STEELERS Hartings will miss game

The veteran offensive lineman must learn to play with pain.
HARRISON CITY, Pa. (AP) -- Pittsburgh Steelers center Jeff Hartings will return to the offensive line next week. The question now is for how long.
Hartings missed practice Wednesday but returned to training camp after getting a second opinion on his sore left knee from a Birmingham, Ala., orthopedic surgeon.
"He told me pretty much what I already knew," Hartings said. "Basically, I was getting a second opinion on how to approach the season as far as what kind of exercises I can do to alleviate some of the pain and to just be able to manage it better."
Hartings missed four games and five starts last season after surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee. He aggravated the injury before training camp and has missed an occasional practice.
Monitors practice time
The doctor told Hartings to monitor his practice time, but otherwise said that he shouldn't miss any games this season. The only problem is lingering pain.
"What's new to me is [the pain] is not going away. That's what's new," he said. "I've had a lot of injuries and they just go away. ... The more sore it gets, the less effective I am and, quite honestly, the less fun playing football it is when you're in a lot of pain."
Hartings, an eighth-year NFL veteran, said there hasn't been further damage to the joint since last year's surgery, and that he'd only aggravated "degenerative cartilage" from previous injuries.
But Hartings, 31, said his knee will likely cut short his career. He figures he'll likely be able to play for three more years.
"I love playing football, so I would love to play 15 years, but God has a plan for all of us, and this is what's happened to me, and I can't help that in the last couple years a couple guys have fallen on me."
Hartings said he's frustrated by the pain because it cut short what was likely his best preseason practices.
"I came into training camp and felt great, practiced seven straight days ... so that's probably part of the discouragement I had, because I went seven days and practiced well." Hartings said. Hartings expects to return to the field on Monday and will miss Saturday's home preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. He also will likely practice less frequently.
"It's a learning experience, and, yeah, in hindsight I wouldn't have practiced eight or nine days in a row, but that's why I went down there now instead of waiting until week two or three" of the season, Hartings said.