It has been two days since the first of the Steelers' endless string of coaching sessions at their South Side headquarters came to a close and it's still hard to believe Plaxico Burress was a no-show. Players typically pull a contractual power play after a good season. Only fools do it after a lousy year.

Burress is a fool.

He's also immature, inconsistent, lazy, unpredictable and frequently unproductive.

Other than that, he has every right to demand a big, new contract.

It's nice to hear the Steelers aren't going to buckle. "It's not going to work," Dan Rooney said, bluntly, of Burress' minicamp stunt. The team has shown no interest in doing a new deal with Burress, which is, apparently, what has him so chapped. Give the Rooneys credit. They know it's pretty stupid to throw good money after bad.

Some of us believe the Steelers blew it with Burress going back to draft day 2000 when they picked him instead of Chad Pennington. Certainly, it's arguable that they haven't received their money's worth from him. He's scheduled to make $535,000 this season in the final year of his original five-year contract -- a mere pittance in today's sports lunacy -- but that's deceptive because of his $6 million signing bonus. His original deal will end up being worth $10 million or more, counting incentives.

Burress has said he's a Pro Bowl-caliber wide receiver and, at times, he played like it in 2001 and 2002. But he regressed badly last season and had as much to do with the Steelers' 6-10 record as their battered offensive line and overmatched cornerbacks. It wasn't just that his production dropped from 78 catches for 1,325 yards and seven touchdowns in 2002 to 60 catches for 860 yards and four touchdowns. He dropped passes. He ran poor routes. He didn't set any records for time spent on film study. And, is it just me, or has there ever been another receiver who falls down so much? Hines Ward makes a catch and fights for 5 more yards. Burress makes a catch and slips down immediately.

It was fairly obvious the Steelers made the wise decision after last season that they had invested enough in Burress. If they were really smart, they tried hard to trade him before the draft a few weeks ago. If they did, it's no surprise there were no takers. Burress' inconsistency and immaturity aren't exactly secrets around the NFL.

It was predictable that Bill Cowher blasted Burress last week. He even pulled out an oldie but goodie from his coach's rhetoric, the spiel about how the team is prepared to go on with or without Burress. If Burress really was trying to make a statement with his minicamp absence, Cowher wanted to make sure he made a bigger statement.

It certainly played well on the television sports news.

Hey, did you guys see Cowher the other day? He's not going to take any crap from Burress. Good for him!

But it's also predictable that Cowher will be first in line to kiss and make up with Burress when this blows over. And it will blow over. There's no chance Burress will miss the start of training camp in July. It will be a shock if he doesn't volunteer to take part in practices next week.

It's never personal with the coaches. It's always about business. Cowher knows the Steelers need Burress for one more season. It might be different if they had traded him and dipped into the deep pool of wide receivers on draft day, but that didn't happen. Antwaan Randle El appears to be no more than a third-down receiver. Lee Mays doesn't appear to be the answer.

Burress also needs the Steelers. If he's not bright enough to know he has to play to get paid, his agent surely will point it out. If he's half the player he thinks he is, he'll welcome the chance to atone for last season. And if he does have a big year, he'll be in an enviable position as an unrestricted free agent.

That should be plenty of motivation for Burress.

That's also the one reason to think the Steelers will get their biggest return yet on their investment in him.

Of course, it will be their last return.

This almost certainly will be Burress' final season here. If he has a huge year, the Steelers won't get into the bidding war for him. They, better than any team, know how capable he is of slacking off again if he's not playing for a contract. And if he has another mediocre year they won't want him back.

Either way, Burress figures to be gone.

I don't know about you, but I won't be sorry to see him go.