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Thursday, August 28, 1997

Scott's welcome to NFL: Irvin and Aikman

By ALAN ROBINSON / AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- He knows it's coming -- maybe on the second play, maybe in the second quarter. It's not a matter of if, but when.

Michael Irvin, perhaps the best big-play receiver in football, will line up against him, a rookie cornerback starting his first NFL game, and try to beat him.

If Irvin does it once, he'll go back to the huddle, tell quarterback Troy Aikman that this new kid can't handle him and to get him the ball -- deep, and often.

Aikman, who thrives on finding and exploiting weaknesses, will do exactly that.

That's the life of a rookie cornerback in the NFL playing his first game against the Dallas Cowboys. This week, it is Chad Scott's life.

Is he nervous? Not much. Is he scared? That might not be the right word. Does he wish he were opposing a team other than Dallas in his first game as an NFL starter? Get back to him next week.

"Really, I don't get too nervous before a game," Scott, the Pittsburgh Steelers' first-round draft choice, said Wednesday. "I feel more comfortable than I did at the start of the (exhibition) season. We've played together back there for a while, and I'm getting more comfortable."

But Scott, who joins Donnell Woolford in a reconstructed secondary, did not have to play four physical quarters against one of the NFL's superior offenses during the preseason.

He did not have to worry that one solitary mistake in man-to-man coverage might alter the outcome of an important game. Opposing teams do not watch much film in the preseason, looking for any sign of weakness, any disadvantage to exploit, like they do now.

And Scott knows the Cowboys will be watching -- most of all, him.

"I'm sure they'll challenge him," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "We'll put him in situations where we don't expose him frequently, but we won't get away from what we do best. He's going to get challenged. We'll mix it up so it doesn't become predictable and they isolate on him,"

And while Scott will line up most often against Irvin, the Cowboys' other wideout, Anthony Miller, also presents a considerable threat.

"You've got to be careful you don't spend too much time worrying about one guy," Cowher said "If you worry about Troy Aikman and the receivers and Emmitt Smith gets cranking, you're in for a long afternoon."

The Steelers' opening game concerns go beyond just their two new starting cornerbacks, too -- they have replaced nearly half the starters on what was the AFC's No. 2 ranked defense.

Defensive end Nolan Harrison is new. So is inside linebacker Earl Holmes. Greg Lloyd returns at outside linebacker, but he missed all but one half of one game with a knee injury last season. The defensive coordinator, Jim Haslett, is new, too.

"The true newness of defense (is at cornerback)," Cowher said of Scott and Woolford, who replace Woodson and Willie Williams. "That's where it will take some time to talk through some things, particularly with how we play defense. We need to create some communication and understanding to get this executed properly."

Haslett brought some new ideas with him from New Orleans, but the base 3-4 defense is the same as the Steelers ran under former defensive coordinators Dom Capers and Dick LeBeau. It's Cowher's defense, and he doesn't like messing with a good thing, no matter the year or the opponent or the personnel.

"Jim's brought some things in, but the old's been good too," Cowher said. "We haven't changed a whole lot."