As far as who is expected to play on Thursday night against the Panthers, Tomlin won’t reveal that until his normal weekly press conference on Tuesday.

“Don’t have any plans about who’s playing or how much they’re playing in Carolina,” said Tomlin. “We’ll take a look at this practice tape and give a little bit more time from the injury perspective to allow people to perk up. Certainly, because this is the last opportunity, we want to give every healthy man an opportunity to state a case for themselves. So, we’ll leave the door ajar for those that are managing short term injury things.”

Two players who are dealing with injuries are receivers Calvin Austin III and Ben Skowronek. It’s nothing that concerns Tomlin, though.

“I’m comfortable with it,” said Tomlin. “Certainly, things get a little tight this time of year. Lines get short and usually in one area, positionally. There’s strength and safety in numbers.

“That’s a group that’s running a little light, but that’s just a component of this time of year.”

Thursday will be the last preseason opportunity for some young players to show what they have, one of them being rookie running back Kaleb Johnson. Tomlin was pleased with Johnson’s progress from Week 1 to Week 2 and expects even more in Week 3.

“I just want to continue to see him get more comfortable in this environment,” said Tomlin. “I think the more comfortable he gets, the less fuel he burns in anticipation, the more his talents are going to show.

“I think we saw it from game one to game two. It’s reasonable to expect that to continue.”

Tomlin came out after the first week and said he wanted to see more from Johnson, challenging him slightly. And he delivered.

“It’s a bunch of individual relationships within this big organization,” said Tomlin of how he approaches handling different players. “That started for me way back in draft prep. It was not only getting to know the players and their skill set, but just their relationship with the game, how they best receive coaching, how they respond to challenges, et cetera. It is a major component of the ‘get to know’ for me.”

Injury note: While the Steelers signed long snapper Jake McQuade, Tomlin did say that the injury to long snapper Christian Kuntz was short term.