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NFL

Steelers' O-line holds key to Ben Roethlisberger's future

PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger has cited health concerns and family as potential reasons to leave prime years on the field and retire sooner rather than later.

Then, when addressing the media Wednesday, Roethlisberger offered a counterargument of sorts with this sneaky-significant quote:

“If those guys in the front play as well as they’ve been playing, getting sacked 17 times in a year, that might keep me around a little longer,” Roethlisberger said about his offensive line.

The Steelers’ line is a catalyst for a late-30s Roethlisberger push beyond obvious, “Football 101” reasons. Roethlisberger is basically a sixth lineman.

Every day, he’s with Alejandro Villanueva, Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro and Marcus Gilbert. When the team finishes walk-throughs at St. Vincent College, those six are coming up the hill together.

The production and relative youth of the Steelers’ offensive line could make Ben Roethlisberger stick around longer than expected. Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports

Roethlisberger had one Steeler at his summer camp: Pouncey.

By saying this, Roethlisberger is informally placing his career in lockstep with the current nucleus up front. And all five of those linemen are set to play at least two more years together. All of the starting linemen, save for Foster, are under contract until at least 2019, according to ESPN’s Roster Management System. Foster becomes a free agent after the 2018 season.

The Steelers spent high draft picks on Pouncey, DeCastro and Gilbert, then developed undrafted players Foster and Villanueva into productive starters. Roethlisberger calls the line “probably the most important part of this team,” and the money reflects that. The starting five comprises $36.1 million of the team’s 2017 salary cap. And the production lies in the franchise-record-setting yardage pace set by Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell in recent years.

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This line’s average age is 28.6. It’s ready to play good football for a while.

Roethlisberger isn’t thinking that far ahead — for now.

“I’m giving it everything I have in this training camp to the first game,” Roethlisberger said. “I commit myself 110 percent and I will do that throughout the season, but I don’t want to look past the season or the day. I think we are blessed to be here for this day today. Tomorrow is not promised for any of us, so we should enjoy this moment right here right now.”

If Roethlisberger commits to 2018, a big reason why will be, literally, right in front of him.

NFL

Colts scuffle in practice in contrast to their 'soft' image

INDIANAPOLIS — Maybe there’s hope after all for the Indianapolis Colts to change the thought of them being a soft team.

It started with a dust-up between receiver T.Y. Hilton and cornerback Vontae Davis and later included Davis and receiver Phillip Dorsett.

In their first day in pads, the Colts saw emotions get going, as there were two scuffles that both featured Davis.

“I don’t know if it’s fed up with one another,” coach Chuck Pagano said. “I think there’s a perception out there. And we have to change that.”

What perception is that, Coach?

“You guys understand what I’m talking about, you guys write it,” Pagano said.

Chuck Pagano admitted he’s aware the Colts have a reputation as a soft team. Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports

The Colts have been more of a finesse, big-play team than one that will punch its opponent in the mouth and have no problem playing with a street-brawl mentality.

How else can you explain them losing the AFC South in the month of December the last two seasons?

Mentally and physically tough teams don’t let the Houston Texans come into their own backyard and snatch the division away from them. But that’s been the case, and that’s why the Colts are trying their best to change their image.

That’s one of the reasons why they decided to tackle in training camp, something new general manager Chris Ballard has been looking for them to do. The Colts’ previous approach of not tackling was proved not to work, because they’ve routinely been a poor defensive team.

The altercation between Hilton and Davis came after a play when the players were walking back to the huddle during a red-zone situation. Hilton bumped into Davis, who then turned around and shoved his teammate back. The two became tangled up before Pagano and several receivers ran over to break up the skirmish.

Hilton got the better of Davis several plays later when he ran an out route and slid to the ground to catch a touchdown pass from quarterback Scott Tolzien. Hilton hopped up quickly and started celebrating the touchdown.

Hilton and Davis shook hands at the end of that portion of practice.

“Just competing, that’s all,” Hilton said. “At the end of day, guys are going to compete, we want to show that dog. Me and [Davis] showed our dog. We’re just trying to get better.”

Davis wasn’t done tangling it up with the receivers. He and Dorsett ended up on the ground grabbing each other on the far end of the field later in practice.

Pagano said he wants his players to get as “close to the line as possible” but don’t cross it when it comes to being physical.

“Talked to the guys about what the line is in being aggressive,” he said. “We talk to them about it all the time. We’re going to play through the framework of the rules. You can’t fight in the game. You fight in the game, throw a punch, you’re going to get ejected, you’re going to get disqualified. We all know these things are going to happen. Guys have to learn how to control their emotions.”

NFL

Gronk: Working out at Brady therapy center

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is returning from back surgery that cut short his 2016 season after just eight games, told the Boston Herald that he has made a full-fledged commitment to work with Tom Brady’s TB12 Sports Therapy center.

Gronkowski has done so in the past, but the difference this year is his 100 percent commitment level, according to those close to him.

