Coach Tomlin Press Conference (Week 4 vs Minnesota Vikings) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Coach Tomlin Press Conference (Week 4 vs Minnesota Vikings) | Pittsburgh Steelers

[Music] Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex here on the south side of Pittsburgh. It’s a Tomlin Tuesday as the Steelers get ready for a trip to Dublin, Ireland. What a great week this will be out there for them as they take on the Minnesota Vikings. Both of these teams, two wins, one loss. The Steelers coming off a big win on the road where they forced five turnovers in an effort to win that game and they did 21 to4. Minnesota on the other hand they blew out Cincinnati 48 to 10. They also had two defensive touchdowns in that game. So it’s going to be an interesting matchup. Mike Tomlin is ready to address what happened last week and also look ahead to the Vikings. So let’s go to head coach Tomlin right now. Good afternoon and really excited for this week’s work. Certainly getting an opportunity um to play internationally is a big honor. Um it’s something that I’ve been a part of a couple of times and um it doesn’t get old, man. To to represent our game of American football on the international stage, man, is a really cool thing. Um and so excited about being a component of that. But as we sit here today is more about the preparation that te’s up performance and that’s really what has our attention. Before I get into some of those things, I’ll give you a quick review of last week’s performance. As we talked after the game, uh it’s good to win, good to win in a hostile environment. Um had some really positive things. Um I thought we did a nice job of working our turnover culture um and and pursuing and getting the football. Certainly, uh needed all of those turnovers. Can’t say enough about the ones that kind of bookend halftime. um that red zone takeaway by Brandon Eckles there at the end of the first half. Um and then the cause fumble and fumble recovery there early in the third quarter. Um when you can get those type of point swings in that space, you got a chance to win football games certainly. Um but we’re not always going to be able to take the ball away from people. And so I thought we could have been better in our possession down play defensively, particularly in the short yardage component of possession down play. I thought quarterback mobility was a component of their success in that space. I thought we did a really good job of of minimizing the quarterback mobility and drop back passing circumstances via scramble and and things of that nature. Uh but I thought the quarterback mobility of Drake May was significant and some third and shorts and some fourth and shorts which kept us on the field an extended period of time. New England was very aggressive in in terms of their fourth down play. Um and we weren’t successful enough. we had an opportunity to really seize control of the game had we won some more of those, particularly the one um that was on the long field. Uh but they kept some drives alive. They possessed the ball. Uh they minimized our opportunity to possess the ball in doing so, and I think that made sledding tough for us at different times of the game, particularly in the second half offensively. Uh we stalled ourselves out some. We threw an interception, I think, on the third play of the second half. We went three and out after that on the next possession. Uh I think we got a holding call on possession and 10. And when when first and 10 goes to first and 20, there’s a high likelihood uh for three and out football. And so, you know, some of that some of that popcorn lack of execution or lack of detail in execution along with their willingness to go for it on possession down moments uh really really altered the time of possession. And I think it kind of affected us at times in terms of uh the way we like to play. Um I thought we initially were running the ball very well at the early stages of the game, for example. Um I thought we had a tough time regaining our rhythm because of some of the sequences and things that I mentioned uh just a second ago. But you live and you learn, man. We made the necessary plays uh to win. Certainly. Um I love the way we’re operating in the red area offensively. We got to be one of the top teams in the league in terms of uh red zone efficiency. You need that. Um you need to kick uh you need to kick extra points as opposed to field goals and like the overall trajectory of that. We’re spreading the ball around to a lot of people. Um starting to really establish um some personality things. But I think a lot of people are um as you move from game three to game four, you’re starting to see some things and getting a feel for how to the best divide the labor up uh in different circumstances. And so there’s some general collective growth in all three phases. I thought we took a step forward um in our kicking game. Um our kickoff team in particular I thought was better than it has been. Uh we were consistently making stops inside the 30 and you know making them play on a longer field and winning the battle of of real estate in that space. Um and we getting some play from some young people. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention um Jack Sawyer, a guy that that hadn’t played a lot of special teams uh prior to the National Football League. He was a defensive end, if you will, uh at Ohio State, and I think he had three tackles in special teams last week. And so, we’re getting some collective growth. We’re getting some individual growth, such as life this time of year. It’s good to do so uh and win at the same time. And so, certainly, uh we hope to continue to do that this week. From a health perspective, uh just giving you an update on some guys. Um you can characterize Alex Highmith is out this week with his ankle. Um Deshawn Elliot and Joey Porter certainly have a chance. Um I just saw Deshawn uh working out uh just a few minutes ago. Um we’ll work those guys this week and let the amount of their participation and the quality of their participation be our guide in terms of uh their participation in game but also the amount of participation. We were in a similar situation last week uh with Derek Harmon for example. He was deemed healthy enough to play. Um we got him in uniform but we were certainly cognizant of the number of snaps that he played. health and football readiness and conditioning at times can be a different uh be different things. And so we’ll watch those guys close and and make appropriate decisions at the latter part of the week. We had some bumps and bruises associated with play that might limit a few people at the early portions of the week. Uh but certainly um probably doesn’t make their availability a question mark. For example, Slay was in and out of the game a few times um with a with a with a leg contusion. Um it may slow him at the early portions of the week, but certainly expect him to be available for us as we push forward toward game time. Now on to the Vikings. Um start first with the Viking offense. Um I think they’ve already made the announcement that Carson Wentz um is their starting quarterback this week and that certainly has our attention. Um he’s a Grizzly veteran. Um, oftentimes, particularly when you have a a young, inexperienced