Steelers Thursday Practice Report

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

The Pittsburgh Steelers practiced for an hour and 55 minutes this afternoon, mostly in the rain. Receiver Hines Ward, the only Steeler on yesterday’s injury report, practiced for the first time since he was hurt in the AFC Championship game. He ran at perhaps three-quarters speed, but he worked with the regular offense and blocked and caught the ball like he was in mid-season form. At times, the team was working out in a downpour, but it certainly didn’t dampen their spirits. Head coach Mike Tomlin was happy with the effort:

“Much like a lot of our games, we had adversity today. Things very rarely go smoothly for 60 minutes in a game, and they didn’t go smoothly today with the rain. But we got our work done. This is a mentally tough group that smiles in the face of adversity.”

A little bit of controversy started up with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger today. He threw the ball well on short and deep routes during practice, but rumors began circulating that Ben had some x-rays taken. He wouldn’t comment on it and coach Tomlin said he hadn’t heard any such news. Ben did spend some time trying to stretch his mid-torso region, but I’m not sure that qualifies as a “tell” in this situation. For whatever reason, the whole x-ray thing is being kept silent if it did happen. And the only reason it’s being talked about at all is because there isn’t much else that’s considered “newsworthy.”

Today’s injury report showed that Hines Ward had full participation in practice. So, barring any unforeseen developments, the Steelers will play Super Bowl XLIII completely injury free.

Thanks to fellow PFWA member Peter King for today’s pool report.