“Just looking at Tom, seeing what he does every day, what he eats, talking to him personally one-on-one, just learning about the body with him, just seeing how flexible he is, how pliable he is, how loose he is all the time, every day and ready to go, I just felt like it was the time in my career where I needed to devote myself at all levels,” Gronkowski told the Herald.

The 28-year-old Gronkowski told the Herald the work at Brady’s Sports Therapy Center, which is located at Patriot Place adjacent to Gillette Stadium, is an addition to his regular work with the team’s strength coaches.

“I definitely feel like a brand new guy just being able to do exercises here … that help stabilize your core … I feel looser. I feel my mobility has increased a lot. I feel way more pliable,” he told the newspaper.

“With the past I’ve had, you worry about [the future]. I wanted to find a way to fix that. I wanted to find a way to make me feel good all the time and not worry. Coming here has definitely put me in that right direction.”

Part of Gronkowski’s work includes nutrition, which is well documented with Brady, who eats avocado ice cream and generally avoids alcohol. Gronkowski joked with the Herald that he isn’t taking things that far, but he might give it a try if Brady gets involved.

“Tom’s my chef,” Gronkowski cracked to the Herald. “I told him I’m only eating them if you have them ready for me. And he said, ‘Deal.'”

NFL

Vance Joseph does not want to ride the QB 'roller coaster'

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — This is the 13th year that Vance Joseph has been to an NFL training camp as a coach, but it’s the first time he has had to answer for anything and everything as a team’s head coach.

In his first season with the Denver Broncos, in a quarterback-crazed city, Joseph finds himself front and center when it comes to answering questions about a quarterback competition he opened earlier this year.

“It’s kind of what you get used to,” wide receiver Demaryius Thomas said. “People are always talking about the quarterback, it seems like. We’ve done heard it all before.”

Joseph has spent, and will continue to spend, a piece of each training-camp day answering the inevitable questions that come with any unmade quarterback decision, the questions about each throw in each drill in each practice.

As much as most everyone wants to score the quarterback derby between Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch after each workout, Joseph said Saturday that’s not how it’s going to work.

“They both made plays, and they both didn’t make plays. It’s tough to ride the roller coaster with those guys, who won the day, who didn’t win the day, I’m not going to do that,” Joseph said after Saturday’s practice. “It’s going to be a collective evaluation over the course of weeks.”

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Joseph has stayed consistent in his message through the opening week of training camp: “Time” will help make the decision. Joseph reaffirmed that message Saturday, and he continues to preach patience along the way.

“It’s not going to change daily,” Joseph said. “That’s important because you don’t want to leave here every day thinking Paxton is the guy, and tomorrow Trevor is the guy. We can’t do that. It has to be a collective evaluation over time. That’s why time is a good thing because now we can have a full evaluation of both guys.”

The Broncos players, too, have found themselves being asked about their plans for the season, quickly followed by requests for opinions on the quarterback situation. Most have stuck to the that’s-up-to-the-coaches mantra, but running back C.J. Anderson took a different approach Saturday.

Anderson worked through the week-to-week uncertainty with Peyton Manning’s foot injury in 2015, with Brock Osweiler’s week-to-week notice of whether he would play the coming week, as well as last summer’s quarterback competition among Siemian, Lynch and Mark Sanchez. On Saturday, Anderson found a way to deflect the inevitable quarterback comparisons.

“Both of them had a good day [Saturday],” Anderson said with a smile. “I caught two touchdowns from both of them, so they’re doing good to me.”

Asked how he would make the decision, Anderson added: “Maybe if I catch more touchdowns from one than the other — that’s how I look at it. I caught a nice touchdown pass from Trevor the other day, and Day 1 I caught another one from Paxton. It’s like a win-win. I’m open, and they put them right on the money. It looks good to me.”

Although their competition is the story of training camp thus far, it has camouflaged the fact that both Siemian and Lynch are navigating a new playbook under new offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. Also, the Broncos might have as many as four new starters on the offensive line by the time they get to the season opener.

That’s a lot of change, and as a result, Joseph has moved Siemian and Lynch in and out of drills as both quarterbacks have worked with a variety of personnel groupings.

“I’ve said it plenty of times: As long as the O-line does our jobs, it doesn’t matter who’s under center,” guard Ron Leary said. “Both of them are good quarterbacks, so we know whoever takes that snap Week 1, as long as we go out there, they’ll look good.”

The Broncos seem to have used last season’s quarterback competition as the template for this one. Last summer, Gary Kubiak waited until Aug. 29 — two days after the Broncos’ third preseason game — to formally announce the starter.

Joseph has said that having a starter named before the third preseason game — Aug. 26 against Green Bay — would be “ideal,” but he has also said that he will wait longer if he believes that will yield the best decision.

“But we know we just need to play,” Thomas said. “The coaches are going to name [a quarterback] when they’re ready. Everybody else knows we need to just play, get ready and do whatever we need to do to be ready for the season. We can be a great offense with either Trevor or Paxton.”

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