Steelers prepare for short week

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping a short week leads to a long layoff.

The Steelers (10-4) practiced Tuesday, normally their day off, during their lone day of on-field preparation before Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers (2-12).

Normally, NFL players don’t welcome games that follow only three days of rest, especially after a game as physical and as tense as their 22-17 loss to the Jets was on Sunday.

“Some weeks, on Thursday, I don’t know how I’m going to play on Sunday,” safety Ryan Clark said Tuesday.

Still, the Steelers almost seem to welcome this game occurring this soon, and not just because it’s against an opponent that had won only once all season before beating Arizona on Sunday.

“I would’ve played this game Sunday night,” linebacker James Farrior said.

The payoff: The Steelers will have nine days off before their regular season-ending game at Cleveland (5-9) on Jan. 2.

Then, if they’ve won the AFC North and are No. 2-seeded in the AFC playoffs, they’ll get an extra week off before their first playoff game.

All that extra rest could allow them to get safety Troy Polamalu (strained right Achilles’ tendon) and defensive end Aaron Smith (torn triceps) back for the postseason.

Ben Roethlisberger’s broken nose should feel better — maybe he can discard the face shield — and perhaps his sore right foot won’t require him to wear a shoe that 1 1/2 sizes larger than normal.

“We’re in a great position. We’ve clinched, which is good and we can have a first-round bye, which would be huge for this team — get some guys (healthy) who are banged up and rusty,” defensive end Brett Keisel said. “It’s all out there for us, we’ve just got to go take it.”