The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their second preseason game of 2018 Thursday night on the road against the Green Bay Packers and the current plan is for the two younger quarterbacks on the roster, Joshua Dobbs and Mason Rudolph, to play exclusively in that contest.
During his Tuesday press conference, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced that his two experienced quarterbacks on the roster, Ben Roethlisberger and Landry Jones, are scheduled to sit out the team’s Thursday night game against the Packers.
“We’re focused on the young quarterbacks, they’re going to play and play exclusively, talking about Josh Dobbs and Mason Rudolph,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “They’ll allocate the work, haven’t detailed out exactly the division of labor, but those two guys will be featured.”
Both Dobbs, a fourth-round selection last year, and Rudolph, a third-round draft pick this year, had good outings in the Steelers preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. Tomlin indicated Tuesday that both will be playing Thursday night against the Packers with more of a game plan in place.
“There’ll be a little bit more of a volume in terms of the game planning and that’s very thoughtful,” Tomlin said. “We want these guys to be able to perform at an acceptable level in terms of detail and execution, but at the same time want to challenge them intellectually.”
In addition to Roethlisberger and Jones both being healthy scratches Thursday night, Tomlin also said Tuesday that wide receiver Antonio Brown and defensive lineman Cameron Heyward won’t play against the Packers. As far this players who are currently dealing with injuries go, Tomlin said tight end Vance McDonald (foot) and guard Ramon Foster (knee), as expected, will also sit out Thursday night. Additionally, a few other players, both healthy and unhealthy, are likely to be held out against the Packers.
“We’ve had a number of guys that are dealing with injury, the guys that can be characterized as week-to-week obviously won’t play,” Tomlin said. “The Vance McDonalds, the Ramon Fosters, guys like that. The guys that are dealing with more day-to-day injuries, the guys that have missed partial work, or maybe a day or two here or there, we’ll leave the light on for those guys with the hope that they’re participants.”
As for outside linebacker Bud Dupree, who recently became a father, Tomlin said Tuesday that he’s now out of concussion protocol and that he’s expected to play Thursday night.
“Bud’s playing,” Tomlin said.
Tomlin would not say Tuesday if safety Sean Davis (groin) would play Thursday night. He did, however, classify Davis as being in the day-to-day group of injured players.
