Steelers P Sepulveda eager for return

[mesaSteeler]

Steelers P Sepulveda eager for return
http://profootballweekly.com/2009/07...ger-for-return

Posted July 25, 2009 @ 8:53 a.m.
By Mike Wilkening

Steelers P Daniel Sepulveda’s troublesome right knee is “finally just getting to feel solid again,” as he put it recently. And Sepulveda, who missed all of last season but was healthy enough to punt in the spring, is eager to return to game action.

“Training camp is not something you normally look forward to,” Sepulveda told PFW in July. “It’s a little different this time around.”

Sepulveda, who is left-footed, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee twice in a little more than two years and first suffered the injury in the spring of 2006 while at Baylor. He underwent surgery, but he suffered a scare not long thereafter after he stood up and the knee “kind of slid on me,” he said. He had an MRI on the knee, but while no tear was found, the knee never felt quite right to Sepulveda.

“It was just loose,” he said. “And really, it was just a matter of time before it happened again.”

Still, Sepulveda had a strong senior season at Baylor, and the Steelers selected him in the fourth round of the ’07 draft. The knee held up through Sepulveda’s first NFL season, when he posted a respectable 37.9-yard net average. But it gave out last July, and Sepulveda elected to have season-ending surgery. In April, the meniscus was removed from his right knee, but Sepulveda said it was a routine procedure. He also feels fortunate that the surgeries have been on his right knee, not his left.

“All I’ve got to do is stick it in the ground,” Sepulveda said of his right leg. “It’s my plant leg. In a lot of ways, it is a blessing.”

The injury behind him, Sepulveda’s focus is to improve upon his ’07 play, which he says was not up to his standard.

“I just got a little tight,” Sepulveda said. “I was holding on to the ball a little too long, which is not the way I was at Baylor, and that’s not the way I’m going to be.”

Sepulveda said he’s more comfortable entering this season than he was in ’07, when he was a rookie playing a position in which teams have been known to quickly make a change if expectations aren’t being met. To Sepulveda, an increase in comfort level can only lead to an increase in performance.

He also expects a return to form in short order.

“I’ve been punting my whole life,” Sepulveda said. “It’s something my body and nervous system know how to do.”

Kickoff is coming! Be sure to buy copies of the Pro Football Weekly/Yahoo! Sports 2009 NFL preview magazine, as well as the Pro Football Weekly/Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football Guide 2009, both of which are now available at bookstores, newsstands and retail outlets where magazines are sold. Or order your copies online at PFWStore.com

[TackleMeBen]

i think he isnt the only one that is eager for his return..... HTG...lol... i know she will be happy to see him back in uniform and on the field.

[stillers4me]

HTG is not the only one happy to see Sep back on the field for more reason that one.

[TackleMeBen]

stillers... i didnt know you liked looking at his guns

[stillers4me]

Originally Posted by TackleMeBen

stillers... i didnt know you liked looking at his guns

I hadn't even gotten to his guns yet...but I'll let you know..unless you really meant "buns".

[PalmerSteel]

you guys hear the new rule? no more wedges on special teams, so worst case scenario i think this will bring the elite ST teams back down to our level. special teams has been our biggest weakness for the past 5 years IMO.

[TackleMeBen]

Originally Posted by stillers4me

I hadn't even gotten to his guns yet...but I'll let you know..unless you really meant "buns".

so you havent made it above the waistline yet???
no i didnt mean buns i meant guns.

[fansince'76]

Originally Posted by PalmerSteel

you guys hear the new rule? no more wedges on special teams, so worst case scenario i think this will bring the elite ST teams back down to our level. special teams has been our biggest weakness for the past 5 years IMO.

Uhhh, we were ranked #1 and #4 in the NFL in kickoff and punt coverage, respectively, last season....

The Steelers finished 2008 with the AFC's No. 1 special teams in both kick- and punt-return defense. They finished as the NFL's No. 1 in kickoff defense and No. 4 in punt defense, a hefty hike from Nos. 16 and 14 in those respective categories a year ago.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09009/940646-66.stm

[TackleMeBen]

that doesnt matter, i wouldnt want to be returning the kick and have Sepulveda waiting to tackle me.

[tony hipchest]

sitting on the bench and watching the other 2 punters we had in there, has got to give him a world of confidence.