Pittsburgh Review

LATROBE, Pa. – After an offseason and two weeks of training camp practices at Saint Vincent College, head coach Mike Tomlin is eager to see his Pittsburgh Steelers compete against another team. This opportunity will come on Friday night when the Steelers host the Houston Texans at Acrisure Stadium in their preseason opener.

For Tomlin, it is a chance to assess his team's readiness for the 2024 season against a team that has already played one preseason game. The Texans faced Chicago last week in the Hall of Fame game.

Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans plans to play several starters against the Steelers, including quarterback C.J. Stroud. "I'm really excited about playing the Texans. It is really good from a developmental perspective that they've already been in the stadium to compete against somebody," Tomlin said. "Stadium experience is an awesome challenge that helps our development."

Tomlin will also play many of his starters on Friday, though he mentioned that veteran players such as defensive lineman Cam Heyward, outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, inside linebacker Patrick Queen, guard Isaac Seumalo, and quarterback Russell Wilson will not participate. Others may be held out due to minor injuries.

With Wilson sidelined, backup Justin Fields will start and utilize new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's system for the first time in a stadium setting. "I'm probably going to give that quote-unquote first unit – him included in that – a couple of series," Tomlin said of Fields. "I think he just comes to compete every day."

Wilson remains the team's starting quarterback despite suffering a calf injury during conditioning tests and gradually increasing his practice schedule at Saint Vincent College. When asked if he's concerned about Wilson's preparation time due to the injury, Tomlin replied simply, "I'm not."

Friday's game will also provide Tomlin with his first look at the team's rookie class in a game setting. First-round pick Troy Fautanu worked with the starting unit at right tackle during Tuesday's practice, while second-round pick Zach Frazier has yet to work with the first unit.

"Troy has gotten some opportunities because he's handled some of his other opportunities and Zach's done a nice job," Tomlin said.

Broderick Jones, last season’s No. 1 pick who started at right tackle in 2023, will see some time at left tackle during this game.

The preseason games are part of preparations for the 2024 regular season. While these games are weighted differently than practices, Tomlin emphasizes mistake-free football.

"I'm really more concerned about how we perform some fundamental things as opposed to strategy and schematics," Tomlin said. "We can't be a group that's highly penalized... We want to put our conditioning on display and continue to develop it."

Tomlin aims for his team to make routine plays consistently rather than focusing solely on spectacular moments: "There's a baseline expectation... I'll be excited about watching guys make routine plays routinely."

• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio.

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