Coach Tomlin Press Conference (Week 14 at Baltimore Ravens) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Coach Tomlin Press Conference (Week 14 at Baltimore Ravens) | Pittsburgh Steelers

[Music] Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the south side of Pittsburgh. It is week 14 of the NFL season. Bob Pompiani here. Missy Matthews will join me shortly and this is a big week. We’re getting down to crunch time. Uh both teams, the Ravens and Steelers come into this big game this weekend. Six wins, six losses. Both are coming off losses. The Steelers of course to Buffalo in a second half that went totally wrong. 26-7. They lose that game. On the other hand, it is the Bengals who went down to Baltimore on Thanksgiving and handed them a 3214 loss. So, there’s a lot on the line in this game. We’ll find out what happens with uh injuries and stuff from last week. And we’ll talk about certainly what happens in Baltimore coming up. And to do that, Mike Tomlin is ready to meet with the media. Good afternoon. Um, as always, man, I’ll start with a quick assessment of the last performance and and unfortunately, you know, the tape didn’t uh show anything dramatically different than what we saw in stadium. Um, we played 30 minutes of acceptable football and then um, you know, we didn’t do what we needed to do in the third quarter and in any of the phases of play. Um, and certainly that put us behind the gun and we were running uphill from there. I think um frustration became a component of it which is a natural thing. Uh we got a lot of guys that work extremely hard and put a lot um into prep and um you know we want to win. We want to do what’s required to win but we didn’t necessarily express that want to appropriately and so we kind of talked about that some uh yesterday as a collective. Um you know I own the responsibility of making sure that these guys understand a component of being a tough team to beat is not beating ourselves. Um we had some penalties and and certainly you’re going to have penalties when you play. Um but penalties of the 15 yard variety um loss of composure and things of that nature hadn’t been us and so that needs to be corrected immediately. We talked about that and um when it’s from some of our guys like captains and so forth, guys that represent us at the coin toss, it certainly um merits uh discussion and analysis. And so we went through that and we look forward uh to moving on from that. Now a component of moving on from that um is executing better. You know when you execute better, you make more plays. Um frustration becomes less of an issue. And so certainly first and foremost um as we lean in on this week, man, um our focus is performing at a higher level. um doing a better job strategically, doing a better job of dividing the labor up and then ultimately letting that lead to doing a better job of play. Um really, you know, there’s a rhythm to it in recent weeks, particularly in Chicago, um and last week and um you know, but it doesn’t make it any easier obviously to to identify and move on from. Certainly um you know when you when you have the lead at halftime and and you’re getting the ball to come out to start the second half there’s a generally a good feel there but we haven’t done enough with the football um to start second halfs and certainly we haven’t done enough to defend the grass once we’ve turned the ball over and so that could be descriptive of how things unfolded in Chicago and it certainly is a description of how things unfolded last week and so you know we talk about it we learn from it but equally as important um we roll our sleeves up and go to work. How do you get that synergy? Um, how do you get the confidence? How do you get the the cohesion required to win? Um, you tighten up your plan. Um, you delve into things that you’ve spent more time in than things that you hadn’t. Um, you make sure that guys are in position to work in a coordinated fashion in all three phases. And so, we’re making some very, you know, pointed decisions as we lay the foundation for this plan this week. Um but I imagine Baltimore is is doing similar things. Um we both sit at six six and six. Uh both of those positions come with some scars certainly. Um but they need to come with some lessons learned as well. And then and I think the team that that that displays the ability to apply those lessons um best is going to be the team that’s going to be in position to control this game and thus be in control of the North. And before I get specifically into Baltimore and and talking about their personnel and so forth, uh just let me say this, man. Um I really enjoy um the structure that is today’s NFL scheduling. Um the excitement associated around these division games, the weight on them, u not only for us in Baltimore, but just globally speaking. Uh we felt it a year ago. We had some big games against them in the latter part of the year as well. I think it’s good for football. is good for our fan base. It’s good for their fan base. Um it’s an honor to be a part of it and and certainly it provides an edge for us, man. Uh an urgency for us as we prepare. Um we’ve been in hotly contested battles with this group in the past. Um and I see no reason why this weekend won’t be the same. There’s certainly a lot at stake. From an injury perspective, I’ll cover a few things. Uh Derek Harmon can be characterized as out again this week with his knee injury. Everyone else um is could be characterized as questionable. And when I characterize people as questionable, often times it means limited participation at the early part of the week and then increased in participation as the week goes on and the quality and quantity of that participation being our guide toward availability. the guys that fall into that category, Patrick Queen, uh with his glute injury, um and some other guys with some bumps and bruises associated with play. Um James Pierre is in the concussion protocol, and I never really try to provide too much color regarding that. The medical experts u make that determination, but he’s in the protocol and could be listed as questionable as we sit here today. And I’d imagine we got some other guys that lack availability associated with bumps and bruises associated with play this time of year that could be limited in the top part of the week, but we expect those guys to pick up as the week um goes on. And and you can characterize Aaron Rogers within that group as well. Now on to Baltimore. As I mentioned earlier, uh man, they’re familiar with us, we’re familiar with them. Um it creates excitement. It creates excitement around the strategic planning. It it’s fun to, you know, to have knowledge of this group, but but watch how they’ve evolved um over the course of the journey. And we all evolve for a variety of reasons um the elevation of individual players, the emergence of individual players, um the attrition component of the game as you miss people and and and adapt schematically. um and from a divisional labor standpoint to to make up for that uh the return of players and that that impact um that it has. Um for instance, you know, on offense, I’ll start with Baltimore’s offense at the early portions of the year. Uh they were without Rashard and Likely. Um two major components if you’re familiar with Baltimore um that play major roles in how they function. Um Likely is an awesome uh second