Sweed hopes to be Steelers’ man

Associated Press

LATROBE, Pa.

Limas Sweed tried not to pay attention when the Pittsburgh Steelers unsuccessfully courted Plaxico Burress a week ago.

Sure, Sweed heard all the chatter about how the Steelers needed a big wide receiver to complement the swift if undersized quartet of Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown.

The fourth-year pro nods his head when asked if there was a part of him that wanted to raise his hand and say, “remember me? I’m 6-foot-4. I can run. I can catch. I can play.”

Yet he understands why he’s become a forgotten man at best and a draft bust at worst. He has all of seven receptions in three years, only one since Thanksgiving 2008. He was put on injured reserve in 2009 after being diagnosed with depression and missed all of last season when he tore the Achilles tendon in his left leg in minicamp.

“I’m ready to show them I’m that guy,” Sweed said. “I’m that big guy and fill in the way they want me to fill in.”

Pittsburgh could certainly use a receiver with Sweed’s skill set, particularly the skill that comes with being 6-4 and having a 37-inch vertical leap. Wallace, Ward and company can do fast. They can’t do big.

Sweed can, though he knows he’ll have to do it now.

“I have a chip on my shoulder,” Sweed said. “I feel like I have something to prove to the coaches and to myself and I’m ready to be here and I’m ready to play. It’s just a matter … of it showing.”

Sweed has shown brief flashes of turning the corner during the opening 10 days of camp. Sweed outjumped two members of the secondary for a deep ball during a seven-on-seven drill last weekend only to grab his left hamstring as he sprinted toward the end zone.

He sat out a couple of days before returning to the field only to head back to the trainer’s room with a shoulder sprain. Asked about Sweed’s progress, coach Mike Tomlin says, “I’m here to talk about the guys that are working, not those that aren’t.”

That’s just the way Tomlin is. And besides, the first week of camp has shown that Sweed isn’t the only potential big target in camp.

Sweed says he’s fully healed from the Achilles injury and the hamstring issue is just one of those things that pops up in camp. He’s spent too much time away from the game to let a cramp stop him.

“The [NFL] lockout, it felt like a lifetime,” he said. “Now that it’s over with and I’m back out here running with the team it’s just a great feeling.”

One he hopes doesn’t fade too quickly.