Aug 16, 2017 5 min read

LATROBE – As training camp winds down for the Steelers at Saint Vincent College, the pressure to get injured players who have missed big chunks of time back on the field has increased.

Each passing day seems to bring another body or two back to the practice field.

But inside linebacker Ryan Shazier, who is nursing a right hamstring injury, has not been one of them.

His new partner on the inside, Vince Williams, missed time early in camp while he still recovered from offseason shoulder surgery when Shazier was practicing.

Shazier’s absence has put a hold on the duo that’s earned the label, “Shake and Bake,” for the time being. And it’s getting Williams antsy to get more reps with his partner.

“No question, we’ve got to have Ryan back, like yesterday,” said Williams.

Williams, who takes over the starting role left when Lawrence Timmons signed a free agent contract with Miami, has made 17 starts in his previous four seasons. But 11 of those came in his rookie season in 2013, the year before the Steelers selected Shazier in the first round of the draft.

Since then, he’s played significant snaps and made six starts.

Timmons was the definition of durability in his 10 seasons with the Steelers. He missed two games in his career and none in the past seven seasons.

Shazier has missed 14 games in his three seasons because of injury. Much of Williams’ playing time the past three years has been because Shazier was hurt.

Williams also has thrived in that role, including having a 15-tackle game last season against Kansas City.

“That is the only limitation in Ryan Shazier’s game, point blank period,” said Williams of Shazier’s injuries. “If he plays 16 games, he’s the best middle linebacker in football. There’s no other linebacker that can do the things he does. There’s just not.”

Even though he missed three games in 2016 with a knee injury, Shazier went to his first Pro Bowl. He finished the season with 87 tackles, 3.5 sacks, three interceptions and three forced fumbles.

He added two more interceptions in the Steelers’ first two playoff games, putting together a stretch where he had one in four straight games.

“I felt like I had a pretty good season, but it wasn’t the season that I wanted,” said Shazier, who was the only player in the NFL last season to record at least three sacks, three interceptions and three forced fumbles.

“I had really high expectations for myself so I’m just looking forward to this year and just continue to have a healthy season and show everybody why the Steelers drafted me in the first place.”

Shazier was drafted, essentially, to replace Williams, a sixth-round pick in 2013 and give the Steelers more athleticism at the second level of their defense.

Despite that, he and Williams have become great friends on and off the field.

That friendship, however, doesn’t help make up for the snaps they are missing working together at this training camp.

“I really haven’t gotten to work with Ryan that much,” Williams admitted. “I don’t think it will be that significant. I just want him out here because he needs the time.”

And as the only new starter on the Steelers’ defense this season, Williams doesn’t want there to be any falloff with him on the field.

That’s been his main goal.

“I just don’t want there to be any dropoff in our defensive production from the inside linebacker spot,” he said. “I don’t want anybody to notice Lawrence is even missing. We go with business as usual.”

Actually, Williams feels the defense could be even better.

Of the team’s 11 defensive starters, eight are 27 or younger. The only ones older than that are defensive end Cam Heyward (28), safety Mike Mitchell (30) and linebacker James Harrison (39). And outside linebackers coach Joey Porter has said the plan for the Steelers is to go with rookie T.J. Watt instead of Harrison.

Mitchell, like Shazier, has missed a significant amount of training camp with a lower leg issue.

“We have a guy at every position, a guy at every position who can make plays,” Williams said. “That’s significant. This defense can be as good as we choose to be, as we want to be and as health will permit us to be. Obviously, the best ability is availability. If we can’t get all 11 guys on the field together, then obviously, it’s going to suffer. But if we can get all 11 starters on the field consecutive games consistently, I think we’re going to be pretty good.”

Odds and end zones

Harrison said he was OK with the team’s decision to start Watt over him if it comes to that. “It don’t matter to me. Whatever it is they want me to do,” he said. … Among those who returned to practice at least on a limited basis Wednesday were quarterback Landry Jones, center Maurkice Pouncey and wide receiver Sammie Coates, who was activated off the PUP List Wednesday. … Sitting out in addition to Shazier and Mitchell were guard Ramon Foster, cornerback Senquez Golson and receiver Demarcus Ayers. … Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Shuster suffered a knee injury midway through practice and spent several minutes on the field. He declined to take a cart to the locker room and walked there under his own power. Head coach Mike Tomlin said he is still being evaluated, though the injury does not appear severe. … The Steelers will practice at 2:55 p.m. today. It is open to the public.