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It’s hard to believe the 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers regular season is past halfway. But like in the NFL, there’s no time to dwell on the past as the Steelers move forward in their preparation to travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars. Of course, that means Mike Tomlin’s weekly press conference. While not always asked about specific players, this week had several player questions and Tomlin took the liberty of bringing up others. Remember, these players are the ones who were brought up during the question and answer period.
This answer from Tomlin had so many players listed that I thought it wouldn’t be expensive to count them all. The original question was about what Coach Tomlin saw specifically of Marcus Allen as a dime linebacker on Sunday. In his response, Tomlin mentioned five other players, healthy and injured.
“I just live week after week in this regard. I love Marcus’ contributions, and Marcus has a skill set that lends itself to those with environmental things. It’s a good blitzer. He can run very well for the linebacker position. He’s a good cover guy for the linebacker. His qualities have been an asset for us in this area. We will continue to work with him in this area, but we are not opposed to considering a set of different combinations that you have seen so far. We’ve looked at a lot of different combinations since guys like Mike Hilton and Devin Bush and Ulysees Gilbert came out. We watched guys like Marcus Allen and Antoine Brooks and outside around the corner, even Justin Layne We love our experiences there. We have an idea of what these young people are capable of and how they can help us. We have had success along the way despite their inexperience. These are all good discussions and good questions to have as we formulate this plan. “
It’s not exactly revolutionary that Coach Tomlin is asked several questions about his franchise quarterback. Coach Tomlin was first asked about the team’s excellent rotational margin and if this was a specific conversation he had had with Ben Roethlisberger.
“It goes beyond conversations. It’s all about action, and we start the workday every Wednesday with ball handling and ball safety drills for those who throw it, catch it and run it. It’s just a part of our culture. Just like chasing and working to take care of the ball on the other side. We believe that these two things go hand in hand and that the discussions are just the beginning. We need to make sure that our actions match our words and as a staff we are working extremely hard to do this from an exercise point of view as we prepare for our week.
Tomlin was also asked if he had a conversation with Roethlisberger about throwing less in training because he had a good game after a week without training due to being on the COVID-19 roster. Roethlisberger had raised the subject during his post-match press conference.
“We had this conversation. I admit it was very brief and I will see him in training on Thursday.
Over the past season and a half, the Steelers have been at the top of the NFL when it comes to take out. Coach Tomlin has been asked about their continued success in this department, and he specifically gave credit to Cam Sutton who has had a forced fumble in each of the last three games.
“As I mentioned, not only are we talking about it, we are drilling it. And guys. I can’t say enough about the effort of the guys. Cam Sutton has forced a fumble in the last three football games, and he’s the guy who doesn’t play all the defense clichés. He’s more of an advocate. I can’t say enough about his awareness and willingness to put this on tape and how it builds and encourages others to do similar things. We will just continue to work on this. We recognize that the rotational element of the game is important and that we need to work continuously.
Mike Tomlin opened his press conference by speaking about the need to improve the Steelers’ running game. Coach Tomlin was asked if he was happy with James Conner as the running back and if he thought a change of position was necessary.
“No. He is. We will improve.”
For a full recap of Mike Tomlin’s press conference, check out our podcast recap below:
Mike Tomlin’s interview can be seen here:
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