Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Tight end Jerame Tuman blocks James Harrison in practice yesterday at Saint Vincent College. Click photo for larger image.

The defense dresses in gold jerseys and the offense in white during practice, which is why something was amiss when two gold jerseys lined up among the whites as the second teams began their live goal-line drill yesterday.

James Harrison, the No. 3 outside linebacker, set up at fullback and Brett Keisel, the starting defensive end, moved to tight end. On the second play, quarterback Charlie Batch faked a handoff to Duce Staley, Keisel threw a block on rookie safety Anthony Smith and Harrison caught Batch's pass for a 4-yard touchdown.

"Why wouldn't he throw it to me?" Harrison said, surprised he was asked such a question. "Possibly that could be me in a game."

Harrison even dressed the part when the coaches told him of their plans.

"Did you see he had the wristbands and everything on today?" Keisel said. "He was trying to look pretty, too. He told me to put them on, too. He was like, 'Keis, we have to look pretty, we have to look pretty. We're on offense now.' But I couldn't do it."

There was a method to the moves. The Steelers normally carry one fullback, Dan Kreider, on the roster and last year carried only two tight ends for a while. Harrison played fullback in high school, and Keisel was all-state in Wyoming as a tight end and linebacker.

"We have an opportunity to look at them, and it's a good thing because you can evaluate it," coordinator Ken Whisenhunt said. "Now, if it ever comes up and we are thin and we need that depth, those guys at least have gotten some reps."

Keisel and Harrison have some damage control to take care of, though, among their defensive teammates after celebrating Harrison's touchdown. Linebacker Larry Foote said he had been ready to welcome them back into the fraternity "but James Harrison was celebrating, doing chest bump and things like that. As long as he does that on Sunday, we'll forgive him, but for right now we don't trust him."

Big Ben gets tired

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger put in a good first week of training camp, but he has shown signs of fatigue, and coach Bill Cowher thinks the time off he gave the players after practice yesterday until meetings tonight should help, or he might give him more.

"Ben's fine," Cowher said. "I think he was starting to get a little tired near the end of this week. I think a night off and day off will be good. Hopefully, we'll come back next week rejuvenated a little bit. The tough thing for him was his inability to train before coming to camp. I think he's in good shape, but it's the endurance we'll continue to look at. We'll keep talking to him see how he feels day to day. If he needs a morning off or something, we'll try to accommodate him that way. He is doing a lot of good things right now. He's into it."

Cowher said he won't decide until later this week whether to start Roethlisberger at Arizona Saturday.

Crowd pleasers

The largest crowd to watch a Steelers practice at Saint Vincent College -- estimated at 20,000 -- since at least the last time they won a Super Bowl 26 years ago showed its appreciation every chance it had on a sunny, pleasant day in Latrobe.

Two long touchdown passes in 7-on-7 drills brought some of the loudest reactions from the fans.

Roethlisberger threw one to Nate Washington that covered 80 yards and traveled 60 in the air. Batch threw the other deep to Cedrick Wilson, who beat Deshea Townsend and Troy Polamalu to haul in a 55-yard pass.

Defense wins

The defense stopped the offense on four runs when the two first teams met in the goal-line drill that ended practice. Willie Parker gained 3 yards on two runs, Verron Haynes lost 2 yards and then was stopped just short of the end zone on fourth down.

Duce Staley gained a yard off right guard when the second teams took over, and then Batch threw his scoring pass to Harrison.

Whisenhunt said it's more difficult for the offense in the drills, especially with Roethlisberger at quarterback because the defense knows the offense will run. But then that's the idea, at least for the halfbacks.

"It's the toughest situation you can put them in," Whisenhunt said, "so it's the best situation to see how they react, see if they can find holes and, more importantly, see how strong they are running inside. It's a good method to evaluate them."

Hampton's request is vetoed

Nose tackle Casey Hampton also lobbied to play on offense, at fullback, but was turned down. "There are certain guys the boss lets us use and certain guys the boss puts off limits," Whisenhunt said. "We have to work with what we're allowed to use."

Injury update

Wide receiver Hines Ward did not practice yesterday because he "had a little hamstring, he tweaked it" near the end of practice Friday, Cowher said. Inside linebacker James Farrior, whose back bothers him, returned to practice but did not participate in 11-on-11 or the goal-line drills.

Wide receiver Eugene Baker (hamstring) and rookie linebacker Mike Kudla (hamstring) have the most serious injuries, Cowher said. Wide receiver Isaac West joined them on the sideline with a bruised bone in his right knee.

Quick hits

The Steelers will practice twice tomorrow, once Tuesday, twice Wednesday (one at 6 p.m. at Saint Vincent) and once Thursday before they depart Friday for Arizona to begin the exhibition season.

Whisenhunt on rookie wide receiver Santonio Holmes' first week: "He showed some things, he flashed. He has a long way to go from a mental standpoint. As he grows in the offense, we'll be able to do more things with him. I was very pleased. He's what we thought he would be as far as having good hands, explosive speed and a good route-runner."