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Email: "Steelers look to shore up punting"
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PITTSBURGH — Considering the Steelers won their second Super Bowl in four years, it is hard to quibble with anything they did last season. However, one of their flaws was inconsistent punting that was the result of Daniel Sepulveda, a left-footed kicker, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during training camp. Pittsburgh spent the season shuffling punters, trying to get by with a combination of Mitch Berger and Paul Ernster. The Steelers wound up 19th in the 32-team NFL in punting with a 39.8 average and their net average of 35.6 ranked 25th. Berger averaged 41.3 yards a punt with a 36.4 net average. Ernster’s averages were 31.6 and 31.3. However, Sepulveda is healthy again and that should make a difference. Sepulveda had averages of 42.4 and 37.9 as a rookie in 2007 when the Steelers used their fourth-round draft pick, an unusually high selection for a punter, to take him after an All-America career at Baylor. Sepulveda has been impressive during training camp with hang times on his punts as long as 5.3 seconds, which is considered outstanding. Most importantly, he said his knee feels fine. “It’s 100 percent,” he said. “No wobble, no glide, no nothing. It’s nice and tight.” Sepulveda put himself through what he termed a “two-week personal training camp” leading up to the start of the real thing at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, even though he is the only punter on the Steelers’ camp roster. “It was real important to me that I go back out there and prove to them that I’m their guy,” Sepulveda said. “There may not have been as much riding on it as I had riding on it. It was important to me, though, and I’m glad it went well.” FITZGERALD EMERGING AS LEADER: Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will return to Heinz Field on Thursday night when the Cardinals meet the Steelers in the exhibition opener and Super Bowl rematch for the first time since he starred at the University of Pittsburgh and was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2003. Fitzgerald admits he has come a long way since he left Pitt. “I came into the NFL when I was 20 years old and I don’t think you have an understanding of what it really takes,” Fitzgerald said. “I think you have an idea of what you may need to do but until you get out there and see what it takes and you see some of the great guys of the past and what they had to do to make themselves great, you have to sacrifice.” Fitzgerald is undoubtedly headed toward greatness after last season in which he played a major role in helping the Cardinals reach the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. He had 96 receptions for 1,431 yards and a league-leading 12 touchdowns in the regular season then 30 catches for 546 yards and seven scores in four post-season games. Cardinals head coach and former Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt likes what Fitzgerald offers off the field as well on. “If you look at what Larry did for us last year, especially in the playoffs, people look to him as a leader,” Whisenhunt said. “Since he has a reputation as one of the best players, he’s using that to help influence our younger players and make them better.” LEFTWICH WANTS TO START: Byron Leftwich is in a three-way battle to be Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback with Luke McCown and first-round draft pick Josh Freeman after leaving the Steelers as a free agent in the offseason. The Steelers wanted Leftwich to return as Ben Roethlisberger’s backup for a second season but the sides couldn’t agree on contact terms. “Last year, no matter what I did, I wasn’t going to play in front of Ben,” Leftwich said. “Having this chance to come out here and play and be in the competition to win the starting quarterback job is exciting to me. I’ve got to believe they’ll put the best quarterback out there. That’s why I’m here.” Leftwich was a solid No. 2 quarterback for the Steelers last season, completing 21 of 36 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He has not been a starter, though, since 2006 when he was in the last of his four seasons with Jacksonville. COWHER ON BURRESS: Former Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress is in a heap of trouble after being indicated this week by a grand jury stemming from the incident last November in which he accidently shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub. If found guilty of a felony charge of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, he could serve from 3¢-15 years in jail. Bill Cowher was Burress’ coach with the Steelers from 2000-04. Cowher told the New York Daily News that Burress’ fall from grace is “unfortunate.” “Obviously, the choices that he has made have put him in the situation that he is in,” Cowher said.”I don’t think he’s a victim from any standpoint. It’s unfortunate, particularly from the standpoint of a talented player who had a lot going for him. “He’s got a lot of things ahead of him that will probably be more defining of him as a person than any catch he ever made.” (Perrotto can be contacted at jperrotto@piratesreport.com)

 

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