Steelers Now
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales revealed that his starters won’t play on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the preseason finale, which was his plan all along, according to Joe Person of The Athletic.
The Panthers starters have played in each of their first two games — against the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns. Both outings were not encouraging, as Carolina lost to Houston, 20-3, and Cleveland, 30-10. Despite the lack of execution, Canales has seen enough.
“I feel great about our conditioning level. I feel great about the physicality of play. I don’t feel great about our execution of the basics because it’s not showing up consistently for us,” Canales said after the loss in Houston.
“We have two really important practices before we go into Pittsburgh. The starters will not play this upcoming week. Those practices become so valuable because it’s the last time we have this whole group together and we’re able to get the intensities that we want going into the season.”
Dave Canales says starters won't play next week against Pittsburgh, which was his plan all along.
But man, tough to roll into the regular season after these two shoddy performances.— Joe Person (@josephperson) August 16, 2025
The Steelers have not played most of their starters in the first two preseason games.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, wide receiver DK Metcalf, running back Jaylen Warren, left guard Isaac Seumalo, tight ends Pat Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith, outside linebacker T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, defensive tackle Cam Heyward, linebacker Patrick Queen, cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay and Joey Porter Jr. and strong safety DeShon Elliott all did not play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday night.
All of the healthy starters participated in the joint practice against Tampa Bay on Thursday, however.
Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen doesn’t mind not playing in the preseason.
“I don’t care. If they tell me to play, I’ll play. If not, I’m definitely not tripping at all,” he said.
Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth is also not worried about not being prepared for the New York Jets in Week 1, especially after their joint practice with the Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium on Thursday.
“We are practicing against (Tampa’s) ones. We have a lot of reps versus our ones, and we have probably the best defense in the NFL. It’s obviously very valuable, and we’re looking forward to continuing to work,” Freiermuth said when asked how the offense can simulate a live game experience without playing in the preseason.
“We’re trusting Coach [Tomlin]. He has a plan. Always going to listen to Coach T and he knows what’s best. He always has and always will. We’re excited to go with the plan that he has. I think people are just looking too much into if we’re playing or not. We’ll be fine.”
Tomlin revealed in an interview with the team’s website before the first preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars that Rodgers might not play at...
