On Tuesday the Pittsburgh Steelers ran the stalking drill, which consist of the wide receivers stalking the defensive backs with a running back behind them. The drill promotes downfield blocking by the receivers, but it is also good for the defensive backs to practice avoiding such blocks. The drill is run inside a channel marked off by cones.
During the drill on Tuesday, things got a little heated as wide receiver Derrick Williams mixed it up with cornerback Andre Freeman, while Antonio Brown later mixed it up with Ike Taylor. Emmanuel Sanders was on 93.7 The Fan Wednesday morning and he talked about how things escalated during the drill and how mostly it was because of how competitive everyone on the team is.
“Oh my God. That drill started off not really violent, just a little bit, and then a little trash talking going and then it became like car on car crash,” said Sanders. You know the DB\’s were supposed to backpedal, but then eventually they just wanted to try and come run us over. But that just shows the competitive nature of the Pittsburgh Steelers and I feel like that\’s why we win so much. We got guys that like to compete, guys that hate to lose. And that\’s what its about. It definitely ended with a little fight.”
After highlighting that Williams and Freeman mixed it up, Sanders continued, “After the fight happened, Ike Taylor and Antonio went at it and they had a big crash, so I get up there and I\’m like, \’Come on,\’ and Ryan Clark lines up and I\’m like, \’Oh my God.\’ Here I am 180 something pounds and he\’s like 210, 220 now. So I ended up taking it on and it ended up being a fun drill, but I woke up this morning and my neck is kind of sore. I wonder why.”
Head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about the competitiveness he saw in that drill following practice. “It was very spirited, which is what we need at this time of year,” said Tomlin.
You can listen to the entire interview with Sanders below:
[audio:http://cbspittsburgh.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/emmanuel-sanders-8-1.mp3]
