The Pittsburgh Steelers are 48 hours away from their preseason finale against the Atlanta Falcons, kicking off Thursday evening. Though the starting offensive, defensive, and special teams units have looked strong the first two outings, Mike Tomlin said he expects starters to play. How much they play will be based off how the game goes.
Speaking to reporters via the team’s YouTube channel, Tomlin outlined his plan for the final exhibition game.
“The way that we’ve done it in other games will continue,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel. “Those who are healthy are scheduled to play. We’ve got an agenda with our units…we’ll play the first group until we get a level of satisfaction on both sides of the ball. Then we’ll play the second and play the third. And we’ll go from there.”
Tomlin said he couldn’t guarantee everyone will play, though it was unclear if that was referring to veterans like Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, T.J. Watt, and Patrick Peterson – all were held out in the preseason opener – or if it was a reference to some of the injured players. Or perhaps it was a comment about players at the back end of the roster missing out on the opportunity to get in the game. With the NFL cutting the number of preseason games from four to three, there’s fewer chances for those types of players.
Tomlin said the team will “leave the light on” for the three notable injured players right now: DL Larry Ogunjobi (right foot), S Tre Norwood (right leg), and OG Nate Herbig (shoulder). All three missed last Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.
The Atlanta Falcons have yet to announce their finale plans. Sunday, head coach Arthur Smith said he had “a decent idea” of how much, if at all, their starters will play Thursday but that plans were being finalized.
Pittsburgh and Atlanta will kick off at 7:30 PM/EST Thursday night with the final cutdowns from 90 to 53 taking place by August 29 at 4 PM/EST.
