Five burning questions for the Steelers third preseason game versus Titans

Who is hurt at this point in the season?

The question is who is hurt at this point in the season? This game is where the starters aren’t held out and so there is no excuse for not being on the field except injury. The NFL isn’t clear about injury reports in the preseason as much as they are in the regular season.

Some guys who are injured are Joe Haden, Diontae Johnson, Vince Williams, Zach Gentry, and Sutton Smith. That is a good sign for this time of year. It looks like Haden will be held out but could very well start when the Steelers open up against the Patriots. Diontae Johnson seems to have a nagging injury and so it might be better to hold him out.

The players I would like to see appear are Vince Williams, Zach Gentry and Sutton Smith. Vince Williams is a starter and so this is a key game for him to get repetitions. Zach Gentry needs to play well to win that third tight end job.

Bloggers are already calling for someone to replace him with a player from another team. Sutton Smith also hasn’t appeared but is said to be a good special teams player and was a good pass rusher in college.

For fans of the regular season, this game is the closest thing to it. This is the game where the starters play the first half. I would like to see the Steelers first-string come out like gangbusters, but the reality is that these guys haven’t played football in a stadium in a while. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were rusty.

I am glad that Tomlin does play his starters at some point in the preseason as other teams do not. Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams didn’t play his starters last preseason and his team made it to the Super Bowl.

I don’t want to see this team rusty like they were last year against the Browns. The Browns game was the difference in making the playoffs and so it is important that the first string is ready for the Patriots. This is also a big game Week One as the Steelers are playing the Patriots in PrimeTime.