tight end to partner with Andrews. They play a lot out of two tight end personnel groups. Um, and they able to get a lot done in the running game and in the passing game. And I think you feel with each passing week, the impact of his return and presence. And certainly the same thing with Rashard, man. We’ve dealt with him over the years, man, you get that guy on the field in front of Derrick Henry, man, you got an all day uh job ahead of you in terms of minimizing uh what they’re capable of in the running game. And certainly um as we lean in on this week um that’s where our attentions lie from a defensive perspective. No disrespect to their passing game and certainly they got a lot of capable guys there. U but we’re talking about a legendary runner of this generation and Derrick Henry. Um we’re talking about some schematics and and some personnel that really highlight that agenda coupled with our present state coming off the type of performance that we just came off of regarding the run. I believe that that focus is justified and appropriate. Um, but they do have some dangerous people on the perimeter. I like their uh divisional labor from a receiver standpoint. Um, Z Flowers obviously is a is a dangerous receiver. He’s good after the catch. He’s got make you miss. Uh, he’s elusive. Baitman um and and D are are veteran guys that know what it is that they’re doing. De Hop. You can’t say enough about him in terms of some 50-50 ball matchups and the things that he provides them from a one-on-one perspective. Um, as I mentioned the tight ends when I was talking about the running game, Mark Andrews, man, him and Lamar have been, you know, partners in this thing uh since they got drafted in the same draft class. I think he’s Baltimore’s all-time leading uh receiving touchdown guy. Um, he’s certainly still um a major component of what they do in the red area. I think he’s got five or so touchdowns this year. Um, but the ball uh goes to and through Lamar. Um, his ability um to extend and make plays. Um, his ability to run um particularly in situational moments is and always been has been a challenge. Um, we failed some at that challenge a week ago against Josh Allen. And so for those reasons, man, we’re really, you know, we’re really working with an edge in preparation for this one. Certainly, we have a lot of experience in defending them and going against them, but I’m sure they say similar things regarding us. And so, with that understanding, we proceed. On the defensive side of the ball, um, they really did some things to stabilize themselves kind of at at the trade deadline. Uh, a couple quality acquisitions, one at safety spot and one at the ed spot to round out some areas where they were really thin. The safety acquisition has really allowed Cal Hamilton to do what Kyle Hamilton does, uh, which is to play big nickel on first and second down and play around the line of scrimmage and blitz and and defend the run and set edges. Uh, you get in sub packet situations and more passing circumstances on third down. He essentially plays a dime linebacker spot and you have to deal with he and Rocoan and they’re both formidable certainly. Um, they’re very good underneath defenders and blitzers. Um, and they got really good schematics that highlight those talents. Another versatile guy, obviously worth mentioning, is Marlin Humphre, man. He plays outside. Um, when Kyle Hamilton plays nickel. When Kyle Hamilton moves to dime linebacker, he plays inside. He’s a very versatile guy, man. He’s the poster boy for their turnover culture. I think he’s got um 17 career force fumbles um and counting now. And so ball security is going to be a major component of it. We got to be really fundamentally sound uh there. Um again, he leads that charge. But again, um wouldn’t be remiss if I didn’t mention Malachi Starks, man, their first rounder. Um he’s a center fielder, man, and is doing a really good job um patrolling that area of the field and and and particularly of late as as I mentioned with that acquisition and they’re able to solidify some divisional labor. Um he’s been a main stay in the middle of the field for him and doing a nice job of solidifying that space. You see growth and development in Nate Wiggins um in year two. I think he’s playing really good football. Um he’s a tough cover man. I know uh he went out of the last football game, but as we sit here and prepare today, we certainly anticipate seeing him in a matchup like this and and and ready to deal with his talents. They do a lot of things up front, man. They use a variety of packages um and personnel groups. They’ve had some attrition up front um in in their defensive line and edge people. And so they get into some dime 41. They also get into some dime 32. Uh young drafty out of Clemson. Simpson is versatile. You’ll see him in some dime 32. Um he’ll rush off the edge. He’ll act as a hover rusher at times in a hybrid uh fourman rush. Um, he drops some. They It gives them really good schematic variation. You got he and Rocoan and and Kyle Hamilton down around the box. Some guys blitz, some guys cover. They do a nice job week in and week out of kind of changing those things up. And then certainly, um, when we play these guys, man, special teams is always a major component of how games unfold. Um, they’re a really good special teams unit. Uh, it’s a value system of theirs. Certainly, it’s a value system of ours. We’ll be fighting for every blade of grass in all three phases and oftent times they come in more chunks in this phase because of the vertical and horizontal grass associated with these plays. And so, man, we got to be really good in that space. Our return games got to provide a leg up for us. Our coverage game has got to be excellent and certainly our specialists have to be on it. Um, excited about the prep in terms of what lies ahead with us this week. I’m excited about getting in front of our guys starting tomorrow morning. man and laying out a plan and working that plan um and taking it to Baltimore AFC North Football with a division lead online. I’ll pause and open up for questions. Mike, when you talk about uh the frustration, uh where do you see it manifested in their uh play, in their body language, in their behavior? What you know? Um you know, in a little bit of both, really in all areas and and certainly um I never want people to apologize for Karen and and I view the frustration displayed last week u in that way. Um guys were in fight mode. They care. Uh the game wasn’t unfolding the way that we desire. they didn’t necessarily express it appropriately. And so as a leader, it’s about redirecting that um and making sure it’s channeled in the right ways, but also um how do we move on from that? Um the source of that frustration is is not playing the way that we would like to play. And so certainly um putting together a good plan and and and putting them in position to play well is a component of moving on from it. Mike, what did you learn from the captains and talking to them on what they feel like needs to change? you know, we have a lot of discussions week in and week out. I usually generally leave those discussions between us. Um, but certainly I’m open to to insight from those guys and and and assistance from those guys. Um, a lot of those guys been around a lot of football and you know, when you’re in the position that I’m in, um, you don’t