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Thursday, October 10, 2002

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

LOOKING AHEAD

Steelers vs. Bengals, 1 p.m. Sunday, Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati. TV: KDKA. Radio: WBGG-AM (970), WDVE-FM (102.5) and the Steelers Radio Network.

NOTEBOOK

Bill Cowher angrily snapped at a member of the media after practice yesterday when he was asked if he had noticed any improvement in linebacker Kendrell Bell. The 2001 defensive rookie of the year has a high ankle sprain and has not played since the first half of the opening game. "I'm not going to discuss the status of players, OK?" an irritated Cowher said. "I have that on the injury report. I think it's unfair that you put the kid in a situation. I'm going to talk to him about it as well."

Bell was surrounded by the media after practice and asked about his day's work and if he thought he could play Sunday in Cincinnati.

"Day of the game is when the decision is made," said Bell, officially listed as questionable this week. "Coach Cowher said don't say anything about it, and that's what I got to do. I feel better, just to be out here. It's kind of hard being on the sidelines watching everyone run around. Just being out here, [getting a] little practice in, feels a lot better."

Bell, whose ankle was first injured in the second exhibition game, admitted he pushed himself to play in the opener at New England and called it a "bad decision on my part." The ankle was reinjured that day and reinjured again when he practiced during the open week after the second game. It has been suggested that Bell is so valuable to a defense that has not played well that he might have been rushed back into the lineup and practice previously.

"I will put a player out there I feel can play," Cowher said. "I've always done that with every player in 11 years I've been here and I'm not going to deviate from that now."

Every game, every day of practice for the past nine years, a trainer has taped Jerome Bettis' right foot to protect his big toe. Nearly all his 11,060 rushing yards have come with an injured big toe. "I have chronic turf toe," Bettis said. "From my first year [with the Rams], we used to play at Atlanta and New Orleans on turf every year, and when we went to St. Louis, on turf every day, and it got beat up bad. When I came here, guess what? What were we on? Turf. Thirteen games a year, turf. Terrible." Bettis said his toe is not bad now, but he has it taped for precautionary reasons.

The game Sunday in Paul Brown Stadium is close to a sellout, which would be just the seventh time in 19 games Cincinnati's new stadium would be full. Three of those will have been against the Steelers, whose fans traditionally show up by the thousands in Cincinnati, a 4 1/2-hour drive west down the Ohio River. "Being from the West, I wasn't aware of the following that Pittsburgh had," saidQB Jon Kitna, who joined the Bengals last season. "Last year when we played them, we didn't have a lot of our fans showing up because we lost seven games in a row. Here Pittsburgh shows up with 15,000 fans, and we are using our silent count at home in the shotgun. Now I understand it and respect it. It is an awesome thing."

James Farrior had never played inside in a 3-4 defense before he came to the Steelers as a free agent. He starts at the "buck" linebacker and picked right up where Earl Holmes left off -- he's their leading tacklers. Farrior has 29 total tackles (23 solo, six assists). That's one more than Joey Porter (25-3-28). Farrior, though, comes off the field in the dime pass defense. "I have to give most of the credit to my defensive line, they do a hell of a job," Farrior said. DEs Kimo von Oelhoffen and Aaron Smith and NT Casey Hampton "take all the blocks. They make my job easy. They told me, when you come in here as the buck linebacker, if you know how to tackle, you'll make a lot of plays."

Cowher, who has been known to mix his metaphors, came up with a new one this week when he said: "Injuries will play a toll."

While Bell practiced a little yesterday, OT Wayne Gandy (ankle), S Mike Logan (hamstring) and RB Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala (ribs) did not. Nothing changed on the Steelers' injury report. Cincinnati's injury report: out -- TE Sean Brewer (knee), G Mike Goff (leg); questionable -- MLB Brian Simmons (neck); probable -- OT Willie Anderson (neck), HB Brandon Bennett (back), DE Vaughn Booker (ankle), C Rich Braham (elbow), WR Danny Farmer (knee), CB Artrell Hawkins (knee), OLB Armegis Spearman (knee), DT Tony Williams (ankle).

Bengals Coach Dick LeBeau waxed nostalgic about his days as the Steelers' defensive coordinator on a conference call yesterday. Cowher hired him as his secondary coach when he put together his first staff in 1992 and promoted him to coordinator in '95 after Dom Capers left to become Carolina's first coach. LeBeau is in his 44th NFL season, 14 as a cornerback and 30 as a coach. That's why it was somewhat surprising when he said, "Greg Lloyd may be the best football player I have ever seen."

Cowher will face one of his former defensive coordinators -- now head coaches -- for the second consecutive game. Last week, Jim Haslett's Saints beat him, 32-29. "Dick's a good football coach. It's always tough. None of us like to be where we are right now," Cowher said. "That's the position we're in. We know when we take this job there's going to be some tough times. You have to work through it. Dick's probably as optimistic a guy as I've ever been around. He's not going to deviate from his plan, he's not going to deviate from what he believes in. That's why he's been successful in this league for as long as he's been. He's a good football coach. He'll have those guys ready to play."