Tomlin Praises Woods, V. Williams

Good morning,

The big news Tuesday from Mike Tomlin’s press conference was the move to injured reserve for LaMarr Woodley, and the possibility he could have played his last game with the Steelers.

Other items not as noticeable may have been lost because of it. Among them:

--- Mike Tomlin is excited about Al Woods, who could fit into their defensive line somewhere in 2014, especially if Brett Keisel retires and Ziggy Hood is not re-signed. Here’s what the coach said about Woods:

“I think he’s a guy, like many guys in his circumstance, that’s getting an opportunity due to the misfortunes of someone else. He’s getting better with it. I thought that this performance was better than the last. I thought his pad level was good. I thought he came off blocks and was productive in some areas. I’m excited about him.”

--- Tomlin agreed with my early assessment that inside linebacker Vince Williams played pretty well on Sunday:

“Vince has been arrow pointed up over the course of the season. I like his demeanor. I’m excited about where he’s capable of going. I thought he stood up particularly in goal line situations, he met their big linemen in a gap. He had some splash plays. He’s contributing in an increased fashion on special teams. All the things you look for when you’re talking about a young guy.”

--- The Steelers backed off Eddie Lacy in the draft in part because of his injured big toe, which was fused by surgery. Tomlin said Tuesday the decision to draft Le’Veon Bell instead of Lacy in the second round was no contest.

“It was an easy decision for me. Again, probably because of the things that I talked about with his versatility that he’s displayed here but also at Michigan State. Obviously, Lacy is a top-quality back and rightfully so. He was a great back at Alabama. Obviously, he is over 1,000 yards and is proving his worth in Green Bay. Probably it’s just a matter of preference. Just like I am sure Cincinnati went through the same discussions and thoughts when they took Giovani Bernard in front of both of them.”

--- In his opening monologue (I’ll still take Letterman), Tomlin performed his usual service of going through nearly the entire starting 22 of the Green Bay Packers. But he chose to name the college of only two players when he said, “Jordy Nelson, obviously, has been around for a number of years. He is a Kansas State man” and later pointed out that Nick Perry was a first-round pick from Southern California.

There had to be a reason why Tomlin would point out that Nelson is a Kansas State man while ignoring the colleges of all those other Packers player he listed. Tomlin never coached at Kansas State. Perhaps it is just one of those peculiarities.

--- Of the 20 Packers players Tomlin mentioned in his opening monologue, he did not include that Shippensburg man, fullback John Kuhn, who earned a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers as part of their 2005 practice squad, an undrafted rookie. He spent the first eight weeks of the 2006 season on the Steelers practice squad. They signed him to their 53-man roster at mid-season and he played in nine games for them that year.

Bill Cowher left after that season as coach and Mike Tomlin took over. Kuhn came to training camp in 2007. In my last conversation with Myron Cope before the Steelers first preseason game in Canton that summer, he told me he wrote a letter to Tomlin extolling the virtues of John Kuhn and why he should keep him on the team.

But the Steelers’ new offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians, had no use for fullbacks and they cut him. The Packers claimed him and Kuhn not only went on to win a second Super Bowl ring playing against the Steelers, he made the Pro Bowl in 2011.

--- It is rare for Mike Tomlin to not defend his players, as it was for Bill Cowher. But Cowher once called out Joey Porter for hitting Baltimore tight end Todd Heap on a “clock’ pass play to stop the clock. And Tomlin came pretty close to that with Terence Garvin’s hit that broke the jaw of Cincinnati punter Kevin Huber.

First, Tomlin acknowledged that Garvin blocked the way he is coached to block. But then he added, “What he’s coached to do and what transpired on that play are two different things. Obviously, from a structure of a call standpoint, the position that he was in to be a final block, if you will, is what he’s coached to do. The nature in which the block unfolded, obviously, is not what we’re looking for. It’s not what we coach.”

--- Would there have been any kind of issue or possible fine from the NFL if Garvin threw the same block and Huber was not hurt? The answer: No.