Pittsburgh Review

The Steelers continued their preparation for the regular season with a practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, focusing on special teams work. Coach Mike Tomlin expressed satisfaction with the team's progress as they approach Saturday's preseason finale against the Detroit Lions.

"We had a good, simulated, regular in-season Thursday," said Tomlin. "In the morning, we talked about some things that will be critical in the special teams game. We continued with our individual skill development and pushing to some situational ball and just trying to familiarize ourselves with areas of the field, personnel usage, personality – ours and theirs – in those moments."

Tomlin emphasized the importance of this week’s practice sessions. "It's just been a good week. It's just good to take this group through the totality of a six-day process of preparation to play. So, tomorrow we'll lean in heavier on some situational ball and two-minute, and things of that nature, putting the finishing touches on our physical preparation. But, obviously, we'll keep preparing mentally as we push forward toward Saturday."

Regarding the quarterback rotation for Saturday's game, Tomlin maintained his earlier stance. "I'm not there yet," he said. "We generally do that in the 11th hour in the preseason. There's no need to put the cart before the horse. These individual days themselves are so important with what happens out here in terms of being our guide, in terms of how we divvy up reps, so we're not there yet."

Tomlin also highlighted his desire for better execution on offense during possession downs but clarified it is not about showcasing more plays during preseason games. "It's not about the volume of schematics; it's about the quality of execution and our understanding of what we're seeing, and us playing full speed in those moments," said Tomlin. "It's less about what we show from a schematics standpoint and just us getting individually and collectively familiar with the moments, and winning in those moments."