care where good advice comes from. You don’t care where good ideas come from. Uh, that’s just the spirit in which I move and have moved for a very long time. I think the longer you’re in this business, you understand that. um you know, forget authorship or ownership. Um it’s about being right and being ready. And so, man, um certainly those opinions are valued. You said like you said after the game on Sunday that the answers were in the building, but a lot of the issues that you guys had on Sunday have been the issues all season. Why have why have the answers to those issues been so elusive? Because those same those same ingredients have produced six wins as well as six losses. And so, you know, it’s about how we cook it this week. Mike, one of the things that Aaron mentioned after the game was that they’ve that he felt like practice wasn’t good last week and that’s kind of been a common theme. Is there something that needs to change with practice or is that feedback that he’s given you that you can take into account? I’m open to to doing whatever it is that we need to do obviously in an effort to make practice better. Sometimes practice gets challenging particularly at the early portions of the week this time of year because of lack of significant player availability and certainly felt that last week. Not making that as an excuse. That’s just the reality of our business. I’m sure people that we compete against miss significant players as well. How we navigate that oftentimes during the week is, you know, an example of how we might navigate it during the course of the weekend and certainly um last week based on the results were not good enough. Um and and particularly from a defensive perspective when we lost Patrick Queen, uh we didn’t do a good enough job of of managing that component of it. also mentioned that he thought maybe the cold weather was impacting the quality of practice. Do you consider moving more practices inside? You know, we generally play outside and so if the surface is safe, I like to practice in the environment that we play in. But if you lose productivity because of the windage, etc., etc. Those are just general decisions that you make um that’s best appropriate for the group. in spirit, you like the group to practice in the in the environment that they play in. But if it’s counterproductive of if it’s survival, then then certainly make make adaptation. Mike, when you have the when you guys have the run pit problems that you guys had Sunday and you going up against another big run opponent, where’s the line between focusing on the minutia and and the smaller details versus maybe looking at a more global approach from a coaching standpoint, how to fix those problems? I I think you I think you approach it from both perspectives. I think you you you got to put a lot of lines in the water. Certainly, we’re looking um at strategic global things from a strategy or schematic standpoint, but so but we’re also looking at the divisional labor and the positions that we put players in. Um how we adjust and adapt and communicate, particularly when that gets strained due to player availability or lack thereof. Um and so some of those things and all of those things are a component of the decision-m process. department’s help in that regard. Was pretty TJ Law was pretty frustrated that they seem to run the same play or similar concept over and over with success. Where where were the shortcomings in that particular play or that that situation? Um it was really good execution by them. Um often times it was the final look, but there were pre- snap movement and changes of offensive personnel uh that disguised it. And so sometimes a play would hit in a particular space, but they would change offensive personnel requiring us to change defensive personnel and the person might be different the second time. And so that’s just a strategic component of football, man. They did an awesome job. I don’t want to take anything away from them and we certainly have to be better. Aside from Harmon’s health, which has been a variable, and you mentioned your open, it will be again this week with his injury, why have you found that the run game has been at times very good on defense against like Chicago and Jonathan Taylor, and why is it struggled as mightily as it has in other Greeks? You know, I think, you know, you’d have to look at each one of those things individually. Um, the plans, the players available to us, um, the schematics of those that we compete against. Um, I think that’s the challenge and the beautiful thing about this league. um is that week in and week out, man, you start a new. There’s certainly, particularly at this point of the year, some evidence of who you are and evidence of who your opponents are. Um but from a strategy standpoint, uh you better start at ground zero. Uh you better build and that’s what we’re in the process of doing um today and this week in an effort to put out a better performance this week. You talked about trying to learn some things out of last week with the way Allen ran as opposed to getting Lamar this week. Is there a transferable thing there in the way they approach it with those two quarterbacks or is there It certainly is, but they’re certainly very different guys. Um, they both have designed quarterback runs as a component of their attack. Um, Lamar is more on the perimeter because of his talents, his elusiveness, his speed. Um, Josh Allen is more downhill because of his talents. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s competitive and combative. Um, but either way you slice it, it’s 11 on 111 football. Um certainly um they they have different approaches to that 11 on 111 football. Um the differences in the backs uh have a lot to do with it. Excuse me. Cook is a elusive and and perimeter capable and things of that nature. And certainly although Derrick has great speed and when he gets into the secondary he’s a problem, you really want to work hard to minimize his downhill. Um because man, when he gets downhill on you, you really feel it. um that’s when he starts bumper caring and bouncing off of people and you want to eliminate that component of his game. And so there certainly are some similarities, but there certainly are some dramatic differences as well. We’ll lean on the similarities. We have experience against against competing against Baltimore and so we certainly understand the differences. The way Baltimore ran against you last year in December, did you learn anything what not to do to try to defend that? Certainly. such as, you know, just um how you play apex players. Um the guys that are halfway between the core, the defense, and the perimeter. Um some of the things you do around secondary rotation and so forth. Um I think anytime you play, um there’s a there’s an educational process. I think one of the first things that we do um on Monday morning or Sunday night um most of the time for me it’s Sunday um is jot down some just quick initial notes uh while it’s fresh um to to to capture that that learning um the adaptation that happens in game the adjustments the conversations had formally informally I think it’s it’s just good business and protocol to to formally document that to collect it um and store it because certainly um if you’ve been in this business any length of time, you know, you double back to it sooner, probably more so than later