Coach Tomlin Press Conference (Week 1 at Jets) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Coach Tomlin Press Conference (Week 1 at Jets) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the UPMC sports complex here on the south side of Pittsburgh and thank you for joining us on KDK Plus and Steelers digital platforms. I’m Bob Pompiani soon to be joined by Missy Matthews. It’s week one of the NFL season. People have waited a long time for this and it’s finally here. And for the Steelers that means a trip to New York, New Jersey to take on the Jets. I guess if you have a subplot to this game it would be trading places. You have Aaron Rogers who was there, now here, and you have Justin Fields who was here, now there. Many different topics come up when you talk about this matchup. And Mike Tomlin will get into all of that as we join him now for this week’s week one press conference. Good afternoon. Uh really excited about getting our season started um against the New York Jets. Uh before I get into those guys, I’ll give you a quick injury update. Thankfully, as we sit here today and really just based on the structure of the preseason and how it’s set up, it’s done so that we all get an opportunity to kind of move into the season as healthy as possible. Um, not having a game last week, obviously last weekend helps that. Um, Derek Harmon is the only guy at this juncture that I would characterize as out. Um, I would characterize Herbick as questionable. He had a really good day yesterday and so we’ll leave the door jar for him and and see where work leads us during the course of the week. Certainly um his participation and the quality of his participation will be the key variables in terms of our decision- making whether or not we we choose to use him or not. Um other than those two instances, man, we’re largely a a healthy group. Um certainly had some bumps and bruises associated with with preseason work and some people have been nonpre participants in games. Some of it due to injury, some of it due to precaution. Uh some of those guys have been working their way back. Um Alex Highmith, for example, and others, but we don’t anticipate any of those guys uh availability being in any way questionable. Um you can include um Calvin Austin, for example, in that discussion. And so, uh we got a relatively he healthy group. Excited about that. Uh we had some really good quality work yesterday. Uh getting the weekend off of us, working on some football conditioning, some base football things, things that are um that are us um some things that are base New York. Um and so with that, I’ll get into talking about New York. Um certainly there’s some challenges in in week one uh um schematic personality, division of labor, um agenda, if you will. Um, I think it gets magnified sometimes when you have uh a new staff uh and particularly a new staff with firsttime coordinators like on the offensive side of the ball for them. Uh, but to be quite honest with you, if you’ve been in this business any length of time, it’s almost kind of common place with this time of year. U, we were very much in the same circumstance 12 months ago. Uh, leaning in on week one, we’re getting ready to play the Falcons. uh they had a new staff, a first-time offensive play caller, and so we had to do some speculating there. And so it certainly is a challenge uh but not not one that’s unfamiliar with this time of year. Um there’s enough obviously for us to work on and and and the component of week one football is not necessarily about who you play um but how you play. um the quality of our play, the cleanliness, uh the technical expertise, um the minimizing of penalties and things of that nature oftentimes determine quality performance in week one. And so make no mistake, we got a lot of respect for the challenges of preparing for and then ultimately playing the Jets. But like most people in in week one, our focus is the quality of our work, um the quality of our play, our division of labor, um our ability to display uh situational knowledge and execute and make quality plays within them circumstances, etc. That being said, I’ll start talking about the Jet offense. Um man, you got to start first with their running game. Um, man, they they got a deep and talented backfield, uh, led by Hall and Allen. Um, if you look at the the history of their staff. Um, those two kind of represent maybe what Gibbs and Montgomery represented to the Detroit Lions. And so, we’ve been looking at it through that lens. Uh, make no mistake, they’re both uh, very capable. Allen uh, really burst onto the scene, I thought, a year ago as a rookie out of Wisconsin. Um, he’s got a downhill run demeanor and style. Uh the pile always seems to fall uh in the direction that he desires it to. Uh Bree Hall is multi-talented. Uh he can run inside, he can run outside. He had a lot of explosion plays a year ago on the on the perimeter. Um he’s good out of the back field in the passing game, checkdowns, but beyond checkdowns in one-on-one matchups and so forth, aligned outside of the back field, he’s displayed that skill set. Um and so we certainly got to be uh ready for that component of play. He he broke a checkdown for 57 or so yards on us last year. That really kind of changed the complexion of that game early on when we had already had an anticipation of his talents in that area and he was still able to deliver. And so um their running