Coach Mike Tomlin abandoned the live goal-line drill that for years traditionally ended a Steelers night training camp practice, only he forgot to tell that to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger treated the goal line as his personal playground, throwing consecutive touchdown passes and adding a third in 11 on 11 to the delight of the estimated 12,000 fans who turned out last night at Memorial Stadium in Latrobe.

The quarterback looked in top form as he rifled a 15-yard pass in the left front of the end zone to Cedrick Wilson, who held on after a big hit from safety Tyrone Carter. Next, Roethlisberger showed perfect touch on a 15-yard lob pass to tight end Heath Miller, who stretched his 6-foot-5 frame just enough in the right back corner of the end zone for the score.

Although Roethlisberger did throw one misguided pass on a rollout that safety Anthony Smith dropped in the end zone, the quarterback came back and pitched a 35-yard touchdown to Nate Washington.

"I was real pleased,'' said offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. "He knows what he's doing right now."

Well-deserved breather
Tomlin eased up on his team for the first time.

He extended their curfew last night after practice and canceled this morning's scheduled 90-minute practice at Saint Vincent College.

Although the players still must attend meetings this morning, it's the first time they will not have two daily practices since their first Tuesday morning. They will have a two-hour practice starting at 2:55 p.m. that is open to the public.

"It's good to throw the guys a bone now and then," Tomlin said.

Timmons a spectator
No. 1 draft pick Lawrence Timmons wasn't involved in last night's practice. After reinjuring his groin on Thursday, Timmons watched morning special teams practice for 10 minutes and then left the field when quarterbacks and the offensive line were dismissed.

Timmons is expected to play on several special teams as a rookie but things are not off to a good start.

Two, but not tough
There are two-a-day practices, and then there are two-a-days and not all are the same. That first coach Tomlin held on the first morning of camp, Tuesday, was a real practice, two hours long and plenty of hitting.

Then there was yesterday's one-hour drill. It was all special teams, no hitting -- unless you count the number of times players tried to knock down a volleyball as they "rushed" the punter.

Ten minutes into the morning practice, the entire offensive line and the four quarterbacks were dismissed, along with Hines Ward and Timmons. They walked back into the dorm with two coaches, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians and line coach Larry Zierlein.

Thirty minutes later, the defensive line departed.

Block that kick?
Watching special teams practices in the morning -- unfortunately, not open to the public -- is like watching a three-ring circus. Over here, players are running and batting volleyballs as if they are saving a punted football from bouncing into the end zone. Over there, more volleyballs are being pooch punted as players try to block them.

The former regime rarely tried to block kicks and maybe this one won't either, but they're certainly putting a lot of practice time into it.

There's also the football-on-a-stick. Think banana-on-a-stick, only the stick is about 3 feet long and the football is not covered in chocolate. It's not exactly high-tech; the coaches use it to signal the snap from center -- they hold the stick, put the ball on the ground and yank it up on the snap.

Don't forget the skinny posts. That's what they call a certain route run by receivers down the middle.

Now they are literally using skinny posts in practice -- goal posts about half the width of normal ones so kickers, I suppose, can get used to kicking through tighter quarters.

The other day, they went to the mattresses -- not like La Cosa Nostra -- using big foam rubber things as a soft landing ground for players trying to extend their bodies to block a punt. No bedsprings involved and no bedposts.

Holmes still out
Santonio Holmes again did not practice. Holmes, who might practice soon, had a non-football "procedure" before camp started.

Haynes comes back

Halfback Verron Haynes practiced for the first time last night after the Steelers withdrew him from the physically unable to perform list.

Haynes must fight to reclaim his spot on the team as a third-down back and backup halfback.

The competition is keen for Haynes with Najeh Davenport, Kevan Barlow, John Kuhn and a couple of other free agent backs in camp.

Haynes blew out his left knee -- virtually every ligament in it -- last November and made a miracle comeback to practice in the spring. Such injuries normally take at least a year to heal.

"I wasn't even supposed to be practicing until November," Haynes said.

"They don't want the setbacks to occur. So right now since I'm ahead of schedule, they want to keep it that way, monitor everything. Coach talked to me: It's a long preseason. We're just going to monitor it day by day."

Haynes has been running this week.

Rehage returns
Another player who came off the PUP list and practiced for the first time last night was linebacker Derek Rehage, who did so wearing a splint on his broken thumb.