Mike Tomlin says Arthur Smith is 'refreshed' and 'eager' to call his first Steelers game as OC

The most-watched guy on the Steelers in Friday’s preseason opener against the Texans may be offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. After all, he’ll be calling his first game in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers made a change at OC during the 2023 season. Pittsburgh hired Smith in January, days after he was fired as head coach of the Falcons. Now, after OTAs, minicamp and two weeks of training camp, the new OC will give everyone a taste of what his offense will look like. Given it’s a preseason opener, it’s unlikely Smith will call anything fancy. But even the basics can be revealing.

Tomlin talked with reporters this week about why he hired Smith. He liked the idea that Smith had been a head coach. He also did a stint as OC of the Tennessee Titans.

“I think that when you’ve been a head coach, it forever changes you in a lot of ways as it pertains to ball and coaching,” Tomlin said. “And so, I think it does help you evolve as a play-caller or offensive coordinator. And so I know he’s excited and refreshed and really eager to get started with this season.”

The Steelers will have a new starter at quarterback. It’ll be Justin Fields taking the first snap in tonight’s game at Acrisure Stadium. Russell Wilson isn’t supposed to play as he continues to recover from a calf strain. Pittsburgh also has Kyle Allen and John Rhys Plumlee in its brand new quarterback room.

Because of Wilson’s injury, door opened for Fields, Allen to see more playing time in Steelers-Texans game

Wilson’s injury opened the door for more playing time to the others, allowing Tomlin and Smith to gather more info on Fields and Allen.

“And so sometimes one man’s misfortune means opportunity for others, plural. Justin obviously had an opportunity to get more reps, and for us get to know him. And I can say the same thing about Kyle Allen.

Meanwhile, several Steelers will sit out the preseason game as a precaution. But they’re all defenders. Tomlin said he’ll hold out Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Patrick Queen and Minkah Fitzpatrick. Queen and Fitzpatrick also are nursing minor injuries.

The score won’t matter. Tomlin said he wants to see the Steelers play a clean game, in relation to early August.

He said he’ll expect a “high floor from a fundamental perspective. Before you can start kicking butt, you gotta not kick your own butt. And I just think that’s a component of this process. I don’t want us to be highly penalized. I want us to have cleanliness on both sides of the ball pre-snap. (And) I want us to do routine things routinely. Those are some of the things that I want to see the first time out. As opposed to the spectacular, I want to see some high floor things.”