STEELERS HEAD COACH BILL COWHER
AUGUST 17, 2006

 

As far as who's playing and not playing on Saturday night, four players are definitely out: Chukky Okobi, Jerame Tuman, Hines Ward and Isaac West. Three guys are questionable right now. Sean Morey will run around a little bit today. He'll have a fiber-glass (cast) on. He has a bone contusion. We'll see how he feels and make a decision for Saturday. Clint Kriewaldt has a slight groin strain, he's questionable. We'll see what he can do in the next couple days. Ben (Roethlisberger) has a ligament sprain on his thumb. He feels better than he did yesterday. We won't work him today. We'll see how he feels tomorrow. If he feels okay tomorrow, he'll play Saturday. That's pretty much the update on him. He didn't need any tests or anything of that nature. He hit it off of his arm or a jersey. That's pretty much it.

As we go into this game we're looking at a quarter for most of the players to play, give or take a series or two. Hopefully, we'll play better than last week.

Did you say Roethlisberger hit his hand on his own arm?

It's hard to say. It's hard to see on film. It's something that we're conscious of. We'll rest him today and see how he feels tomorrow.

Is it a cumulative injury?

He's been fine. There have been no problems with it this whole camp. He's been throwing the ball pretty good.

This is not a long-term thing?

At this point, it's day-to-day and we'll see how it goes.

Roethlisberger didn't undergo any tests?

Correct.

Will you switch Shane Boyd and Omar Jacobs?

They'll both play. I don't want to say one is three and one is four. They're both going to play. We'll go from there. We'll probably put Omar in behind Charlie (Batch) this week, like we put Shane in there last week.

Will Ryan Clark start at FS?

Correct.

Will Charlie Batch play longer or would he just play with the starters?

Charlie's playing well. We'll give him just enough work to keep him sharp and no more.

How much will Joey Porter play?

It's hard to say. We'll see how he feels. We'll give him a couple snaps to get acclimated to the speed. We'll go from there.

Is it a safe statement to say that you will you err on the side of caution with Roethlisberger?

That's a safe statement to make.

Will Kendall Simmons take any snaps at center?

Yeah, we may look at that. We haven't really sat down and discussed it. We'll look at that in the next day or two. We'd like to be able to do that. We'd like to have some preseason work. This week or next week we'll definitely look at that to some extent. 

How much time will Okobi miss?

He still has to get all the strength back in his arms. We'll have a better sense of that on Monday. He could be ready for the last preseason game. We're not going to mess with that. We'll err on the side of caution when it comes to dealing with that.

Would you like to see Ward get some work?

He's as frustrated as anyone. He's trying everything and anything. It's eating at him not to be out there. He likes to practice. You have to get him to be patient. I'd like to see him out there. I'd like to see everybody out there but we have to be smart about this and recognize that it's a lengthy season. We know about Hines. I'm not concerned from that standpoint. A hamstring is not something to mess around with. We're going to err on the side caution with him.

At what point will you make a decision on FS?

I'm not going to put a time table on it.

Could you start Ty Carter in the third game and Clark in the fourth game?

Yeah, I guess it could easily be that. I have not put a time table on it, so I can't answer your question. If I answer your question, then I've put a time table on it. I'm not trying to be evasive. I'm just trying to be honest with you.

Are you concerned about their comfort level with Troy Polamalu?

No, I'm not concerned about that because Troy has worked with both of those guys and they've all worked together. We've intermixed him enough with Ty and Ryan that there won't be any kind of acclamation needing to take place when we make a decision because they have both been in there enough that they'll be fine in that position.

Who will be the No. 2 running back?

Willie (Parker) is going to play a short period of time. I want to get Duce (Staley) in there, I think with that first group. Verron Haynes has had an excellent camp. I want to give Duce a chance to run behind those first (team) offensive linemen. There's a good chance we'll probably see him first.

Will Staley do some third-down stuff?

We'll look at it and see. Sometimes that has to play out. We scheduled him to do it last week. Sometimes the situation just doesn't arise. He'll get some work in.

How is Cedric Humes doing?

Cedrick is doing fine. He is getting more comfortable and he made a couple plays last week. He'll get some chances to work in the second halves of these games. This is going to be very important for him, not only as a runner, but also in the kicking game. Those are things that will play very heavily in those decisions in the next three games.

Do you feel that the passing game is more in-sync than at this time last year?

It's hard to assess after only the first game. We've done some good things on the field, we're getting better. I think we had a better week, just particularly from the younger kids; (they are) starting to run crisper routes and improve the timing elements. They need to be able to transfer that over to games and its hard for me to be able to assess that after only one game. I can give you the state of where we are probably after the third game, or where I think we are. Just like I did last year. It doesn't mean I'm always right, but that's just where I think we are.

Is there anything you look for specifically from the second preseason game?

I'd like to see us be crisp and sharp. We had a lot of mental errors last week on offense. We lost every third down in that first (defensive) group. I'd like to see us improve on some little things, particularly the third downs on defense, the mental error on offense. We'll continue to take the same aggressive approach. I know there are going to be mistakes and I don't have a problem with that. I just don't want it to be competitive. You have to understand that those are going to happen. You have to put it aside. I want them to play fast; I want them to play with confidence. If you just take that approach, you'll find that the mistakes will happen less and less because you get more comfortable, particularly with the younger players.

Is Staley heavier than he was last year?

No, actually he's a little bit down from last year.

How does Staley look?

He's looked good. We gave him off yesterday. He's got a little bit of wear-and-tear on his body. You have to do that with players who are at that age and at that point in their career. He just needs to play to be able to get back into running shape and to get a feel for the running game. We have to give him a chance to run behind a good offensive line to get a sense of where he is.