Friday, September 12, 2003

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Steelers vs. Chiefs, 1 p.m., Sunday, Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo. TV: KDKA. Radio: WDVE-FM (102.5), WBGG-AM (970) and the Steelers Radio Network.

RB Jerome Bettis (groin) ran for the second day in a row but did not participate in team drills yesterday and remains questionable. Coach Bill Cowher said he will wait until today to decide if Bettis can play against the Chiefs or add another running back to the 53-man roster. "I still have another day," Cowher said. "Jerome ran really well [yesterday]. We'll see how he feels [today]. I was very, very encouraged by the last two days."

If Chiefs RB Priest Holmes has another big day Sunday, the Steelers can thank one of their neighboring partners for his performance. Holmes missed the final two games of the 2002 season with a right hip strain that required off-season surgery. The surgery was performed March 25 in Pittsburgh by Dr. Marc Philippon, a hip specialist for UPMC who has worked on Mario Lemieux and Greg Norman. Philippon performed a procedure in which he removed soft tissue and loose fragments from Holmes' hip. Holmes appears to have recovered quite nicely from the procedure. He had 18 carries for 85 yards and seven catches for 98 yards Sunday in a 27-14 victory against San Diego. "I would say he's the best running back in the league right now," ILB James Farrior said. "He's got strong legs and he keeps his legs moving all the time. He's not that big a back, but he's very strong. You see him break a lot of tackles." Holmes has had some big games against the Steelers. In 1999, when he was with the Baltimore Ravens, he rushed for 130 yards on 18 carries, including a 64-yard run, at Three Rivers Stadium. The next year, Holmes opened the season with 119 yards on 27 carries in Baltimore's 16-0 road victory against the Steelers. After being acquired by the Chiefs in free agency, Holmes rushed for 150 yards on 20 carries and had a 26-yard touchdown run in a 20-17 loss to the Steelers in 2001. But some Steelers players maintain those totals are misleading. Holmes had 92 yards rushing on the final two series of the game when the Steelers were in their dime defense trying to protect a 20-3 lead. "He did a lot of it against the nickel and dime," NT Casey Hampton said. "I think we did do a pretty good job [against him]. He did get a lot of yards late, but he's a good back. He can take it to the house anytime. You can't look at it like that. He got it late, but he still got it."

WR Hines Ward considers himself a team leader, but he said he was not disappointed last week when he wasn't named the Steelers' offensive captain. The role went to QB Tommy Maddox in a vote by the players. "There's nothing you can do about it," Ward said. "Tommy's a quarterback; everyone is going to vote for him. Coach Cowher came up to me and told me it was close. It's not disappointing, but yet I like to think of myself as one of the leaders on the team. I've been here for a while, and in the off-season I come back early and work my tail off. I still think I'm a leader on this team."

When he failed to complete the team's run and conditioning test on the first day of training camp, Hampton said it was because his back "locked up," not because he was exhausted. Hampton, 6-1, 320, was the only player who failed to complete all 14 sets of the 40-yard run. ILB Kendrell Bell had to step in and run two of the heats for Hampton. "I really wanted to finish, but my back locked up, I can't go," Hampton said. "The whole thing is blown out of proportion. The first game, I was ready to play and that's the bottom line. When it counts, I was ready to play." Cowher said Hampton has lost 3 pounds a week since training camp and is back to his playing weight of 320 pounds. Hampton disputed the amount of weight he lost, but said, "I play at 320, 330. When you're my size, 10 pounds or whatever ain't that much. I knew what I had to do. It's not a problem for me. I didn't feel like it was a problem. He said he wanted me to get down, so I just did it."

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