Polamalu sees improvement with injury

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By Scott Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, October 3, 2006

The sweeping circles Troy Polamalu traced in the air with his right hand showed the range of motion he has regained in his shoulder.

They also were an indicator of how beneficial the bye week proved to be for the Steelers' All-Pro safety.

"It feels really good," Polamalu said Monday of the shoulder that has bothered him since the Steelers' season opener. "I can even toss the football around a little bit now."

Does this mean he's preparing for the role of emergency quarterback?

"No quarterback for me yet," Polamalu said with a chuckle.

The Steelers will be happy if Polamalu goes back to terrorizing quarterbacks and opposing offenses the way he did while becoming one of the premier safeties in the NFL.

The two-time Pro Bowler has been hindered somewhat by the shoulder he hurt after a series of collisions in the Steelers' 28-17 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 7.

When he couldn't lift his arm during the fourth quarter of that game, Polamalu found himself alarmed enough that he did something admittedly out of character by offering full disclosure to the Steelers' medical personnel afterwards.

"It was pretty tough in that sense, and usually I won't say anything to the trainers, but then I said 'Wow, there's something really serious here,' " Polamalu said yesterday following the Steelers' first practice at their South Side facility since last Thursday. "But it's really no big deal."

For the Steelers, the timing couldn't be any better for Polamalu to feel as close to 100 percent as he will probably get this season.

The Steelers have lost two games in a row and will play what might be considered a must-win game -- if that's possible this early in the season -- Sunday night.

The 1-2 Steelers play the 2-1 Chargers in San Diego in a nationally televised game.

Running back LaDainian Tomlinson and tight end Antonio Gates make the Chargers difficult to defend even though they have a new starting quarterback (Philip Rivers) who so far has been a caretaker of the offense for conservative coach Marty Schottenheimer.

"They still try to get (Tomlinson) the ball as much as they can, and they have a guy like Gates that scores for them in the red zone, so they're pretty much doing the same thing," cornerback Deshea Townsend said.

Polamalu also hopes to be back doing the same thing -- specifically, playing with the reckless abandon that has become his signature -- following the much-needed rest he got for his shoulder.

"I've never played with this degree of pain," said Polamalu, who sustained a contusion and bone bruise on the shoulder.

Not that he's complaining. Far from it. Polamalu seems reluctant at times to talk about his shoulder and the certainty that he will have to play the rest of the season with some pain since he is not the only one who is dealing with an injury.

"There's people on this team and around the league that have played with more pain and aren't even saying anything about it," Polamalu said.

Scott Brown can be reached at sbrown@tribweb.com.