1 » underrated. Lowry is turning into one of the best two-

PITTSBURGH -- For a player who believed he was being targeted by the NFL after being fined five times last season, new Pittsburgh Steelers free safety Mike Mitchell has transformed his attitude and his style of play. "Ive adjusted to the new rules changes," Mitchell said Thursday, "and just looked forward to playing clean football and not getting fined this year." After four seasons with the Oakland Raiders and one with the Carolina Panthers, Mitchell is expected to earn a starting role in the Steelers secondary this season. Though Mitchell might have toned down his heavy-hitting ways, he still plans to make an immediate impact in due to his ball-hawking skills. The Steelers had just 10 interceptions last year, 29th in the NFL, while Mitchell had four picks in one season with Carolina. "I guess I made some big plays, but that was just me sticking my toe in the water," Mitchell said. "I expect to make even bigger and better plays this year, and I have a great guy to learn from in Troy Polamalu. . I dont know if Ill be jumping over the centre, but I do plan on taking the ball away." Thats been a major issue in recent years for the Steelers, who havent created more than 20 turnovers in a season since 2010 even as they have remained near the top of the league in yards allowed. Mitchell isnt wasting any time getting settled during the first organized team activities. "I had a great break on a ball today and should have picked it, but A.B. (Antonio Brown) did a good job getting his hands up there," Mitchell said. "I should have brought it down. . Shamarko (Thomas) is leading the way with one pick, but I should have had one, too." Thomas, a fourth-round pick last year, has not been able to get on the field often enough to make the kind of splash plays the team so desperately needs, but expects to have more opportunities this season. "Sure, I want to do a lot more this year," Thomas said. "I have three veteran safeties to learn from in Troy, Mike and Will Allen. Mike, he brings a lot of athleticism to the group, and hes made some great reads on the ball." Mitchell has played for three teams in three seasons, but the six-year NFL veteran believes there are some good points to go with the bad ones. "Its bad, because Ive had to leave some good friends behind," said Mitchell, who turns 27 next month. "But its good, because Ive been able to have a lot of different experiences, playing for different coaches and different schemes. Thats why this transition . Coach (Dick) LeBeaus defence isnt easy, but Ive actually picked it up fairly well." Mitchell believes playing in so many different defensive systems may actually be to his advantage. "In Oakland, I felt like I played for three different teams in four years, because we were always changing head coaches," Mitchell said. "So, learning a new scheme is nothing thats too different for me. I think that Ive handled it well. (And) I made a couple plays this week, but theres many more to be made." NOTES: The Steelers signed CB Shaquille Richardson from Arizona, their fifth-round pick, and have five of nine draft choices under contract. ... The top four picks are still unsigned, though they should come into the fold soon. Pittsburgh will free up $8 million in cap space when the March release of linebacker LaMarr Woodley officially hits the books. ... The club signed two players Thursday and released two. They signed rookie free agent offensive lineman Emmanuel McCray and claimed cornerback Deion Belue off waivers from the Miami Dolphins. ... To make room on the roster, the Steelers released offensive linemen Nik Embernate and Kaycee Ike. Air Max Rabatt . Hall joined Bengals teammates for a voluntary workout on Monday. Hes got his mobility back and is on schedule to be ready for the season. CINCINNATI - Bengals cornerback Leon Hall is happy with his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon and expects to be ready for the start of training camp in July. Air Max Skor Rea .C. -- Theyll remember the OT from the first Syracuse-Duke game -- and the Ts that decided Round 2. http://www.airmaxsverige.com/ . His Brazilian opponents said he produced miracles. There is no doubt that Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was the one responsible for spoiling Brazils hopes of another World Cup victory at its home tournament. Air Max Skor Online . Ireland was the last unbeaten side in the championship after France fell to Wales on Friday, and was favoured to end a three-match losing run to England with a side with more than twice as many caps, rampant momentum, and added incentive to celebrate Brian ODriscolls world record-tying 139th test cap. Nike Air Max Sverige Online . When a game is in the balance, however, they still have the personnel and the experience to end up with the two points.(SportsNetwork.com) - Kyle Lowry scored a new four-year, $48 million dollar contract with the Toronto Raptors after his breakout season last year, but many people wondered if the leap in Lowrys game was due in large part to his impending free agency. Well, wonder no more, because the 28-year old point guard has been even better this season. Lowry is averaging a career-high 20.1 points, along with 7.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds, but most importantly, hes been the best player on the team that has the top record in the East at 16-6. Give the guy unbelievable credit, said Raptors GM Masai Ujiri last Thursday. He stepped up as a person, he stepped up as a player. Everyone said if you give this guy this contract hes going to come back fat, hes going to do this, do that. Its unbelievable. Kyle Lowry is an all-star. I could care less what anyone says - Kyle Lowry is an all-star. A number of other teams reportedly pursued Lowry in free agency, but in the end it seemed like a pretty easy choice to stay with the Raptors. I think the situation was perfect for me, Lowry said. We had 11 guys coming back. The continuity was there. Overall, I think it was the best situation for me to win and (be) a big part of it. Of course, I looked at other places, but at the end of the day, I started something in Toronto and I wanted to finish it in Toronto, added Lowry. I wanted to be a part of it, I wanted to be a part of this organization and franchise. It comes with the continuity of the team, the ownership, management, coaches. Everything blends in together and you want to be part of an up-and-coming organization. To his credit, the eight-year veteran also wanted the responsibility of being the lead guy. In this day and age, (you) think about who youre playing with and who youre going to be playing against, he said. I made my decision on me and me being happy and me wanting to be in the situation that I wanted to be in. Of course I could have went to a few places where I would be third fiddle or fourth fiddle, but I wanted to be in a situation where the pressure was on mee.dddddddddddd When youre a pro and youre competitive, you want that pressure. You want that opportunity to say, Listen, the balls in my hand, and Ill take the good with the bad and the bad with the good. The decision to remain in Toronto was also fueled by the Raptors fan base, which really got behind them during the teams surprising run last season. We sell out almost every single night, Lowry said. I think the fans in Toronto are some of the best fans in the world. Theyre just passionate. They care about their teams winning games. Every night, the Maple Leafs sell out. We sell out. Its just one of those cities thats underrated. Lowry is turning into one of the best two-way players in the league and shows the kind of leadership, tenacity and intensity that you dont even see from some of the other star players. A perfect example is how he reacted to a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in what was the first game that the Raptors played without DeMar DeRozan after losing their All-Star guard indefinitely due to a torn groin on November 28. Lowry reached out to his GM to let him know there was no need to worry. [Kyle] texted me after the Laker game. [He said] I shot the ball too much. We werent in sync. We will win in Sacramento and I will play better, Ujiri said. Coming from the leader of your team, thats the voice that you want to hear. Thats the confidence you want. Hes not over-confident, but he knows how to carry himself. Lowry backed up his words in a big way by putting up 27 points and 13 assists in the Raptors 117-109 win. And the following night in Utah on back-to-back games, he scored 39 points on 13-of-22 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from downtown as the Raptors routed the Jazz. His play was good enough to earn him Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors for the week ending Dec. 7, as he averaged an NBA-best 29.3 points along with 8.7 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals as Toronto went 2-1. With Lowry playing at such a high level, I dont expect the Raptors to slide too badly during DeRozans absence. ' ' '