quarterback, um, there’s some big-time benefits of playing with a vet backup. Um, the veteran guy oftent times does the intangible components of the job very well. They communicate and articulate the schematics and the plan. The others, they uplift guys and and get people lined up. Um, they often times are able to carry more schematic responsibility and so forth at the line of scrimmage. And so I don’t necessarily view it um as a negative thing for the Minnesota Vikings, at least in the short term that Carson is playing for him. We were in a similar situation a year ago. We’re playing in Indianapolis, man. And I comment to the guys that you know, keep Richardson upright, don’t put Flaco in the game, and you know, Flaco ended up in the game. Um and and I think that’s often times some of the things that you can run into when you run into a veteran guy, at least from a short-term perspective. And so, um, we got a lot of respect for Carson and his journey, uh, his experience and what he’s capable of providing his team this week. We’re preparing with that understanding and that edge. He certainly has a full repertoire of of targets available to him. The return of Jordan Addison, I think, is significant. Um, watched him a lot when he was in Pittsburgh. He is a talented receiver. He’s capable of taking the top off the coverage. He has very good body control and hand eye coordination and fine motor skills. He’s good after the catch. Certainly, uh Jefferson is a man to be reckoned with. Um good 50/50 ball guy, tough, good after the catch as well. TJ at tight end is a challenge. And so, you know, Carson has a has a a nice arsenal of people to throw the ball to. Um Jones, their running back is down, but they have Mason. Mason is a guy that distinguished himself in the league last year in San Fran playing in playing in place of McAffrey. Um he’s a downhill runner. His pal always falls in the right direction. Um he had a really good game last week and so you know there’s a lot of things that have our attention. the return of their left tackle is a major component not only of their run game but also protecting Carson’s blind side and and so we got a lot to be concerned about and and prepare for on that side of the ball. On the defensive side of the ball certainly um highly familiar with coach Flores and his schematic approach to football, but it certainly doesn’t make the preparation process or the playing against it any any less difficult. Um he’s very multiple in his schemes and thoughtful. Um he attacks um protections uh from a passing game perspective and does so very well. He plays in an aggressive up posture structure defensively. It doesn’t always means that he blitzes a lot. Sometimes he can fall out of that into a variety of bogus zones. Um more than anything, man, he carries a big menu. He challenging challenges you individually and collectively from a football intellect perspective. Um I think the veteran laden secondary really allows a lot of those things to happen. I think the return of Harrison Smith um is significant uh on the back end tying all of those things together. They got a nice veteran group at corner. Uh Rogers had a big game last week and certainly Murphy’s been around. And so I think when you got veterans like that, it allows you to carry a big menu and do some of the things that they do pre-nap from a look perspective that really is challenging uh to protection schemes. Uh up front, Javon Harra, the acquisition of Javon is significant in terms of their rush. Javon has been a significant player at every stop. Uh he’s good against the run, he’s good against the pass. Um got to talk about their edge people. That edge tandem is really impressive. um make a lot of splash plays, very versatile. Uh they rush versus tackles, they drop in a myriad of schemes uh that coach Flores uh deploys. And so um we got a lot to get prepared for there, but more than anything, it’s about us continuing to grow. Um I’m sure the thing same thing could be said from from their perspective. I think um there are a lot of teams uh at this juncture of the journey that’s really focused on the individual collective improvement and the consistency of play. Um and so those are things that have our attention as we lean in our on our work week. Uh the physical work on this side of the trip is important for us. Um we’re doing some things to to acclimate ourselves to the trip. Uh we’re working early this week to to to start the body clock transition process. We certainly have some best practices um in terms of acclimating ourselves once we begin the journey at the latter part of the week. Um but nothing unique there. Um a lot of organizations have been traveling internationally now for a number of years. And so some of that some of those procedural things that that put you in position to best perform are less mystical and really more best practices, the hydration factor, the sleep factor and all of those things. We had a good admin meeting yesterday regarding some of that stuff so that we can get singularly focused on on the football work, the prep work uh that’s going to be required to position ourselves to play winning football. So, I’ll pause and open it up for questions. Mike, what did you learn? I mean, you’ve been overseas one time. What about the travel handling? Have you learned anything that you could take to this? Um, you know, it’s been a long time for me individually, and that’s kind of what I was referring to. Um there’s been a lot of organizations since then uh that travel and I just think procedurally it’s less mystical. I think procedures are more global. There’s more shared information about how to best pull off these trips. Um we have that information. The Vikings have that information. I think it’s, you know, less of a of a discussion topic in today uh in today’s game as it was maybe in 2014 or whatever year that was that we went to London. Mike, how do some of the injury recoveries work with this with the international travel and playing on a different field? I don’t expect it to be significant in any of those discussions. What about your having your secondary intact against such an explosive passing group of receivers at least? Um, are there things you’ve been holding back because of these injuries? Certainly. Um, but but it’s not just the injuries. you you know if you’re if you’re coaching and you’re seeing around corners um you know certainly one injury doesn’t get you off your game and two better not um but it’s the injuries coupled with the fact that you know the players themselves are new in general um as I mentioned last week man all four of the secondary guys in that second ball game for us um were new to the Pittsburgh Steelers and so we we got some new people u we got some attrition and certainly um you’re doing what’s appropriate it when you take the game schematically to those that are playing. Uh but I imagine the more we play, the more stadiums we step into, the less that discussion is significant, the more we’re going to be able to expand our menu and and do more things and uh they be able to communicate and communicate with great fluidity and understand how we go about our business. Did Pepper show you anything last week that makes you want to include him in that group? He certainly did. Um I thought he played with