Steelers 2011 Training Camp – Day Six Recap

Day 6 of Steelers training camp is in the books and this post will serve as your daily recap of the comings and goings from Tuesday at Latrobe.

The morning started with the announcement that long snapper Greg Warren had agreed to terms. The Steelers only had one long snapper in camp in the form of Derek Chard and Warren now appears to be the odds on favorite to continue his role as the long snapper. This now means that all of 2010 specialist are back on the roster in Warren, Daniel Sepulveda, Shaun Suisham and Jeremy Kapinos. Sepulveda is the odds on favorite to beat out Kapinos if indeed he stays healthy.

Following the Warren announcement, it was announced that the Steelers had come to terms with veteran free agent tight end John Gilmore. Gilmore was with the Buccaneers most recently and figures to battle undrafted free agent tight end Wesyle Saunders for a roster spot. Gilmore will be 32 in September and has totaled just 52 catches for 524 yards during his 9 years in the league.

By mid-morning it was announced that second year receiver Emmanuel Sanders will miss the next 3 weeks after having a procedure done on his left foot that involved an injection of bone marrow from his heel to help speed up the heeling process from his offseason surgery. Sanders was seen in a walking boot today and using crutches, but insist that he will return and revealed that the foot was only around 70% heeled by the time camp started. I expect the Steelers to take it real slow with Sanders and I suspect at best we see him by the last preseason game. The missed camp time combined with not having OTA and mini-camps this offseason is not what he needs, but it is, what it is at this point.

A little later it was reported that guard Chris Kemoeatu had agreed to restructure his contract to help the Steelers free up even more cap money.

Linebacker LaMarr Woodley joined 93.7 The Fan this morning to talk about camp thus far, the new offseason rules, the rivalry with the Ravens and just how strung Steeler Nation is. It was also reported by Dejan Kovacevic around the same time that the Steelers have approached him about signing a multi-year contract extension. That\’s great news.

Before the afternoon practices got started we got word via Facebook that former Steelers running back Willie Parker is headed to play in the UFL for the Virginia Destroyers. We wish Willie all the best in his attempt to make it back to the NFL.

Gerry Dulac blogged that he still thinks that Flozell Adams could be re-signed before the dust settles and confirmed my long running speculation that Willie Colon could be moved inside to right guard. Dulac emphatically said several months ago that this would not happen and went as far as saying you would see Steelers cheerleaders on the sidelines before that happened. I once again took Dulac to task and gave myself a pat on the back today with word of his announcement. I know you don\’t mind me doing that. Now we will wait and see if Adams is indeed re-signed.

For the Jeff Reed fans out there, it was announced today that the Seahawks might have interest in him. How funny would it be if he ended up being their kicker when the Steelers face them this season?

Now on to the Tuesday afternoon practice.

Before you read any farther, I suggest you listen to the great practice report called in to me after practice by Nick Richetta just after things wrapped up on Tuesday. Nick breaks it all down for you today and tells us who is looking good and how the receivers and cornerbacks are shaking out. You can follow Nick on Twitter at @SteelCityKid117 and we appreciate the two reports he has filed with us so far.

Several players remain out of practice today due to the new labor agreement rules and they of course were: Sepulveda, Suisham, Warren, Colon, Gilmore, Ike Taylor, William Gay, Jonathan Scott, Chris Hoke, Dennis Dixon, Tony Hills, Doug Legursky, Ryan Mundy and Mewelde Moore.

Kemoeatu, Hines Ward and Eugene Bright remain on Active PUP and sitting out today due to injuries were Crezdon Butler, Keenan Lewis and rookie Marcus Gilbert.

During practice, Sunny Harris (mild triceps strain), Cortez Allen (hamstring), Bryant McFadden (hamstring) and Jamie McCoy (heat-related) all missed time.

The cornerback groups were very thin today due to injuries and those that can\’t yet practice so Curtis Brown was thrown to the wolves and answered the bell despite puking during practice. He refused to be sidelined and had a good day today according to several reports.

Keith Williams and Chris Scott made notable efforts today and Arnaz Battle was perhaps the star receiver on the day. Wes Lyons continues to catch nearly everything thrown his way and could be pushing Limas Sweed right now.

Isaac Redman had an early miscue and as he lost the football thanks to a muff and a pop by James Harrison. Baron Batch continues to show progress.

Byron Leftwich looked much sharper on Tuesday according to reports and had two great throws to Battle and rookie Eric Greenwood.

Will Allen made his mark on the day with an interception of a tipped ball thrown by Ben Roethlisberger intended for Mike Wallace. Troy Polamalu is showing great burst and no signs his Achilles is bothering him.

For more tidbits on the day, I suggest you review my Twitter timeline from today as I have re-tweeted all the great updates from Scott Brown, Mark Kaboly, Ken Laird and Dale Lolley who did a masterful job covering the practice today. Steelers.com also has a full practice report up from Tuesday as well.

Mike Tomlin had another short post practice Q & A and said the newly signed Gilmore would be thrown in the mix and said pretty much the same about Warren who I mentioned earlier, agreed to terms this morning. Tomlin said he is pleased with the conditioning of Antonio Brown, but called him a work in progress still. Tomlin shared no real info on the status of Sanders and there was a hint of praise for the rookie corner Brown and the effort he gave today.

After practice it was announced that Heath Miller has agreed to restructure his contract.

The Tuesday edition of “Talking Steelers Football” with Bob Labriola and Mike Prisuta is up and they run through the day at Latrobe as well.
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David Todd and I also knocked out a new episode of The Terrible Podcast this morning and I invite you to listen to it as well.