PITTSBURGH -- Mike Mitchell plans to play the Cleveland Browns when the Pittsburgh Steelers open the season on Sept. 10.

He said so on Tuesday after the Steelers' final full practice of the preseason. Mitchell missed all of team practice at training camp from July 30 onward in Latrobe, where he was seen with the upper-left part of his leg wrapped.

The first-string safety hasn't played in any of the Steelers' first three preseason games and noted it would be arrogant to assume he could jump back into playing without any football practice. He's doing more in his rehab work each day, he said, but refuses to repeat past errors of practicing and playing hurt.

"You can't just continue to make the same mistakes. I did this thing with a worse injury my first year and at the end of the day no one gives a damn, you know, if you're hurt and you go out there and play they're only going to judge you by how you play," Mitchell said. "So I'm taking my time and making sure that I'm right."

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Mitchell has never missed a regular season or playoff game since joining the Steelers as a free agent in 2014. Before Saturday's Week 3 preseason game Mitchell ran during his rehab session.

His best chance of staying able to play, he said, was to wait out his current injury and not hurry back onto the practice field. Improved communication with the training staff and coaches has allowed him to be more patient, he said, as well as a changed personal outlook.

"I don't have anything to prove and I'm not here to prove I'm a tough guy, I'm not here to win anyone over or make anyone like me. Either you're on my team and you're rocking with me or you're not.

"If you're not, then me playing isn't going to win you over," he said. "And not playing isn't going to do anything anyway."

Mitchell noted strength of the safeties behind him and complimented them on their play in his absence. He wants to join them, he said, but referring to Albert Einstein's definition of insanity he insisted he won't rush himself back to the field.

Said Mitchell, when asked if he could play a regular season game this weekend if the Steelers had one: "If I had to, we'd have to find out."

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