really good energy. Um he was productive. He made some tackles. He he caused and recovered a fumble. Um but above all of that, um I thought his experience showed although he was new to us, um he was a really good communicator, particularly for first in-game experience from a from a defensive unit perspective. Um and oftent times levels of communication, you know, is an indication of understanding. And so the way he communicated certainly uh he displayed a high level of understanding and that makes us all really comfortable. Mike, how would you how would you assess how the offense is through three weeks now? You know, I think we’re moving good and moving in the right direction. Um certainly their areas of of get better in all areas, run game, pass game, uh protection, divisional labor, um personality. Um but I like the general trajectory of all of those things that I mentioned. what is keeping the run game from being more consistent? You know, I think sometimes it’s game circumstances. Um, we’re not getting off the field a lot or frequently enough on defense and and I think it’s altering our time of possession and often times um that dictates how the game is played in some instances. You know, Calvin Austin for example, I don’t know that Calvin’s had a punt return. Um, and so that’s an indication of the possession component of play and how oftent times that can affect other phases of the game, uh, not just the unit, uh, that might be struggling in a certain area. And certainly, we hadn’t gotten off on possession downs defensively the way that we liked and there’s a trickle down effect of that. Now that you’ve seen three games worth of a sample size for DK and how teams are guarding against him, um what ways can you be creative in an attempt to get him the ball like you did in week one for instance when S wasn’t on him to get him in running catch situations? I don’t have any reservations about our ability to get DK the ball. Um if people want to allocate schematics or multiple people to him, that’s why it’s a team game. uh he’s doing a lot of things well, really comfortable with the trajectory of our divisional labor in that space. Guys like Calvin Austin are going to have opportunities to make plays and you’ve seen that already in a short period of time. And so it’s just about the general collective growth and development uh needs to continue. After watching the tape, how how do you assess Derek Carmen’s play? I thought he did a nice job uh for a first time out. Uh, I certainly think he needs to continue to work and develop from a conditioning perspective, but that was anticipated and that’s why we were so sensitive to a snap count. And the same be said when talking about Tim’s question about u the way that they that defenses guard medap. Can the same be said for how offenses are attacking your defense by running away from TJ? No question. Mike, what did uh Cole Hulcom show you by the way that he was able to battle back from that gruesome injury to become such an impactful contributor for you on Sunday? You know, um you can’t say enough about his mental toughs. Um and it has nothing to do with, you know, what he’s doing right now from a playing perspective. Um, but there’s a loneliness that that comes with rehabilitation and to see his commitment through the process, his unwavering commitment, uh, his display of mental toughs, his general attitude. I think those are the things that that are really significant and why we’re looking at the contributions that he’s able to make now. Um, he’s just a really mentally tough guy. Um, he’s got an awesome relationship with football. He appreciates what others might view as drudgery. um he enjoys and I think that helps him in a big way. What does he add in terms of just the run defense when he is out there? He’s a downhill thumper. Like I know you said you’ve done these international trips before. A lot of the guys have. Some of them haven’t. How do you kind of instill in them how to balance a unique experience like this with it still being a business trip? Nate, um I don’t necessarily view it as a balance. This is a business trip. Mike, what do you point to for the the reasons for the improvement in the red zone offense this year? You know, I think it’s your two systematically. Um, obviously Aaron being the veteran that he is and is an asset there. We have some new new unique tools, if you will. DK is a is a matchup issue and one-on-one circumstances. You’ve already seen evidence of that. Um, John is a guy we like to get the ball to, etc. I just think that it’s year two of the of the system and um we got some new some new tools at our disposal that that have assets or or or you know some experience in some of those spaces. And talking with Troy Fatano last week he he talked about the run game. He said that um a lot of the times it feels like they’re just they’re one block away from getting runs, you know, to explode a little more frequently. Do you see something similar in assessing the run? I expressed that last week uh when I when I described it as popcorn. A block here, a block there. Um that is often the case. It’s never gross negligence. Uh particularly at this level of play. Um what we’re talking about when we’re talking about the difference between success and failure is minutia. Um minor things, but but that’s what makes this game so competitive at this level. Mike, after the game, Aaron Rogers said he didn’t play well. Just how through these first three games, is he what you expected coming into this? He certainly has been and not only in terms of his play uh but in terms of his relationship with the game, how he interacts with teammates, how he loves the preparation process. Um all of those things have been double thumbs up. Um and so it’s reasonable to expect the instadium performance to mirror that. And so he may be disappointed with how he played last week. Um but we had an opportunity this week to do something about it. Um, and just watching him dayto day is not a high level of concern in terms of the outcome being what he and we desire. How much does having him in the huddle help out with that that red the improved red zone deep? As I mentioned, he’s he’s a component of he’s played a lot of football. Mike, how do you what’s the key to try to minimize some of the different looks you’re going to get from Flores? Um, and avoid confusion from that. I think the key a key component of it is staying on schedule when he gets you behind the sticks. Um oftentimes he’ll play second down like third down uh second and long and so being in second manageable is a major component of that. You asked earlier if the secondary issues are perhaps limiting some of the things or holding making you hold back some of the things that you could do on defense. Are you at all being forced to hold back some things you might be able to do on offense because of some of the pass protection concerns? No. Mike, what do you Herbig seems to be more and more impactful as he gets a long year in his career. What steps in development have you even seen from last year to this year? You know, I think he’s still writing that to be quite honest with you. He’s only played in two games, but certainly he has uh the potential for splash. That has been a component of his game since day zero. Um, you know, he’s good in passing