PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Once again Mike Tomlin says all who are healthy are scheduled to play Thursday night in the preseason finale in Atlanta on KDKA-TV.
As for how long the starters would go against the Falcons?
"We'll play the first group until we get a level of satisfaction on both sides of the ball with those agendas," Tomlin said Tuesday. "We will then move on to the second and third. By no means am I guaranteeing everyone plays. It's our ability to see what we need to see before we move on."
"Such is life this time of year as the road gets narrow. We are trying to make some decisions as far as 90 (players) down to 53 (with cutdown day on Tuesday)."
Tomlin would go on to say he doesn't treat game three in a three-game preseason any differently than a game three in a four-game preseason. Typically, when they played four preseason games, starters would play a half in the third game. Tomlin has been vague enough to not say he would do that on Thursday.
Once endorsing the four preseason games and the need to see game reps, Tomlin believes three games are enough to figure out his roster.
"They've had the totality of this process to state a case for themselves," Tomlin said. "We are really transparent about this process. Practice tees you up positioning-wise to compete in games. So everyone has been given a fair shake."
What he said he really wants to see against Atlanta is the arrow continually pointing up. Tomlin said every player and every position group needs to be on the rise.
Only three potentially won't play as of now-defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi, safety Tre Norwood and offensive lineman Nate Herbig have been dealing with injuries for over a week.
Quote of the Day
Sure, he dropped a 'if you have red paint, you paint the barn red'. But Tomlin also said about having the final preseason opportunity in a dome and having to go to Atlanta.
"My SEC Championship boys call that dome home."
