Sports: Alstott's role taking shape

Alstott, who returned to practice Monday after missing the first two preseason games with a left hamstring strain, will play four positions in Tampa Bay's new offense. But knowing he would be spread a little thin this year -- as an H-back, fullback, running back and tight end -- he shed a few pounds.

Now when someone spies a six-pack on the suds-loving Pro Bowler, they could be referring to his washboard abs instead of the brew he bellied up to.

"In recent years, I would come in at 260 and maybe a little bit more, and I would bump my way down," Alstott said. "I think I'll just play at 250 this year. I knew I was going to run a lot more, deep patterns and do a lot more running. Knowing I was going to stay in on some third-down situations, I wanted to be in (better) condition. I wanted to do that more than beef up and get the big fullback body."

As for offensive coordinator Les Steckel giving opponents a steady diet of the A-Train, Alstott can't wait.

"It's exciting," Alstott said. "It's very interesting. You have an offensive coordinator who has so much confidence in you to let you do so much. I'm taking a lot of responsibility, but I can handle it and I like it. I always ask for the pressure to be on my shoulders in situations throughout the ballgame. Give me the ball."

It didn't take long for Steckel to devise more ways to get the football to Alstott, who led the team in rushing last season with a career-high 949 yards while scoring all seven of the team's rushing touchdowns.

Steckel was so impressed with Alstott's pass-catching skills in April's minicamp that he approached Alstott about playing H-back.

"I thought when I saw him one day, we were running what we call whip-and-stutter routes, and I had never seen anyone run them as well as Mike did," Steckel said. "I saw him and said, "Wow, that's pretty impressive.' So I messed with him a little bit more and we worked on some basic fundamentals and he just did them almost naturally.

"I could tell already, just watching him move in minicamp. He has such strong legs and can change direction real fast. That's going to help us."

Alstott then made a conscious decision to report to training camp lighter and quicker. Strength coach Mark Asanovich said some of Alstott's weight loss can be attributed to his reduction in the use of Creatine, a muscle-building nutritional supplement that Alstott is paid to endorse.

"He tells me his use of Creatine was substantially less," Asanovich said. "With Creatine, you retain the water. I'd have to look it up, but I think his functional weight, his lean weight, is pretty much the same. He looks good.

"He's just tearing up the weight room. He's a man. In his workout, he goes from discomfort, to pain, to torture and just keeps going."

Alstott, a second-round pick from Purdue, never has settled into a singular role. As a rookie, he was primarily a blocking back and a pass catcher. His receptions dropped from 65 to 23 the next year, but hisrushing attempts nearly doubled.

"I think the one thing about Mike is you start preseason by saying Mike's role is going to be X. And then by the end of the year, it's usually X, Y and Z," general manager Rich McKay said. "I think he's just one of those guys. You see him and you think, God, he's a fullback. Then you say, boy, he catches the ball well. Then you say, but he's a good short-yardage guy. Then you say, you know, he's not bad in the middle of the field. Then you talk about, hey, he's a good finisher to a game. So I think the same will happen here. What role he may be in Week 1 I don't necessarily think will be the role he'll be in in Week 10."

The cross-training Alstott has undergone has been confusing at times. He splits his attendance between meetings for the running backs and tight ends.

"I go to both. It just depends on what's being put in," Alstott said. "Sometimes I look at the plays and decide what I needed to be coached up on more."

Alstott will begin putting those lessons to use in Sunday's preseason game at New England.

"I think Mike's going to be good in this system. I think we'll get him the ball in the open field a little bit and we still want to run him," coach Tony Dungy said. "I think it's going to be a good fit. His first year, we used him as a receiver and a lead blocker, rarely giving him the ball if it wasn't short yardage. And then he evolved more into the running game as time went along. Hopefully, this will be a combination of both."

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