circumstances. Um, he has a feel for the game. He’s ball aware. Um, and so I don’t believe any of us are surprised by his ability to produce sack fumbles or come up with the football. He’s done that um, since day zero that he got here. He’s not the biggest guy in the world. I mean, TJ and Alex are both much larger frame guys. What makes him successful? You know, I think that’s probably why we got him in round four. Um, he doesn’t necessarily look like an outside linebacker, but but he has an outside linebacker’s game and he plays like one. And I think that’s why you’re able to get people sometimes a little bit later in the draft and maybe their tape would indicate um because they don’t they don’t fit the quote unquote cookie cutter component of it. We’ve never had any reservations about his game or or what he’s capable of. Um his stature is his stature. Mike, you mentioned uh the need to improve in short yardage defense. What can you do? Quarterback mobility being a component of it, man. often times you got to be willing to take the guy out of the middle of the field and play 11 on 111 football. Um we were less willing to do it a week ago. Um I’ve been in a lot of stadiums with Josh McDaniels, man. He’s willing to play beyond the sticks and short yardage. And so it made it more problematic to minimize the mobility of Drake May without, you know, being willing to do that. But those are the decisions that you make week in and week out, down in and down out, not only based on the talents of the of the people that you play, uh, but the play callers as as well. And certainly we’ve been in a lot of situations in stadiums against Josh. And so that was a component of the decision-m, Mike, and you used to work with Brian Flores well here and now he’s obviously had success as a coordinator in Minnesota. What about him just that you’ve learned tells you that he could be a head coach again in this league? you know, I thought he did a successful job of it the first time around. To be quite honest with you, um his his willingness to learn um is a really attractive component of coach Flores. We had some awesome discussions during our time together. Um he certainly has opinions uh schematic opinions, strategic opinions, um personnel opinions. Um, but his openness to differing uh thoughts or viewpoints I think is is is a weapon for him as a coach. Um, and so I think that’s why you often times you see them do a wide variety of things schematically. I think it first starts with an attitude or an openness uh to new things or to learning and discovery. You mentioned like Jordan Addison’s personal attributes earlier with him being injected in the lineup. Do you see like their um passing game concepts changing at all with how they sprinkle them in? Is that I hadn’t seen a lot of significant differences in their concepts between their first three games and what say they were maybe doing um a year ago. So I don’t know that that changes, but certainly uh the Jimmies and Joe’s component of it uh is a factor. I imagine that they’re going to be glad to have him back. Mike, what did you see from Aqual? And do you think that he’s kind of earning more opportunities on that D line? he is. Um but oftent times um the rep totality has a lot to do with opportunity. We weren’t getting off on third down. We end up playing a lot of snaps. And so you can view it as an uptick in someone’s participation. If we’re getting off on third down, there might be less snaps. And you might be asking me why we’re not playing them. And so, you know, I’d much rather you ask me that. Uh my interest is getting off on possession downs. But is he someone that could that is part of that mix that certainly he’s he’s been in uniform every game. Again, often times his level of participation has been dictated at times by the snap totality. I know this is a business trip for you obviously, but what are you most looking forward to about this game coming up in Dublin? Man, I think a lot about the late Ambassador Rooney, man, and and how fired up he would be uh about this trip and how important um the development uh of this trip was for him. And so, um I’ve been thinking a lot about it. I’m sure I’ll be thinking a lot about it this week and I certainly will be thinking a lot about him uh when we’re there. Um, man, you talk about a guy that certainly had a lot of passion um for Ireland and obviously the Steelers and, you know, serving as ambassador to Ireland. Um, I’m sure he’s going to be smiling down at us this weekend. Like, when you play a defense that is going to throw so many different schematics at you, what’s the benefit of having a veteran quarterback like Aaron Rogers who can make changes at the line of scrimmage, you know? Um, it it’s an asset to you if you make it one. Uh, but I don’t want to make too much out of it, you know. Um, they played the Jets last year, man. They got after the Jets pretty good and and you know, I think Aaron had 20 years of experience then. So, uh, we got some work ahead of us this week. Mike D, does the organization do anything to educate the younger players about Mr. Rooney? I don’t know if it comes up. I mean, obviously, it’s been a while since he’s passed and most of those guys that were here all the time. And it and it doesn’t take a trip like this um for for those conversations to happen. Um you know, those of us that knew him and certainly um educate the younger player, the new Steeler, not necessarily the young player, but just the new Steeler um about his mode of operation, how he cared about this football team and what he thought this football team meant not only to the National Football League, but our fans, this community, the responsibility that comes with being a Steeler. Uh the education is continual. Mike, what have been some of the issues on third and seven plus? I think Peters converted three of those and was an issue in the first weeks as well. You know, they had a really good plan. Um as I mentioned earlier, in a myriad of ways, we’re somewhat limited with some of our schematics due to obvious circumstances. I expect us to continually work and get better in some of those spaces. Anyone else? All right, great. Thanks, guys. There you go. Mike Tomlin with his press conference for the week. We’re going to head to the Minnesota Vikings. I’m here now with Missy Matthews. And Missy, the first thing is the injuries. There seems to be some potential good news with two guys who are big members of their defense possibly being back. Although we’re going to find out as the week goes on. Yeah, I think participation will be the guide as coach likes to say for Joey Porter Jr. still dealing with that hamstring injury and Deshawn Elliott with the knee injury. So, we’ll have to see if one of those guys can get back. Um, but we did see Jerel Peppers, Brandon Eckles, a number of guys really step up this past week in New England. Alex Highmith though, however, still dealing with that ankle injury and he’s going to be out for this week for a game. But the good news is that buy is coming up. Yeah, good time for the buy and that may, you know, factor into their decision-m with regard to those injured guys. But one guy who came back from injury last week was Dererick Harmon and he played well right off the bat with a sack and you can tell he was runner, you