Matt Freed, Post-Gazette The Steelers' Hines Ward works through a few drills last night at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Click photo for larger image.

Joey Porter said he really wouldn't call it practicing. More like doing additional rehabilitation with some football drills mixed in for good measure.

But there he was last night, returning to the practice field at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for the first time since having surgery on his right knee in May.

Porter, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who led all NFL linebackers in sacks (10.5) last season, will participate only in 7-on-7 drills and will not take part in any contact drills for at least another week. He was officially activated from the physically-unable-to-perform list yesterday.

"It's not even like I'm practicing," Porter said. "I'm just using 7-on-7 as my rehab. I feel it's a better rehab for me to go out there and do some football movement. I won't be doing any banging or pushing or shoving or stuff like that. I'm just going to do my drops and coverages and stuff like that to see how I feel."

Porter, though, is encouraged about his recovery from knee surgery because the Steelers haven't played a preseason game and there is nearly a month remaining before the Sept. 7 season opener against the Miami Dolphins.

Last year, Porter missed training camp after surgery on his other knee and did not play in a game until the season opener against the Tennessee Titans.

"Now, I'll get a chance to go out there, get my football movements going, my quick-twitch muscles, and let them get back to doing football things again and see how it feels," Porter said.

Plus, he gets to be back on the field again with his teammates.

"Whenever you're looked up to as a captain or leader on the team, you want to be out there," Porter said.

"Some guys can like to miss camp and stuff like that, but it's worse to sit on the sidelines rehabbing and you can't get out there and play football. This is what we do. I'm a football player. Me sitting on the sideline, rehabbing, is more painful than being out there practicing."

Movie time

It was a little earlier than usual, but coach Bill Cowher canceled practice yesterday morning and surprised the players by taking them to the movies.

Cowher, most of the coaches and some of the players went to see a special screening of "Invincible," the real-life story of Vince Papale, a former Philadelphia bartender who went to a tryout and eventually became a special-teams star for the Eagles.

Papale played three seasons with the Eagles, beginning in 1976, before he was cut in 1979 because of injuries to his shoulders. Curiously, Cowher was in his first training camp with the Eagles in 1979 and, like Papale, also was cut.

Cowher remembered Papale and also met him last month at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles.

"It was excellent, really good," Cowher said of the movie. "I think it's a very inspiring movie. I encouraged a lot of players to see it. It gives you a great appreciation for the game of football and respect for where it started and what it means to the people."

"Invincible" will not come out in theaters until Aug. 25, but the Steelers and all other NFL teams were offered a private screening at the theater of their choice by Walt Disney Pictures, said Chip Namias, sports publicist for the movie. Because of the security measures surrounding the movie, Disney had to send a field representative to attend the screening.

"It was Dick Vermeil's first year there, and he held a tryout for anyone in Philadelphia," Cowher said. "[Papale] got talked into going out there, and they invited him to camp and he kept making all these tackles. So, the movie took it from the time Vermeil was hired to right up to about the second game."

Jacobs not up to speed

Cowher will announce this morning whether quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will start and play in the preseason opener Saturday at Arizona. But Cowher also wants to use the next couple games to see improvement in rookie quarterback Omar Jacobs, the team's fifth-round pick.

Jacobs, who threw a school-record 71 touchdown passes in 25 games at Bowling Green, has been something of a disappointment at training camp, so much so that rookie free agent Shane Boyd has been splitting snaps with him as the third-team quarterback.

Jacobs is big (6 feet 4, 224 pounds) and has a funny throwing motion -- he looks like he is throwing darts -- but he is having problems picking up the offense and adjusting to a dropback style. Jacobs was primarily a shotgun quarterback at Bowling Green.

"I gave them both an opportunity [with the third team]," Cowher said. "You look at Shane, he had an opportunity to play in Europe, he's doing some good things. So is Omar."

Barr's situation improves

Mike Barr, a free-agent punter from Rutgers, is in his third training camp with the Steelers.

Unlike the first two, he hopes he lasts on the roster until the regular season. Unlike the first two, there is a good chance that could happen.

Barr is 26, which is 10 years younger than veteran Chris Gardocki, who is 36 and enters his 16th NFL season. What's more, if he makes the team, he would earn significantly less money than Gardocki, who is scheduled to earn $1,088,000 this season with a cap value of $1.3 million.

Gardocki ranked 23rd in the NFL with a gross punting average of 41.8 yards and 29th with a net average of 34.7 yards last season.

But the coaches like how fast he gets the ball off -- 1.1 seconds from the time the ball hits his hands -- which is probably why he has never had a punt blocked in 1,112 attempts in his career, an NFL record.

How fast is Barr?

"Around 1.2 to 1.3 seconds," Barr said.

Quick hits

Wide receiver Hines Ward (hamstring) and rookie fullback Branden Joe (hamstring) did not practice. ... The Steelers practice at 3 p.m. today. The session is open to the public.