PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping a short week leads to a long layoff.

The Steelers (10-4) practiced Tuesday, normally their day off, during their lone day of on-field preparation before Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers (2-12).

Normally, NFL players don’t welcome games that follow only three days of rest, especially after a game as physical and tense as their 22-17 loss to the Jets on Sunday.

“Some weeks, on Thursday, I don’t know how I’m going to play on Sunday,” safety Ryan Clark said Tuesday.

Still, the Steelers almost seem to welcome this game occurring this soon, and not just because it’s against an opponent that had won only once all season before beating Arizona on Sunday.

“I would’ve played this game Sunday night,” linebacker James Farrior said.

The payoff: The Steelers will have nine days off before their regular season-ending game at Cleveland (5-9) on Jan. 2. Then, if they’ve won the AFC North and are No. 2-seeded in the AFC playoffs, theyget an extra week off .

All that extra rest could allow them to get safety Troy Polamalu (strained right Achilles’ tendon) and defensive end Aaron Smith (torn triceps) back for the postseason. Ben Roethlisberger’s broken nose should feel better — maybe he can discard the face shield — and perhaps his sore right foot won’t require him to wear a bigger shoe.

“We’re in a great position. We’ve clinched, which is good and we can have a first-round bye, which would be huge for this team — get some guys (healthy) who are banged up and rusty,” defensive end Brett Keisel said.

A week ago, the NFL-issued playoffs scenario for the Steelers required a mathematician to decipher. This week, now that they’ve clinched a playoff spot, it couldn’t be simpler. If they win and the Ravens (10-4) lose in Cleveland, the Steelers will win the AFC North and will own the No. 2 seed.

If they don’t win, or if the Ravens do, the division race goes down to the final weekend, when the Ravens are at home against Cincinnati (3-11).

While the Steelers can win the division merely by winning their last two games, the preferable scenario for them would be to clinch this weekend. Then, they wouldn’t have to play any not-quite-healthy players in Cleveland.