Conner ‘getting better,’ likely to return Sunday
PITTSBURGH — It was the biggest question of the day, and James Conner had the same answer for everyone.
“Just getting better,” Conner said exactly 10 times during a 2-minute, 38-second mob interview in front of his locker on Wednesday.
Conner drew the crowd because he practiced fully for the first time since suffering a high right ankle sprain in the Dec. 12 game against the Chargers. Conner has missed three games but should return Sunday for the regular-season finale against the Bengals.
How did he look?
“I didn’t get a chance to see him, really,” said lineman David DeCastro. “But it’s nice to have him out there.”
“He looked really good from the parts I was watching at practice,” said sidelined lineman Maurkice Pouncey. “He looked normal. He looked really good.”
“He looked good,” said defender Mike Hilton. “You can tell he’s still a little hobbled. It’s probably a confidence thing. But he moved well, he was cutting well, running well. We’ll see.”
IN A FUNK?
The second-most pressing question Wednesday, as the Steelers returned to practice, dealt with their emotional state.
After playing at a Super Bowl level against the team that’s favored to win the championship, but losing and giving away the division lead to the Ravens, can the Steelers respond with an emotional performance against the Bengals?
After all, this has to be an emotional flat spot for the Steelers.
“Oh, it is. It really is,” said DeCastro. “I think it’s mostly something that you build up as the week goes on. It hurts. I think everyone put a lot of energy in not only this game but this season in general. To have it go the way it’s gone is a little deflating. But it’s not over. We realize that, too. We’ve got to pick it up as the week goes on. As bad as you feel now, you would feel a lot worse if Baltimore loses and you lose, too.”
Did anyone get up and talk to the team?
“No,” said Pouncey. “If we need rah-rah speeches we’re in the wrong sport.”
THE BROWNS?
And finally, big question number three, what are the chances that the Browns — six-point underdogs — can beat the Ravens?
“It’s an NFL game. Anybody can beat anybody on any Sunday,” Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis said in a conference call with Pittsburgh reporters. “The Browns are playing very good football right now. The quarterback takes care of the ball, they’re going to apply pressure on defense, they’re athletic on defense, and they’ll give that (Ravens) option game a little bit of problems.”
Of course, the Steelers would need to beat the Bengals, too. Both games start at 4:25 p.m.
“Well it’s a game to finish the season that matters to us,” Lewis said. “We haven’t had the season we wanted to have. We’re going on the road to play a division team. We’ve got so many young players and these division games matter so much to you in your NFL career. You’ve got to learn to find a way to beat the teams in your division.”
AWARD TIME
Terrell Edmunds was voted Steelers Rookie of the Year and Joe Haden was voted winner of the Chief Award for cooperation with the media. Both awards were voted on by members of the Pittsburgh print media.
Edmunds has started 14 of 15 games and played in a team-high 1,132 snaps, which ranks sixth in the NFL. He’s fourth on the Steelers with 69 tackles.
“I’m really, really impressed with Terrell,” said Haden. “His professionalism, his being able to be drafted where he was drafted and still coming in so hungry and trying to absorb everything from everybody, from Morgan (Burnett), from S(ean) Davis, from myself. Just taking coaching, not thinking that he knows everything, and just always, always trying to work hard and get better every day. I think he’s got a very, very good base, foundation, so he’ll continue to understand the defense better so he can be more of a vocal leader.”
Haden has dealtvwith the ups and downs of the game the last two weeks. He was AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Patriots, but Sunday against the Saints he was flagged for pass interference on two fourth-down plays.
“You can go from the Patriots game when I thought I was, oh, man, I thought I was the man,” Haden said. “And then you go to the New Orleans game where it’s not quite so much. But you understand what it is. I gave my best effort. I tried my hardest. It was never a thing where it was effort. Sometimes plays don’t go your way. I’m a true believer that everything happens for a reason. I just needed a couple hours to get myself together. Just knowing that everything happens for a reason, that was one of the tougher ones. But having my teammates with me sayiung ‘Joe we wouldn’t be here without you.’ Their support helped me a lot.”
Haden was asked about the flags. The first has been universally criticized when he was flagged for a 33-yard penalty in the end zone against Alvin Kamara on fourth-and-1. The second was called in the fourth quarter after a fourth-and-2 pass to Michael Thomas.
“The one with Kamara was just a tough, tough call, bad call, but it is what it is,” Haden said. “The other one on fourth down, I think it might’ve got tipped but I was playing physical within five (yards). I could see how they would say I got a little pull on him. It was just physical ball so I think the second one was more the shaky one, but the first one I just don’t see.”
Has Haden sent positive messages to his former teammates in Cleveland?
“I talked to a couple of them,” he said. “Just giving them some motivation. At the end of the day I know those dudes. I know how they feel over there. Even though they may not be in the picture, I know they want to end on a good note. I know they’ll give their best effort.”
THE DAGGER
Hilton was one of several Steelers in coverage on the third-and-20 completion to Ted Ginn for 25 yards that put the Saints at the Pittsburgh 7 with 1:33 remaining.
What happened?
“It was one of our zone coverages,” Hilton said. “They ran a deep dagger. Most daggers are 10-15 yards. They ran that 23-25 yards to get the first down.”
Dagger is a type of route? Or a dramatic description of what happened to the Steelers’ playoff chances?
“It’s a deep in route,” Hilton said. “It caught us in the right spot. It was frustrating. We get them off the field there and that’s pretty much game.”