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Complains to league about Ravens' tactics

Wednesday, October 30, 2002

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Coach Bill Cowher has complained to league officials about the stomping that wide receiver Plaxico Burress took Sunday from Ravens cornerback James Trapp. He also talked to them about the sudden back injury to Baltimore starting quarterback Chris Redman that went unreported to the Steelers.

	Plaxico Burress should learn of any punishment from the league for his altercation with Baltimore's James Trapp sometime tomorrow. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

Cowher not only protested Trapp's attack on Burress, he has sent video the Steelers have of the incident to the NFL offices in New York.

And that might be nothing compared to what awaits the Steelers in Cleveland, where fines and allegations were flying when the Steelers played the Browns Nov. 11.

Trapp intercepted a pass late in the second quarter of the Steelers, 31-18, victory Sunday and was flung out of bounds by receiver Antwaan Randle El. Skirmishes broke out between Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister, Steelers receiver Hines Ward, safety Lee Flowers and others. Burress acknowledged he tried to defend some teammates when he was tossed to the ground. Trapp ran over and jumped on him with both feet, then ripped the helmet from Burress' head.

Burress leaped up, and when an official saw he was not wearing a helmet -- it's against rules for a player to take his helmet off on the field -- he ejected Burress along with Trapp from the game.

"He did not take his helmet off," Cowher said. "It was grabbed off of his head. I don't want to go into detail. We have some footage that we provided the league and it is in their hands. I don't think it serves any purpose to pass judgment. It is over with. We will learn from it, and we are ready to move on."

But Cowher did have a long talk with an NFL official about it this week.

	More Steelers Coverage: Steelers Report: 10/30/02

"That conversation needs to stay between the league and myself. But, I think we have addressed it as a team and we will address it again tomorrow when the players come back.

"I thought what Plax did was ... inappropriate. He is going to be fined, as he should be. I am not condoning what took place on that field. Do I understand some of the things that took place? Yes. I am not condoning it, though."

Players walk a fine line, Cowher said, when fights erupt. On one hand, they want to help defend themselves and their teammates; on the other, they don't want to get thrown out of the game. The Steelers' passing game wasn't the same after Burress was ejected. He had five receptions for 55 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, when the Steelers had 148 yards passing. They managed only 25 yards passing in the second half.

"I think there is a lesson to be learned in regards to the situation that took place," Cowher said. "As a team, you like your players to defend one another. I would not have expected it to be any different. But, at the same time we have to use good judgment and be smart about some of our actions because there can be an effect that can hinder the team in terms of our focus of winning football games. We are going back into a hostile environment this week. This will be a very big game. There will be a lot of high emotion. To that extent, it will not be very different than the game we just came out of."

The Steelers play in Cleveland with first place again on the line. The Browns are 4-4 in the AFC North, half a game behind the first-place Steelers, who have won three consecutive games to go 4-3. This might be the Browns' last stand in the division race. They would slip two games behind the Steelers and be 0-2 against them with a loss. The first tiebreaker within a division is head-to-head competition.

Last November in Cleveland, Ward was fined $5,000 for taunting after he stood over Browns safety Earl Little, whom he knocked out with a clean block.

"I can't believe what the guy did," Little said after the game. "I heard he stood over me and pointed at me. Any high school player can do that to anybody. He acted like he did something which was pretty good. He made a block."

Browns cornerback Corey Fuller and Cowher yapped at each other during the game, and Fuller continued it afterward when he sought out Cowher. The two had a heated conversation.

"That, to me, shows a lack of maturity," Browns linebacker Jamir Miller said after the incident. "I don't want to judge anyone, but coming from a head coach ... coming from a player ... we're all professionals here. This is a business. We have a mutual respect for each other."

Cowher said while he does not want his players to run from a confrontation, he wants them to be smart about it.

"You are going to certainly defend yourself, but not to the point where you do something that is a spontaneous action where the official does not see the first one, he sees the second one and you get reprimanded and thrown out of the game," Cowher said. "Those are the things that you have to avoid.

"When the situation that arose the other day happens, you would like to think that is not condoned and we would like to take that out of the game. But, you can understand some of the reactions that some of your teammates have, which is very understandable, and to an extent, you expect to see that."

The Steelers expected to see Redman at quarterback for Baltimore.. But the Ravens put him on their injury report when he came down with a stiff back Friday night and had problems with a walk-through Saturday. The Ravens alerted the league office Saturday, but Cowher said no one told the Steelers and he did not find out until Sunday. Jeff Blake started at quarterback for Baltimore.

"It is something to inquire about because it is the Ravens," Cowher said.

Cowher said he learned that lesson nine years ago when he listed halfback Barry Foster as probable all week for a Monday night game in Miami. But Saturday night, Foster told the trainers could not play on a sprained ankle and left the practice field. The Steelers told no one about it. "We really got reprimanded for not informing the league that he did not work out that night," Cowher said. "So, I just know that this is the procedure, particularly when you are talking about the high profile positions."