http://www.pennlive.com/steelers/index.ssf/2016/01/steelers_practice_squad_1.html
PITTSBURGH - None of the teams the Pittsburgh Steelers enter the AFC playoffs with do so with as many of their own former practice squad players on the active roster.
The 13 that Pittsburgh carries are, in part, why the team has a playoffs to play in. They're also products of a Mike Tomlin philosophy and how the Steelers function as a franchise.
"The bottom line is: If they're in the building, if they're a part of our organization, we coach them. And that seems like nothing but that's something," Tomlin said. "I believe our developmental guys, our practice squad guys know that they're not tackling dummies, that they're not scout teamers, that they help us prepare and in doing so they get better and prepare themselves.
"And I think that that mentality permeates throughout, not only with those guys but in the men that coach them."
Pittsburgh is far from unique for having hurt players and replacing them. The Kansas City Chiefs roster holds 11 in-house practice squad graduates. The Houston Texans' holds 10. But the way the Steelers manage their 10 extra players that can't play until they're promoted to the 53-man roster does set them apart, veteran players said.
Toiling through the week, feigning opposing offenses and defenses - wears down practice squad prospects. For the first time in their lives, former practice squad tight end Xavier Grimble said, players are going through weeks in the fall working on the game they love, all while knowing they won't get to play it on the weekend.
This happens in Pittsburgh, but the Steelers make it easier. Their practice squad memebers are told where they stand, coached like they'll play and, rather than being looked over for free agents, get promoted and do take the field more than most.
"Hey man, it's a special place. That's what it is," Darrius Heyward-Bey said.
Heyward-Bey is a veteran wide receiver of eight seasons and three NFL teams, including the Steelers. Elsewhere, he said, an active roster player goes down and his front office looks for unemployed veterans to sign.
The open market comes before the 10 practice squad players in the building. And while Pittsburgh doesn't always go to its in-house reserves for help, the team finds it's simply practical to.
"So if you're not running the route right, we're not just going to skip over you because you're not playing. We're going to coach [Marcus Tucker] up, like he's playing, because he needs to be better because he might play. Just like [No.] 15. If we weren't coaching [No.] 15 up, [No.] 15 wouldn't be out there," Heyward Bey said, referring to Demarcus Ayers. "We would've lost to the Ravens.
"Or it would've been somebody outside of here out there. But then that's difficult because now you got to learn the playbook, do you know what you're doing? He's known what he's been doing since OTAs."
Tucker, the practice squad wide receiver Heyward-Bey turned over his left shoulder to point to, is Pittsburgh's only practice squad receiver not to have been promoted to the active roster this season. Cobi Hamilton and Demarcus Ayers were.
They were two of three former Steelers practice squad players on the field for Pittsburgh's AFC North-winning drive. The other, left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, protected Ben Roethlisberger's blind side.
PITTSBURGH - None of the teams the Pittsburgh Steelers enter the AFC playoffs with do so with as many of their own former practice squad players on the active roster.
The 13 that Pittsburgh carries are, in part, why the team has a playoffs to play in. They're also products of a Mike Tomlin philosophy and how the Steelers function as a franchise.
"The bottom line is: If they're in the building, if they're a part of our organization, we coach them. And that seems like nothing but that's something," Tomlin said. "I believe our developmental guys, our practice squad guys know that they're not tackling dummies, that they're not scout teamers, that they help us prepare and in doing so they get better and prepare themselves.
"And I think that that mentality permeates throughout, not only with those guys but in the men that coach them."
Pittsburgh is far from unique for having hurt players and replacing them. The Kansas City Chiefs roster holds 11 in-house practice squad graduates. The Houston Texans' holds 10. But the way the Steelers manage their 10 extra players that can't play until they're promoted to the 53-man roster does set them apart, veteran players said.
Toiling through the week, feigning opposing offenses and defenses - wears down practice squad prospects. For the first time in their lives, former practice squad tight end Xavier Grimble said, players are going through weeks in the fall working on the game they love, all while knowing they won't get to play it on the weekend.
This happens in Pittsburgh, but the Steelers make it easier. Their practice squad memebers are told where they stand, coached like they'll play and, rather than being looked over for free agents, get promoted and do take the field more than most.
"Hey man, it's a special place. That's what it is," Darrius Heyward-Bey said.
Heyward-Bey is a veteran wide receiver of eight seasons and three NFL teams, including the Steelers. Elsewhere, he said, an active roster player goes down and his front office looks for unemployed veterans to sign.
The open market comes before the 10 practice squad players in the building. And while Pittsburgh doesn't always go to its in-house reserves for help, the team finds it's simply practical to.
"So if you're not running the route right, we're not just going to skip over you because you're not playing. We're going to coach [Marcus Tucker] up, like he's playing, because he needs to be better because he might play. Just like [No.] 15. If we weren't coaching [No.] 15 up, [No.] 15 wouldn't be out there," Heyward Bey said, referring to Demarcus Ayers. "We would've lost to the Ravens.
"Or it would've been somebody outside of here out there. But then that's difficult because now you got to learn the playbook, do you know what you're doing? He's known what he's been doing since OTAs."
Tucker, the practice squad wide receiver Heyward-Bey turned over his left shoulder to point to, is Pittsburgh's only practice squad receiver not to have been promoted to the active roster this season. Cobi Hamilton and Demarcus Ayers were.
They were two of three former Steelers practice squad players on the field for Pittsburgh's AFC North-winning drive. The other, left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, protected Ben Roethlisberger's blind side.
