Steelers return to practice, get 'locked in' for next game

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin took it easy on his veteran players at the start of practice last week, giving quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Le'Veon Bell and defensive end Cam Heyward the day off.

That wasn't the case Wednesday — even with the Steelers' first playoff game 11 days away.

Bell said the Steelers wore pads in practice, a departure from recent Wednesdays when players enjoyed “hat days” when the head attire was more stocking cap than padded helmet.

Center Maurkice Pouncey, who didn't practice last week because of a hip injury, said the atmosphere was lively during the two-hour session.

“Guys were really into it today,” Pouncey said. “We know it's elimination. We could play next week and then be at home. Guys were really locked in. They were focused. It's an exciting time of the year.”

Roethlisberger said the Steelers emphasized the two-minute drill and running the no-huddle.

“We're going to go out and execute our stuff,” Roethlisberger said. “Those things wouldn't change no matter who we were playing.”

Tomlin plans to use this week as a self-evaluation of his team. Bell, who like Roethlisberger, Heyward and Pouncey didn't play in the season finale against Cleveland, apparently took that goal to heart.

“I went back and watched myself over the course of the year,” Bell said. “There were a lot of balls I watched that (I saw) me taking my eyes off when I was catching it. Sometimes that can result in dropping it, sometimes I catch it.

“I've been putting the effort into practice to make sure I look at the ball all the way in and catch it.”

The self-scouting carried over to the defense.

“We don't know who we are playing, but we can look at where we make mistakes, what personnel we were in, what personnel they were in,” Heyward said. “If we can clean that up now and have a good understanding of it going in (to next week), I think we'll be better off.”

Bell said the Steelers can't afford to have any rust when they open the playoffs. It will be the first game in three weeks for the veterans who were inactive against the Browns.

“We have a little buzz or extra little drive because it's a playoff game,” Bell said. “We don't want to have an on and off switch. It's like at McDonald's. If you order a number one, you get a Big Mac. We want to be the Big Mac every time. You already know what you're going to get. That's the type of team we want to be.”

Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jrutter@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tribjoerutter.