Steelers struggle through Thursday's practice
 

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/trib.../s_376973.html

Several Steelers players said coach Bill Cowher was not satisfied with Thursday's practice.

"He raised the temperatures a little bit out there," left guard Alan Faneca said afterward. "He was just making sure our mind was in the right place. You know, big game coming up and he likes to do that, make sure our minds are in the right place, just a little check-up."

Cowher, apparently, wants his team to understand that it can't shirk the details with the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots invading Heinz Field in two days.

"He's a perfectionist; I'm a perfectionist," free safety Chris Hope said. "The way he's looking at it is, we're not close enough; we're not making the plays. And, in order for you to make those plays in games, you have to be making them in practice."

At a news conference two days earlier, Cowher said his team would not become complacent, despite two easy wins against Houston and Tennessee. He was asked if playing the Super Bowl champions guaranteed the Steelers would keep their early-season edge.

"We'll keep the edge," he said. "Trust me, we'll keep the edge. Whether it's New England or whoever it is, you have to. Not having it is not even an option."

The Patriots are not likely to wilt against a Steelers team that trampled Tennessee, 34-7; and Houston, 27-7. The Patriots are coming off a 10-point loss at Carolina and they have no intention of starting the season 1-2.

"Coach has been honest with us," Hope said. "The teams we've played were good, but they're not the Patriots. And who knows how good the Patriots are until you play them? But he's trying to keep us focused with the mentality that we haven't done anything yet. We're 2-0, but we could be 0-2. And if we were 0-2, would the practices be any different? We have to come out each and every day at practice with that edge, with that hunger."

Ward, a team captain, said practice went smoother once Cowher reset things yesterday. Ward said it is the job of the veterans to remind the young players that winning games by scores of 34-7 and 27-7 are not commonplace in the NFL, that each week provides a different challenge.

"You can't look at what we did in the past and think, because of what we did, we can just go into the next game and beat somebody," Ward said. "Especially the defending champions. The veteran guys understand that we need to go out and put in the work, because this is a championship team coming to our backyard. We can't be expected to come out and just play. We gotta go out there and execute our game plan and simulate that at practice as much as possible."

Faneca had this to say about Cowher's reaction to practice: "Sometimes, it's a situation where we need it and, sometimes, it's a little reminder, things may be going fine but he feels a little reminder is needed. That's his job. His job is to steer the ship."

Re: Steelers struggle through Thursday's practice
 

well hopefully they can get it together (which i'm pretty sure they will) and get focused for this game comin up, cause if we lose all the media is gonna talk mad shit, and we'll never hear the end of it from that retard eagles fan and a couple of them retarded bengals fan, and i don't really feel like getting into flame wars with anyone which i'm pretty sure i will cause i don't back down from nothing. i can't wait for sunday i wish it was the 12 o'clock central game, instead of the 3 something cause i don't like waiting

Re: Steelers struggle through Thursday's practice
 

Yeah it doesnt worry me really..ur bound to have some off days in practice, in meetings etc...somedays its just hard to get focused for practice. Every team goes through it...but we'll be up for this game, no doubt..hell if you cant get up for a game like this, u must live under a rock!

Re: Steelers struggle through Thursday's practice
 

Thank God they play on Sunday and not Thursday!

Re: Steelers struggle through Thursday's practice
 

Cowher is a great motivator, hopefully we will be fine.

Re: Steelers struggle through Thursday's practice
 

they probably practiced fine and chowers just talking shit to keep them on edge and keep them from being complacent

Re: Steelers struggle through Thursday's practice
 

That would be funny! But I know we can all see Cowher screaming and spitting!

Re: Steelers struggle through Thursday's practice
 

everybody is thinking revenge, whether they admit it or not, they know winning this game will go far towards our ultimate goal. this is just another step, but a very important one.

Re: Steelers struggle through Thursday's practice
 

i hope we pour it on fast and keep it comin, i hope we embarrass them beyond belief. that will be some sweet revenge

Re: Steelers struggle through Thursday's practice
 

coach cowher is great with psychology. inside the nfl, week 1 had him miked up and there was an interesting exchange on the sidelines with him, duce and jerome. they were talking about how good they were playing and you could tell jerome and duce were loving it. cowher was smiling as they talked about defense and kind of tongue in cheek said , "yeah but we screwed up". jerome and duces eyes got big and they started spewing all the good defensive stats for the day asking their coach if he was serious and with a smile he said "yeah we screwed up". the 2 backs started laughing as if to call him crazy. the whole next week and in the post game conference to a tee, the defensive players, especially t. polamalu were saying how they screwed up and had lots of room to improve and were not where they need to be. this is where i think he is a great coach. while he knew his d played 1 hell of a game he had them coming out the following week on fire like they let one slip through their fingers. t. polamalu had 3 sacks and still seemed dissatisfied with his play. this team will not become complacent until they win the superbowl. bill cowher stakes his job on it. after all we see what complacency has done to the ravens. just cause they write a 'w' next to an opponent on a schedule they come out thinking their work is done. they figuresd since we beat the titans and they are so much better than we are they could sleep walk in tennessee. i bet that dolt billick canceled all practices heading up to that game.