PITTSBURGH (AP) -The Carolina Panthers' starters may play a series or two, but no longer. Some of the Pittsburgh Steelers' regulars may not get on the field.
It's the last exhibition game for both teams Thursday night, but does anyone really care? The Steelers started preparing for their Sept. 7 opener against Miami earlier this week, and coach Bill Cowher never draws up game plans for any preseason game.
The Panthers are treating it as if it's a game week, practicing just as they would during the season - with one exception. Tune in by the second quarter, and all the regulars will be long gone. Some of the backups will be, too.
``Whether it's the first group or the second group or the third group that plays, we actually game-plan and we'll try to execute that game plan the best we can,'' coach John Fox said.
Not that either team figures to show anything that the other might use when they play a game that counts Dec. 17 at Carolina. As this game illustrates, preseason matches have essentially become fancy practices attended by a lot of fans in which player evaluation, not winning or losing, is what matters.
Or does it? Cowher said this game may not figure that much in cutting the roster by Saturday.
``You have to be careful about taking too big of a last impression or a first impression,'' Cowher said. ``You want someone who what you see is what you are going to get, play in and play out, week in and week out. It could be just a game and a matchup that existed that particular night'' that leads to a good or poor performance.
One thing's for certain, though: fans must pay regular-season prices for a game that clearly means nothing to either team, one reason why some in the league are calling for the preseason to be reduced to two games.
The NFL schedule is partly to blame for that attitude, too. Previously, the Steelers had 9-10 days between the last exhibition game and their opener to cut their roster and get ready to play for keeps.
Now, they'll have only a week off before a Thursday night opener against the Dolphins and, to Cowher, that changes everything.
It's why quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Willie Parker might not leave the sideline - and, even if they do, it will be for no more than a series.
``The scheduling will play a factor,'' Cowher said. ``In the past, we've had 10 days of rest. This will leave us with basically seven days and that will play a major factor in some of the decisions we make.''
Roethlisberger has played only four series in three games for the Steelers, who, if they don't win Thursday, will go through only their third winless preseason since 1965. Still, he thinks that is plenty enough work no matter how long he plays, if at all, against a Carolina team that can go 4-0 in the preseason by winning.
``I'm comfortable,'' said Roethlisberger, who lost about 15 pounds while recovering from a broken jaw sustained during his June 12 motorcycle accident. ``I feel that I'll be able to make it through a whole game. I'm lighter than I was and I feel that in the fourth quarter I'll be OK.''
Neither of the two star wide receivers, Steve Smith of Carolina nor Hines Ward of Pittsburgh, is expected to play. Both have had hamstring injuries that have lingered for most of the preseason, and Smith also has an ingrown toenail. Ward has missed only one game to injury in eight NFL seasons, but hasn't played this month.
Despite the get-it-over-with attitudes on both sides, Carolina wide receiver Keary Colbert said the Panthers can't forget who they are playing, if even a watered-down version of the Super Bowl champions.
What better way, he said, to get ready for the Sept. 10 season opener against Atlanta?
``It'll be fun,'' he said. ``Obviously they're coming off a Super Bowl. For us, we have to be focused in the time we're out there so we're ready for the regular season.''
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