LaMarr Woodley said it is too early to worry about labor strife between NFL owners and players affecting the 2011 season.

"I'll get concerned if it's July 20th and nothing's worked out," the Steelers outside linebacker said Thursday night, "because (then) we're getting closer to training camp, and I know they still have to sign the free agents, sign the rookies."

Players have been locked out by the owners, save for a couple of days, since March 11, the day negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement broke down. The sides don't appear to be close to a new deal, and they are not scheduled to meet again until next month.

But Woodley, who was on the North Shore hosting a fundraiser for his Sack Attack charity, is not the only Steelers player who thinks there is still time for an agreement that would end the NFL's first work stoppage since 1987.

"I won't get antsy until they start cutting into training camp," veteran inside linebacker James Farrior said last week after a workout in Orlando. "This is the time of year we're not doing much."

Teams would normally be holding voluntary practices now -- they were allowed 14 under the previous CBA -- and players such as Farrior and Woodley have been working out on their own.

Farrior has been at Tom Shaw Performance Camp for the past month, while Woodley has been training regularly in Miami.

Woodley, who has recorded at least 10 sacks a season since becoming a starter in 2008, said the loss of offsesason workouts won't have a negative impact on the defense.

"We don't have to get timing down," Woodley said. "I don't know if (the lockout) affects the offense, but it doesn't affect us at all."

Woodley signed a one-year, $10 million contract in February after the Steelers used their franchise tag on him.

The Steelers tagged Woodley, 26, to protect themselves in case players with at least four years of service are free agents in the next CBA.

The Steelers have made it clear that they want to sign Woodley to a long-term deal. One of the cornerstones of the Steelers defense said he would love to spend his entire career in Pittsburgh.

"I want to be one of those guys (Steelers fans) remember," Woodley said. "You see 'Mean' Joe Greene always around, Mel Blount. You see those guys and say, 'You know what• When I get to that age, that's how I want to be.' "

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