In the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the first-team offense played one series, with QB Kenny Pickett driving the offense down the field and going 6-of-7 for 70 yards with a touchdown. In the team’s second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that the first-team offense will play more than it did against Tampa.
“I acknowledge that those guys are gonna play, I’ll also acknowledge that they’re gonna play more, but what that is as I stand here right now, I’d be lying if I gave you a direct answer,” Tomlin said Thursday in his pre-game press conference via the team’s YouTube channel.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott, Tomlin’s old college teammate at William & Mary, already said that QB Josh Allen and other first-team guys will play at least until the second quarter. With only three preseason games, the time to get live work in against another opponent is limited, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Pittsburgh’s first-team offense also saw a quarter or more.
With Pickett just entering his second season in the league, it’s important to get him as many live reps as possible against a defense that isn’t his own. That’ll help him feel more comfortable as the team enters the regular season and can help him continue to improve and develop little by little.
In addition to Pickett, the team has a plethora of young receivers I’m sure they’d like to see more work from, including George Pickens and Calvin Austin III. Austin got reps with the second- and third-stringers last Friday, and with his performance including a 67-yard touchdown, getting him some reps with Pickett might be in Pittsburgh’s best interest.
We’ll see just how much the starters play, but it’s going to be a unit to monitor after they came out strong against Tampa Bay last week. They’ll be going up against a much better Buffalo defense, one that likely will play more starters than the Buccaneers did last week. It’s going to be a good test for Pickett and the rest of the first-team offense to see where they really are as the season inches closer and closer.