when you’re having trouble uh generating offense, you know, why does it make sense to have Pat Fist on the bench? You know, we got a bunch of guys that are capable. I think we’ve been through some of these discussions before. We got a lot of capable guys that we that we have a lot of confidence in. Um Pat is certainly one of them. um it didn’t ball didn’t bounce his way a week ago, but certainly um he’s a viable option for us and one that’s strongly considered as we work this week. Mike, you talk a lot about frustration and you have said you understand the fans frustration. What is it like for you personally when they’re calling for you to go? You know, um in general, I agree with them. Um from this perspective, um football is our game. We’re in the sport entertainment business. And so, um, if you root for the Steelers, entertaining them is winning. And so, when you’re not winning is not entertaining. And if you’ve been in this business, you understand that. And so, I respect it. Um, I share frustrations. Um, I understand what makes this thing go and winning is what makes this thing go. Mike, will you make any adjustments to the responsibilities of your coaching staff? Um, not anything that merits discussion in this setting. No. Mike, during the draft in free agency, you talked about wanting to be more physical across the board. How do you feel like you’re your team is kind of fulfilling or or not fulfilling that goal? You know, as we stand here today, based on the last performance, not so good. Um, but certainly at different times uh in this journey, I felt really good about it. And so, um, I think that could describe a lot of conversations as I mentioned earlier when you’re sitting at six and six. Um, for us is it’s it’s about absorbing that and understanding that and and plotting a course to move forward, but also understanding that the things that happen to us don’t are are not vacuum related. It’s happening to those that we compete against as well. I’d imagine Baltimore’s got similar challenges and issues uh because they sit at six and six as well. And so the team that can manage those things and and summons up the good uh in a more really consistent way is the team that’s going to have a chance to control this game this weekend. Two things about Aaron. Um just first of all simply how did risk come out of that game? How did he respond playing a full game? And then secondly, did you see anything during the game that was caused for alarm that you need to see get better in practice in terms of the ball handling duties, things like that before you, you know, feel better about what you can do offensively this week? You know, I feel good about what we can do offensively. I don’t think that we’re limited in any way. Certainly, we’re going to do some things a little bit different to to accommodate present circumstances. Like, we worked almost exclusively out of gun or pistol a week ago to minimize some of that. It’ll probably be le probably be less of a discussion this week. We’ll see as the week wears on. And certainly, I think um he came out of the game at least physically from a from a wrist injury perspective in a good place. Coach, you mentioned frustrations. cuz I want to talk about the the players perspective. Uh would you prefer them flush those frustrations and that and that kind of passion here and get back to practice and just move on or carry that and use that as a as a tool throughout the week? Both. Mike, where do you hang your head as a coach when you look at the problems in the in the run offense game? Uh you guys couldn’t get that going against a Bills team that largely struggled against the run. You know, we got to roll our sleeves up and go back to work, man. process uh for us is is is a thing for me. You know, oftentimes I get asked I think Brooke, you always ask what gives you confidence, you know, and and sometimes I I I answer it in a colorful way, but it’s it’s what we do. Um it’s no different than what you guys do. You guys might write a bad article or a couple of bad articles. Does it lessen your confidence in your ability to write articles the next time? I imagine it doesn’t because you’ve been doing it all your adult lives. And it’s the same for us as individuals or collective in this business. Uh certainly our last performance wasn’t up to snuff, but I don’t know that it lessens our belief in self or our ability to deliver individually and collectively moving forward. At the same time though, does it force you to re-evaluate the way you go about your job? And do you you know you does it make you when you write a bad article? I got more confidence than you would. Certainly it does because if you got a desire to be great, you better analyze things in a really critical way. You know what I mean? And and I think that’s what you’re asking. And certainly um if winning is our agenda and it is um we’re not going to be hyper sensitive to to that. But when you have a stretch where you you guys have not played really consistent football for going on two months, do you have to do you accentuate the bet or do you say when I like when I asked you earlier about sort of where you’re at? You said, “Well, we also these answers also produced six wins.” So, do do you have to remind these guys, hey, we played good football? I I think it depends on the situation, what what topic is being discussed and who you’re dealing with. I think you at times you utilize both. So, how do you channel that confidence, Mike? Is it more about we are confident that we can come up with different ways to, as you often say, skin the cat, or is it more about confidence that we just need to do what we we do better? It’s both. It’s both. I think that, you know, I think if you if you’re in one lane exclusively, you’re not providing enough irons in the fire to produce victory. How much have you changed your approach during the season this year? As compared to what as compared to what you normally do when you say when we write bad articles, what do we do? Well, sometimes I, you know, transcribe differently. I I think I think the the tools that available often times dictate the change. And so certainly this week’s plan is going to be different than last week’s plan. The opponent is different. the players available to us anticipated available to us may be different and so um that’s what I mean when I ask how do you change because it just you change because of necessity you change because of the challenges are different week in and week out um the materials available to you whether it’s manpower or what have you change uh based on player availability and so forth conditions change uh the environmental component um of the game changes certainly we’re going to be in Baltimore Maryland and so that creates a hostile enirment environmental possession downs for our offense, for example. Um, and so, um, you change out of necessity. You’re not resistant to change. And I don’t know that you spend a lot of time quantifying the amount of that change. You just know that change is required. Mike, do you have an identity as a team yet? Yeah, it’s six and six. And I don’t like it. Mike, uh, you talk openly about building your team in the offseason to deal with the AFC North a lot of times. How did what happened at the end of last season in Baltimore impact the way you went about constructing this team this year? You know, the the acquisition