Bell runs well in his first practice
about. At least, not yet.
This oft-injured secondyear cornerback, who missed his rookie season with a shoulder injury and then most of organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp with a hamstring injury, took part in practice later in the afternoon.
This is an important time for all players, but that’s especially the case for Golson, who is in competition to earn the starting slot corner job.
“It’s been a crazy year for me, so I’m definitely anxious to get back out there,” said Golson, the team’s secondround pick in 2015. “I’m definitely in great shape and ready to go.”
That will be music to defensive coordinator Keith Butler’s ears. In June, after the hamstring injury kept Golson from participating, Butler said: “We need to see what Senquez can do. I don’t know what he can do. I saw what he did at [Mississippi], and he did some good things at Ole Miss, but, again, the National Football League is a little bit different.”
Veteran William Gay is the only returning cornerback on the roster with much NFL experience. Ross Cockrell, who made seven starts in 2015, and rookie first-round pick Artie Burns are competing for the other cornerback job. Slot corners play nearly two-thirds of the snaps in the NFL these days, so whoever earns that job will be playing starter’s snaps.
Is six weeks of practice time enough for him to learn the ropes and develop onfield chemistry with his teammates?
“Definitely,” Golson said. “More than enough time.”
He said he’s not taking anything for granted.
“I appreciated this opportunity way before this injury,” he said. “Every day you appreciate being out there and doing what we do. Just being out there puts an extra emphasis on every day, just taking advantage of every day.”
He’s the boss now
It is not surprising the Steelers have handed their kicking duties to Chris Boswell. He’s 25, counts only $525,000 against the salary cap and had the fourth-highest conversion percent (90.6) among all NFL kickers in 2015, despite not joining the team until early October.
What’s more, when the pressure was the highest, he converted all seven fieldgoal attempts in the postseason, second most among all kickers.
The job was cleared for Boswell when the Steelers waived incumbent Shaun Suisham, the most accurate kicker in franchise history, after he failed a physical in June. Suisham, who converted 124 of 141 field-goal attempts (87.9 percent) with the Steelers, sustained what he called a “catastrophic” knee injury in the 2015 Hall of Fame Game in August 2015.
But Boswell said he’s not happy Suisham is gone.
“I didn’t want to see him retire, not on his own terms. I wanted him to come back. I didn’t like it personally. He helped me a lot, and I wanted to compete with him and get better from that.
“Being a young guy, you look up to kickers like that who been in the league 13 years. You kind of nit-pick without bothering him. Just having him around would have helped me a lot, just like having him around last season on the sidelines meant a lot.”
Green disappointed
Tight end Ladarius Green wasn’t thrilled when he was informed by Tomlin that he would start training camp on the PUP list.
“It’s not a good thing,” he said. “I’m not happy about it, but that’s what the team thought was best. I’m just trying to take it day by day.”
Green, signed in March to replace Heath Miller as the starting tight end, had ankle surgery after the 2015 season. He missed OTAs and minicamp this spring and was hoping to be cleared by now, but there are a few hurdles for him to clear before he can return to the field.
“Just some things I’m still working on,” Green said. “Let’s put it that way. Some things I’m not perfecting yet. Cutting and stuff like that I’m building up on.”
Green did not give a timetable for his return, but he did express confidence that the injury would not linger into the regular season. He expects to play in the regular-season opener against the Washington Redskins.
Whether he and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger are on the same page by then is another story. He acknowledged it will take some time to develop on-field chemistry with his new quarterback.
“It takes a while to be comfortable especially when he had a tight end like he did for such a long time,” Green said. “So, it might take a while, but that’s what practices and games are for.”
Short snaps
Roethlisberger began practice wearing a No. 83 jersey, a tribute to the retired Miller. Long-snapper Greg Warren wore No. 6, tribute to Suisham. . . . Tight end Xavier Grimble was the only casualty of the heat, leaving the field with cramps. . . . The Steelers will practice at 2:55 p.m. today.