Steelers HC on Max Iheanachor: 'He's Got to Play'

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The debut of Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Max Iheanachor was mixed during Thursday night's preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills. 

Iheanachor, the No. 21 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, missed the first two preseason games due to injury. He entered the contest against the Bills in the second quarter.

The offensive tackle gave up a sack of Will Howard. He also made a key block for a touchdown run by fellow rookie running back Eli Heidenreich.

When speaking to reporters after the game, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy stressed that Iheanachor needed extra reps.

"I do know this: We wanted to get him about 20 plays tonight," McCarthy said, via the Steelers. "We felt that we got to that point [and] we got him an extra series. But the most important thing is he got to play. He needs to play. 

"So, just the conditioning of it, the speed of it, coming up here and playing on the road, I think, is awesome for a first-time lineman doing that… Just a lot of good things that come out for the young guys, especially for Max. He's a young player. He hasn't played a lot of football in his whole career, let alone in the NFL."

Following the draft, it appeared like the Steelers would have Iheanachor compete for playing time with offensive tackles Dylan Cook and Broderick Jones. Cook appears to be leading the battle to start at right tackle against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1, with Troy Fautanu set to man the left side. 

Iheanachor will likely need more development before the Steelers feel comfortable playing him in the regular season. McCarthy thinks Iheanachor was playing too aggressively in the sack he gave up of Howard.

"I tried to watch him there," McCarthy said. "I saw what happened on the sack. I think it was just more his set. He was trying to be too aggressive, almost looked like he was in a three-step set versus a five-step. 

"But other than that, I can only tell you what I heard from the discussion on the sideline."

Growing pains were expected for Iheanachor. Fortunately, the Steelers have some depth on the offensive line.

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