PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers rookie outside linebacker Jack Sawyer is not happy with fans who chanted to fire head coach Mike Tomlin on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.
Sawyer, the team’s rookie out of Ohio State, won a National Championship last year with the Buckeyes. Yet, the Steelers have not met his standard or anyone else’s so far, but he is having none of the noise that Tomlin should get canned.
“Yeah, you’re frustrated because that’s BS when people are saying that, but we’re not playing up to our standard. … We need to take ownership as players and go out there and play a lot better,” Sawyer said.
Tomlin, who has been with the team since 2007, is on track to have perhaps the rockiest season of his tenure with the team yet. That caused fans to erupt into ‘Fire Tomlin’ chants. Tomlin heard those chants, and responded with the same frustration.
“Man, I share their frustration tonight. We didn’t do enough. That’s just the reality of it,” Tomlin said.
Aaron Rodgers added that fans who bought a ticket have the ability and right to voice their opinion on the team, but that the team can not concern themselves with that outside noise.
“They pay money for a ticket, so they have the right — good, bad or indifferent — to say what they want,” Rodgers said. “I totally understand the frustration. I’ve been booed on offense even at Green Bay over the years. That was a boo-worthy performance, and I understand the frustration.”
Cam Heyward said the fans ‘can do what they want’, but the players can not pay mind to the chants they hear from the outside.
Either way, fans are starting to firmly place pressure on the shoulders of Tomlin in a way they have simply not throughout his seasons with the Steelers.