Playing two games with only a four-day break in between isn’t the optimum way to close the preseason.

That is what the Pittsburgh Steelers will face when they play the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday at Mercedes Benz Stadium. It will come on the heels of their 27-15 victory Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills.

The Steelers-Falcons game is one of two scheduled for Thursday night. Three will take place Friday, 10 on Saturday and one Sunday.

Last summer, the Steelers concluded the preseason with a Sunday home game against Detroit, so coach Mike Tomlin hardly is complaining about the circumstances facing his team. But he acknowledged Monday this is an important week in team development.

“We’ve got a lot to do on a week like this,” he said. “We had a chance to evaluate the tape and make corrections and acknowledgements and let that be a springboard for our prep this week. Not only what we’re doing, but who we need to see and for how much.”

When the NFL played four preseason games, the final one was viewed as a tuneup for the backups and third-stringers to get extended playing time while trying to win the final roster spots. From 2013-19, every NFL team closed the preseason on a Thursday, and the regular season opened 10 days later for most teams.

Since 2021 — no preseason games were played in 2020 — when the preseason was reduced to three games, the schedule didn’t have a tried-and-true format. And with the regular starting for the Steelers on Sept. 10, they will have more than a two-week layoff between games.

Tomlin is putting a positive spin on the short work week, noting the Steelers play Thursday night twice during the regular season — Nov. 2 against Tennessee and Dec. 7 against New England. Each of those regular-season games will take place at Acrisure Stadium, removing the travel element the Steelers will face this week.

“It’s reflective of some of the challenges we’ll face in-season,” Tomlin said. “At times, you have irregular weeks. … When you have irregular weeks in this process of team development, it’s a great opportunity to alert them to familiarize themselves with that and to be comfortable with being somewhat uncomfortable.”

Tomlin will outline a framework for how he will use his starters and backups in the Falcons game when he meets with the media Tuesday.

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