It’s preseason for everyone.
The Pittsburgh Steelers beat included.
Pittsburgh opened its preseason slate with a 31-25 win over Jacksonville, doing so without a single starter taking the field. A couple of offensive rotation guys — Darnell Washington and Roman Wilson — got some run, while Kaleb Johnson’s backfield debut was remarkable. On defense, we caught a brief peek behind the Steel Curtain at the team’s depth, but nothing that screamed “meaningful takeaway.”
If anything, we may have learned that if Will Howard (finger) starts the season on injured reserve, Skylar Thompson might have just claimed the QB3 spot. Outside of that, the night’s lone highlight came from Jaguars rookie kicker Cam Little, who drilled a 70-yarder. But Mike Tomlin wasn’t asked what it was like to be on the wrong end of what would’ve been a record-breaker — had it happened in the regular season.
Actually, the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach wasn’t asked a single thing.
Entering his 19th season at the helm in Pittsburgh, Tomlin delivered his opening statement, then opened the floor for questions. He paused. Looked around. Five seconds of silence. A Steelers PR staffer finally tossed out a hopeful “Anyone?” Tomlin smirked.
“Thank you,” he said, before walking off.
To be fair, the Steelers were in Jacksonville, and the traveling media contingent was likely light. Hard to justify a trip when Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, and Jalen Ramsey aren’t making their black-and-gold debuts. The Steelers still have two preseason games left — Tampa Bay at home and Carolina on the road — which should matter more as starters, Rodgers included, get some snaps. By then, the beat will have questions.
As far as we can tell, no Steelers reporters were credibly accused of falling asleep during Tomlin’s media availability this time around. That dubious honor already went to Mark Kaboly. A video from the NFL annual meetings made the rounds showing him clearly checked out during a Tomlin answer, prompting The Pat McAfee Show contributor to later clarify, “It was just another one of the answers I’ve heard for, like, a hundred times.”
And maybe that’s exactly the kind of answer(s) everyone was expecting after Saturday’s preseason opener.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.