The NFL, in its infinite wisdom, didn’t have the Green Bay Packers host the Pittsburgh Steelers and put the preseason game on national television on Thursday night.So, unless you live within the reach of the Packers TV Network, you won’t be able to watch the preseason opener from Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium. So, follow along here for updates throughout the night.Packers-Steelers How to WatchThe game will air on the Packers TV Network, which is led by Green Bay’s WGBA-TV Channel 26 in Green Bay and Milwaukee’s WTMJ-TV Channel 4.There are a total of 24 affiliates, which you can see here.Kevin Harlan and John Kuhn will be on the call with Karley Marotta on the sideline.The game can be heard on the Packers Radio Network, featuring Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren.Reunited pic.twitter.com/SN6gp8AgQu— Green Bay Packers (@packers) August 13, 2026Jordan Love Will StartJordan Love is expected to start alongside most of the No. 1 offense, coach Matt LaFleur said on Tuesday, though running back Josh Jacobs, tight end Tucker Kraft and left guard Aaron Banks will not be with him.The play of the offensive line, which has been leaky at times throughout training camp, will be critical.“The main thing is to stay healthy,” Love said. “Obviously, avoid taking hits. If you get into a scramble situation, definitely not take any hits outside the pocket, anything like that. But really, it’s just about being smart, trying to get the ball to your hand, find those completions, put together a good drive.”Aaron Rodgers Will Not StartFormer Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is entering his final season in the NFL, “100 percent” wishes this game would have been played at Lambeau Field.Rodgers, of course, won’t play. New Steelers coach Mike McCarthy no doubt will forever remember the sting of losing premier receiver Jordy Nelson to a torn ACL in the preseason game at Pittsburgh in 2015.“It’s to see how guys react under the lights and when it becomes real when there’s actual tackling,” Rodgers told Packers beat reporters on Wednesday. “But what’s the value of it? I don’t think it’s super high because in ‘15 we lost our All-Pro wide receiver. “We still went 10-6 that year and won a playoff game but, if you remember at the end of that season, like the last play [in the playoff loss at Arizona], we had Jeff Janis, Jared Abbrederis and James Jones running down there to catch a Hail Mary because Tae (Davante Adams) was banged up all year and Cobby (Randall Cobb) punctured his lung in the game and Jordy was out since preseason.“So, there’s not a tremendous amount of value that I see in it. I’m not sure what the right thing to do is with that. They would probably, the league would say, ‘Well, we’ll take one away if you just give us an extra regular-season game.’”Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) looks on before the game against the Green Bay Packers at Acrisure Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectOn the Other Hand …Packers coach Matt LaFleur sees a lot of value in giving his starters a limited taste in the preseason.“I think a lot of it’s feel of where your team’s at,” he said. “I think just my experiences here is that when we’ve played in the preseason, we’ve been better earlier in the season. You open up with a division opponent on the road, that’s a tough task in itself.“So, I think we’ve got to keep that in mind, and plus there’s a lot of data out there that will tell you that if your guys get ‘X’ amount of snaps in the preseason, I think it’s like over three times less likely that they get injured in the regular season.”What’s the number he’d like to hit?“I know that the league data had like, if you have one practice or one joint practice, you’d like to get 30 plus snaps in the preseason,” he said. “Whether or not we hit that remains to be seen.”Eight Players to WatchThe starters will not play much, meaning the backups – especially those fighting for spots on the depth chart or roster spots – will be at the forefront.Here are eight under-the-radar players to watch.Of course you'll be watching Jordan Love, MarShawn Lloyd and Brandon Cisse when the Packers face the Steelers tonight. You should also be watching Kyle McCord, Pierre Strong and the rest of these under-the-radar players.⬇️https://t.co/WK1Kc8p6Zr— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 13, 2026Vanilla on DefenseIn the 2009 preseason, new Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers unleashed hell on opponents. He blitzed coming off the bus.That will not be the case with new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.“Well, everybody’s lying to the whole league in the preseason,” linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “Obviously, we’re going to go out there and the preseason is really not about scheming up. You want to play simple offense, simple defense because you want the talent to show. So, we’re going to go out there, play our base stuff, just let the play style show up: the motor, the violence and taking the ball away.”Meaningless History and What’s NextThis will be the first Packers-Steelers preseason game since the Packers won 51-34 at Lambeau in 2018.Mike McCarthy, of course, coached the Packers to the lopsided win. On Thursday night, McCarthy will be coaching his first game with the Steelers.“Certainly at the owners’ meetings, and I’ve gotten to know him a little bit just when he came back here a few times,” LaFleur said. “And I’ll say this: I’ve got so much respect for him. First of all, how he’s always treated me, and secondly, just by what he’s accomplished here.“And it’s pretty cool that when he got the Pittsburgh job. I’m like, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers. I mean, that’s pretty special. So, Mike’s a guy that I’ve got a ton of respect for.”The Packers will play at the Denver Broncos next Friday night, with an 8 p.m. kickoff, before closing the preseason against Mike LaFleur’s Arizona Cardinals on Friday, Aug. 28.For Jaylin Simpson, it's about Plankton.For Javon Bullard, it's about being greedy.Here's a feature on Simpson, who has gone from a long shot to the thick of the race for a roster spot at cornerback for the Packers. ⬇️https://t.co/1P04kI7JcH— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 13, 2026SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTERAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow