The Steelers play their final game
of the preseason on Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers and while the
starters won't see a lot of playing time, it will be a familiar look at some
positions.
The secondary and the offensive line
will be the same lineup that the Steelers started against the Philadelphia
Eagles. In the secondary Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu will start at safety and
Deshea Townsend and Ike Taylor on the corners.
A position that has been the topic
of much conversation this preseason, the offensive line, will have Marvel Smith
and Willie Colon at the tackle spots, Alan Faneca and Kendall Simmons at guard
and Sean Mahan will start at center.
"At this point I am not interested
in making any grand announcements in regards to the lineup," said head coach
Mike Tomlin in regards to who will be the starters on opening day against
Cleveland. "I think it would be prudent to
continue on as we've continued on. I think to do so at this time would be to
de-value what we have to do on Thursday night. We'll roll with the same lineup
we played with last week. We'll focus on keeping our eyes on Thursday
night."
The starters played the entire first
half against Philadelphia but that will change this
week.
"They will play roughly a
quarter but there will be some exceptions to that one way or the other," said
Tomlin. "We'll determine who those exceptions are in the next 48 hours."
One player who will face a test on
Thursday is punt returner Willie Reid. Reid fielded one punt against the Eagles
on Sunday night and muffed it, but recovered his own fumble, leaving the
Steelers backed up at their own three-yard line.
"He put a ball on the ground," said
Tomlin. "We're going to fall short sometimes. How we're going to respond to it
is what's going to define us. I challenged Willie this morning in front of his
peers. That's part of it. We'll see what he brings. I expect him to bring it
because he is a competitor."
Notes: Tight ends Jerame Tuman and Guys
Heath Miller are question marks for the game. Miller has minor shoulder
discomfort.
