By: Sean McGeown, @seanpmcgeown
SteelerNation.com
Going into the final week of the regular season with the division in hand and at the very minimum the 3 seed on lock, Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin has decided to rest some key players this week.
At Tomlin’s weekly press conference, he announced starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would sit on Sunday and get some much needed rest. Mason Rudolph will serve as the team's starter Sunday in Cleveland.
Today, he announced a few more key players that won’t be partaking in the game Sunday:
In addition to Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers will not play C Maurkice Pouncey, OLB T.J. Watt and DE Cam Heyward against the Browns on Sunday.
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) December 31, 2020
So in addition to Roethlisberger, linebacker TJ Watt, defensive end Cam Heyward, and center Maurkice Pouncey will not be playing on Sunday. All three were voted to the Pro Bowl this season.
It remains to be seen if these will be the only four players who will sit, as the Steelers have had a season that has seen their schedule altered multiple times by Covid-19. They have had their bye week four weeks early and multiple games rescheduled. This resulted at one point with them having to play three games in a 12-day stretch. A lot of these guys could be tired.
Some players could still sit. Some may start and just gradually be taken out throughout the game. Regardless, this team is looking beyond this week, and is preparing for the main goal, the seventh Lombardi.
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