When the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Kansas City Chiefs Saturday night at Heinz Field, it will be their third preseason game in 11 days. While that type of schedule can be tough on a team, head coach Mike Tomlin said Thursday during his press conference that he is not letting it affect the way he likes to do things because he has more than enough players on the roster to help accommodate what he\’s trying to get accomplished.
“I haven\’t let that impact how we utilize guys because we have so many guys,” said Tomlin. “It would be different if we were navigating that with a 53 man roster, but were navigating it with 90, so it\’s less of a concern.”
The third preseason game is normally used by teams as a dress rehearsal for the season opener and Tomlin said he intends on following the same plan with his starters Saturday night as he has in previous years.
“Like we always do in all third preseason games, it is our intent to play a complete half with our first wave if you will and kind of play it by ear as we move into the second half, he said. “That\’s been our practice in the past, and as I sit here today, those are our intentions.”
With training camp now behind them, Tomlin is also using this week to show the young players that might make the roster what a short week will feel like once the regular season begins.
“Even though it is what can be characterized as a mock regular in-season week, obviously it is not just from a timing standpoint, said Tomlin. “We\’re coming off a Monday night game, and we\’re playing on Saturday. But, much like I told the men, there\’ll be these kinds of weeks during the course of a season.
“They\’re not only getting a sense of the rhythm of how we work here back on the South Side, but also a sense of how we might deal with that.”
