A Letter From the Editor: Nick Herbig’s hamstring injury calls into question the Steelers handling of the preseason
The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to escape the first preseason game relatively healthy, only suffering a hamstring injury to a back-up defensive back. The plan the Steelers had put into place of holding out most of their starters seemed to be a good one, even when Mike Tomlin announced they will follow the same method heading into the Week 2 Preseason game vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium.
For whatever reason, the Steelers decided to have Nick Herbig line up at outside linebacker vs. Tampa Bay, this after not playing in Week 1, and he saw limited snaps until he left the game and the following tweet was sent by Burt Lauten, the Steelers Director or Public Relations:
#Steelers LB Nick Herbig sustained a hamstring injury and will not return to tonight's game.
— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) August 16, 2025
I can’t speak for you, but when I saw this come across Twitter/X I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and think, “Here we go…”
You might be thinking, “What’s the big deal?”
To me, this injury calls into question a lot of things. If the Steelers plan is to hold out their starters for fear of injury, and the moment they are thrust into a real-game situation where they are to perform having those in-game explosive movements, they start to suffer soft tissue injuries? That’s a problem.
That’s a really big problem.
For the current strength and conditioning team, this is another bad look for them considering Herbig’s first game action resulted in a short stint before him leaving via injury. Now, injuries do happen and it isn’t always a situation which requires a finger pointing at someone in particular. Nonetheless, when you think about the outside linebacker position group heading into Week 3 of the Preseason, it isn’t great.
T.J. Watt is healthy, thank God, but Alex Highsmith still hasn’t returned to practice with his groin injury and now Herbig will likely sit out some time with his hamstring injury. Mike Tomlin downplayed Herbig’s injury after the game, but he can’t the thrilled. There is a fine line between limiting risk, and preparing the human body for such a high intensity activity. Some teams walk that line better than others, and I’d say the Steelers haven’t been one of those teams the past few seasons.
What is the answer?
If the Steelers are going to hold out their star players, for obvious reasons, the conditioning aspect of their preparation has to be paramount for the organization. If Jalen Ramsey, T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, Darius Slay, and even Aaron Rodgers aren’t going to play a snap during the preseason, it is imperative these players are accustomed to the rigor of game play.
For Tomlin and company, it’s a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” type situation. Play your starters and have them get hurt? Prepare yourself for the repercussions of that decision. Hold them out and have them get hurt when they return, or look sluggish and not ready for game play, when the regular season starts? Prepare yourself for the vitriol of the fan base and media for that decision.
There is a middle ground, but a lot comes down to the players, coaches, and strength and conditioning teams to make sure teams are fully prepared for the upcoming regular season.
Again, a tough line to walk.
The Steelers have made their decision, barring a drastic change in plans for Thursday night in Carolina, and now it’s time to see if the Herbig injury was just a one-off, or something we should prepare for moving forward.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Such is life in the NFL at times…
Is Phil Matusz Matt Canada 2.0?
I gotta think they’re practicing explosive movements in practice, but all these injuries are worrisome.
I remember guys writing articles in past years when the Steelers were playing more of their starters and sustained injuries. Those writes complained that Tomlin should not be playing his starters so much as it was causing injuries in meaningless preseason games.
Now, he decides to try resting his starters in preseason games and guess what? Here is an article being critical of not playing his starters in preseason games. I knew the first injury to some who had been held out of games would see an article just like this one appear.
There is no right answer though I am sure Tomlin will get crucified by articles and fans alike if a couple more injuries happen. Even though, you can look back over past preseasons and see injuries happening when the first string is played during the preseason.
I felt I did a pretty good job outlining how this is a no-win situation for Tomlin and the decision he has to make.
However, it is okay to question things.
Guess I should have done a better job outlining things…my bad.
For what its worth, I get the idea that herbig was more “that didnt feel right, let’s not take a risk” more than “that hurt, i shouldn’t play”
Either way, injuries do happen and they SHOULD be playing. 1 series is better than none, 2 is better than 1, etc. Has nobody seen the final destination movies? Lol If an injury is going to happen, ESPECIALLY a non contact injury, its going to happen eventually.
But
Its better to be hurt PS game 1 and miss 4 weeks than to be hurt RS week 1 and miss 4 weeks.