The six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers hit the ground running at training camp in Latrobe two Thursdays ago, but they did so without their most veteran leader, Hines Ward. The Dancing With The Stars champion has been with his teammates at St. Vincent College for the first week and a half of training camp, but he has yet to put the pads on for the first time this camp while he waited for his surgically repaired thumb to fully heal.
That’s set to change on Monday after Ward passed his physical. The future Hall of Famer will come off the Physically Unable to Perform list to make his ‘11 training camp debut. The Steelers begin their preseason schedule this Friday in Washington D.C. when they face the Redskins at FedEx Field. It’s not clear if Ward will be ready to play on Friday, even in very limited action, but it’s safe to say that Ward’s full participation in camp will give the Steelers and their young offensive playmakers a little more pep in their step as they prepare for the 2011 season.
Ward caught 59 passes for 755 yards and 5 TDs in 2010.
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