Mike Tomlin Speaks out on Steelers’ ‘Clean’ Week 1 Preseason Win

It’s typical for an NFL team to commit a lot of penalties early in the season, especially the preseason. The teams that don’t, though, potentially have an early edge in August and September. Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers appeared to have that slight advantage in Week 1 of the NFL preseason.

The Steelers committed just six penalties against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday night. Pittsburgh had just four fouls before the start of the fourth quarter.

The six penalties overall was below average for a preseason contest. The Steelers averaged 6.1 penalties, which was 11th in the league, during the regular season last year.

Furthermore, only one of Pittsburgh’s fouls Saturday night was a pre-snap penalty.

During his postgame press conference, Tomlin expressed how pleased he was about how his team avoided beating itself versus the Jaguars.

“I thought we did a nice job of not beating our own butt,” Tomlin told reporters in his postgame press conference. “We kept pre-snap penalties virtually to a minimum. I think we had one. We played a pretty clean game for the first time out.”

The only pre-snap penalty the Steelers had was on newly signed offensive lineman Andrus Peat. The veteran lineman committed a false start on second-and-goal at the Jaguars 7-yard line late in the third quarter.

The Steelers ended that drive with a field goal. Pittsburgh defeated its old AFC Central rival 31-25.

Mike Tomlin’s Steelers Have ‘Productive Night’ in Preseason Opener

In part because of the lack of penalties, the Steelers were able to experience a strong game in Jacksonville. Tomlin referred to it as a “productive night.”

“Obviously, we’ll comb through the tape and learn from it in a lot of ways,” Tomlin said. “Both players and coaches, and hopefully be better the next time out.”

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t play. But backup Mason Rudolph completed 9 of 10 passes for an average of 84 yards per attempt. He also had a touchdown.

No. 4 quarterback Skylar Thompson had a great performance too. He went 20-for-28 with 233 passing yards with three touchdowns.

The Steelers defense gave up 367 yards but held Jacksonville to four field goals. The Jaguars top two quarterbacks — Trevor Lawrence and Nick Mullens — averaged just 5.3 yards per pass.

Steelers Also Nearly Avoid Any Injuries

The last part of a successful night in the preseason is not suffering any significant injuries. That happened for the Steelers in Week 1 as well.

“To top it all off, man, we kind of got through the game injury free,” Tomlin added. “I think Cam McCutcheon got taken out with a soft-tissue injury, maybe a hamstring that needs to be evaluated.

“But other than that, we were pretty clean.”

The Steelers added Cam McCutcheon on a futures contract in January. The former undrafted free agent has never appeared in an NFL regular season game.

McCutcheon is battling for a roster spot at cornerback this summer. But Joey Porter Jr., Darius Slay, Jalen Ramsey, Beanie Bishop Jr., Cory Trice Jr., and Brandin Echols are ahead of McCutcheon on the depth chart.

How quickly he can return from the hamstring issue could impact his ability to earn a roster spot. But the Steelers didn’t have anyone who is guaranteed to make the roster suffer an injury Saturday.