Day 2 Mini Camp Practice Report

By Dale Grdnic

PITTSBURGH -- The Steelers appeared to concentrate more on special teams during Saturday's two mini-camp practices at the UPMC Sports Complex, and there were a lot of players getting opportunities.

The punt-return group included incumbent starter Stefan Logan, veteran Antwaan Randle El, third-round draft pick Emmanuel Sanders and seventh-year pro Mewelde Moore.

"There's a lot of competition there,'' Sanders said. "Punt returns and kickoffs, that's another way for me to make the team, but I want to make it as a receiver, too. And there's definitely a lot of competition there.''

Hines Ward and Mike Wallace are the front-runners for the top two receiver spots, while Randle El likely wasn't signed to later be cut. Sanders, sixth-round pick Antonio Brown, third-year player Limas Sweed, eighth-year pro Arnaz Battle, Logan and young free agents Jason Chery, Brandon London and Tyler Grisham are battling for the backup spots.

The Steelers are likely to take five receivers into the season, like last year, when Logan was the fifth guy but rarely did more than special teams. Sanders, initially, appears to be a player who could fill several roles with special teams included. But the knock on him is that he was a receiver in SMU's run-and-shoot scheme, so adapting to the NFL will be difficult.

"It's always been said that run-and-shoot quarterbacks and receivers can't make it in the NFL, but it's already been proven wrong for quarterbacks,'' Sanders said. "And I'm about to prove that it's wrong about receivers, too.