know, showing for a big man he can move when need be. I think it was um very instrumental having him there in the middle of that defensive line. We saw what TJ and Nick Herbig were able to do having him there as well. And Cam Hayward, what better guy to learn from? And it was funny, one of the first plays, I think the sack that um Derek Harmon had, Rob King, as he was calling the game, thought it was Cam at first because they do look that much alike. Um you know, it’s just a little bit difference of the the second number, but same build, same play, and what a phenomenal game. Both of those guys had both these teams coming off performances where the defense made significant plays. You know about the Steelers with five takeaways. They forced those situations in critical situations. When you look at the Minnesota Vikings, Isaiah Rogers had a dream day if you’re a defensive player, two defensive touchdowns, one to pick six of 80 some yards and the other one a scoop and score. So they’re doing and maybe Brian Flores is using the recipe here to help him there. Yeah, the takeaway culture. He was here, I think, when they started really passing out the t-shirts, having different levels. Uh, you know, you see TJ Watt, all of those guys, Denzel Martin, the outside linebackers coach, uh, wearing them and talking about them. Even when Mike Hilton was here, he was big on it as well. So, definitely something to look at. And, you just funny how both games worked out this past week as they get ready to head to Dublin and meet there. All right, when we come back, we’ll talk more about what happened last week in New England. A big win for the Steelers, and also focus on the Vikings, a team that is also two- one. And they have a Grizzly veteran back there in Carson Wentz. We’ll talk about him, what he means to their offense coming up as we continue right here on KDK Plus and all your Steeler digital platforms. [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. You talk about that last drive and in particular the throw to Cal. Yeah, we had to have a drive there. So guys made some plays. Uh thought important play was the screen there. Kenny cutting it back inside to give us a third and manageable. And then we actually just talked about that uh in the huddle before the drive um about just a subtle uh signal on what I might want if I gave that when uh when Cal was on the other side. So that was nice he was in the same page. I didn’t throw the best ball, but Cal’s so damn fast. You know, he made a great play. What was that subtle scene? It’s probably on the TV copy. Everything is these days. No one else. when you’re not taking advantage of opportunities, what’s keeping you guys confident or getting you through those chances for that last drive to be ready? Just our defense, honestly. I mean, there was urgency. I think, you know, it was one of those weird disjointed games. We had three possessions in the first half. We had a chance on the third possession to keep it going. We just Pat and I weren’t on the same page on the scramble drill. Then we sat on the bench for what seemed to be 20 or 30 minutes. Um, so we just couldn’t get to a rhythm at all. Then we came out second half and made a terrible throw. Uh, defense just kind of stood on our head all day. But, um, you know, I thought the first two drives are really good rhythm wise and we just couldn’t find that rhythm uh, in the second half. [Music] Our 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. This defense is swarming. It is picked off. What a catch. Wow. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. He certainly did. Um I thought he played with really good energy. Um he was productive. He made some tackles. He he caused and recovered a fumble. Um, but above all of that, um, I thought his experience showed, although he was new to us, um, he was a really good communicator, particularly for first in-game experience from a from a defensive unit perspective. All right, that is Mike Tomlin talking about Jabro Pepper has got an opportunity to play week number two. Last week, missing not so much. He was basically in here midweek. He didn’t have a lot of time to acclimate himself to what’s going on, but now we saw what he can do. He’s a veteran. I often wondered why New England wouldn’t want him around because I still think he has good football in him and we saw that last week here in Pittsburgh and I think he was wondering uh why New England let him go as well. You could tell just uh it was a different situation for him in terms of he’s played for other teams but you’re cut from this team and then a few weeks later you’re playing against them. Um and he did get a chance to play a lot and I think you know especially with the fumble recovery that was huge for him and as coach had said um there and a little bit earlier when he was talking about him in the press conference he’s a good communicator and that gave the coaching staff the confidence that they could put him in there and he would be able to hang with the rest of the guys. Mike Tomlin always talks about turnovers and winning that battle. And right now the Steelers are number one in the NFL in terms of uh saving points after they force a turnover and also, you know, scoring points when they get some. They’ve taken advantage of this. I thought this game was um number one. If you’re going to look at an example of a Mike Tomlin defense, this is it. Now, that’s not to say that they have things they can’t get better at because they’ve given up a lot of yards and certainly you don’t want that. I think TJ Watt spoke to that yesterday. But when you take the ball away, it has to have a deflating feeling for that other team, especially near the goal line as they were twice. Yeah, I was gonna say when you’re doing it where this team has chances to score multiple, and you take it away just like that, I think it just a momentum killer for them, but good for the Steelers defense, especially going into halftime. Um, and then being able to hang in there, the time of possession game is something the Steelers have to start winning. These past three weeks, they have not uh possessed the ball more than their opponent. And for this Steelers defense that is already dealing with so many injuries, um they were out on the field for a very long time and it felt like the offense got going earlier in the game when obviously they put up the 14 points, but it just felt like they could not get it going in the second half, but the defense kept uh you know, next man up uh making plays and doing exactly what they needed to do. talked so much about as they prepped for this game uh the fumbles that Ramad Stevenson and even Drake May had um prior coming into this game last season. So, it was something that they were cognizant of. It’s something that I feel like anytime you see those guys make a tackle, you see a punch going there as well um especially with TJ Watt in them. Yeah, those guys, Herbig and Watt are very good at it. And we saw later in the game another one of those that turned out to be the turnover that set up the game-winning touchdown in that game. Um, but at the other side of it too, you don’t want to see third down and fourth down conversions and we’ve seen a lot of those because they can change the game also. Um, just as a turnover would be deflating for a