STEELERS Now playing: Training Day Off

A morning at the movies didn't help the team's performance in an afternoon practice.
LATROBE, Pa. (AP) -- Less than a week after complaining that the Pittsburgh Steelers were running out of time to get things right, Coach Bill Cowher gave his team the morning off to visit the local movie theater. Apparently, they're all caught up.
The Steelers apparently fixed their problems, ranging from cohesion on the offensive line, to coverage problems, to quarterback Tommy Maddox's timing, on Monday -- their only practice since Saturday's preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
That's the message Cowher gave the team Tuesday when he canceled morning practice and sent the players to the movie theater.
"We caught up," said quarterback Charlie Batch. "I think it had a lot to do with the game. Did we get better from the Detroit game? That answer was yes. If we'd have stayed the same or taken a step backwards, I don't think we would've gotten the practice off."
Not satisfied
Cowher, however, may be rethinking the maneuver after practice Tuesday afternoon.
Asked how players reacted to his kindness, Cowher tersely replied "like they were still at the theater."
Breaking camp for the movies has become an annual rite, but Cowher waited until the last possible day to do it. He didn't tell his assistants, who put in a couple hours of work on the practice plan the previous night only to scrap it at the last minute.
Cowher usually waits until his players are on the practice field before breaking the news. But he waited so long that players figured he'd scrapped the idea this year.
"He held it all the way to the end," said Batch. "A lot of guys were anticipating it and then he threw a little monkey wrench in it by telling us to warm up. So you started questioning yourself whether he was going to do it or not, and then he started calling us up and we all knew. He kind of held it to the end."
Are the Steelers prepared?
Cowher said he was pleased with the team's energy and the play of both lines in Saturday's loss to the Eagles, but the Steelers struggled in the first half, particularly on offense.
Maddox passed for only 46 yards in four series and the running backs gained only 28 yards on 11 first-half carries.
"We still have a lot of work to do before the opening game and obviously we still have some time to do that," said Maddox. "It's been a weird training camp with all the weather, but we've had some good weather and some good practices lately."
Jerome Bettis, who's gained only 24 yards on 11 carries, said he's not concerned about the running game -- yet.
"After the third game and going into the fourth, that's when you have to look at it realistically and gauge where you are," Bettis said. "This game [Thursday against the Dallas Cowboys], the starters are going to play more, the offensive line will play more, so you'll get a better understanding of where you are through the course of the half as opposed to a quarter."
"If you run the ball six times, how good are you? You really don't know that."
The starters will play longer against the Cowboys as the 0-2 Steelers prepare for their regular-season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.