Tuitt showing growth early in camp
LATOBE 鈥� Stephon Tuitt hadn鈥檛 made a tackle since the second quarter of the AFC Championship Game, when he dropped LeGarrette Blount for a two-yard loss. So, naturally, the defensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers was feeling a bit itchy.
Maybe that蘑菇视频 why he wrapped up Knile Davis with perfect form Friday and drove him into the ground.
At Greater Latrobe High School.
In shorts.
Without pads.
鈥淚 fell,鈥� said Tuitt.
With such fundamentals?
鈥淚 lost my footing,鈥� Tuitt said.
Is that what you told the coach?
Tuitt laughed. 鈥淵eah. You know, it蘑菇视频 football,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited. It蘑菇视频 a great time. Everybody蘑菇视频 excited. What happened yesterday happened but you don鈥檛 want to do that, of course, for your own protection without pads. But, you know, it蘑菇视频 football. Sometimes things happen.鈥�
Did it feel good?
鈥淚t felt really good,鈥� he said with another laugh. 鈥淕ot a little adrenaline rush. It felt great.鈥�
Tuitt is looking to be great this season. He was on the cusp a year ago, particularly after Cam Heyward went down at midseason. Tuitt needed to take on the role of unit leader and he, the unit, the defense and the team thrived.
鈥淚 know,鈥� Tuitt said. 鈥淚t蘑菇视频 just like when another person has an opportunity when they don鈥檛 have to be in the shadow for a moment, they get a chance to grow. That person can grow or that person can fall, and I grew. They threw the ball in my court and I had to make plays with it. In that situation, with that pressure, I responded well. I was prepared. And that蘑菇视频 only through having guys like Cam, Brett Keisel, who taught me some things, and Coach Mitch. I was up at 5 o鈥檆lock in the morning to go have meetings with him. That stuff brought me around.
鈥淎t the end of the day, when they needed me and it was time for me to step up, it was an awesome experience to be able to step up for the team. I think we won every game all the way through after that, until we played the Patriots and got kicked. But it was an awesome experience.鈥�
Since the Steelers 鈥済ot kicked,鈥� Tuitt has been to Arizona to work in the heat with James Harrison, had surgery on his finger and missed spring practices, and then worked out intensely with Heyward leading up to camp.
Tuitt蘑菇视频 now hungry to expand on a defense in which he, at times, played defensive end in a 4-3. He loved it and is looking foward to seeing what Heyward can add to it.
鈥淚 did a lot of that last year and I kicked a lot of tight end butt,鈥� Tuitt said of their 4-3 alignment. 鈥淭hey hate to see me come across there. It was an awesome defense for us and I think we鈥檙e going to continue to do that until offenses figure it out. A couple teams put an extra lineman out there but that蘑菇视频 taking a receiver off the field for them. So that蘑菇视频 a great defense for us. We had a lot of good productivity with that and we鈥檒l probably continue to stress that, and adding Cam will make it even better.鈥�
Tuitt believes the Steelers defense is on the cusp of greatness. The players, he said, believe it.
鈥淓verybody feels it,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can feel the energy. Like, me and Ryan (Shazier), we sit in the room and we watch some great defenses. The defense the Steelers had with Joey Porter, Casey Hampton, we watched them. We watched the 49ers. We watched Tampa Bay when they went to the Super Bowl. These teams were able to grow with each other. They pushed each other and they always expected the best out of each other. That蘑菇视频 how we want to be and that蘑菇视频 how we visualize ourselves.
鈥淎 lot of people can talk about how they want to be a great defense and where they want to go, but we can actually be that team that can do it. We believe it. We don鈥檛 go out there giving false bravado. We are that team. If nobody respects us, we鈥檙e going to make them respect us.鈥�
To hold up his end of the bargain, Tuitt reported at his low 17 percent body fat and figures to open the season at 310 pounds. He also would like to open the season with a brand new contract. He蘑菇视频 entering the final year of his rookie deal and hopes to be paid at a rate commensurate with his immense ability and, frankly, his growing potential.
鈥淚鈥檓 not paying attention to it much,鈥� Tuitt said. 鈥淢y biggest goal is to help this team win a world championship. We can do that. We鈥檝e got guys out there. That蘑菇视频 my excitement right now. I鈥檝e got a chance to be part of a team that can be prolific on offense and on defense. It蘑菇视频 really exciting.鈥