Mike Tomlin explains why he’s not worried about a slow start from the Steelers despite a lack of preseason participation
They feel confident.
In recent years, there has been a change back to preseason play. After Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams made the preseason even more mute than it already is, many teams have taken the approach of the Kansas City Chiefs, where they play their starters for at least a few drives.
The Pittsburgh Steelers did feature some of their starters in Week 3 of the preseason, but names like Cam Heyward, DK Metcalf, T.J. Watt, and of course, Aaron Rodgers didn’t take a single snap throughout the exhibition slate and weren’t always the most active in camp.
That raises some questions about chesmirtry and cohesion. Questions about slow starts that in all honesty, could have been avoided with a few drives of Aaron Rodgers under center. Well, Mike Tomlin doesn’t seem to be worried.
Mike Tomlin is not second-guessing lack of preseason participation from stars
“It’s not challenging. I base my decisions basically off of shared experiences in a lot of lot of ways,” said Tomlin when asked about potential challanges of Week 1 after not playing some stars. “Cam [Heyward], for example, he and I have been together a lot of years. He’s logged a bunch of snaps. So this one way required to take off is short relative to others. . .
” . ..T.J. had that big game in the opener, I think in 2021 in Buffalo, he was held out [of the preseason]. He had two sacks in that mix. And so you go through things with people, and you learn what they can manage in terms of readiness. My job is to be fair to everyone, not treat everyone the same, and that’s why the schedule of work is different for different people in team development.”
It’s a very fine balancing act in my opinion. If you’re the Steelers, risking an injury to any of Metcalf, Rodgers, Watt, or Heyward, even if minor, makes no sense in a preseason atmosphere. But we know that Zach Frazier has had some issues snapping the ball.
That Jonnu Smith dealt with nagging injuries throughout camp. That Rodgers and the Steelers offense will go as far as their tackle duo allows them to go. Yet, none of these parts has formed a whole yet.
When the Steelers offense breaks the huddle on Sunday, that will be the first time Rodgers and all of his offensive weaponry play together.
They could be in for a rather rocky start.
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