backs and and their commitment to the running game, I think um I think coach Glenn has been very transparent about their desire to run the football and their commitment to doing so. And so, um, that has our attention as we prepare. Uh, you can’t talk about the run game without talking about, uh, Justin’s, uh, physical abilities in that area and the challenges that it may present to us. Certainly, he didn’t do a lot of running, uh, by design and so forth in the preseason, but it’s reasonable to expect uh, there to be some design running game. Um, he had it in Chicago, he had it with us. I think if you got a guy with his type of talents, it’s it’s somewhat common sense to have some designed run game uh for the quarterback position to make people play 11 on 111 football. And so certainly um his unique running abilities and skills in that area uh has our attention whether it’s uh design runs or or ad lib if you will. Um you can’t talk about the run game without including his unique talents in that area. Um, in the passing game certainly, uh, Garrett Wilson is a is a talented and emerging player. Uh, one that has an extended relationship with Justin, uh, going back to college. And so, we have respect, uh, for not only his talents, but, uh, but their relationship that extends beyond um, the current team development. Um, I would imagine that a lot of the the passing offense and so forth is going to go through him. have heard a lot of quality reports about Mason Taylor, uh, a guy at the tight end position I think they took in the second round. Um, he was highly regarded in the draft as a capable vertical threat, a major component probably to any passing game and certainly have had really heard really good things about uh, his development um, in this team development process. And so we got to be cognizant of of what he’s capable of uh, for sure. Uh but they got a collection of other guys. Lazard and others man that have been around Reynolds uh who got NFL experience and certainly um you know are to be respected in terms of the schematic component uh of playing matchup football and and minimizing that component of play for for them. Um they are in their venue. Um, and so, you know, we we got some things to manage in terms of that, their ability to communicate at the line of scrimmage and and make checks and and us um being in position to do similar things if they get into some check football. Venue is a component this time of year. And certainly they’ll have have that at their disposal if they want to get in and out of stuff at the line. And so, um, even though it’s week one, we we better carry enough schematics to match that that potential strategy from a defensive perspective. Looking at the Jets defense, um, first of all, Steve Wils has been around a long time. Um, I’ve competed him against him a lot. Arthur Smith has competed against him a lot. Uh, when he was in Carolina, Arthur was in Atlanta, for example, I think in 2022. Um, but but Steve has been in the north. He was in Cleveland, I think in 19. Um, he has a mode of operation, one that is highly respected. Um, he’s an experienced guy. Um, he’s going to be aggressive and fundamentally sound. Uh, he’ll do a nice job of utilizing the players individual talents and putting them in position to win and being multiple. Um, but taking a step back from all of that, just looking at their people, man, they’ve invested a lot uh in their men up front. Um certainly uh Quinnon Williams is a is a top tier talent on the inside. Uh former firstrounder. Uh but you can say that also about their edge people. Uh Will McDonald was a highly regarded firstrounder. Jermaine Johnson was a highly regarded firstrounder. And so you’ve seen the the draft investment from an organization’s perspective in terms of producing a quality front. More recently, they’ve uh added big Harrison uh in team development via trade from Minnesota. And so you see um that they’ve made a commitment to to providing a a quality level of talent up front that others play behind. Um think think a a great deal about their linebacker Tandem Sherwood and and Williams, man. They’re they’re talented, an emerging homegrown group, if you will. Uh particularly as it pertains to Sherwood, man, he’s grown up. I think he’s a former fifth round pick that’s kind of evolved over his time in New York and been rewarded for that evolution uh with a big contract and um that linebacker tandem, that second level linebacker tandem, man has played a lot of ball together. They both were highly productive a year ago. Um I’d imagine that to continue to grow and prosper. Um in the secondary obviously um S Gardner is a is a is a top flight bump corner. um uh a first round acquisition, a top draft pick if you will. Um they’ve acquired Stevens, who obviously we’re familiar with from his time in Baltimore, to play opposite of him. And so they got a quality veteran, uh corner tandem. Uh they got Cisco who’s new at safety. And so um they got some high quality talent at all three levels. Uh they got a coordinator in in and Steve Wils that’s been doing it a long time and at a high level. and couple that with the fact that obviously coach Glenn uh has a defensive background and I’m certain that that he’ll have some involvement and and create some some speculation issues for us particularly in week one as I mentioned um at the beginning uh there’s some speculation associated with this time of year and um