Tuesday marked the final practice at Latrobe as the Steelers will break camp on Wednesday in preparation for their second preseason game against the Eagles on Thursday.
Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor underwent successful surgery today to repair his broken left thumb suffered last Friday against the Redskins and he anticipates returning before the Steelers play the Ravens in week 1.
Mike Tomlin held his weekly news conference today and ruled out Taylor, Emmanuel Sanders, Chris Kemoeatu, Bryant McFadden, Cortez Allen, Mario Harvey and Crezdon Butler for the Thursday game. Eugene Bright remains on PUP as well and will not play. Tomlin also indicated that Troy Polamalu and James Harrison will play this week after sitting out against the Redskins.
Eagles head coach Andy Reid said that his starters will play the first half against the Steelers on Thursday, while the second and third teams will be rotated in accordingly. Reid also ruled out 13 players during his press conference.
Jim Colony of 93.7 The Fan caught up with backup running back Isaac Redman today for an interview and Ryan Clark was also on today as well as he talked about camp and the Steelers game against the Redskins.
Mike Bires has a video post up talking about how tough of a player rookie first round draft pick Cameron Heyward is in camp.
The John Clay walk-off incident late Monday is being reported as a misunderstanding. Running backs coach Kirby Wilson was upset with the play of Clay and told him to get off the field. Clay took this literally and started to leave the field. Steelers.com also has a full report on this.
Sean Kennedy of The Daily Press reported earlier today that the Steelers had signed free agent defensive back Macho Harris to the roster. That ended up being refuted hours later by Mark Kaboly who reports that Harris is only being brought in for a workout. The Steelers might be looking for an extra body with Taylor expected to be down perhaps a week or so.
Veteran free agent tight end Reggie Kelly agreed to terms with the Falcons today. Kelly had visited the Steelers several days ago, but left Latrobe without a contract. Kelly returns to the team that drafted him in the second-round of the 1999 draft.
Before you read any farther, please make sure to listen to the final daily training camp report called in by Pittsburgh AP sports writer Will Graves. Will gives a great rundown of the days events and we discuss several players. You can follow Will on Twitter at @WillGravesAP and we thank him for joining us a second time. I also want to thank all of the media and fans that have called in reports over the course of the Steelers 2011 training camp. It is greatly appreciated by me and all of my readers.
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Direct Download here: Will Graves Tuesday Aug. 16th Training Camp Update
Sitting out the final practice today were Taylor, McFadden, C. Allen, Harvey, Bright, Sanders, Butler and Aaron Smith. Brett Keisel returned after sitting out Monday as did Limas Sweed.
Curtis Brown had a nice practice today and looks ready to play Thursday. He did well in the two-minute drill and scrimmage portion of practice today. Tyler Grisham also continues to have a nice camp and scored on a short pass from Byron Leftwich. Jerricho Cotchery had a few nice grabs today and seems acclimated now to the offense according to reports. Dennis Dixon nearly had a pass picked off by Will Allen today during the two-minute drill, but righted himself with a touchdown pass to Cotchery. Hines Ward chipped in another nice diving catch today in addition while Arnaz Battle is fading with a few drops today according to reports. Mortty Ivy continued his strong camp effort today on the defensive side of the ball.
Rashard Mendenhall looks healthy and faster than ever today and looked especially good in running his pass route drills. Tight end John Gilmore made a nice diving catch over Larry Foote that got a rise out of Tomlin. Doug Legursky opened up the team portion of practice at right guard with Kemoeatu opening at the left guard spot. Tony Hills is still slated to start at right guard against the Eagles on Friday and Legursky should get the nod at left guard with Kemoeatu sitting out.
William Gay and Keenan Lewis worked as the outside gunners during the live punt drill.
It was announced by Gerry Dulac late in the afternoon that the contract that Cotchery signed was a one-year deal for the vet minimum.
Credit to the recap today goes to Dulac, Kaboly, Graves, Ken Laird, Scott Brown, Rich Walsh and Dale Lolley.
