Steelers Morning Huddle 8/14/2013

Like a boss.

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

It’s the last week of training camp for the Steelers as they prepare to shake of the first preseason loss to the Giants and face the Washington Redskins for a Monday night matchup.  Here’s what’s being said about your Pittsburgh Steelers around the block.

Heath Miller expected to come off of the PUP list

Calm down.  He’s only expected to come off of the PUP sometime before the regular season starts.  The Steelers tight end situation went from bad to worse last week when Miller’s apparent replacement, Matt Spaeth, went out with a foot injury but Miller has been practicing regularly (without contact) and is on schedule to make his return in the regular season according to Josh Alper from Pro Football Talk.  Alper notes that this is a similar recovery plan the Steelers took last season with RB Rashard Mendenhall.  Jeez I hope Miller is way more effective when he returns than Mendy was last season.  Your mind just went back to that game in Cleveland, didn’t it?

Buffalo Bills new GM wants to copy Steelers

Steelers Depot’s Dave Bryan points out that before Doug Whaley became the Assistant GM in Buffalo in 2010, he worked under Kevin Colbert here in Pittsburgh.  Now General Manager, Whaley plans to model the Bills after the Steelers Organization.  That means building the team through the draft instead of free agency.  That might be a good way to go for a team that spent a ton of money on DE Mario Williams last season only to watch him be as effective as a wet paper towel.

"“Look at teams like Pittsburgh, Green Bay, and the Giants.  They are mostly homegrown.  That’s the philosophy I was brought up in, and I subscribe to it wholeheartedly.” – Doug Whaley"

Reunited and it feels so good

Carnell Lake and Rod Woodson, together again on the practice fields in Latrobe.  What a sight to see.  Rod Woodson joined the Steelers camp this summer as a coaching intern and reunited with his former teammate Lake to help coach the secondary.  The days of Lake and Woodson on the Steelers secondary were some of the greatest times.  Lake could play corner as well as safety, but the way they played off of each other was not unlike how well Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark play off of each other (when both are healthy).  Steelers Defensive Coordinator Dick LeBeau also reunites with Woodson, who was the DC when Lake and Woodson played together in the 90’s.  The communication they speak of is something I certainly hope they are imparting on the secondary of this Steelers team.  The Steelers website has a video look at the reunion and some past highlight clips of the duo.

Steeler Nation ranked #5 for NFL Fanbases

What?!  Everyone loves to rank things nowadays and Behind the Steel Curtain found a doozy you’d like to take a look at.  The Steelers fans are well known for traveling well and filling up visiting fans stadiums but TicketCity.com ranks them only 5^th most engaged behind the New York Giants, the Green Bay Packers, the New England Patriots, and Dallas Cowboys.  For their ranking, Ticket City used average total attendance for games, ticket prices, percentage of stadium capacity sold, and social media followers.  Apparently they don’t take into account the loudness of the Steeler fans in a visiting stadium screaming; “Heeeeeeeeaaaaaaath!” the first time Steelers TE Heath Miller catches a pass.  Fifth ranking my ass.

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