Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed during his press conference this morning that everyone who’s healthy will play in the team’s preseason opener on Friday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
“How much they’ll play is yet to be determined,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel.
Pittsburgh has some players dealing with minor injuries, including safeties Tre Norwood, Damontae Kazee and Keanu Neal, outside linebacker Nick Herbig and running back John Lovett. Kazee is unlikely to go on Friday night, but it will be interesting to see if Herbig is healthy enough to get a green light on Friday night.
Tomlin did say specifically that Minkah Fitzpatrick, who practiced fully for the first time Tuesday, is scheduled to play. Fitzpatrick was excused for the team early in camp due to a family matter but returned over the weekend. Tuesday was the first day he was a full participant in practice after primarily working in individual drills over the weekend.
While I wouldn’t expect to see guys like Cameron Heyward, Alex Highsmith or T.J. Watt play a lot on Friday night, if they stay healthy until Friday they will likely see the field at least for a series or two against Tampa Bay. The same goes for guys like Kenny Pickett, Diontae Johnson, Pat Freiermuth, Najee Harris and George Pickens on the offensive side of the ball. As of now, Tomlin has yet to speak on the quarterback rotation.
The Steelers are going up against a quarterback they know very well in Baker Mayfield, and it’s going to be a lot of fun to see everyone who is healthy get at least a few snaps. It’ll be a good gauge to see where the Steelers are they get ready for their Sept. 10 season opener at Acrisure Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers.
