Since the NFL adopted the 17-game schedule in 2021, coach Mike Tomlin has taken varying approaches to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ final preseason game.

He has kept his starters on the sideline from start to finish. He has played them for a couple series. He has watched them play the entire first half.

Which method will he use Saturday when the Steelers conclude the preseason with a 1 p.m. matchup against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field?

“We’re trying to get the best of both worlds,” Tomlin said Thursday after the Steelers concluded three days of practice in preparation for the preseason finale.

Tomlin wants to get his starters, including starting quarterback Russell Wilson, sufficient work in the final tuneup before the Sept. 8 regular-season opener at Atlanta.

That’s particularly true on offense considering the first-team unit hasn’t scored a point while the starting quarterback was in the game.

Tomlin also wants to allocate enough playing time for the backups who are competing for spots on the 53-man roster.

“It is a complex discussion,” he said.

Tomlin indeed got the best of both worlds in 2021, the inaugural season in which the schedule was expanded at the expense of one preseason game. By playing in the Hall of Fame Game that year, the Steelers were afforded a fourth preseason game. Tomlin used that game to rest most of his starters, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and defensive captain Cameron Heyward.

In 2022, when faced with a three-game preseason for the first time, Tomlin let his starters on offense play the first half. The Steelers were breaking in a new quarterback in Mitch Trubisky and an offensive line that had two new starters.

The next season, with Kenny Pickett at quarterback, Tomlin pulled the plug on many of his offensive starters after Pickett directed touchdown drives on the first two possessions.

“Our mindset is to play all those that are healthy out of respect to the old third preseason games in terms of it being a dry rehearsal,” Tomlin said. “We’ve also got a desire to move on from some known regulars rather quickly in an opportunity to have others show what they are capable of.”

Tomlin said Wilson will start for the second game in a row, with Justin Fields serving as the backup. Tomlin has not declared Wilson the starter for the regular season and added “nothing has changed in terms of positioning of those guys.”

How long Wilson remains in the game depends largely on how the offense fares. He led the Steelers to just two first downs in the five series he played against Buffalo.

“In a perfect world, I’d like to see it in stadium before I move on to provide reps for some other guys who are trying to get jobs,” Tomlin said.

Fields wants to display the consistency he has lacked in the preseason. He has fumbled three times and taken three sacks while also completing 16 of 23 passes for 159 yards. Fields also rushed for 42 yards on eight carries last week against Buffalo and is the Steelers’ leading rusher in the preseason.

“I think I’ve shown what I can do,” said Fields, who started the preseason opener. “The time that I did have with the ‘ones’ practicing in training camp, I think that went well. We grew a lot each and every day.”

Fields isn’t sure whether he’ll get any more snaps with starters such as wide receivers George Pickens and Van Jefferson, tight end Pat Freiermuth and running back Najee Harris.

“Of course, it’s something that I want,” he said. “But I don’t make those decisions.”

One position that remains unsettled on defense is slot corner. Rookie undrafted free agent Beanie Bishop started the preseason opener but missed the second game because of injury. Bishop didn’t take any team reps in practice this week, but Tomlin said that doesn’t necessarily rule out Bishop from playing against Detroit.

“When you talk about young guys and the weight that is on in-stadium performance, we thought it would be best to reduce his workload in an effort to see the best of him (Saturday) and give him an opportunity to show his best (work) in stadium.”

Tomlin also isn’t in a rush to use Cordarrelle Patterson on special teams in the preseason even though the NFL dramatically has changed its rules on kickoff returns. Patterson, one of the most accomplished kickoff returners in NFL history, has taken all his snaps at running back in training camp and preseason.

“His resume is as extended as anybody’s on the planet in that space,” Tomlin said. “I might be more apt to see more of those I know less about.”