the things that he might bring to what they do defensively is something that that is a topic of discussion and so we got a lot to talk about. We have some planning of our own. Uh we got some physical work ahead to ready our guys and to further divide our labor up particularly situationally. And so we got a bunch of decisions to make. But such is life this time of year, particularly uh on a Tuesday. Um but we love all of that. Um it’s awesome to be here. It’s awesome to get this regular season started. And with that, I’ll pause and open up for questions. Mike, are you expecting um Cam to play? And because of how limited he made himself in the preseason, uh was he ready to play? I’m certainly expecting Cam to play. Um Cam doesn’t play a lot in team development over the last several years. My job is to get him in and out of Latroe and I’ve done my job and so um there are no reservations about his participation or his readiness. I’m sure he’s chopping at the bit. Mike, without Harmon, when when you run when you go at base, who’s going to take his place? You know, it’s going to be a committee of people, but I would imagine it would have been a committee committee of people if he were available. U we generally play a lot of Dlinemen, particularly early in the season, um due to lack of conditioning and potential heat and so forth. And so, not only us, but I just think globally speaking this time of year, uh, most teams play a lot of bigs up front defensively, uh, so that fatigue doesn’t become a factor, particularly down the stretch in the football game. Mike, you guys, uh, you Justin Fields and Breeze Hall, two talented runners. You guys, uh, other teams had success with the QB option run a lot la last year against you guys. What do you guys need to do to be better so that if the Jets do bring that out that you guys are better equipped this time? You know, I don’t tote last year’s bags. Um, that’s just an agenda that needs to be addressed this year in 2025. Quarterback mobility and the design run game component is a component of of of today’s game. Um, we’ve done things at a lot of levels to further strengthen ourselves. uh the acquisition of Derek Harmon and YA Black being uh two components of it, but others um and we certainly have some schematic things up our sleeve uh that I won’t disclose in this setting. But I just think that each and every year, particularly in today’s game, the way it’s trending, quarterback mobility, the design run game, the situational design run game associated with it is something that, you know, 31 other defenses better be ready to address and planning for as well. Mike, what’s unique about the way Fields does it compared to others? You know, compared to who? Um, he’s unique because, uh, he is who he is. Um, you know, he’s stronger than most mobile quarterbacks. Um, that’s a component of his game that I think is unique. Um, he’s a really talented guy physically. He’s not easy to bring down. He’s got a real solid base about him. He’s big. Um, and so, you know, when I think about what might be different, I think about his unique physical skill set, but in terms of schematics, I don’t know that, you know, the things that they do are going to be uniquely different from others. I think there’s some global things that people do in that area. Is it any different preparing and game planning for a guy that started games for you last season? Not not really. Um, to be quite honest with you, I just think it’s a lot of that in today’s game. um people move around. I’d imagine, you know, they’re they’re pondering similar things on the other side. And so from that perspective, it’ll be fair. Mike, uh you’re going into the season relatively healthy, only two guys that you’ve mentioned today, but um a lot of these starters not playing in the preseason. How challenging is it? You know, obviously you have them healthy, but how challenging is it for them to go into the season ready to go without having lack of support without it? It’s not challenging. And I base my decisions basically off of shared experiences in a lot of a lot of ways. Um Cam, for example, he and I have been together a lot of years. He’s logged a bunch of snaps and and so his runway required to take off is is short relative to others. Um TJ had that big game in the opener, I think, in 21 in Buffalo when he had a hold out and he had two sacks, sack, fumble, and things of that nature. And so you go through things with people and you learn what they can manage in terms of readiness. And so you know my job is to be fair to everyone, not treat everyone the same. And and that’s why the schedule of work is different for different people in team development. So that your question is somewhat mute based on my shared experiences. I have a great deal of comfort in the prescribed plan for each individual guy whether they participated or didn’t in game uh in the team development process. Mike, you guys announced your captains for the season yesterday. Was it What does it say about Aaron Rogers and the way that he’s acclimated and started to lead this team that he was the one selected for the offense? You know, I I I don’t think anybody’s surprised by that. Um, not only because of his resume and experience, but what he’s displayed since he’d been here um in terms of uh being a great team guy and communicating and leading and and and sharing his experience and the lens through which he sees the game with others. Um it’s just been a good process and so um I don’t think that was earthshattering in any way um within our collective. Mike, you mentioned the speculation you have this time of year. In your experience, how quickly does that speculation go away, especially having haven’t seen some of the starters. