Jaguars Reveal Plans For Preseason Opener Against Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars are handling Saturday’s preseason opener quite differently.

Mike Tomlin announced Thursday that Aaron Rodgers and several other starters won’t play in Pittsburgh’s first of three exhibition contests. On the other hand, Liam Coen revealed that his starters will all suit up at EverBank Stadium.

“We will play everybody,” Coen told reporters Thursday. “How long that is, we’ll kind of determine how things are going a little bit. But everybody’s gonna play in this game.”

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence and center Robert Hainsey were among those who persuaded Coen to play. While the Steelers are a veteran team led by the league’s longest-tenured head coach, Coen is beginning his first year in Jacksonville following a 4-13 season under Doug Pederson.

“A lot of the guys want to play,” Coen said. “You got two new systems on both sides of the ball … I’m not saying it ties your hands because you can do whatever you want, but everything kind of leans that way as probably being the best thing for our team right now.”

That means Travis Hunter will get his first NFL action this weekend. Coen plans to deploy the No. 2 pick at both cornerback and wide receiver, but he later told Kay Adams that Hunter could see “a little bit more” reps on defense.

Naturally, Lawrence hopes to get plenty of opportunities to target the Heisman Trophy winner.

“He’s so talented, man. It’s hard to keep him off the field,” Lawrence told NFL Network on Wednesday. “Selfishly, yeah, I definitely want him on offense more. It’s almost like, you want to come catch touchdowns, or you want to maybe break up a pass or two a game?”

Steelers players fighting for playing time will get a chance to prove themselves against Jacksonville’s starters. Saturday’s game begins at 7 p.m. ET.

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