Steelers notes: T.J. Watt regaining a piece of team captaincy?

By virtue of finishing among the top three in AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting each of the past three seasons, T.J. Watt can reasonably be considered the Pittsburgh Steelers’ best player.

In 2022, indications are he will again be one of their captains.

Watt and veteran defensive lineman Cameron Heyward went out for the coin toss before kickoff of Saturday’s home preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. While the captaincy for a preseason game is rarely of note, the choice of Watt for the duty Saturday indicates he will regain a role as a Steelers’ co-captain this season.

For 2021, Watt was not selected as a captain. Though neither the team nor Mike Tomlin acknowledged why, the obvious explanation was Watt was not taking part in team drills during last year’s training camp and preseason while he and the team were negotiating a contract extension.

The players vote for captains, but Tomlin has said he can exercise discretion to break ties, name multiple players for each unit or even (perhaps) veto.

Heyward is assured of being a captain for a ninth consecutive season in 2022. Derek Watt was special-teams captain last season but has been held out of practice over the past week because of a shoulder injury and was not in uniform Saturday.

T.J. Watt and Heyward did not play, either, though each was in full uniform.

The Steelers’ offensive captain last season (and for about a decade-plus prior), Ben Roethlisberger, retired in January. There is no indication who his successor might be.

Seasonal captains typically are announced a week before the regular season begins.

Not playing

In addition to Heyward and Watt, there were several other starters who did not play Saturday. Some were dealing with injuries of varying degrees: outside linebacker Alex Highsmith (ribs), defensive linemen Larry Ogunjobi (offseason knee surgery) and Tyson Alualu (knee), receivers Diontae Johnson (hip) and Chase Claypool (shoulder), running back Najee Harris (foot), left guard Kevin Dotson (ankle) and tight end Pat Freiermuth (hamstring).

Among regular contributors, tight end Zach Gentry (undisclosed), defensive lineman Montravius Adams (ankle), backup running back Benny Snell (knee), outside linebacker Genard Avery (groin) and special-teamers Marcus Allen (hamstring) and Miles Killebrew (pec) also did not play and have been held out of at least some recent practices because of injury.

Safety Karl Joseph left the game during the first quarter because of an ankle injury.

Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick also did not play, but he has no known injury and likely was held out as a nod to his veteran status.

Receivers Calvin Austin III and Anthony Miller were not in uniform, presumably because of injuries that were not previously disclosed.

Starters for a night

Among fill-in starters for those who were held out were Damontae Kazee at free safety, Derrek Tuszka and Delantae Scott at outside linebacker, Chris Wormley and Isaiahh Loudermilk at defensive end, Henry Mondeaux at nose tackle, Steven Sims and Gunner Olszewski at wide receiver, Anthony McFarland at running back and Kevin Rader at tight end.

Kendrick Green started at left guard. Green is competing with Dotson for the regular-season gig.

Second-round pick George Pickens was the only rookie to earn the official start (defined as being on the field for the first play of offense or defense). The wide receiver had a first-quarter touchdown.

Bush, Witherspoon winning at positions

Along with left guard, positions for which Tomlin placed an “OR” on the league-mandated official Steelers depth chart — signifying a camp battle for the starting spot — were at left inside linebacker and left cornerback.

For what it’s worth, judging by who started the preseason opener, Devin Bush and Ahkello Witherspoon are the leaders, respectively, at those spots. Bush played the first series over Robert Spillane, and Witherspoon started at outside corner instead of Levi Wallace.

At cornerback, when the Steelers went nickel on the game’s first defensive series, it was Arthur Maulet who came in and not Wallace. Wallace, though, joined Witherspoon and Cameron Sutton — with Sutton in the inside nickel spot — as the three cornerbacks on the field for a third down (an obvious passing situation) later that series.

It could be the Steelers coaches’ plan for Maulet to play on early downs and Wallace on pass-heavy downs.

Witherspoon left the game during the first quarter because of a shoulder injury.

Early score

The Steelers scored on the first drive of the game, a 13-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Trubisky to Olszewski. It was the first time the Steelers scored on their first drive of a preseason game since Aug. 30, 2018. They had punted seven times and fumbled once on the first possession of the eight preseason games since.