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes you you play, you know, not only week one, but in some instances week two and week three. Um, I think really until people get a a big enough body of work on tape, um, where you can see some things, trends if you will, um, and and have a large enough sample size that you can speak with great certainty, speculation is going to exist. Speculation in a lot of ways exists through September. The new guys you have, I’m sorry, because of that and the new guys, all you’ve brought in, do you have a good handle in your mind what you have to put out there against the Jets? I do. It looks like Kelvin Austin is filling that wide receiver two role. Uh just how confident are you in him and his I’m extremely confident in him, but I’m also equally confident in Roman Wilson and you know and Janu and and Friuth. I think you know there’s a lot of speculations and narratives about the quote unquote number two and I just think in today’s game it comes at you in a lot of ways. Um, we certainly have unique depth and talent uh at the tight end position and particularly in reference to new acquisitions. Johnu is somewhat of a positionless player. Uh, Calvin is growing and has grown and made big strides a year ago. We’ve been really excited about Roman Wilson in team development. And so I’m less concerned about quote unquote who occupies the number two position. It could be a variety of people depending on the circumstance. One thing is for certain, um, a talent like DK, um, you know, dictates a lot of schematics. And so, um, his presence is going to provide opportunities for others, whether it’s Calvin, Roman, John, Frimouth, um, it’s it’s not a big issue for me or for us. with the absence of preseason game reps, not having a lot of those, especially for the new components you brought in, the team building aspect that you had starting in March through the draft and the trades you made in summertime. Do you have a sense that the vision of what that roster, what those X’s and O schematics are supposed to look like can come together for us? Yeah. Yeah, I’m completely comfortable. Um, we do a lot of work not only in stadium um in team development. Um, I’m comfortable with what I’ve seen and how we’ve divided the labor up and our plans in that area. Certainly, challenges that you’ve had to face um each of the last five seasons bringing in a new quarterback to start the season with a different guy. You know, I don’t know that I’ve wasted any time looking at it from that perspective. I just, you know, I got there’s challenges that come with my role each and every year. um and I get hyperfocused on those challenges and I don’t know that I compare it um to a larger discussion if you will. Um there’s certainly challenges when you you got new people at that position being on the same page um supporting and developing leadership uh depending on you know where you are with it. you know, you support a guy with Aaron’s experience from a leadership perspective. You develop leadership with a guy like Will Howard, for example. And so, um, I’m more focused on those things as I am, uh, the larger discussion that has been four or five years of it. I hadn’t looked at it through that lens. Does it help when you had to your point that you had a veteran like Russell and then Aaron when you bring in them? And again, I hadn’t I hadn’t looked at it from that perspective. Understanding that it’s week one, what are you expecting to see from your offense this week? You know, I’d like to see a lot of points in a W, you know, um sincerely sincerely. Um but but what produces that? Um minimizing negative plays, minimizing self-inflicted wounds, penalties, things that get you off schedule, uh winning possession down football. Um I’m sure I’m looking for the same thing that 31 other head coaches are looking for in week one from their offensive units. yesterday signed a contract extension. What stands out about the way that he’s worked to go from a UDFA to now running back and how do you how you imagine you’ll divide the labor within that room? You know, um his progress I think has been very evident. Um and he’s to be congratulated. Um that guy has gone from an undrafted as you mentioned um to getting second contract business and certainly he’s been deserving of that. Um certainly he’ll be our featured runner, but we’re not opposed obviously to utilizing uh Kenny G and Caleb. And I’m sure you’ll see them um at what time and to what degree will be determined how the game unfolds and probably be somewhat determined week to week uh based on a on a myriad of variables, but certainly um proud and and and happy for Jaylen and and excited that we’re going to do extended business with him. Mike, do you have a sense for what this game means for Aaron to start out going back into Metife and playing his old team? You know, um I don’t. Um because he’s just been doing it so long, I’m sure he’s capable of compartmentalizing that. If it means anything to him more than a normal game, he probably wouldn’t tell you. And so, you know, we’re going to go play football. Mike, can you give us a