Posted by ESPN.com's James Walker
Steelers rookie tailback Rashard Mendenhall sat out of both practices today after tweaking his hamstring, but head coach Mike Tomlin said resting him was a minor precaution. It was the second year in a row Pittsburgh's first-round pick hurt his hamstring in minicamp, as linebacker Lawrence Timmons suffered the same injury last year.
"It's becoming somewhat commonplace for some of these high-round draft picks for this type of this situation to happen to them during minicamp weekend,'' Tomlin said. "The schedule that these guys are on is really not conducive to preparing them to come in to meet what waits for them in terms of the minicamp.''
A few more notes from Day 2 of the Steelers' postdraft camp:
- Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was given an excused absence for the second practice today due to a prior engagement. In three practices this weekend, he has looked sharp in making all the throws and appears to have a good command of the offense.
- Offensive left tackle Marvel Smith, following back surgery in December, says he's feeling as good as he has in a long time.
- Finally, Tomlin wasn't going overboard with what he saw from his players this weekend.
"It's football in shorts,'' he said. "I'm glad to see them. We're getting some good things done from a tempo standpoint. But you really can't measure a man until there's contact. That's an element of the game that you cannot deny.''
