Wednesday marked day two of the first OTA practice session of the 2012 season for the Pittsburgh Steelers and we have quite a few nuggets to pass along via the media reports today.
Not participating again on Wednesday were Ramon Foster (hamstring), Brett Keisel (family function), Casey Hampton (knee), Rashard Mendenhall (knee) and Jason Worilds (hand), David DeCastro (school), Mike Adams (school), Alameda Ta\’amu (school) and Mike Wallace (holdout). Ike Taylor was present on Wednesday after missing Tuesday because he arrived in town late. Taylor did tell the media that he may not be present for all OTA\’s this off-season.
Mendenhall told the media that he is taking it day to day right now and said that being ready for week one of the season is the best case scenario. He was quoted by Scott Brown as saying, “I’ll be back at some point. It’s just a matter of what point that is.”
Isaac Redman told the media that the new offense is designed to be easier on the offensive line this year and he expects the running backs to be more involved in the passing game this year as well. Redman on learning the new Todd Haley offense according to Mike Prisuta, “It\’s tough on everybody. We\’re just trying to get the hang of it. We\’ll see how it goes.” Redman also told the media that tight end David Johnson has been moved to fullback on a full-time basis and that he no longer attends meetings with the tight ends. Will Johnson, as expected, is getting reps at fullback as well according to Mark Kaboly.
Kaboly also reported that Trai Essex was told he is to concentrate on left tackle, but that he should also be ready for the other four positions on the offensive line as well. Cortez Allen was spotted by Kaboly working as the first team nickelback. Keenan Lewis was the starting left cornerback opposite Taylor, who says he is expecting a whole lot out of Lewis this year.
Brown reported James Harrison was a bit surprised by the news that he would have to wear knee pads in the future. Harrison was quoted as saying, “You’ve got to wear knee pads too? Wow. I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.”
Kaboly reports that Steve McLendon, who is listed at 280 on the Steelers website, told him today that he currently weighs 325 pounds.
Former Steeler center and future Hall of Famer Dermontti Dawson watched today\’s OTA session.
I will add more to these report after going through some audio from interviews today.
