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Wednesday, November 11, 1998 By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
They all misunderstood Bubby Brister when he recalled his memories of playing in Three Rivers Stadium with the wind blowing off the lake.
He meant that Lake runs like the wind. Anyone who watched the Steelers' 27-20 victory Monday night over the Green Bay Packers knows what that means.
Cornerback Carnell Lake helped blow up the Packers' offense on a night in which his coach, less than three hours before kickoff, did not know how much he could play.
Lake had a high ankle sprain that put him on the bench for the entire second half the previous week against Tennessee. He barely practiced last week, getting in some time finally on Saturday night.
At 5:30 p.m. Monday, Lake and Coach Bill Cowher talked about the situation.
"Initially," Cowher said, "we were planning on him just playing on third down. We decided we'd see how it is after the pregame warmup."
Lake told him it felt good and that he wanted to play more.
"Knowing Carnell, he's one guy I would trust doing that," Cowher said. "A lot of guys may say 'I'm playing, no matter what.' I was comfortable feeling he can handle that. He started and never came off the field."
Good thing for the Steelers. Lake, on a blitz, snuffed out an early Packers drive by spilling Antonio Freeman for a 10-yard loss on a reverse from the Steelers' 23 when the score was only 7-0. The Packers' Ryan Longwell then missed a 51-yard field goal try.
Lake shot in and tackled Travis Jervey for a 3-yard loss in the third quarter. He knocked a deep pass away from Robert Brooks in the third quarter, tipped another away from Freeman deep after the Packers had closed to 10 in the fourth quarter and had five tackles in the game.
"For a guy who didn't practice, he played well," Cowher said. "He spent a lot of time preparing mentally. He was the last guy in here Friday night. I'm usually here by myself, and he's back there watching video. He's a special guy."
No, no, no heat on players
Attention talk show callers and hosts, other fans and various members of the news media: The Steelers want to thank each and every one of you for paying so much attention to Bill Cowher's grouchy reaction at his news conference after their loss to Tennessee.
It took the heat off the players all week.
"One of the good things that may have come out of last week is that Bill was the focus of attention for a good part of the week, and not the players," said Tom Donahoe, the Steelers' director of football operations. "He really was. Really, it should have been a week where our defense was under fire, and not many people talked about the defense. People were either talking about Bill's press conference or the quarterback. They were the two hot issues of the week."
Injury roundup
Besides the calf injury to Norm Johnson, the other significant injuries to Steelers from Monday night were a broken left hand for wide receiver David Dunn and a strained calf for defensive lineman Oliver Gibson.
Cowher said the knee contusion that caused guard Brenden Stai to leave the game does not look significant, nor does a shoulder injury to safety Darren Perry. Linebacker Mike Vrabel, who has not played the past three games because of an ankle injury, "is doing much better," according to Cowher. Dunn will wear a small cast on his hand and practice tomorrow.
"We're getting some guys back," Cowher said. "Of course, that changes week to week."
Center of attention
Cowher gave All-Pro center Dermontti Dawson the ultimate compliment.
"Dermontti Dawson is in a class of his own. He is, in my opinion, the best who has ever played that position, and he's still playing at a very high level. Not to take anything away from Mike Webster. He was pretty good, too."
In the Hall of Fame, as a matter of fact.
Quick slants
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Kordell Stewart's best game of the season lifted him to a 63.9 passer rating, less than 12 points behind Dan Marino.