LATROBE, Pa. – Coach Mike Tomlin brought the Pittsburgh Steelers here for some team-building. For a while, it seemed as though the only thing they would be getting built in their time here is an ark.

On Monday, which was the day the players reported and took part in the conditioning test, the weather cooperated and everything went off without a hitch. But on Tuesday, after a spirited morning session that included hitting for the first time since Bill Cowher's first seasons, a steady rain forced Tomlin to take 86 football players and try to practice on an indoor basketball court.

"We had less than ideal circumstances, but that's football and that's life," said Tomlin about the circumstances of Tuesday afternoon. "We challenged the guys, and it was an opportunity for us to exhibit a little mental toughness and get some production out of the afternoon. I thought that they did that, and we'll move forward."

The Steelers didn't alter their schedule based on Tuesday's afternoon wash-out, and so that meant Wednesday morning was devoted to special teams. In games, special teams plays can be among the most exciting the sport has to offer, but during a practice it doesn't really make for interesting viewing.

Still, Tomlin believes in its importance and has no plans to steal time from it to make up for time lost to something like the weather.

"We just want to give it its just do. It's a legitimate phase of football. If you count up the total number of snaps, special teams is a significant number of snaps in a football game," said Tomlin. "We're putting the time in now while we have the time. In terms of having two (special teams) coaches, of course multiple sets of eyes are better than one, not only for what you do on the field, but also in the development of game plans. Different ideas are great. Offensive staffs have staff meetings that develop game plans; defensive staffs have meetings that develop game plans. We want to recognize that special teams is a legitimate phase of football by having multiple people who are specialists in that area to develop game plans."

Come Wednesday afternoon, there was another threat of rain, with the National Weather Service issuing some advisories for the Westmoreland County area in which St. Vincent College sits. But this time Tomlin's luck held out, and the Steelers were able to get their entire practice session completed before the skies darkened.

If there was a theme to the afternoon session, it was situational football.

"This game is defined by what teams do in situations," said Tomlin. "Offense vs. defense is always good work, and we wanted to make a statement and put that out there. We wanted to address two-minute and understand that this is the ultimate parity league, and how we perform at crunch time is going to be critical to our success."

A couple of the highlights of the two-minute included Ben Roethlisberger buying time in the pocket and eventually fitting the ball into Heath Miller between a couple of defenders to convert a fourth down; The collisions between second-year tackle Willie Colon and rookie pass rusher LaMarr Woodley were fierce; and Arnold Harrison's sack was a key to helping the No. 2 defense keep the No. 2 offense out of the end zone.

"All you can hope for from a coaching situation is that they have an opportunity to move the ball down the field and get themselves into the position where they get the opportunity to take some shots at the end zone at the end," said Tomlin. "They did. It was competitive, it was good."

STEELERS NOTES: An estimated crowd of 5,500 enjoyed the afternoon practice, with a number taking advantage of the bleacher seating offered by Chuck Noll Field … There was no change to the existing injury report – Verron Haynes and Derek Rehage remain on the physically unable to perform list, and Santonio Holmes remains day-to-day, according to Tomlin .. Thursday's afternoon practice begins at 2:55 p.m. and will be open to the public.