By Teresa Varley
Steelers.com

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.