Steelers Looking to Get Dwayne Haskins Playing Time in Hall of Fame Game

PITTSBURGH — It seems like Steelers faithful will not have to wait long to get a good look at new quarterback Dwayne Haskins in game action.

Haskins is one of several players that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has confirmed will get extensive playing time when the Steelers kick off the 2021 NFL preseason in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the Dallas Cowboys in Canton, Ohio on Aug. 5.

Veteran starter Ben Roethlisberger does not typically play more than a series a two in the Steelers’ preseason opener, and as a result, the Steelers have limited Roethlisberger’s team session reps in the training camp practices leading up to the game to make sure those players that are going to play more are ready.

“(We) just want to see more of the other guys,” Tomlin said on Friday. “Some of these guys we know a lot about and some of those guys we know a lot about might not play in the Hall of Fame game. And so we’ve got to get to know some others, we’ve got to prepare some others. Just the nature of how this preseason is constructed now with today’s guidelines, we don’t have a lot of time before we’ll be in the stadium. So those that we’re preparing to play in Canton that we want to see more of than maybe some of those that we don’t intend to.”

Haskins, along with second-stringer Mason Rudolph and fellow third-string option Joshua Dobbs, receives the benefit of that extra playing time, which is especially important for Haskins, who is looking to make a strong first impression after coming to Pittsburgh following two poor seasons at Washington’s starter.

“He’s one of the guys that gets additional reps when you dial Ben back,” Tomlin said. “Today was the first day that we dialed (Roethlisberger) back so (Haskins) got more exposure. We’ll take a look at the tape and he’ll learn from it and continue to move forward. But I like his approach to business, it’s been really positive.”