The opinions found in Asked and Answered do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
Let's get to it:
JAMES MAC PHERSON FROM BEACHWOOD, NJ: Read your after-the-game comments. I see that Skylar Thompson gets Player of the Week. Yes, he did good and you commented on that also. So is 8-for-9 for 84 yds a TD pass plus complete control of the game in one series against Jacksonville's first-string defense not enough for Mason Rudolph to get any credit? Or is he going to be overlooked again?
ANSWER: Putting aside for a minute that I am flabbergasted by getting push-back on picking a Player of the Week in the preseason opener, my reasoning behind going with Skylar Thompson was because he played much longer than Mason Rudolph. As I wrote, "Thompson quarterbacked the offense in 6 of its 9 possession over the course of the game, and in those he completed 20-of-28 (71.4 percent) for 233 yards, with 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a rating of 132.0. In those 6 possessions, the Steelers scored 3 touchdowns and a field goal and converted 6-of-9 on third downs in what ended up being a 31-25 victory." That was why I chose Thompson, but the first sentence of the very next paragraph read: "Also considered (was) Mason Rudolph, who started at quarterback and completed 9-of-10 (90 percent) for 84 yards, with 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions, and a rating of 135.0."
RANDALL TOLSON FROM CLIFTON HEIGHTS, PA: Will Dylan Cook make the team, maybe start?
ANSWER: Dylan Cook (6-feet-6, 305 pounds) was signed by the Steelers in May 2023 after being waived by Tampa Bay, and he has been with the team since then. Currently, Cook is listed as the backup at RT behind starter Troy Fautanu, and in the preseason opener in Jacksonville, Cook played 32 offensive snaps, which was the most of any Steelers offensive tackle in that game. As of this writing, I believe Cook will be one of the offensive linemen kept on the initial 53-man roster, but with the starting tackles being a pair of recent No. 1 picks – Broderick Jones and Fautanu – his role will be as a backup.
VICKI SCHERER FROM REHOBOTH BEACH, DE: First I just want to say that I'm not one of those Steelers fans who think the No. 3 QB should be the starter to see if they are the QB of the future. My question is, with how well Skylar Thompson played against the Jaguars, if Will Howard doesn't get to play much or at all in the preseason because of his injury, do you think there's a chance he may not even make the 53-man roster?
ANSWER: I would be surprised if the Steelers waived Will Howard at any point during this preseason. If Howard "doesn't get to play much or at all in the preseason because of his injury," then maybe he gets put on the injured reserve list.
SHANNON GYDOSH FROM STROUDSBURG, PA: Why was replay assist able to call roughing the passer when the on-field officials didn't throw a flag and take away the interception, but then later in the game they couldn't stop and call a clear hands-to-the-face penalty on a Jaguars offensive lineman when he knocked off Breiden Fehoko's helmet, which then caused him to be offsides on the next play?
ANSWER: This is direct from the website: operations.nfl.com as pertaining to replay assist:
In 2025, Instant Replay will have an expanded ability to advise on-field officials on specific, objective aspects of a play and/or to address game administration issues when clear and obvious video evidence is present.
The assistance rule applies to plays where there is clear and obvious video evidence to proactively address specific objective rulings, such as spot of the ball or a foul, complete or incomplete pass, and touching of the ball or a line:
• Penalty enforcement
• Confirmation of the proper down
• Spot of a foul
• Game clock administration
• Possession of a loose ball
• Complete or incomplete pass
• Loose ball touching a boundary line, goal line, or end line
• Location of the football or a player in relation to a line or the pocket area
• Player down by contact (when not ruled down on the field)
• Late hits out of bounds
For the 2025 season, the NFL Competition Committee expanded replay assist to include objective input if a foul is called for:
• Roughing the passer based only on a hit to the passer's head or neck area
• Intentional Grounding only if relative to the pocket or ball landing beyond the line of scrimmage
• Unnecessary roughness based only on:
Forcibly contacting a runner when he is out of bounds
Forcibly hitting a defenseless player's head or neck area
• Twisting, pulling or turning the facemask or helmet opening
• A horse-collar tackle
• Tripping
• Roughing or running into the kicker
Once you've waded through all of that – and I've gone over it a few times and still am not necessarily clear on what it means – a couple of the things I believe are that protecting the quarterback is always going to be a priority, and that judgement ends up being a factor in the interpretation on a lot of the guidelines with the rules for replay assist.
DAN MURRAY FROM MOON TWP, PA: Your recent Q&A with Coach Mike Tomlin indicated his interest (for the Jacksonville preseason game) in the team's ability to get on/off the field between offense, special teams, defense, and the reverse. My question: other than all players closely watching the action on the field, is there a coach/signal/process to alert the players on the sideline that it is time to go on the field?
ANSWER: When the offense is on the field, players on offense who are on the sideline at the time gather around one of the assistant coaches who can hear each play as it's sent into the quarterback by coordinator Arthur Smith, and that coach will communicate which personnel grouping is to be on the field for that play. That same procedure is in place for the defense, with a different assistant wired into the call by coordinator Teryl Austin. When it comes to special teams, it's basically the same, only in these cases there isn't the constant one-the-field/off-the-field exchange of personnel from one play to the next because special teams plays tend to happen just one at a time. But in addition to this sideline help, players have to keep their heads in the game and know which personnel grouping they are a part of. That's basically the process.
MARK MAYLE FROM MORGANTOWN, WV: Are preseason game matchups decided by the NFL office, or do teams have some input on which teams they face in the preseason? Secondarily, after the preseason match-ups are set, do coach's cooperate with each other in any manner to determine participants within the portions of the games to pit certain players against certain other players to enhance their evaluations?
ANSWER: The NFL handles the preseason schedules for all teams, and the league does take into consideration requests from teams to be paired with a particular opponent during each preseason, with an example being the now annual preseason finale between the Steelers and the Carolina Panthers. As for coaches communicating with each other to set up specific individual matchups for evaluation purposes, I believe that happens very rarely, because while one coach might want to evaluate an OT's pass blocking for an entire half the other coach might have no interest in playing his star edge rusher that long or even at all in that game.
KEITH MILLER FROM CANTON, NC: When Coach Mike Tomlin says both punters are excellent, how much of that is, "Hey, one of the other teams should trade for one of them?" Have you noticed Tomlin doing that in the past?
ANSWER: Actually Mike Tomlin referred to punters Cameron Johnston and Corliss Waitman in advance of the preseason opener in Jacksonville as "both being varsity," which is his way of referring to players as being NFL-caliber. And if you were an NFL GM or head coach, are you going to consider making a trade for a player based on that player's coach, or would you do your own due diligence by watching video and then make your own decision?
