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Pittsburgh Steelers Mandatory Minicamp Day 2 Recap: Doran Grant is a cornerback, not a safety

The Pittsburgh Steelers continue their on-field preparation for the 2016 with Day 2 of mandatory minicamp in the books. See what went down on Wednesday.

By Jeff.Hartman
Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

Day two of the Pittsburgh Steelers mandatory minicamp is officially in the books. All players have been in attendance, although not all have practiced, and they continue their offseason workouts at the Rooney UPMC Practice Facility on the South Side. See what went down on Wednesday.

Grant is a CB, not a Safety

When the Steelers selected CB Doran Grant from Ohio State in the 4th round of the 2015 NFL Draft, most expected him to be a quality depth defensive back for the team. He succeeded in being just a special teams player as a rookie, but in the offseason a growing trend was the often discussed of Grant playing safety and not cornerback.

For Grant, he isn't quite sure where those rumors started.

"As far as I know I was always at corner," Grant told Jason Mackey of DKPittsburghSports.com. "I was wondering where that came from."

To be honest, it came from the secondary coach Carnell Lake. When he met with media following Grant's selection, he was asked if he would be able to play safety. Lake's response was they discussed the option of him being versatile enough to play both positions.

This pushed the door open for speculation on him potentially moving positions with the team's safety depth extremely thin. Nonetheless, after spending a second round pick on Sean Davis, the team has less of a need at safety compared to just a few months ago.

However, Grant is willing to do whatever it takes to get on the field.

"Whatever the team needs me to do, I'll do," Grant said. "If they want me to play corner, I'll play corner. If they want me to play safety, I'll play safety. But right now I'm playing corner."

Grant is preparing to finally see the field outside of special teams in 2016, and he is taking a unique route to better fitness. Grant has become a vegetarian. He dropped 12 pounds by avoiding meat, and only select dairy products.

"I feel like it helped," Grant told Mackey. "My body looked good and everything. I could run well. But the amount of snaps that I could take wasn't there. That came with the body."

Hopefully the changes made, and the experience gained, will help Grant see the field in 2016.

Golson joins the long list of Steelers to train with Shaw

Throughout the years you hear about players' offseason habits. Whether it was Troy Polamalu staying in California to train, or Ike Taylor's ridiculous training in Orlando, some habits stick with the program. Taylor was one of the first Steelers to train with renowned trainer Tom Shaw, and passed the guru onto players like James Farrior and William Gay.

Golson was invited by William Gay to join him in Orlando, and Golson took him up on the offer in hopes of him not just getting on the field, but staying there.

"He wanted to come down," Gay told Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "He is a guy who likes to work, so it gives him an opportunity to be around a lot of other guys other than Pittsburgh and been with a trainer who been there and done that."

"It got me to year 10," Gay said. "I am just trying to pass on what was passed on to me with Ike. It works."

Golson making the trip to Florida with Gay could have implications on his longevity, something the Steelers can only hope will happen with the 2015 NFL Draft second round pick. However, just being around Gay has had an impact on Golson as a player.

"It is even more important to get around a guy like Will Gay and just see how he does it in the offseason and learn from it," Golson said. "I have a plan in place to come into Latrobe full speed and ready."

The plan is in place, now it is time to see what Golson can do on the gridiron once and for all.

Steelers to put plan in place for Bell's return

The Steelers aren't just going to 'wing it' with Le'Veon Bell's return to full practice. In fact, the team is preparing a schedule for the All-Pro running back to follow to ensure he is not only eased back into full contact drills, but also to help him return to the lineup, and more importantly to stay there.

"They are going to do a great job of protecting me from myself," Bell told Kaboly. "It is kind of hard for me to sit there and watch. It (stinks) not to be able to go out there and do everything, but they have my best interest in mind."

The best interest of the Steelers is also the best interest of Bell. As Bell enters the final year of his contract he aims not just to play 16 games, but to return to his 2014 form which saw him make the Pro Ball, be named to the All-Pro team and be considered the best all-around running back in the game of football.

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