Steelers punter Berry deserves to be MVP
PITTSBURGH 鈥� The Pittsburgh Steelers call their Australian-born punter 鈥淢ate.鈥�
And Jordan Berry蘑菇视频 fine with it.
鈥淚 was 鈥楳cDundee鈥� in college, so it蘑菇视频 better than that I guess,鈥� Berry said with a laugh.
You know what else makes the Steelers punter laugh?
Call him the MVP of Sunday蘑菇视频 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
鈥淲e were able as a whole punt unit to get some net yardage and pin them deep and get that advantage,鈥� Berry said. 鈥淭hat was a pretty good advantage. But, yeah, being MVP I think is a bit of a stretch.鈥�
It really isn鈥檛. Against the Bengals Berry landed five punts inside the 20, and in doing so still finished with an outstanding net average of 42.3 yards.
His work brought unsolicited praise from the head coach at his Tuesday press conference.
鈥淥ur punting was excellent,鈥� said Mike Tomlin. 鈥淚 thought field position was a legitimate edge in the game for us. Jordan Berry and that punt group did an awesome job of largely making Cincinnati work on the long field for the majority of the day, particularly in the second quarter. In one instance, we held them, backed them up, forced them to punt, and we were able to get a field goal out of it without even getting a first down. Not too often does that happen.鈥�
Berry punted to the Cincinnati 5 and a penalty put the Bengals at the three. They punted out to their own 36, the Steelers gained six yards and Chris Boswell kicked a 49-yard field goal for a 10-3 lead.
In the rain, every point mattered.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel it was too much different than what I was doing last year,鈥� Berry said. 鈥淛ust pooch punting, and that was one area I was real strong at last year. It was good to get out there in those conditions and execute properly.鈥�
FINNEY AND FEENEY
Left guard Ramon Foster was limited Thursday after sitting out Wednesday蘑菇视频 practice (鈥渏ust coach giving me a day鈥�) but said 鈥淚鈥檓 playing. Can鈥檛 miss this. Got a chance to go 3-0? I鈥檓 in.鈥�
In his place working with the first team for the first time since joining the Steelers in 2015 was B.J. Finney, the undrafted first-year player out of Kansas State. Finney spent last year on the practice squad before making the roster this season.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e giving me reps in the game plan in case something happens,鈥� said Finney. 鈥淛ust keeping me involved, and from that aspect I was happy to get in and get some reps and know the game plan, get a better understanding of it. It蘑菇视频 different when you don鈥檛 get any reps than when you do, so it felt good because the coach felt good putting me in there and that蘑菇视频 ultimately what matters.鈥�
Also getting legitimate reps for the first time, albeit with the second team, was rookie outside linebacker Travis Feeney, who蘑菇视频 still on the practice squad. But the coaches wanted to give the four rostered OLBs a break and moved Feeney over from the scout team.
鈥淚 was sidelined a lot at camp, but I鈥檓 back now,鈥� said Feeney. 鈥淚 feel great.鈥�
INJURY REPORT
Markus Wheaton practiced for the second day after missing the last three weeks with a shoulder injury. 鈥淓verything蘑菇视频 great,鈥� Wheaton said. 鈥淚鈥檓 very excited.鈥�
But it doesn鈥檛 sound 鈥� according to offensive coordinator Todd Haley 鈥� like Wheaton will resume taking all, or even a majority, of the snaps opposite Antonio Brown.
鈥淲e will have a little something for all of them,鈥� Haley said. 鈥淎s soon as one of them stands head and shoulders above the rest, they will be out there more.鈥�
The only players to miss practice were reserve quarterback Landry Jones (back) and backup guard-center Cody Wallace (knee).
Chris Hubbard returned to practice after the birth of he and his wife蘑菇视频 first child, a son they named Creed.
AB鈥橲 OPEN
Antonio Brown let it be known that he wanted the ball more often last Sunday. He was targeted 11 times and caught four passes a game after being targeted the same amount of times but catching eight.
Said Ben Roethlisberger on Wednesday: 鈥淚鈥檝e been in the league long enough to know every single receiver is open on every single play.鈥�
Haley was asked about it Thursday.
鈥淚 learned a lot about that coaching wide receivers for 8-9 years in the league,鈥� Haley said. 鈥淭he good ones usually want the ball every time, and they are always open. AB is highly, highly competitive. But there are going to be some games where some of the coverages and things we see being played against him, or we have to use him to our advantages in other areas. That蘑菇视频 why I think it was critical that you saw the other guys, whether it was Sammie Coates, Xavier Grimble or Jesse James 鈥� and Eli Rogers had a big third-down catch early 鈥� but those guys are going to have to make plays in some of those situations because it蘑菇视频 not going to change with AB. He is going to get a lot of attention. What I keep telling AB is he ought to be rooting for those guys, and really our whole group, because to be as good as we want to be, it蘑菇视频 an entire group that has to put the group first. And AB does a very good job of that.鈥