Learning curve
LATROBE — The Pittsburgh Steelers must be encouraged by this: Only a couple of days into training camp, and Hines Ward is having a positive influence on first-round draft pick Santonio Holmes.
Holmes, the first receiver taken in the 2006 NFL draft, felt soreness in a hamstring during the Steelers' only on-field practice on Monday. Instead of taking the rest of the day off, he stayed for extra work catching passes thrown by a machine and was the last player off the field.
And who suggested the extra work? None other than Ward, the four-time Pro Bowl receiver and Super Bowl MVP and one of the league's hardest-working players.
"I talked with Hines, and he told me to catch about 50 balls after practice if you don't catch enough in practice," Holmes said. "I caught about 70. I'm just trying to stay in shape and catch the ball from different angles."
Holmes was in Pittsburgh for about a month before camp, mostly because of NCAA restrictions that barred him from attending the Steelers' coaching sessions in late May and June with the other rookies. It was during that time he first hurt the hamstring, though neither he nor the Steelers think the problem is serious.
Holmes spent some of that time working out with Ward, who told him what to expect during his first training camp and season.
"Every little thing I do, whether it's right or wrong, he's always there to correct me or to tell me to keep working on this," Holmes said. "Or he'll say I did a great job making this catch here or making a great move here or there. Just a lot of little things that a great receiver would do to help young guys and teach them all the things he's learned."
The Steelers planned to practice twice — the first of six days of two-a-day practices over the next two weeks — but instead had a morning walkthrough session in the St. Vincent College gym because of wet fields.
"It's what you would expect of a football practice in the gym," coach Bill Cowher said. "I don't mind those things when you get into camp, maybe it's a little break, but not at the beginning of camp. But we really didn't have any alternative."
The heat index on a sunny afternoon was 97 degrees, but a comfortable breeze made it feel cooler than Sunday afternoon's hot-and-humid practice under cloudy skies.
Cowher made certain there was a long water break during the 1 hour, 50-minute practice, and the normal postgame running was canceled. Cowher cautioned his players before camp began that many of the NFL players who have had heat-related problems in the past did so during the first three days of practice.
"We talked a lot about that — the first three days are really important when you look at some of the seriousness that has come from heat strokes," he said. "But these guys are doing a good job of hydrating and talking care of their bodies out here."