team like New England. You give a third and long and a drive continues. That’s something that obviously has to change and they know that and they have to work at that to get better. Yeah. And I think that’s when you need to give certain guys breaks too, which you don’t want in those situations. You know, if TJ gets a break, it’s usually on first or second down. They want him in there on third down. Um, but when it is drives, that one drive in the second half was, you know, double digit minutes. It was just insane how long it kept going. Even Aaron Rogers said after the game, he felt like they were on the bench for 20, 30 minutes. Uh, not able to do anything because the defense was still out there trying to stop the Patriots. And you’d like to reverse that, make the offense be on the field for those 17 play drives, take seven, eight minutes, and the defense could be well rested for when they get back on the field. Those are always some of the things teams have to work on throughout the course of a long season. But the good news, they won the game. They’re two-1 and they have a chance to get to three and one before their by-week as Minnesota is up next. We’ll talk about the Vikings and the problems they pose when we come back. This is the Mike Tomlin press conference show every Tuesday right here on KDK Plus and Steeler Digital platforms. [Music] Our fans are here. Give something to cheer about them. 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. What a catch. Wow. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. Last one. Oh yeah. I mean, we knew those guys were ball search victims all week. They had a lot of fumbles on tape. Um, and anytime you emphasize that throughout the week, it needs to show up in the game. And, uh, that’s what you saw today. I guess anytime you have five turnovers, it’s a pretty good day. At least should be. I mean, yeah. Uh, there’s going to be a lot of good film to watch from this. Obviously, we’ve had some pretty rough performances the first couple weeks, and today was a much better performance, but there’s still a lot of room to grow. Um, third and longs, what do you think the issues have been for you guys? It seems like that’s the one area that’s been a struggle lately. I think it’s just a a matter of working together. You know, Russian coverage has to work together and we need to get home and I thought the guys in the back end did a good job of covering to allow us to be able to get to those quarterbacks, especially in some max pro situations. Um especially at the end there, but we got to do better. Of course, TJ, for you, how good did it feel to get a sack and not just one sack, two? I’m happy about the win. If I’m not mistaken, I think it got tipped, but I don’t know for sure. Yeah, it got tipped. And you know, shout out to Cam on it. Did that change the trajectory of it or the speed of the ball or anything? Could you tell? Uh, no. Not not that I remember. Like I said, it was kind of like a blur. I barely remember what happened. Like I blank out sometimes in the middle of the play. So it be like that. How do you How do you just evaluate this game? Were you guys forced turnovers but then gave up a fair number of yards? No, we just go back. Uh, you know, the biggest thing is coming up with the win. You know, we come back tomorrow. Uh, see what we did wrong. Yeah, obviously, you know, we we can win when we want to. We just got to, you know, step up, look at what we need to fix, and get it fixed. 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 online at shop.steelers.com. [Music] I think the key a key component of it is staying on schedule. When he gets you behind the sticks, um often times he’ll play second down like third down uh second and long and so being in second manageable is a major component of that. All right, Mike Tomlin talking about Minnesota and Brian Flores one time here, now he’s their defensive coordinator. He’s done a very good job with that team that you look at their defense miss you don’t see a lot of names that you would recognize but they get the job done when they have to and he does a lot of different things uh pre- snap but for the Steelers point of view it’s good to have a guy like Aaron Rogers who’s seen just about everything in his 21 years in this league so that’s going to be a matchup to watch. Yeah it’ll be an interesting game of chess between those two guys. Obviously, we’ve seen just the few things Aaron has done uh pre- snap to get guys to jump off sides, having too many men on the field, and as you said, not a lot of huge name household names. Uh that’s more on their offensive side of the ball with their wide receivers and whatnot. But I do think their secondary in terms of what Brian Flores likes to do with them is definitely a strong point. Obviously, you saw what they were able to do against the Cincinnati Bengals last week. Of course, no Joe Burrow going with Jake Browning. So, a little bit of a different test in a way um per se because it wasn’t Burrow and company, but as you said, Jamar Chase, uh during the break, you know, he didn’t have very much and their offense just could not figure out how to go against this defense and they are physical and we’ve seen it even in their playoff game. Yeah, they are very good at shutting down, you know, bigger name receivers and Chase was one of them last week. He only had 20 yards, but as you said, Browning’s a big difference uh compared to Burrow. The other thing they did is they when they tried to run, Cincinnati had nowhere to go. I think the numbers were 21 carries for 53 yards. That’s not going to get it done when your passing game isn’t working. So, it was all about down in distance and when they became third and long, those players like Isaiah Rogers came up with big plays. Yeah. And I think um you know, for the Steelers, the run game is something that has been inconsistent. You saw it working well in the first half in New England with Jaylen Warren and then it started to taper off where it felt like they couldn’t get anything going. uh were actually use losing yardage in the second half um from their total from the first. But definitely something that they want to be more consistent of and as coach said when asked about that as well. It’s you know it’s how the game flow is going. It’s the time of possession and for whatever reason we just have not seen that complete game from a Steelers offense that I think we’ve been wanting to see. We’ve seen it in halves and quarters and hopefully they can eventually get that together. Yeah, you got to get the time of possession on your side, especially against the defense like this, cuz if they have the lead and they’re on the field, they get to be in. Flores is not, you know, shy about blitzing. He’ll come from all different angles. And in this game last week, there were instances of that. And I think Jake Browning was caught off guard, too. No doubt. I mean, think about some of the times the Steelers have gone against, you know, Jake Browning and what they were able to do. And I I do think that that played into it with Brian Flores and what he has built in terms of the culture there with that Vikings defense. Yeah, they certainly do. And as far as their offense is concerned, man, you’re talking about a team that can, again, Carson Wentz is not um one of these