Friday, October 17, 2003

By Shelly Anderson

Many of the players headed out of town after practice yesterday. With a bye weekend, the team is off until Monday. "I think it's a good opportunity for everybody to get away from here, go do some things they want to do and enjoy the time off and know that Monday we've got to come back and get ready to go," said QB Tommy Maddox, who plans to spend time with his family and play golf, not watch football. RB Amos Zereoue will watch some games, but he agreed about the need to take a break after a 2-4 start. "This came at the right time so we can get our minds away from it, rest our bodies and come back and get ready to go for the next 10 games," he said.

RB Jerome Bettis (illness) did not practice.

On Wednesday, WR Antwaan Randle El, a diehard Chicago Cubs fans, held court in the locker room. He re-enacted the infamous fan-interference play from the night before during the NLCS, playing several roles in an animated performance. Randle El said he felt sorry for the fan involved and the grief he got after the incident in Chicago's 8-3 loss to the Florida Marlins in Game 6. He also said he had been confident the Cubs would win Game 7 and had tentative plans to go to New York for the World Series opener tomorrow night if the Cubs and Yankees advanced. Yesterday, after the Marlins had bounced Chicago from the playoffs, Randle El was in a different mood. "I really don't want to talk about baseball," he said.

Coaches network just like anyone else, but it's not always a real active network. Asked he if had heard from his circle of friends in light of the Steelers' struggles, coach Bill Cowher said, "No. The circles get real small when you lose games."

It's not just the players who have a three-day respite. Asked what his schedule was, Cowher smiled. "Off. Friday. Saturday. And Sunday."

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