um a scouting report on his physical prowess? Nobody’s seen him in the public yet, you know. Um his his arm talent is is unbelievable. Um not only in terms of arm strength and accuracy, uh but his ability to release the ball from a variety of places. Um you know, his his game management expertise and experience is very evident. Um his line of scrimmage play, um weaponizing of cadences, etc. Um, his above the netck game is very unique. Um, it’s been a good process. Um, but the proof is in the pudding. I’m sure he’s excited about getting into a stadium with us uh, and quarterback and for us. And I know I’m excited about seeing it. Mike, how do you how do you measure progress for that group in the preseason when they don’t they’re not on the field together against another team in a in a game situation? You don’t. So, what then where does the confidence that they’re going to be able to sort of hit the ground running? Where does that come? I’m generally a confident person anyway. Um, and I see them work every day and that daily work leads to instadium performance. Do I have confidence about what they’re capable of in stadium? I’d be making it up. None of us have seen our guys in stadium. And so, I just think that that’s something that we all manage this time of year. And so, I might not be answering your question there, but that’s just the realities of of this business. I think there’s some speculation and some not knowing this time of year. you can hide under your desk or you can be confident. Um, I choose to, you know, base my posture on what I’ve seen from a prep standpoint and I’ve been really comfortable with what I’ve seen. Second straight year you faced a new coaching staff in the opener. Can you look at the lines last year, the preseason, and think you are pretty confident about the way they’re going to look schematically or do you have to assume some curve balls are coming and be let on your feet? I I think it’s appropriate to assume that there’s some unforeseen things. Certainly. What is the specific challenge of preparing that way composed composed the way you normally would construct a regular season? To be honest with you, it’s not overly unique. That was the point I was making um in the opening. Um it occurs quite a bit this time of year. They’re new staffs. Every year they play somebody week one. Uh it just happens to be us. There’s several new staffs this year. It just so happens that we’ve seen it two years in a row. But if you’ve been in this business any period of time, uh it’s a component of week one football. Mike spoke about pretty brand new secondary. How set are you on the way those players will rotate or how much will that kind of work itself out throughout the first couple games? Pretty set. Mentioned Cam’s state of readiness physically from a mental standpoint. Is he locked in and have everything else compartmentalized to use that word from I’ll let him speak for himself in that regard. Mike, uh, Cam played about 800 snaps last year. If possible, would you like to pull back on some of those knowing he’s 36 now? Um, I I I think sometimes when you’re sitting in comfortable seats and you’re undefeated and it’s week zero, you can talk about some of those things, but sometimes participation is dictated by necessity. Um, you know, uh, who else is available and so forth and and that’s just the reality of this business. I’ve I’ve been in it long enough to see it with those sober eyes. Uh sometimes it might not have anything to do with CAM, it’s about others. Um Derek Harmon’s lack of availability, for example, if that was extended, that often times would bleed over into to Cam’s participation or increased participation. That’s the reality, you know, kind of this business. When you talk about dividing the labor up, none of these things happen in a vacuum. Sometimes it’s what’s going on around people that dictates their amount of participation, whether it’s increased or decreased. In the end, Mike, how hard was it to walk away from the idea of Justin Fields as the quarterback this year? You know, it’s free agency. It was not only our decision, it was his decision. And so, it was mutual. There’s a lot of moving parts in free agency. And so, I wouldn’t present it in the manner in which you asked it. Anyone else? All right. Thanks, guys. First press conference of the new season. Bob Piani, Missy Matthews. We’re going to take a short break. When we come back, we’ll rehash some of what coach said. It’s all coming up right here as we continue with a Tomlin Tuesday. [Music]

Coach Tomlin addresses the media ahead of our Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons.

#PITvsJets 9/7 at 1 PM ET on CBS

Like our content? Want more? Be sure to subscribe to the Pittsburgh Steelers YT Channel: https://goo.gl/nAd4J2

Are you craving even more Steelers content? Head over our official home on the web: http://www.steelers.com/ or if you want your #Steelers content to-go, download the official Pittsburgh Steelers mobile app: https://www.steelers.com/fans/official-steelers-mobile-app/

To get the latest Steelers content, news and analysis be sure to follow us on social media!
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steelers/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/steelers/
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steelers/
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@steelers
Get the App: https://apple.co/2GDRLDT