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The Pittsburgh Steelers are just getting over their win against the Tennessee Titans in Week 3 of the NFL Preseason, and now have to turn their attention to their Week 4 Thursday night game in Carolina against the Panthers.
In Week 4 almost all of the starters will be taking off, leaving the game to be played by backups. This might make for difficult viewing, but there are players who create a spot on the team, or lose their spot, during this final week of exhibition games.
The most discussed battle for the Steelres resides in the backup QB role behind Ben Roethlisberger. As Mike Tomlin spoke with media briefly Tuesday afternoon, he said Roethlisberger won’t play Thursday. He followed that by saying he didn’t know which backup would start the game.
This from Steelers.com’s Missi Matthew:
Coach Tomlin says Ben Roethlisberger will not play on Thursday, but which QB starts and the order after that has not been determined yet.
— Missi Matthews (@missi_matthews) August 27, 2019
Just a few minutes later, Dale Lolley of DKPittsburghSports reported Mason Rudolph himself claimed Joshua Dobbs will get the start, and Rudolph will come in and wrap up the first half.
Mason Rudolph said Josh Dobbs will start the preseason finale in Carolina. He will relieve Dobbs and play the rest of the first half #Steelers #dkps
— Dale Lolley (@dlolley_pgh) August 27, 2019
Tomlin can say what he wants, but it is difficult for me not to believe the player who has been in meetings and told how to prepare. There may be fans reading this thinking this means Dobbs has the edge over Rudolph as the backup quarterback, but in reality Tomlin is just following the rotation between the two quarterbacks.
With Rudolph suggesting he will finish up the first half, it likely means a full half of play for QB4 on the depth chart, Devlin Hodges. Fans have been clamoring to see more of Hodges, after he didn’t register a snap in Week 3, and they will get their wish vs. the Panthers in mop-up duty Thursday night.
Be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the black-and-gold as they prepare for the Carolina Panthers Thursday night, and then the New England Patriots in Week 1.