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Steelers Report: 9/16/00 Saturday, September 16, 2000 By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
 Scott Shields, the team's No. 2 draft pick in 1999, will be making his first start since he was demoted the week leading up to the season opener against Baltimore. Shields is still not happy about the way he was benched in favor of Brent Alexander, but he said he is determined to prove to the coaching staff that they made a mistake. "It was the way it happened, the week before the season started. Everyone knows I had a bad game against [the Ravens] last year and I wanted to be in there, and I would say to the coaches, 'Be brutally honest with me, I need to know, how am I playing?' And they kept saying, 'You're doing great, you're doing great.' Now I get an opportunity to go in there and show them why I feel I should be out there all the time."
Tight end Mark Bruener spends a lot of time coming to Jerome Bettis' aid, always running over and lending a hand to hoist Bettis, a 252-pound running back, to his feet after a carry. Bruener, though, did it in the locker room, too ... only verbally. Bruener came to the defense of Bettis and the running game, which managed just 30 yards in the season opener against the Ravens. Bettis had 8 yards on nine carries. "He only touched the ball nine times," he said. "If you touch ball the 20 times and got 10 yards, then you might say, what are we doing wrong? He only touched the ball nine times. That's not a fair judgment."
Maybe the best matchup of the game tomorrow against the Browns will be WR Plaxico Burress, who is 6-6, 227 pounds, against CB Daylon McCutcheon, who is 5-8. Even their other corner, Corey Fuller, is not very tall. He is listed as 5-10, but might be closer to 5-8. Browns Coach Chris Palmer said he probably won't adjust his defense to avoid the height mismatch. "I'm sure he's capable of making plays," he said of Burress. "But our guys are capable of making plays, too."
SS Lee Flowers (groin) and NT Kendrick Clancy (ankle) are listed as doubtful and will not play against the Browns. The other early inactives are OT Larry Tharpe and LB Clark Haggans. Inactives for the Browns are DB Lamar Chapman, OL Paul Snellings, WR JaJuan Dawson and DL Marcus Spriggs.
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