeah. We have Shane Boyd in Europe right now. Are you done for the day? I don't know. I guess. When I walk out of here I should be but you never say never in this business. Will Rutherford be ready for training camp? I talked to Rod the last couple days. He'll be ready for training camp. Where he's at in OTAs I'm not sure. [Coach Cowher] will answer that. I just try to be positive with him on the phone. Are you hit more in the pocket or scrambling? You'll probably have to break that down by percentage. What Dick LeBeau and every defensive players says is, 'If you have a chance to hit the quarterback, I don't care where he is, just hit him.' Does a mobile quarterback have to adapt to become a pure passer? We always like to stereotype everybody, especially on draft day. We're looking for the Tom Brady and John Elway comparisons but what two guys are the same? So I think you do a good job coaching in what they do well and match them up that way. Some of the play calls will be a little bit different with each guy, because they have their favorite plays. That's up to each coaching staff. Do you prefer that a guy not run? Yeah, we'd like to get our 20 throws and get the win. That's what the bottom line is. I like when he's on the sideline in the fourth quarter next to me. That's always the best time. It's just about matches up with who's healthy, who's playing that day and what the other people are doing in the game plan. That changes week to week. Do you think Omar made a mistake by leaving early? He's a Pittsburgh Steeler now. I wouldn't say he's made a mistake. That's water over the damn. That's the past. I don't ever worry about that. My thought process right now is when is he coming in and talking to him on the phone and make sure he's comfortable and has enough support. I didn't realize that as much two years ago but I'm a better coach because of what I went through with Ben. Ben's going to be an asset to Omar. That's the one thing you'll find out in this organization is that you're pulling for one another and you're going to compete. I need to get him ready to compete for that first OTA.
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