Steelers Now
While Mike Tomlin ruled out the majority of the Pittsburgh Steelers starters for Saturday’s preseason game, the Jacksonville Jaguars are doing the opposite. Starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence and rookie sensation wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter will play.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said Hunter will line up at both wide receiver and cornerback in the game.
Coen also noted that a lot of his players are chomping at the bit to play.
“A lot of the guys want to play,” he said.
Tomlin ruled out Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth, Isaac Seumalo, Jaylen Warren, Darius Slay, Joey Porter Jr., Jalen Ramsey, DeShon Elliott, Patrick Queen, Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, Nick Herbig, and Chris Boswell for Saturday’s contest.
"A lot of the guys WANT to play."
Coach Coen on starters playing on Saturday@Dream_Finders | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/abZlgjsAuw
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) August 7, 2025
Rodgers did not play in the preseason with the New York Jets last year. He played in 10 snaps with the Jets in 2023. Before that, his last preseason action was six snaps with the Green Bay Packers in 2018.
To say the least,Rodgers doesn’t personally see a lot of value in preseason football.
“With all due respect (then I can say whatever I want), preseason football is not necessarily real football, because the defenses just don’t do a lot,” he said. “The offenses don’t ether. So you go out there with a very limited playbook against a defense that’s playing one-high zone, one-high man, two-high zone. There’s not much pressure. Oftentimes, there’s communication between the coaches about “hey, we’re not going to pressure this week,” or maybe you’ll see a little pressure.”
The one area that Rodgers did say can be beneficial from a preseason standpoint is just operating the offense with a play clock, stadium radios, crowd noise, a full officiating crew and the like.
“It’s really about the operation,” he said. “If you can actually gain something from the preseason, it’s that you have 40 seconds. We have a clock out here, but it’s not always cued to it. You have 40 seconds. You call the play, get to the line of scrimmage, get us in the right situation, go out and do it.”
Rodgers also feels that joint practices, like the one the Steelers have scheduled for next Thursday with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are a better tool for getting ready for the season.
“[Teams are] less worried about showing things,” Rodgers said. “And even though there are usually cameras there, it’s filmed, they’re less skittish about running stuff they’ve been running all camp, and they’re trying to do in the regular season against another team they’re not going to play in the regular season.
“I find it real beneficial. As long as there’s no fights, they’re a good work day.”
Alan Saunders provided reporting from St. Vincent College.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Jaguars Will Play Starters vs. Steelers
