Stars to come out in Steelers’ preseason game
This hasn’t been a normal preseason for the Steelers.
From Le’Veon Bell’s suspension to James Harrison’s battle with the league over being named in an Al-Jazeera America report to head coach Mike Tomlin holding out many of his key offensive stars in the first two games, things have hardly been business as usual.
That will end tonight, when the Steelers (0-2) take on the New Orleans Saints (0-2) at the Superdome. Kickoff is 8 p.m.
Tomlin will finally take the wraps off his offense when the Steelers play the Saints. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, receiver Antonio Brown and running backs Bell and DeAngelo Williams will see their first game action of the preseason.
Just don’t blink because they might not play for very long.
“By limiting their exposure, it certainly provides more opportunities for others,” said Tomlin. “That’s been an important part of the team-development process. Every snap we take away from Ben Roethlisberger is an extra snap that Landry Jones gets, for example. And that’s kind of the mentality regarding the use, or non-use of some of those guys.”
Tomlin saw what happened to the Steelers last year in the preseason when placekicker Shaun Suisham and center Maurkice Pouncey were lost to season-ending injuries.
So backup players will get more playing time, and that isn’t bad.
Roethlisberger, for one, is looking forward to seeing some game action.
“I feel like I could go into the first regular-season game and do it, but I would like to be out there, just because it’s a different speed,” Roethlisberger said. “You want to get out there. I know my offensive line wouldn’t want to hear this, but I wouldn’t even mind getting hit once. Maybe after the ball is gone, just a little tap from a defensive lineman.”
Even at 34, with 171 career games under his belt, playing in the preseason still matters, even if it will be just a short appearance.
For others, time is running out to make this team or better define their role on it.
NFL teams must trim their rosters to 75 players by 4 p.m. Tuesday, but the Steelers and many other teams are likely to start the process before that. Final cutdowns to 53 players will be just a few days later, Sept. 3.
“Every chance you get to impress is one you have to take advantage of,” said running back Fitzgerald Toussaint. “Every day is a competition.”
While that might be true, Tomlin has always put more of an emphasis on what happens in games. The preseason games always outweigh practice performances, either reinforcing what was already known or causing the coaching staff to take a longer look at a player.
While many pundits are surmising what the Steelers’ 53-man roster might look like or who might be a candidate for the practice squad, Tomlin isn’t at that point. He wants to keep a clear head when it comes to trimming the roster or making decisions about who stays.
“I just have an open mind about guys working to make it and we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Tomlin said.
Right tackle Marcus Gilbert had about $3 million of his base salary converted into signing bonus, creating about $2 million in salary cap space for the Steelers. Gilbert is signed through 2019. …` The last time the Steelers and Saints played in the preseason came in the NFL Hall of Fame Game in 2007 in a game that marked the head coaching debut of Tomlin. … Veteran offensive lineman Ryan Harris is expected to start at left tackle. He and Alejandro Villanueva are competing for the left tackle job and Harris was supposed to start at left tackle last week against Philadelphia, but with Gilbert out, Villanueva started at left tackle and Harris at right.