They haven’t played any snaps so far this preseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That trend will continue Thursday night for Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, T.J. Watt, and Cameron Heyward in the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced that those four players, specifically, won’t play at all Thursday. Other names, however, including Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, and DeShon Elliott who sat out the first two preseason games are “under consideration” to play inside Bank of American Stadium.
“As far as playing time Thursday night, there’s four guys I’m considering not playing. That’s Cam [Heyward], T.J. [Watt], Aaron [Rodgers] and DK [Metcalf],” Tomlin said to reporters Tuesday, according to video via the Steelers YouTube page. “Everyone else is under consideration. They’re preparing as if they’re gonna play. There are a lot of variables in it. Who’s playing for Carolina and things of that nature that might provide worthy competition.”
“But as I sit here today, all healthy outside of the four that I mentioned, are preparing and scheduled to play.”
Rodgers, who signed a one-year deal with the Steelers on June 5, has yet to take a snap for the Steelers inside a stadium. That won’t occur until the Sept. 7 season opener on the road against the New York Jets inside MetLife Stadium.
Though he participated in the joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Thursday and got some good work in, Rodgers won’t see any sort of extended snaps inside a stadium with the first-team offense this preseason. Nor will Metcalf. The star receiver isn’t as much of a concern as Rodgers due to his age, position and the fact he went through the entire offseason with the Steelers after being traded to Pittsburgh from Seattle on March 13.
It makes sense that guys like Watt and Heyward are being held out, too, considering they’re well-versed in the scheme defensively and Tomlin is very familiar with them. He trusts that they’ll be ready to go in Week 1.
The decision to not play Rodgers at all though, or even Metcalf, is puzzling. Tomlin loves to use the saying “you can’t box without sparring,” yet he’s not giving his new pieces offensively a chance to spar in a game against another NFL opponent.
“I’m comfortable with what I’m seeing out here,” Tomlin said when asked why he won’t play the offensive pieces. “Obviously if I weren’t, I would be playing them.”
Hopefully, that comfort Tomlin has from what he’s seeing offensively in practice is founded. He clearly believes Rodgers and Metcalf are good enough to have the offense hit the ground running on Sept. 7. Playing on the road, the Steelers will need a fast start to the season. They can’t warm up to it this year.