of bigs. Um, you know, you saw our emphasis in in the draft around around big people. Um, fortifying our depth in that area and certainly it’s it’s been required. We’ve certainly had some attrition in that area. um Dean Lowry, Louderdermilk, and Derek Harmon has missed a couple stretches. And so, um that depth with with young people like YA and O um and others, man, is is significant. You can’t run out of bigs. If you run out of bigs, um in AFC Northball, um you’re running on the beach certainly. Mike, going back to identity, have what have you identified on offense and defense as things that you guys do well that you can rely on when things are going off the rails? I’m sorry. What have you identified on offense that you as a team do well that you can fall back on that you can rely on? You know, we’re very we’re very good at third and manageable. I think we might be tops in the league at third and three or less. I can’t I don’t check some of those statistics. I generally focus on the things that we need to improve upon. Um but we’ve been really good at third and manageable. And so if we work to stay in those down in distances, we give ourselves a chance to to possess the ball more than we have. as an example. Um, defensively, we certainly have have done a nice job in general at taking the ball away culturally. We know what a big component of the game that that is. And so, what can we do to to fortify that component of our game again this week to make sure it’s it’s a aspect of our portfolio as we work to engineer victory, just to name a few. But again, like you know, when you’re trying to be great, when you’re trying to win games this week, um you better be focused on things that you need to fix first and foremost and not seeking comfort relative to the things that you do well or you’ve done well. Slay was a healthy scratch on Sunday. Does he have an opportunity to earn his way back on the field or what went into that decision? You know, really it was less about Slay and it was more about getting an opportunity to see Asante Samuels. Um he’s a global NFL starter type who’s been on our practice squad this time of year as uh attrition sets in. You step into stadiums week in and week out. Things happen and we certainly wanted to have an opportunity to see him in stadium before we maybe had to make a decision on him before someone else forced our hand regarding decisions. And so it was about that for us. Slay has missed some time due to a variety of injuries and so forth. And uh it was about getting a look at that guy that started a lot of games in this league and and we did and we like some of the things that we saw and we’ll make decisions about how we divide the labor up a little later in the week. You said Rogers is questionable. Who do you call on if he’s out? Is it Rudolph Howard? Um you know I didn’t I didn’t say he was questionable. I said you could describe him as questionable at this point in the week. And by that I mean his participation might be limited at the early portions of the week. and I really hadn’t pondered not having them at this juncture. Mike, there were a number of leaders who said players need to look in the mirror. Do you feel like you have a group of guys that will look in the mirror that will take ownership? I do. Um and and and because I think the basic premise that we start with in terms of assembling a group um and it’s whether it’s draft or free agency is um we like good men who happen to be good at football and then secondarily we like men who absolutely love football and we believe that those two attributes really lend itself to the discussion that you asked about. Um, the ability to assess, the ability to absorb, the ability to dig in when things get difficult, I think are a little bit easier. Um, when you got good people and you got people that love what it is they do. Some of the younger guys on your roster that fall into that category, most of them. Mike, with Jones and how do you feel like Andrew Pete played and will start again? I thought he was solid and he will. What did you find out? Broadick’s out for the year. Is that uh he’s on IR and so he’s out for this week. What did you find out about Broadick’s injury? Because at this time last week, he was just a week to week thing. Um, it still can be characterized as week to week. I don’t know that I have any definitive information um on the extent or the length of the of the timeout and so I don’t want to give you guys misinformation. When I get it, I’ll give it to you. But certainly, you can classify him as as out because of obviously he’s on IR. When the negativity presents itself in the stadium in the way that it did on Sunday, your players are not immune to it. as a coach, do you want them to to lean into that a little bit or do you try to like or you want them to block it out? I don’t know that you have meetings regarding it. You know, I don’t think any of us prepare for failure. Um, sometimes you you you’re faced with it and you deal with it, but I don’t know that we strategically plan for negativity in the ways that you ask. Anyone else? All right. Appreciate it. All right. That’s Mike Thomas press conference. Welcome in Missy Matthews. And you know, one of the things he said, there are a lot of things he said, but starting with a health perspective, he cleared up the Rogers situation that I think had some people maybe thinking he was questionable. He’s not officially questionable. He may be questionable about playing or practicing early in the week. But other than that, the big news to me is Harmon. They missed that guy on that defensive line and I think it showed up last week. Yeah, coach Sland was asked about, you know, that playoff loss in Baltimore and how they approach the off seasonason and his answer to, you know, trying to get after the AFC North people that they face all the time is to add bigs and Derek Carman was one of those bigs that they added. Clearly with their first round draft pick, um did not have him last week against the Bills. You saw what they were able to do. Don’t love going to Baltimore without him as well, but unfortunately that is the case. He has officially been ruled out. And then Patrick Queen and James Pierre who were hurt in game on Sunday against Buffalo. They’re questionable. We’ll start the week slow. See where they go. James Pierre’s in the concussion protocol. So that kind of is its own thing. You can’t really make a decision on that until you get the all clear. Well, it was going to be a big test in the run game. We saw last week that the Bills had a scheme that the Steelers could not stop. However, earlier in the season, they certainly handled the NFL’s leading rusher and Jonathan Taylor. They did the same to Josh Jacobs. They did the same to Chicago Bears. So, which is it going to be? Hopefully, those three we talked about will carry into this game against Baltimore. We’ll talk about all of that and some of the other stuff that Mike Tomlin talked about when we come back. We’ll take a break. Right now, it’s the Tomlin Tuesday press conference right here at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. [Music] Get all your Steelers gear direct from the team. Shop this dealers pro shop in store or online for all things black and gold. You can get jerseys, hats, authentic memorabilia, custom gear, and exclusives you can’t find anywhere else. And of course, get