Pouncey guarantees he’ll play Sunday
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Maurkice Pouncey sat at his locker with a large wrap around his injured right thumb and talked about missing Thursday蘑菇视频 practice.
In the next breath, the Steelers center guaranteed he was playing Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
鈥淚鈥檓 playing, 100 percent,鈥� Pouncey said. 鈥淣ever any doubt.鈥�
Unless the coach says he蘑菇视频 not?
鈥淲ho? What?鈥� Pouncey asked in an agitated state. 鈥淗eck, Coach Tomlin wants me out there. So does Coach Munch. No, I鈥檓 good. People are making a bigger deal than what it is. Let蘑菇视频 just go play, man. We鈥檝e got a football game. I sat on the couch too long not to be ready to play.鈥�
Pouncey, of course, missed all of last season with an ankle injury, and last Sunday dislocated the top joint of his right thumb on the second play of the game. He went to the locker room and 鈥渢hey just popped it back in, stitched it up and I went back out.鈥�
Pouncey played the final series of the first quarter and through the second quarter before it popped back out and the Steelers shut him down. He underwent surgery the other day and the wrap is to protect the stitches. He expects to practice Friday and play Sunday. Pouncey said he can squeeze the ball and snap either shotgun or traditional style.
Someone asked him if he can hold.
鈥淲ant me to grab you?鈥� Pouncey asked with a laugh. 鈥淣ah, I鈥檓 good, man. Believe me, I鈥檓 ready to rock.鈥�
ROTATION AT SAFETY
Last Sunday, rookie Sean Davis alternated series with starting strong safety Rob Golden. Davis said on Monday it蘑菇视频 an open competition for the starting job.
Defensive coordinator Keith Butler said the competition sprang up because of Golden蘑菇视频 hamstring injury last month that cost him games against the Chiefs and Jets.
鈥淩ob G was hurt a little bit, so what we tried to do was cover ourselves, like you鈥檝e always got to do in practice,鈥� said Butler.
In that time, Davis showed his athleticism and began to improve.
鈥淢entally, you rarely see Rob G out of position,鈥� Butler said. 鈥淭here蘑菇视频 something to be said for that. Plus, he talks a lot. The guy alerts people to a lot of things, so it蘑菇视频 hard to replace that, even though you鈥檝e got somebody maybe a little bit better physically. So, you kind of got to be careful in how you transition people in and out.鈥�
The rotation will continue through Sunday蘑菇视频 game.
INJURY REPORT
Along with Pouncey, sitting out of Thursday蘑菇视频 practice were WR Darrius Heyward-Bey (foot), RB DeAngelo Williams (knee) and SS Jordan Dangerfield (groin).
Heyward-Bey was again on crutches and in a walking boot at the facility, but said he expects to return in the near future.
Missing practice for the Cowboys on Thursday were two starters on each side of the ball. S Barry Church (forearm) and CB Morris Claiborne (groin) missed last Sunday蘑菇视频 game in Cleveland and are each expected to miss Sunday蘑菇视频 game as well.
Missing consecutive practices on offense were linemen Tyron Smith (back) and Ron Leary (concussion).
Smith, perhaps the best left tackle in football, has struggled all season with a back problem. Leary, who replaced injured starter La鈥橢l Collins earlier in the season, left the Browns game in the fourth quarter and has since been in the concussion protocol.
QUICK-HITTERS
n Pouncey on Ladarius Green: 鈥淗e looks awesome in practice. Game speed will be a little bit different for him so we鈥檒l see how things turn out this week.鈥�
n Todd Haley on Green: 鈥淗e蘑菇视频 still got to finish up the week and again that鈥檒l be one of those that comes down to coach at the end of the week, what he decides to do.鈥�
n Pouncey on the practice week: 鈥淚 like how Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday went for us. Practice has been great and the guys are really focused and locked in. Everybody蘑菇视频 hungry. Everybody蘑菇视频 pissed off we鈥檝e been losing.鈥�
n Ryan Shazier on what he knows about Dallas LB Sean Lee: 鈥淚n college, Penn State tried to call themselves Linebacker U, or whatever, so when I was at Ohio State and we played them we always tried to prepare ourselves and say 鈥榃e鈥檙e the real Linebacker U.'鈥�
n Shazier on former college teammate and current Dallas RB Ezekial Elliott: 鈥淚 knew in his freshman year he was going to be in the running for the Heisman Trophy eventually. I knew he was that good. He had that much talent. He was behind a high draft pick in Carlos Hyde but Zeke is a great player. I knew he was going to be good and you can definitely see it the way everything蘑菇视频 going on right now.鈥