Russ Grimm took the blame for the way his offensive line played in the preseason opener.
This morning he started taking it out on his players.
"That's what training camp's for," Grimm said. "You sit in the meetings all day, watch film all night, go through it on the practice field."
There's a great deal to go through.
The Steelers' first-team offensive line was alarmingly inept in Saturday's 26-13 loss in Detroit. And while Grimm is aware that it was only the first of four such games that won't matter a lick come September, and understanding that injuries have contributed to missing players and missed practice time up front, he is also adamant that such a performance is unacceptable by Steelers standards.
"They need to play better than that," Grimm said.
There was no room for Jerome Bettis to run and not nearly enough time for Tommy Maddox to pass.
Worse yet, defenders that should have been accounted for too often weren't even engaged. That happened when linebacker Barrett Green ran untouched right between center Jeff Hartings and guard Alan Faneca and into the Steelers' backfield on a delayed blitz that resulted in a first-quarter safety.
"You can't make mistakes like that," Grimm said. "You have to be able to give yourself a chance."
The Steelers didn't gameplan for the Lions, but Grimm refused to cling to such an excuse. He seemed more upset with the way his lineman reacted -- or in many cases, failed to react -- than he was with them being beaten one-one one.
"If a young guy gets beat on a protection or something like that, fine, we can work on that," Grimm said. "But twice, we turned people loose and the quarterback doesn't have a chance."
"To come out there and make some vanilla mistakes, like we made (in Detroit), I'll take the blame on that one because obviously, I didn't get the point across. But the next time it comes up, and we don't pick it up, now you have a problem."
That means Grimm's guys have a problem this week.
They'll have a bigger one if they don't play better Saturday night against Philadelphia, no matter who ends up playing where.
"We got five guys," Grimm said. "They have to play better than that."
