STEELERS Morgan helps bolster receiving corps

Pittsburgh signed him Tuesday after the Cowboys waived him.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Quincy Morgan, a man accustomed to being in a hurry, was in more of a rush than usual Wednesday.
Morgan had new Pittsburgh Steelers coaches and new teammates to meet, and a practice to attend, and a game to get ready for in four days -- and not the one he was expecting to play a few days ago.
And then there was the matter of the Steelers' brick-thick playbook, which is not conducive to speed reading. Not even for a wide receiver known for his ability to get downfield in a hurry, the chief reason the Steelers picked him up after he was waived by the Dallas Cowboys last weekend.
"I've got to get in this playbook -- it's one of the hardest offenses I've ever seen," Morgan said Wednesday. "There's a lot of memorization, a lot of hot breaks you've got to learn. I could sit here and tell you about it all day. In Dallas, it was so easy."
Third different team
What he's found difficult is staying with the same team. The Steelers are Morgan's third team in five seasons, an uncommon number for a player who was a No. 33 overall pick, by Cleveland in the 2001 draft, and has produced. He had 56 catches for a 17.2 yards per catch average and seven touchdowns in 2002, and has 15 touchdown catches in his career.
But after a brief stint as Cleveland's top receiver, when Steelers receivers coach Bruce Arians was the Browns' offensive coordinator, he was dealt to Dallas last year for former Pitt receiver Antonio Bryant. Beaten out during training camp by former seventh-round draft pick Patrick Crayton to be Dallas' No. 3 receiver, Morgan was waived after the Cowboys signed former Atlanta receiver Peerless Price.
"I was the man in Cleveland, but in Dallas I was a nobody," he said.
Too expensive for Cowboys
Morgan also was to make $750,000 in Dallas, too much for the Cowboys to pay a No. 4 receiver who hasn't played on special teams except for returning kicks. Several teams wanted him once Dallas cut him, including Tennessee, but the Steelers were his first choice.
"I always admired this team from afar, and I'm glad to be here," he said. "I never imagined I'd be a Pittsburgh Steeler."
Why the attraction, especially for a former Browns player?
"It's Pittsburgh, man. These guys win games, and I know what type of team this is," he said.
"This is a tough team, this is a team that a lot of the teams in the league are scared of. So why not be a Steeler?"
Four-receivers set
Morgan will be used Sunday mostly in a four-receivers set along with Hines Ward, Antwaan Randle El and Cedrick Wilson. At 6-1, he's not as tall as the 6-5 Plaxico Burress, the former Steelers starter now with the Giants, but he gives Ben Roethlisberger a fast target who can catch the deep ball.
Morgan signed Tuesday, hours after coach Bill Cowher said the lack of rhythm in the passing game, during a preseason in which the starters didn't score a touchdown, was his chief worry.
"He's a big pickup in my opinion," wide receiver Hines Ward said. "He's going to help us out tremendously."
When he figures out that playbook, of course.
"Some of the things they did with Plax are some of things I should be able to do in this offense," Morgan said. "I've just got to get up on this as fast as I can."
Arians said it was easy to recommend signing Morgan.
"He's got speed, can catch the deep ball, is aggressive -- he can stretch the field," Arians said. "I like Quincy a lot."
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