guys who’s just your normal routine uh run-of-the-mill backup. He has had a history on his side. He was an MVP candidate at one point, was terrific uh in Philadelphia, and the Steelers found out when they played him over there a couple of times. So, in a way, it’s almost like, okay, would you rather place a rookie like JJ McCarthy? The Steelers have success against him versus this guy and the weapons that he has, right? Right. And I think coach Tomlin brought up the perfect example. Uh a little bit of a different situation. You know, going into this game that Carson Wentz is their starter, but that game early last season in Indianapolis against the Colts, Anthony Richardson isn’t able to go and all of a sudden it’s Joe Flacco. Uh two completely different types of quarterbacks, but that veteran quarterback sometimes um you know can use their smarts, the things we’re talking about with Aaron Rodgers, uh that make things a little bit more difficult than if you’re going against a younger guy. And they got Christian Darasol back. He’s one of their better tackles, the first round pick, and he was out for a long time. I don’t know how many weeks dating back to last year. But when you have a team like the Steelers and they want to come with edge pressure, he’s the guy, you know, it would it’d be helpful not to have him, but he’s back and he got a little bit of play last week, I would imagine his snap count will go up this week. Yeah. And I think, you know, for Nick Herbig playing a lot of snaps last week without Alex Highmith, it’s nothing new to him. We’ve seen what you can do, but him and TJ just worked really, really well together. We even saw De Marvin Lal uh who was called up get some snaps on the outside as well. They have Jack Sawyer. So hopefully they continue to gel and mesh and can do what they did in New England and carry that over to Dublin. It’s never a bad thing to win the turnover battle that keeps you in games and sometimes it leads to victories then you know despite the fact you may be outgained in yardage and that’s been the case with the Steelers. So they certainly have to tighten that up. We’ll talk more about what the Steelers need to do in uh this game coming up in Dublin, Ireland when we return right here on a Tomlin Tuesday. Getting set for the Vikings and the Steelers in Ireland. [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. You talk about the two takeaways down by the goal line, both of which you had your hand. Um, you know, I just think for our group, we talk about we don’t care how we get on the field. We don’t care the situation. U, we got to find a way to get off the field. Um, and, you know, um, we do a good job of studying our opponents. Um, looking for ways to create turnovers. And we preached all week that, you know, we’re going to have some opportunities to, you know, um, punch at that ball. Uh, that was very apparent today. And then um you know in the in the quick pass you know you can’t always be a rusher. You got to get your hands up and uh result in an interception. Mike said that during the week we talked about Steven’s fumble issues last year that was a kind of Yeah. 100%. We uh you know uh from what Wednesday on we or probably Tuesday on we we were very steadfast about you know creating turnovers. Um I think Stephvenson had 14 going in. May had some um four had four also had some. So we were very um locked in on that. Uh and it paid dividends then. And what kind of impact did having Derek in there for you guys? Yeah, I I thought Dererick played very well. Um he’s got strong hands. Um you know, I I was worried about his conditioning, but he came to play today and um you know, I think it really balanced out our group, especially with Lao going down. So, uh, to get him back in the flow and he’s just going to keep getting better, you know, I think it it creates for something we can build on. [Music] Our fans are here. Give something to cheer about to them. The crowd ature is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my TJ, this defense is swarming. It is picked off. What a catch. Wow. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. [Music] Man, I think a lot about the late Ambassador Rooney, man, and and how fired up he would be uh about this trip and how important um the development uh of this trip was for him. And so, um I’ve been thinking a lot about it. I’m sure I’ll be thinking a lot about it this week and I certainly will be thinking a lot about him uh when we’re there. Um, man, you talk about a guy that certainly had a lot of passion um for Ireland and obviously the Steelers and, you know, serving as ambassador to Ireland. Um, I’m sure he’s going to be smiling down at us this weekend. No doubt on that. Uh, yes, he would be very happy that the Steelers will be uh the first team to play in a regular season game in Dublin, Ireland. And just because of the heritage and everything involved with the Rooney history there. Um, this is going to be a fun week, Missy. There’s going to be a lot of stuff going on. I know a lot of former players are going to be there. So, this is sort of like a celebration as much as it is and one of those moments that you really try to enjoy because it’s sort of once in a lifetime experience for a lot of Steeler fans who going to make their way over. Absolutely. And it’s crazy that the Steelers have not played in an international game since 2013 when they played the Vikings week four uh in London. But my parents are actually over in Dublin already and said they’ve gone on different, you know, sightseeing tours two hours away from Dublin. they went kind of north said there are Steelers fans everywhere. Uh it is just like a takeover of the island and I was reading an article on NFL.com and one of their um guys in charge of ticketing said that this is the first international game where more than onethird of the tickets are coming from the United States. Uh normally it’s you know the local community and then the UK as well. But I think it’s going to be a very very dominant uh we’re going to see a lot of terrible tasks. Let’s just put it. Well, that’s always routine, especially now in this, you know, look back. I remember when this first was announced, there were like a rush for tickets, like 600,000 people on digital devices. Few. Yeah. So, that goes to show you about the popularity, but people in Ireland, a lot of them are already Steeler fans. I know people have gone there before to watch games. There are certain pubs that are there. And listen, if you go there, the advice would be you got to get the Guinness tour, right? You got to get the Jameson tour. Have a little fun. Is that on your itinerary? Uh, maybe. Yeah. You know, you have to try these things, right? But what would make it better is if you celebrate after the game with Guinness and the Steelers get a win. So for that to happen and guys have got to step up. We saw Cole Hulcom last week do just that. He uh came back and I can’t even imagine come back and the work that you have to put in to rehab yourself from that injury. I think all the L’s were compromised. The M the A and C all of them. Right. Yeah. He’s he’s never really said exactly what it was, but to the point where it took him 19 months to get back to playing football to put in that work is crazy. Yeah. and and he he made a fact