Steelers free agent cornerback Ike Taylor joined John Harris on Trib Live Radio this afternoon to talk about his offseason work down in Florida and his future in free agency. Harris asked if there was a specific thing that Taylor has been working on this offseason to better himself and Taylor said, “You know with me it\’s about catching balls. So, I figure if you know, if you are going to talk about Ike, you are going to talk about his rock hands, butterfinger hands or whatever. I said hell I ain’t going to catch them. I said, I have been catching them all year in the offseason so I am going to follow up on my catching drills. So I have just been working on like hand-eye coordination. Playing like ping pong at the house, throwing the tennis ball up around the house. Just small things. Work on depth perception and just get my eyes coordinated with the hand-eye. So, I mean I kind have twisted it up as far as that part. My workout habit, you can say I have OCD. You got to make me stop, because if you don’t, I am going to work out until I pass out. So that\’s just in me. As far as like working on my specifics, you know me being a pretty tall corner, trying to stay low, keep my speed up, the resistance training coach (Shaw) has us doing, you know that helps us out a lot. Just being down here, being in this heat and this humidity, getting my body acclimated and trying to get ready for the season.”
Taylor of course has been working with trainer Tom Shaw down in Florida along with teammates James Farrior and William Gay almost immediately after the season ended. Taylor said if you work with Shaw, you are in shape and ready to go. Taylor was asked about the lockout and his free agency status and Taylor really did not shed any new news on either. Taylor compared himself to plane though as far as his free agency status and said he is in the air right now and wherever he lands, he lands. “Wherever that plane drops me, is where I will be at”, Taylor said. Taylor was asked where he wanted that plane to drop him at and Taylor replied, “Man, you know where I want to go, but you know how that is. You got to look at the business side of it. So, by the end of the day, if the two can agree on some sort of terms, cool. If not, cool.”
Taylor was asked about all of the attention the media has given him and his free agency status thus far and Taylor said he was just fortunate to be in the position he is in right now and that if anyone has questions about how he played or his style of play or the Steelers style of defense, they should just put the tape on. He said the tape will show that he is a beast, a dog and a fearless guy. He also added that you will see a guy that has been to a low and bounced back from that and one who is consistent. He says he is a quiet leader and a guy that stays out of trouble and leads by example.
Several teams are speculated to have interest in Taylor once free agency gets started, but despite the flip attitude persona he tries to put up, it still really sounds like he wants to return to Pittsburgh.
