Troy Polamalu won't practice until training camp, and he has returned to his California-based, non-traditional training methods this spring as he rehabilitates from knee surgery.

"I kind of went away from what I did previously," said Polamalu, who watched but did not practice in minicamp this weekend. "I'd been staying here the last two years and training here in Pittsburgh, other than going to California. I'm trying to spend a little more time out there with my trainer in California."

He worked for years with trainer Marv Marinovich in Orange County, Calif., and swore by his non-conformist style that disdained weights and machines in favor of medicine balls, wearing heavy shoes, a wobble board and other techniques.

"I have some of the stuff here, but you can't duplicate the facilities, the coaching that I have out there," Polamalu said. "So I'm trying to stay out there a little more."

Polamalu had surgery to clean out some loose tissue in his knee, but he said nothing could be done to repair the partially torn PCL in his knee that was "hanging on by a thread," but that it should heal on its own.

"The prize is what we need to do this fall," coach Mike Tomlin said. "He needs to prepare himself to do that and he's doing it."

Timmons challenges Foote

Competition began on the field this weekend at inside linebacker, where 2007 first-round draft pick Lawrence Timmons is trying to wrest the starting job away from Larry Foote, who has held it the past four seasons.

"That potentially could be intense because Lawrence has put himself in position to compete," Tomlin said.

"It's been a good weekend for him, it's the difference between night and day between what he showed us this weekend and what he showed us last year. The pedigree is still there, we're excited about what he brings to the table.

"He's a talented guy capable of doing a lot of things. He's a big guy, he has great quick-twitch, he's powerful. He's going to be able to do some things for us in coverage, he's going to be able to do some things for us in terms of applying pressure on the quarterback. But his deeds on the field are going to kind of sketch out his role. ... The potential is impressive but he has to do the work."

New approach to special teams

Tomlin will cut back on the time he spends with special teams in practice this spring and summer in the hope it will improve their play.

In his first year as coach, he spent more time on the field on special teams than any of his two predecessors. The results did not show it in the fall.

This year, "We're emphasizing it but we're emphasizing it in a different way," Tomlin said. "I'm trying to create a little urgency through scarcity. We're not going to do it as much; we're going to work hard but we're going to work smarter."

Ward going to Korea

The Steelers do not have another official spring workout session until May 20. Hines Ward will use the time to take another trip to South Korea.

It will be his second trip to that country this year. He also made two trips last year.

Ward took his first trip weeks after he earned the Super Bowl MVP two years ago, and started a foundation to aid bi-racial people in that country. Ward was born in South Korea; his mother was a native of that country and his father a black U.S. serviceman.

He has returned each year to work on his charity.

Surprise, no tackle

As with many others, Willie Parker was surprised the Steelers did not draft an offensive tackle in the first round.

"Everybody said what I need is an offensive lineman," said Parker, who has led the Steelers with more than 1,200 yards rushing in each of the past three seasons. "That wasn't my call to pick an offensive lineman. It would have been good to get one, but we didn't, so we have to ride what we have until the wheels fall off."

Quick hits

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returned to practice after getting Saturday afternoon off. He wore a sombrero in practice on Tomlin's annual "hat day" on the eve of Cinco de Mayo. ... The Steelers won't resume spring practices for two weeks because the rookies cannot return until May 16, by NFL rule in an agreement with the NCAA. ... Linebacker James Farrior, last year's captain on defense, said plans are for him to wear the helmet with the radio receiver the NFL approved for defenses to receive signals from the sideline. The Steelers, however, won't try it until training camp.