Steelers Wednesday Practice Report

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

The Steelers practiced sans pads for about two hours at the University of South Florida this afternoon. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Willie Parker looked sharp. Ben threw several long, tight spirals, including one bullet to receiver Santonio Holmes through the wind. And Willie ran fast and confidently. Head coach Mike Tomlin was pleased but not satisfied:

“It was a good start to our week. We practiced fast, and I thought we practiced aggressively. But it’s like I say to the team after every Wednesday practice: It’s a good start, but we’ve got to be better tomorrow.”

As for hobbled receiver Hines Ward — the only Steelers player on today’s injury report — he walked through some plays with the first-team offense just before practice began at 1:30. Then, at the start of practice, he jogged through a few pass-routes with the regular offense before working out on his own for the next 55 minutes. Hines caught balls from a Juggs machine. Then four cones were laid out in a 10-yard square and he ran 10-yard-incut pass-routes at about half-speed and caught passes. Then he ran sideline-to-sideline at slightly better than half-speed before icing his knee for about 30 minutes. From the looks of how he ran today, Hines won’t be 100 percent Sunday, but there’s little doubt he’ll be in the starting lineup.

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