right off the bat he forced the first fumble for Randre Stevenson and so he knew going into this one you remember they signed him to be a three down back and this injury may have you know changed that for now but he’s working his way back to be that person I did like though how they were utilizing him in different situations than Pton Wilson which we saw the first two weeks and I think it did make a difference obviously you add Derek Harmon into the mix as well in the middle but I Cole was doing such a great job and I remember the preseason game in Jacksonville where we got a chance to talk to him after he finally played and just how emotional he was of, you know, getting back to what he loves in football. But then to do it in a regular season game and making those splash plays, that’s just a whole another level of what he said is just unbelievable. Well, he along with everyone on that Steeler defense, they got their work cut off from this week as Justin Jefferson’s one of the best in the game. And they’re bringing back Jordan Addison. Now, it’ll be his first game back from a suspension, but they also have TJ Hawinson. They have a lot of people who can, you know, we saw last week the middle of the field and, you know, Hunter Henry certainly made them pay at certain times. They got to shut that down more. Hawinson is maybe a guy who can do that, but at the same time, they like to run the ball and he’s part of their run game. Well, and we saw them run the ball well. Uh especially with Jordan Mason. And yes, my uh son who plays fantasy football was mad that he did not play Hunter Henry last week, which I told him you can’t do when they’re playing the Steelers. But um yeah, something that you know will be a good test for this Steelers defense as coach talked more about the situational downs, the weighty downs as he calls them. Uh improving in that area. We know they can take the ball away, but you also need to get the ball back quickly. Not letting them extend these drives to the offense to try to get them going as well. Yeah. And they also have Jaylen Naylor. There’s there there’s some depth there in the wide receiving. Kevin Oonnell, he’s done a very good job. It doesn’t matter. You know, they’re working with JJ McCarthy, but last year we saw the resurrection of JJ of Sam Darnold, who who’s cashed in on a big contract with Seattle. He’s one of these quarterback whisperer kind of coaches, right? He develops guys. He knows how to do it. Absolutely. And I think even Kurt Cousins time there, we saw on the Netflix series quarterback. Um just what he is able to do with the offense and with a quarterback and having that trust with them. And I did kind of want to see JJ McCarthy. uh not only because it would probably be better for the Steelers to see a younger guy, but also just to see the development and what he has been able to do with him. Yeah. Out with injury, so we won’t see him, but it’s Carson Wentz, who will be their quarterback against Aaron Rogers. Two veterans are going at it. Both grizzled, as Mike Tunnel likes to say. We’ll talk about uh that game more as we continue here on a Tomlin Tuesday. We’re live on the UPMC Aro Sports Complex on the Southside. back in a flash. [Music] [Music] Our fans are here. Give us something to cheer about to them. The crowd at Acure is so loud. There’s nothing like game day in Pittsburgh. Oh my TJ, this defense is swarming. It is picked off. What a catch. Wow. Guess who? Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll see you at Acer Stadium. Here we go. On the winning touchdown. We’re headed to give it to you from the go. Um, no. It was a full, you know, um, a full play call. Um, eight gave me, you know, a little signal that we were on the same page and and converted. Coming after same page. How good did that feel after you guys have had some misconnections in the last few weeks? Um, I think it was just, you know, with this game and stuff, you’re going to have um, you know, some ups and downs and stuff, but um, I think it’s the biggest thing was just, you know, this week, um, we continue to be ourselves, continue to communicate, and then there was no panic at all from the last game. And so, you know, you get in moments like this and it’s just about you just go back to your training and just got to go back to um fundamentals cuz that’s all that was just basic basic fundamentals right there. He came running after you coming did you see Aaron Rogers? He came running after you after you scored. Did it surprise you at all? Did you expect that? Oh yeah. Um I think after the first line score versus the Jets, he was one of the first people over there. So, I mean, um, that’s the thing with this, um, but like like stuff happens, but like it we see each other every day. So, it’s like it’s not like, you know what I’m saying? It’s it’s it’s on to it’s on to the next. So, um, I wasn’t surprised at all. After the struggles there for a couple quarters, were you guys able to feed off the defense and, you know, the five turnovers, especially that last one, which led to your touchdown? Yeah, most definitely. Um the defense obviously, you know, came up extremely big and um each of those moments where they were getting those those turnovers. Um obviously you want to convert on all of them cuz we wouldn’t be in this type of game. But you know sometimes there’s games like this and you know coach as coach T says like you know it doesn’t sometimes you may not win pretty you know what I’m saying but you know it’s just about at the end of the day executing at the end. 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. You can characterize Alex Highmith is out this week with his ankle. Um Deshawn Elliott and Joey Porter certainly have a chance. Um I just saw Deshawn uh working out uh just a few minutes ago. Um, we’ll work those guys this week and let the amount of their participation and the quality of their participation be our guide in terms of uh their participation in game. All right. So, no Alex Highmith hopefully uh at least one guy in the secondary is able to make it back. In terms of the Vikings, their left guard Donovan Jackson had wrist surgery. He’s out for the next two games. So, the Steelers won’t see him in Dublin. And Ryan Kelly, their center, uh, could be back from concussion protocol. Donovan Jackson’s a rookie. He’s played well for them. So, he’s going to be gone there. And that’s where Cam Hayward likes to line up. So, that could be who knows. A good thing. Yeah. Good thing for Cam Hayward who’s playing very well here the last couple of games. Made significant plays. So, that’s going to wrap it up for us. Uh look forward to it. Should be a fun trip. I’m excited. Yes. Pack your bags, pump. We’ll be we’ll be talking to you next week when we come back here from that game and hopefully it’s a Steelers win in Dublin to get to three and one and then there’s a byee which could impact some of these guys who are coming back from injury. That’s going to do it for Missy Matthews and our talented staff here uh with the Pittsburgh Steelers and KDK Plus. I’m Bob Pompani. Have a good week. We’ll see you in Dublin. [Music]

Coach Tomlin addresses the media ahead of our Week 4 game against the Minnesota Vikings.

#MINvsPIT 9/28 at 9:30 AM ET on NFL Network

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