the ultimate Steelers game day accessory, the Terrible Towel. Steelers Nation shops here. Get your gear in store or online at shop.steelers.com. Uh yeah, we just didn’t have a lot of positive plays. Uh you know, I felt good enough to be out there. Uh just not not ready to take a snap under CIA. Hopefully next week for that. Disappointed my performance, disappointed the offensive performance. And uh we got to flush this one. We’re six and six and we had a game for the division lead this week. Lack in the offensive performance. What caused what we saw tonight? No, I got to look at the film, but you know, it’s just execution obviously, but I got to look at the film. In the third night, where you guys ran it to the right with Kenneth Gainwell. Was that the called play or was that something that you guys checked into at the line of scrimmage? That was called play. Just a cut on the nose or is it broken or I hope it’s not broken. But uh yeah, just had to stop the bleeding. It was bleeding bleeding all over the place. As a quarterback, when you guys are when you guys are down and you’re in that down in distance, what did you see on that play to try to that that to run the ball there instead of trying to attack downfield on the third and nine where you guys ran? Come on, man. Do you want to start talking philosophical? Is that what you want? It’s third and nine. and they brought pressure off that side. So, we checked we had a run called that we checked the blocking or they they did on the run and we had a chance, you know, we had a chance. If that thing hits, nobody says a goddamn thing. You know, if we block on the front side, uh on the perimeter, I mean, literally everybody’s blocked up and we got to hold sustain those blocks on the outside. Kenny gets first down there. Nobody says a damn thing. Our [Music] fans are here. Give us something to cheer about today. The crowd at Acure is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my. TJ defense is swarming. It is kicked off. Wow, what a catch. Get two. Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. [Music] [Music] I never want people to apologize for caring and and I view the frustration displayed last week um in that way. Um guys were in fight mode. They care. Uh the game wasn’t unfolding the way that we desire. they didn’t necessarily express it appropriately. And so as a leader, it’s about redirecting that um and making sure it’s channeled in the right ways, but also um how do we move on from that? Um the source of that frustration is is not playing the way that we would like to play. And so certainly um putting together a good plan and and and putting them in position to play well is a component of moving on from it. It’s one of the challenges of any head coach, picking your team up when they’re down and trying to send the right messages. And I think that’s what Mike Tomlin will do this week. You know, last week third quarter once again was a problem. The Steelers have had leads, Missy, at halftime, multiple times, I think four times this year, and they’ve watched them dissipate in the third quarter specifically. What do you think, uh, as someone who’s down there on the field watching every single play? Is there what’s missing in those third quarters? I mean, I wish I had the answer because I would certainly suggest it. Um, but it’s almost backwards of last year. uh before in 2024 it was they weren’t scoring on the opening drive or you know early in the first quarter but the third quarter they’d come alive and they’ve almost reversed that at this point. Um but it is certainly disheartening when you have a lead and then you let a team come back and score 20 plus unanswered points and just really uh the way in which they did it. uh you know when the defense is on the field for that long the time of possession we talk about it every week but just horrendous against the Buffalo Bills and certainly not a recipe for success and a victory but I agree there’s you know changes have to be made uh clearly there are frustrations and I think it is a matter of the player uh do you flush it do you let it eat you do you let it motivate you how does that work coach Tomlin said he wants all of those things to happen but I also agree the same ingredients that got them six losses also got them six wins. So, they have to find a way to play consistent and to play a full game and not just half of a game or a really good quarter. And we saw last week that previous clip you saw where he highlighted the Bills offensive line, a lot of flow to the left and then open up cutback lanes for James Cook. Right. And that’s something that he does well and it seemed like a lot of guys got sucked into that or were blocked and could not get to the outside fast enough. Yeah. And I you know it they knew that TJ Watt even said after the game you know that four likes to bounce to the outside. Um and it was just one of those things where it just could not be stopped. They could not get it to work. Clearly you were missing Derek Carmen. Uh not saying that is the reason why it went as poorly as it did. But still it’s more of like you know you got to beat your man. You got to take your job your gap whatever uh seriously and everybody do their part in order to make it successful because that obviously just did not work. Yeah. and complimentary football. You’ve often heard him talk about that. And really all season long, it hasn’t been that way. When you look at the snap counts, the defense has been on the field longer than any team. And the offense the least amount of times. That’s got to change. And it starts with possessing the ball, I think. And then you win the time of possession game. So first down’s very important. You got to get yourself in those third and manageables. And if they do that, I think they can have success. Especially in a game like this week coming up, you expect it to be low scoring and more of a typical Steelers Ravens game for sure. And you know, the Ravens are also dealing with their issues. Uh but they they made their way back from starting poorly to get to six and six. So, you know, they’re a little bit reverse of where the Steelers are, but agree it is usually always um very low scoring turnovers, takeaways are always a big part of it. Special teams and you imagine that that’s going to be the case. I think for the Steelers, taking care of the football is the number one priority this week and something that they have kind of gotten away from the past few weeks where the losses have been coming it feels like more frequently. The AFC is really a log jam. It’s unbelievable how many teams are alive and not really with the exception of maybe New England which won again last night to make it 11 and two and they have a by-week coming up. A good scheduling for them. That’s a good buy. But also a team like Baltimore will have 10 days in advance of the Steeler game just like the Buffalo Bills had. We’ll talk about how impactful that might be for them or how the Steelers kind of neutralize what the Ravens do, which you know is going to be a heavy dose of running. We’ll talk about that when we continue right here on the Mike Tomlin press conference show every Tuesday at noon right here on KDK Plus and Steelers digital platforms. [Music] Our [Music] fans are here. Give them something to cheer about today. The crowd at Acure is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my TJ. This defense is swarming. It is kicked off. Wow, what a catch. Get two. Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. Just coming out flat, not playing good enough football in all facets. TJ, how do you explain team coming out flat in in this type of game? Not making plays, not enough. I mean, play making is what sets things off and when you’re not making plays, um, you it sucks and we need to find ways to be able to make plays. And I mean, I’ve never seen a team run the same play as much as they ran it tonight and have as much success as they had. Um, I mean, I’m out of I’m out of words for it. TJ, also, you know, with the defense, you guys provided several opportunities for the offense, gave them great field position, and they didn’t even catch him with a field goal. So when you get through time of possession, is it true? I defense hates to admit any weakness, but sometimes you guys get tired after the time of possession favors the other team by by such a large margin. If we get a three and out, we’re off the field. So it’s it’s as simple as that. The attrition is on us for not getting off the field. There is no there’s there’s nobody else to blame but ourselves. Is it’s as simple as that. The play with the Bills kept run kept running on you guys. Is it something that you guys talked about going into this week? and what led to just the lack of adjustments to to counter it? Absolutely. Um I mean, we knew that four was a was a hell of a runner. Um I think a number one or number two rushing offense in the National Football League. We knew that he liked to bounce outside. Knew that he was an elite running back. Um weren’t able to stop it tonight. Get all your Steelers gear direct from the team. Shop the Steelers Pro Shop in store or online for all things black and gold. You can get jerseys, hats, authentic memorabilia, custom gear, and exclusives you can’t find anywhere else. And of course, get the ultimate Steelers game day accessory, the Terrible Towel. Steelers Nation shops here. Get your gear in store or online at shop.steelers.com. [Music] I’m open to to doing whatever it is that we need to do obviously in an effort to make practice better. Sometimes practice gets challenging particularly at the early portions of the week this time of year because the lack of significant player availability and certainly felt that last week. Not making that as an excuse. That’s just the reality of our business. I’m sure people that we compete against miss significant players as well. How we navigate that often times during the week is, you know, an example of how we might navigate it during the course of the weekend and certainly um last week based on the results were not good enough. Um and and particularly from a defensive perspective when we lost Patrick Queen, uh we didn’t do a good enough job of of managing that component of it. So, we’re not talking about the game, we’re talking about practice. practice, but it was a topic this week because Aaron Rogers brought it out. Um, and I understand what he’s saying there, but I I I’ve talked to enough coaches to know that if you practice well, practice well the whole week, it normally has a carryover effect. And the reverse of that is true also. Agree. Aaron did, you know, kind of say as well that sometimes you can have a great week of practice and have a bad game or a bad week of practice and a great game. Um, but I do feel like at this point everything h everybody has to be on their P’s and Q’s. Um, and whether it’s the tempo of practice, the execution of practice, the extra film study that they’re all seeming to do, uh, it all needs to be taken up a notch knowing that these next five games are going to determine if you’re playing football in January or not. And you’re playing the Ravens twice in five games. So, you know what’s, you know, ahead of you. Still another game with Cleveland, Detroit. I mean, it’s not like it’s going to get any easier. So, whatever they need to do to make everybody feel more confident and be on the same page, I am all for whatever that takes. It’s like going to the practice range in golf having a great day. Go to the first team and you shank one. So, I understand how that happens. And reverse of that, too. You can hit them terribly, go to the first hole and you drill it. uh Baltimore. Now, this is a, you know, they obviously know each other, but knowing what the Ravens just saw from the Bills and what they did to the Steelers in the run game, 249 yards, and they know last year was 299 in that wild card game. I would expect a heavy dose of Derrick Henry. He hasn’t been at his best, uh, but he’s still a force, almost 1,000 yards so far this season. Well, it was interesting. you know, John Harbaugh was asked why wasn’t Dererick Henry really used in the second quarter, really the second half of that game um that they lost on last Thursday against the Bengals, and it felt like that first game that we played the Ravens last season at home at AAR, I think it was week 11, um they kind of got away from using him, too. And that doesn’t seem to be a recipe for them. So, maybe less Derk Henry, uh less snaps for Derrick Henry is a good thing for the Steelers. But regardless, as you said, when you watch this past game against the Bills, why would you not game plan to use Derrick Henry as much as possible um to try to, you know, take advantage of a a Steelers weakness that keeps popping up? But then you also have to think, as you have pointed out already, you know, the Colts game, there’s just there’s games where it works so well. Um, so hopefully it’s something the Steelers can pull upon and figure out a game plan this week knowing that you also have a mobile quarterback and he has won the last two that you faced him. Yeah, Lamar Jackson, he’s a guy they know well and although he still to me looks a little hampered by his injury. We’ll see how that manifest itself on Sunday. Take a break, come back with more of our Mike Tomlin press conference here on a Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Steelers and Ravens 1 o’clock Sunday. You’ll see it on KDK TV. [Music] Get all your Steelers gear direct from the team. Shop the Steelers Pro Shop in store or online for all things black and gold. You can get jerseys, hats, authentic memorabilia, custom gear, and exclusives you can’t find anywhere else. And of course, get the ultimate Steelers game day accessory, the Terrible Towel. Steelers Nation shops here. Get your gear in store or online at shop.steelers.com. Kim, how do you put into words the frustration, the emotions that you feel individually and that this locker room feels at this point after another loss? Um, individually, um, I’m just concerned about this team. Um, you know, two big losses back to back. Um, but there’s, you know, um, we have a big game next week, but right now I’m kind of pissed off with how we played and, um, I’m saying it lightly, but, um, I hope everybody in the locker room is, too. Cam, it seems like we’re talking about the same thing week after week. Execution, get back, watch the film. How do you fix those things this late in the season if it hasn’t been fixed already? um accountability, ownership in what you do. Um we got to be in all three phases. Um and uh if you can’t say I was wrong on this play and I need to be in this gap, uh and do your 111th, um it kind of sets our team back. Um not pointing anybody out, but myself included. We all have to be responsible for what we do on that field. Do you feel like that’s an issue or has been an ongoing issue this season? Um, just inconsistent. [Music] Our fans are here. Give them something to cheer about today. The crowd at Acure is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my TJ, this defense is warming. It’s kicked off. Wow, what a catch. Get two. Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. [Music] you know, um, in general, I agree with them. Um, from this perspective, um, football is our game. We’re in the sport entertainment business. And so, um, if you root for the Steelers, entertaining them is winning. And so, when you’re not winning, it’s not entertaining. And if you’ve been in this business, you understand that. And so, I respect it. Um, I share frustrations. Um, I understand what makes this thing go and winning is what makes this thing go. That’s one way to solve everything, too. Uh, Acer is always loud. They were loud in a negative way this week because they did not like the performance and I think it’s one of those things that’s, you know, dates back maybe to some of the playoff performances that have happened also. But, uh, we heard it in Baltimore too after their game with the Bengals. So, it’s just the NFL right now. If you don’t give the fans what they want, they’re going to let you know, and they have a right to do it. But, you change it by winning. And if they get to seven and six, they’re going to be in the division lead here u heading into week 15. Yeah, winning cures all. And uh totally agree. You know, it just feels like especially the home games have not been up to par um as of lately where it really felt like in the past playing at home meant something and usually helped the Steelers uh get those wins. So hopefully it’s something that if you can get a big win in Baltimore, which obviously is not an easy feat, come home and have a prime time game, Hall of Honor weekend, um, and get some momentum and, you know, keep trucking along because the the road is narrower and the playoffs are in sight, but it’s all a matter of what you do with these last five games that you have the opportunity at. And of the last five, you have these head-to-head meetings and Mike Tomlin talked early in his press conference about liking this sort of schedule. Um, there are those out there who think maybe you should spread them out more, hit a team at the beginning of the season. The NFL has said, “Nope, we’re going to keep these division matchups in there all throughout the NFL heading into the second in December football.” Well, I liked at least this season, we weren’t waiting till week 11 to play our first AFC North match up. In fact, all six of them. Yeah. In the back end, but you you always know that the Baltimore ones are going to be closer till the end. That’s usually how they like to do it. And they picked right. Uh, these games always mean something. The Steelers had a chance last year when they went to Baltimore in the regular season to win that game and to clinch the North. They weren’t able to do that and we saw what happened. All right, we’ll take a break, come back and wrap up this show. Tomlin Tuesdays in the books. Uh we’ll highlight some of the things you may have missed if you just turned in. Uh including the injury situation. That’s next. [Music] Our fans are here. Give them something to cheer about today. The crowd at Acure is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my. TJ, this defense is swarming. And it’s kicked off. Wow, what a catch. Get touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. I mean, yeah, we have this conversation like every other week. So, yeah, it’s frustrating, but I mean, you just got to put your head down and keep working. When you look at the the losses, the four losses, they’re blown second half leads. Can you put your finger on what what happened? Um, I mean, not today. I haven’t got in and watched the film, so no, I can’t point anything directly. There’s just some things that we have to continue to work on on defense, continue to hustle, continue to execute. How much does it weigh on you guys as a locker room, as a team to have to keep having these conversations with us and these post games where there is just this mounting frustration? Um, you just can’t let it. Um, you have to I mean we we have big games coming up and we have to be focused on that. Um, obviously we’ll learn from this and I mean yeah it’s it’s heavy on the heart but you you got to move on and you have to be prepared for the next play. And they can do a lot of different things with their run game. Obviously as good as Cook is as well as Allen can run the ball. Was there anything uh that they got you with that you weren’t expecting coming into this? No. Um the coaches did a great job of preparing us. Uh some of the big runs that hit on us, we went over it a bunch of times this week. Um we just have to continue to execute in the boot renegade. There were firewood chance. What’s going through your mind as a player when fans are doing that at games? Um more focused with on the field stuff. Um I mean I mean yeah I mean that really has nothing to do with me. just uh focus with on the field and how we can uh try to execute every single play. You mentioned being well prepared for what they were going to do in the run game, but what wasn’t clicking out there that allowed them to be so successful in that area? Uh like I said, I’ll just have to uh go watch the film. Uh I mean, obviously certain plays or certain things, but I can’t sit here and tell you uh exactly. I have to go watch the film and um if you ask me that tomorrow, I could probably be able to tell you that. Get all your Steelers gear direct from the team. Shop this Steelers Pro Shop in store or online for all things black and gold. You can get jerseys, hats, authentic memorabilia, custom gear, and exclusives you can’t find anywhere else. And of course, get the ultimate Steelers game day accessory, the Terrible Towel. Steelers Nation shops here. Get your gear in store or online at shop.steelers.com. All [Music] right, welcome back. Uh, you know, one of the interesting quirks about any scheduling, you’re going to have pluses and minuses. It’s interesting that last week Buffalo played on Thursday, had 10 days off in preparation of the Steelers. This week, it’s the same thing with Baltimore. They played on Thanksgiving night, and there’s a third coming up, isn’t there? Well, yeah. the, you know, the Lions are playing this Thursday and then the Steelers will eventually see them. They have Miami in between, but uh still crazy when you think about it. It’s, it is what it is, though. You can’t really change your schedule once you get it for the Steelers. Didn’t love that early week five buy. Uh when the schedule first came out, seemed like they needed it due to some injuries, but now I still kind of wish it was early or later this season. Always better later. At least that’s where we see it. All right, that’s going to wrap it up for us. Thank you for joining We’ll do it again next Tuesday ahead of a Monday night football game against the Dolphins. Have a great weekend, everyone. [Music]

Coach Tomlin addresses the media ahead of our Week 14 game against the Baltimore Ravens.

#PITvsBAL 12/7 at 1 PM ET on CBS

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