As you can probably imagine, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin probably wasn’t too pleased with what he saw out of his team Sunday in the 31-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns and he apparently let them know it Monday by attacking their pride.
During his weekly radio show, Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown told Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Tomlin told the team Monday that “they weren’t tough enough – mentally and physically.”
Antonio Brown said tonight on show @CoachTomlin told the team Monday they weren’t tough enough — mentally and physically.
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) October 14, 2014
Well, at least Tomlin told his team the truth. While the Steelers are currently 3-3, their performance Sunday against the Browns was that of an 0-6 team and they were indedd beat both mentally and physically.
Tomlin’s not normally one to call out his players in front of the media, but during his Tuesday press conference he didn’t hesitate to name several that he thought played way below the line Sunday against the Browns. Most notably, wide receiver Markus Wheaton and cornerback Cortez Allen.
Despite calling some of his players out publicly and telling the whole team behind closed doors that they’re not tough enough both mentally and physically, Tomlin doesn’t believe that his team currently lacks confidence, nor does he feel like their confidence has been shaken after being blown out Sunday by the Browns.
“I don’t feel like its shaken, but obviously our play will speak larger than words in that regard,” said Tomlin. “Confidence has a lot to do with preparation and not only preparation, but good preparation. And that’s the only recipe that I know for combating that and negative or undesirable play, is to roll your sleeves up and go to work.”
We’ll see in primetime Monday night just how physically and mentally tough the Steelers are at home against the Houston Texans. Thanks to both teams starting the season 3-3, it’s really a must-win game for both organizations when you look back at history as it relates to teams that are 3-4 to start a season.
