The Steelers expected to hear from Nate Washington throughout this week.

Not trash talk.

Ticket talk.

Being that the Steelers' former No. 3 receiver now plays for the Tennessee Titans, his old teammates expected him to send them regular text messages. They expected him to request kindly if his mother -- a friend to many of them -- could snag one of their preferable, home-team seats for the Titans-Steelers game Thursday night rather than have her wedge into Heinz Field's visiting-team corner.

Hey, that's what friends are for.

And Washington, whether he plays in this NFL opener because of a creaky hamstring or not, is still as close as a brother to them. Football is adversarial by nature, but it is not cold-hearted before and after those 60 minutes. After all, the guy was just standing alongside them in June inside the East Club, reveling with them one last time, slipping on his Super Bowl XLIV ring.

"I'm happy for him that he got a chance," Hines Ward said. "When you win the Super Bowl, not everybody can stay. Same thing with [Washington signee Antwaan] Randle El: He was here for a Super Bowl, and he got a chance somewhere else.

"I was happy for Nate. Just to see where he came from, a guy from Tiffin. ... He helped us win the Super Bowl and got a chance with Tennessee. I'm always going to be a big supporter."

Of course, Washington won't cross Ward's blocking path like some stray linebacker or defensive back, either.

The Steelers' defenders, though, maintain they will not be looking out for a familiar No. 85 wearing a strange Titans blue, navy, red and silver combo. Pull up on a receiver? These Steelers?

"Who knows if Nate's going to play yet?" safety Ryan Clark said of the 6-foot-1, 185-pound receiver the Titans expect to start this season after he signed a six-year, $27 million contract.

"I really don't care. Once we're out there, they're all Tennessee Titans to me. We'll talk after the game; it'll matter after the game. Everybody's going to get hit the same way, everybody's going to be covered the same way. I'm not worried about which face is in there."

"It's not just Nate," added cornerback Deshea Townsend. "We want to play Steeler football."

Funny, but Washington spent the past four seasons playing just that. A free agent from Division II Tiffin, Washington played one regular-season game as a rookie, but made an impression that first postseason. He not only collected a critical, third-down catch, but he also knocked away a likely interception in the AFC championship victory against Denver en route to Super Bowl XL. After winning that ring, he got the keys to both his hometown Toledo, Ohio, and nearby Tiffin, and a receiving role in the wake of the free-agent departure of Randle El.

He blossomed into the Steelers' No. 3 receiver who caught 35 passes his second season and 29 the next. Last season, Washington finished fourth on the Steelers with 40 receptions and topped the team with a 15.8-yard average per catch. He made big plays early.

There was a 48-yard touchdown to turn a Jacksonville deficit in their favor, a 50-yard scoring pass to break open the Cincinnati game a week later and 65-yarder against the New York Giants the week after that, when he started for the suspended Santonio Holmes.

In the postseason, he added three catches in the victory against San Diego and another three in the win against Baltimore at a time when sidekick and eventual Super Bowl MVP Holmes was gathering four total.

Then, in March, Washington snagged that contract with the Titans and a starting opportunity. In June, he picked up a second Super Bowl ring.

"I want to play so bad that I am trying to stick it in my head that the season is much bigger than just this game," Washington said in a conference call. "This game means a whole lot to me. Not just having an opportunity to start this game, but to be playing against some guys who helped raise me. It's going to be a major opportunity for me, and I'm excited about that.

"I think we are all excited to play each other because we went against each other so much in practice that we always talked about the possibility -- what they would do and what I would do."

That's if the hamstring allows him to play.

"When I signed back with these guys and saw we had Pittsburgh on Sept. 10, I never imagined these types of things would happen," he told reporters in Nashville. "The best thing that I could do right now is just stay high-spirited and no matter what happens -- if I go or if I can't go -- just be there with my teammates."

Ex-teammates will be glad to see him as well.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said he was "sad to see him go, [but] glad he got a home and got a contract. I'm really happy for him. The Titans are better with Nate. Nate is a great player."

Now, about that seat assignment ...