Steelers will go with Allen at strong safety
PITTSBURGH – The Steelers coaching staff spent much of the preseason talking about how they were concerened that projected starters at safety Shamarko Thomas and Mike Mitchell had not seen much time together because of injuries.
Sunday, that concern went out the window, not because Thomas and Mitchell were both finally on the field at the same time, but because the projected starters have changed.
Thomas, who was expected to replace Troy Polamalu as the Steelers’ starting strong safety, said Sunday that he had been demoted and veteran Will Allen will get the start when Pittsburgh travels to New England Thursday to open the NFL season.
“The starters are Mike Mitchell and Will Allen,” a disappointed Thomas said. “I’m just going to do my job and work.”
Thomas, a third-year safety out of Syracuse, said defensive backs coach Carnell Lake broke the news to him when he arrived at the team facility on the South Side.
“I just found out this morning,” he said. “I’m going to work and prepare and just put everything I’ve got into this. It’s God’s plan.”
Thomas was responsible for giving up some big plays in the preseason, including taking a bad angle on a 49-yard run by Jordan Todman in last Thursday’s 23-6 loss to Carolina in the finale. The Steelers signed Todman on Sunday to their active roster after he was released by Carolina Saturday.
That play might have been the last straw for the coaching staff with Thomas, a fourth-round draft pick in 2013.
Allen, a 12-year veteran, was drafted by Tampa Bay in 2004 when Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was the Bucs’ secondary coach and came to Pittsburgh in 2010.
The veteran has started 11 games for the Steelers and is well versed in the Cover-2 defensive scheme the team wants to use more of this season under new defensive coordinator Keith Butler.
In fact, Allen knows the concept so well that when Tomlin was teaching it to the team’s corners at training camp, he used Allen and former Tampa Bay cornerback Dexter Jackson, who was with the Steelers as a coaching intern, to show them proper technique.
Allen knows how important good safety play is in what the Steelers are trying to accomplish defensively.
“I think every position is important. But I think safety is a very important position in the game today because of how much teams are passing,” Allen said. “You have to be able to stop the run, understand run fits, understand how that quarterback is going to attack you from the passing standpoint. It’s a very dynamic position in today’s NFL.”
Those things will be especially important Thursday at New England, the defending Super Bowl champions. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been tough on the Steelers in his career, going 5-2 and throwing for 2,316 yards, 18 touchdown passes and just three interceptions. His passer rating of 109.7 against Pittsburgh is his third-highest against any team.
“I’ve seen him light us up a whole bunch of times,” said Allen.
The most famous of those “light up” moments came in 2007 when another Steelers safety, Anthony Smith, guaranteed a Pittsburgh win over the Patriots.
Brady went after Smith time and again, throwing for 399 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-13 victory after which New England head coach Bill Belichick said that he had, “played against a lot better safeties,” when asked about Smith.
Allen isn’t in the guarantee business.
“He’s dynamic, a hall-of-famer, a great, great quarterback,” Allen said of Brady. “We’ve just got to go down there and play our game, not make mental mistakes. He’s going to win some, but we’ve got to win more. It’s a matter of being disciplined and focusing on the challenge at hand.
“These guys are difficult to stop. They’re world champions. They’re Pro Bowl players, all-league players. It’s just about meeting the challenge and understanding that it’s competition. You have to exceed the expectations and play as hard as you can.”
Thomas’ demotion is the latest setback for a player considered the heir apparent to Polamalu, who retired after the 2014 season.
He opened the 2013 season as the team’s nickel back, making two starts, but was slowed at time by an ankle injury. Last season, he was limited to 11 games by a hamstring injury and saw action mainly on special teams.
Now, after being the starting strong safety throughout the offseason and training camp, he finds himself on the bench again.
“I’ve just got to keep my head up and keep working,” Thomas said. “That’s all I can do.”
Odds and end zones
In addition to Todman, the Steelers claimed rookie defensive end Caushaud Lyons off waivers from Tampa Bay. Todman, a four-year veteran, rushed for 72 yards on five carries last Thursday night against the Steelers, while Lyons was signed by Tampa Bay as an undrafted rookie out of Tusculum. To make room on the roster, the Steelers released cornerback Doran Grant, a fourth-round draft pick, and linebacker Anthony Chickillo, a sixth-round selection. Center Maurkice Pouncey was placed on IR Sunday with a designation to return. The Steelers re-signed center Doug Legursky, who was released Saturday, to take his place on the roster. Pouncey, who has a broken leg, is not eligible to return until Nov. 8 against Oakland at the earliest. … The Steelers signed 10 players to their practice squad Sunday. They were: running back Dominique Brown, defensive back Jordan Dangerfield, offensive linemen Reese Dismukes and Antonio Johnson, linebackers L.J. Fort and Shayon Green, defensive end Ethan Hemer, wide receivers Shakim Phillips and Jarrod West, and tight end Harold Spears. … Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, defensive end Cam Heyward, cornerback William Gay and safety Robert Golden were voted captains by their teammates. … According to head coach Mike Tomlin, linebacker Lawerence Timmons returned to practice Sunday after sitting out the past few weeks with a toe injury. …. Defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who missed the past two preseason games with an ankle sprain said he will be ready to play against the Patriots.