The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to play several of their players on the 90 man roster Saturday night in their preseason loss to the New York Giants, but starting safety Troy Polamalu wasn’t one of them.
“I elected not to play him,” said head coach Mike Tomlin during his post game press conference.
Polamalu isn’t believed to be suffering from any injury, so Tomlin was more than likely just taking precautions with the eight-time Pro Bowl safety.
With Polamalu not playing, veteran Will Allen got the start alongside newcomer Mike Mitchell. Allen looked like he took a bad angle on the long touchdown run by Giants running back Rashad Jennings and Tomlin talked about the play after the game.
“We’ve got to get it on the ground in the secondary,” said Tomlin. “Sometimes those things break free, they have to be 8, 10, 12 yard runs not 78-yard runs. It was a gap integrity issue in the core. That is less of a concern. I am more concerned about when those things do occur we do a good job of trying to minimize the explosion play and make it an 8, 10, 12 yard gain not a 78-yard play.”
