Steelers Friday Practice Report

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

The Pittsburgh Steelers completed their final major practice before Super Bowl XLIII today. The team implemented their gameplan for the Super Bowl last week at their Pittsburgh practice facility. The Wednesday, Thursday and Friday practices this week were mirror workouts of what the team did last week. And head coach Mike Tomlin thinks his team is ready:

“I feel great about our preparation. Of course, you evaluate your preparation by your performance in the game, but I think the guys understand everything they have to do entering the game.”

They’re certainly healthy enough to understand it. All 53 players, including receiver Hines Ward, practiced without restriction in unseasonably cold conditions (55 degrees) for an hour and 50 minutes. The Steelers first-team offense and defense worked on third-and-short, goal-line, red-zone and nickel situations, with piped-in crowd noise at the snap of the ball. As he has done all week, backup quarterback Byron Leftwich did a great job playing the scout team and giving his best Kurt Warner impersonation.

So there is nothing to mention on the injury report. Ben Roethlisberger looked sharp again today after being accused of getting an x-ray on some potentially sore ribs yesterday. ESPN was running the news in their crawler or ticker or whatever you call it — Ben Roethlisberger underwent a second x-ray Wednesday on the rib injury he suffered in the AFC championship game. But I guess it really doesn’t matter because Ben seems just fine.

The Steelers will conclude their practice week with a short walk-through session tomorrow at 10 a.m. before the club changes lodging Saturday afternoon from their Tampa hotel to a private location in the Tampa Bay area to ensure privacy before Sunday’s game.

Thanks to fellow PFWA member Peter King for today’s pool report.