Steelers' Kevin Colbert endorses NFL Combine going to prime time

INDIANAPOLIS — The first workouts of the NFL Combine began Wednesday with the bench press inside the Indianapolis Convention Center.

The fun stuff starts Thursday.

For the first time, the workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium will be conducted in prime time, with NFL Network providing seven hours of coverage in drills involving quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends.

The prime-time showcase, involving players from other positions, will continue through Sunday.

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, an influential member of the NFL Combine Committee, isn’t sure what to expect.

“Everything that is happening is new for all of us,” Colbert said.

With the workouts moving to late-afternoon and evening hours, player interviews with teams have shifted to earlier times. The time crunch resulted in teams getting 45 interviews with prospects instead of the customary 60.

“Everyone has to adjust,” Colbert said. “It’s a bigger event. As you can see, it is growing at an unusual pace. We understand that, and we acknowledge that. But we also acknowledge that football is the most important thing we have to get done here. There’s a ton of medical business, football business, character business that we have to tend to while (the combine) grows.

“We understand that it can grow, but we understand that there will be changes that we have to be able to work through and make it the best combine we can be.”

Prospects will do the on-field workouts two days after they fulfill their media obligations. Previously, the lag was just one day.

“They have an extra day to get their legs before they have to perform,” Colbert said. “And most of them will be performing in a prime-time slot, which they are going to be asked to do in September when they start playing football games. You don’t play a football game at nine in the morning unless your body is over in London.

“It is more realistic for what they are going to be doing.”

Center of attention

LSU center Lloyd Cushenberry, one of the top prospects among interior linemen, has studied NFL veterans to pick up traits. Among those players he has watched are the Pouncey twins: Maurkice of the Steelers and Mike Pouncey of the Los Angeles Chargers.

“They are always active, always looking for work,” Cushenberry said. “They play so far. Both of them are aggressive and tenacious. That’s something I’m continuing to work on, being the guy who finishes every single play, being physical on every play.”

Cushenberry said he had an informal meeting with the Steelers at the combine. Although he started all 28 of LSU’s games the past two seasons at center, Cushenberry has some experience playing guard. The Steelers could be in the market for an interior linemen, but Cushenberry is projected to be taken by the time they make their first selection in the second round.

What’s in a name?

Given his last name, Shane Lemieux would seem to be more suited to play hockey than the sport that earned him an invitation to the NFL Combine.

Lemieux even grew up in a cold-weather climate: Yakima, Wash.

Still, he never got the urge to lace up the skates. Perhaps it has to do with the 6-foot-4, 310-pound frame that landed Lemieux on the offensive line at Oregon, where he wore No. 68 instead of 66.

“I never played,” Lemieux said. “I’ve always been a football player and a wrestler.”

Lemieux, though, can’t avoid the obvious questions about his more famous namesake.

“Everyone always asks me if I’m related to Mario,” he said. “I don’t know. If he’s out there, and he knows some relations, let me know because that would be kind of cool.”

It’s unlikely they will get a chance to meet in Pittsburgh. Shane Lemieux said he’s had no contact with the Steelers at the combine.