The man in the middle
Stepanovich happy
BY JOHN ERARDI |
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Why, it's a regular gabfest out there. On an NFL game field, that is.
Lord knows there's plenty to talk about at this time of the year if you're a player with the out-of-the-playoff-picture Bengals: Where to hunt? Where to fish? In which sunny clime to spend your vacation?
But that isn't what Alex Stepanovich will be talking about each time he breaks the offensive huddle Sunday and gazes upon the Miami Dolphins' defensive front as he heads for the line of scrimmage.
One of the center's big jobs, besides the obvious one - hiking the ball on the correct snap count - is communicating with his fellow offensive linemen.
"A lot of times you have to recognize the personnel - what are they matching with your personnel? - and you kind of line everybody up and make some calls up front," Stepanovich said. "As long as everybody's doing the same job, you're not wrong (in making a certain call), at least not technically, but you just want to make sure you're all going to (block) the right guys."
Other times, you're like a switchboard operator, patching through communication from one side of the O-line into the other.
"You're the man in the middle, communicating to the other side," said Stepanovich. "What you're doing is just repeating something, so everybody gets it."
Added Stepanovich: "It's important to have cohesion, making sure the same things are being said the same way. That's why it's good to have a good six to seven guys on the O-line so that if somebody goes down, you're speaking the same language."
Stepanovich, 26, is a fourth-year NFL pro who will be starting at center for the Bengals Sunday in place of injured Eric Ghiaciuc.