Justin Hartwig did not think he would miss so much practice when training camp began two weeks ago. Not with a fractured big right toe that he injured before reporting to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.

But, because he and the coaching staff wanted to be cautious about aggravating the injury, Hartwig did not take part in team drills with the first-team offense and did not play in the preseason opener Thursday night against the Arizona Cardinals.

"It lingered more than I originally thought," said Hartwig, an eighth-year center in his second season with the Steelers. "I thought I would be ready to go when camp started, but they decided to hold me out to make sure it healed. I was anticipating it not being a big problem, but I ended up sitting out a little longer than I hoped."

Hartwig's inactivity ended yesterday when he practiced with the starters for the first time, and he was glad to be back.

He was joined by two-time Pro Bowl running back Willie Parker, who missed several days of practice last week and did not play against the Cardinals because of back spasms. Coach Mike Tomlin said he expects both players to play in the preseason game against the Washington Redskins Saturday night in Landover, Md.

"I think it's healed enough where it's not going to get any worse," Hartwig said. "It's just a matter of dealing with pain until it's completely healed. I'm encouraged and I'm excited."

When Hartwig reported to camp Aug. 1, he denied Internet reports that he had sustained some type of foot injury and said he would be ready to practice immediately. Yesterday, though, he said he fractured his toe in "an incident this offseason." He declined to specify the incident that caused the injury.

With Hartwig out and his replacement, Darnell Stapleton, out for two to three weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery, first-year free-agent center Doug Legursky started against Arizona.

"As the season goes on, I don't want it to be a lingering problem," Hartwig said. "I've been reassured it's going to continue to heal, despite the fact I'm going to push myself on the field. It's real early in the season. I just want to make sure it's good enough at this point before I do anything worse to it."

Said Tomlin: "We're not concerned with a recurrence. That's why we took the approach we did because we want to leave it behind us."

Running back Rashard Mendenhall, who started for Parker against the Cardinals, did not practice because of a quad contusion. But Tomlin said he has been given the "green light" to return today.

"We need him out here as much as we can to keep him moving forward," Tomlin said.

The reference was to Mendenhall, the Steelers' No. 1 pick last year, missing most of last season with a broken scapula.

Also, running back Mewelde Moore (hamstring) and wide receiver Brandon Williams (abdominal strain) did not practice. Wide receiver Martin Nance (strained groin) returned to practice, but on a limited basis.

Tomlin said he is hoping to have Nance, who is trying to win one of the five receiving spots, ready to play against the Redskins.

"He needs that opportunity if he's going to stay in the fight he's in," Tomlin said.

It seemed as though everyone was excited to see rookie speedster Mike Wallace return the opening kickoff of the preseason Thursday night. After all, that was one of the reasons why Tomlin drafted him in the first round.

Apparently, though, Mendenhall was not among them.

Mendenhall, the up-back on the return unit, put his hands up and told Wallace not to return the kick because he caught the ball too deep in the end zone. Wallace was no more than 5 yards deep in the end zone when he fielded Neil Rackers' kick.

"I wasn't surprised [he did that] when I saw how deep it was, but I was disappointed because I had been anticipating it for so long and I had been dreaming about it and everything," Wallace said. "I wanted to come out, too. I was going to come out. But I knelt down and saw where I was."

It was just over a year when veteran quarterback Charlie Batch returned to the field for six plays in the 20-10 victory against the Cardinals. And he wasted little time celebrating his return from a broken collarbone when he connected with receiver Limas Sweed for a 45-yard completion on his second play.

Batch thought he might get into the game sooner because he did not expect Ben Roethlisberger to appear for 14 plays with the rest of the first-team offense. But he was just glad to be back playing after he was injured in the first preseason game a year ago and placed on injured reserve.

"It's something you've been doing for a long time, but, at this point, I was just anxious to get back out there again," said Batch, a Homestead native. "It's been so long, almost a year to the day. I was excited to get back out there and get under center again."

Batch attempted two passes, completing one. On the other attempt, he was pressured into a bad throw in which his arm was hit and he was knocked to the turf. Because quarterbacks are not allowed to be hit in training camp, Batch said he was looking to get the first hit of 2009 out of the way.

"It felt good to kind of get that first hit out of the way and, mentally, you just try to move forward," Batch said. "Best case would have been not to get hit at all. But I'm gad to get it out of the way. That was it, and it's over and done with."