Controversy currently surrounds Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers coach Joey Porter following him being on the field and in the middle of an incident that took place late in Saturday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Wild Card game. However, head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that he no longer wants to discuss Porter and the chain of events that took place late in that game as his team starts to prepare to play the Denver Broncos in the Divisional round of the playoffs.
“This is what I’m going to do about all of that so that we can move on, I think it’s appropriate,” started Tomlin. “Cincinnati is afforded the opportunity to sit around days after the game and rehash what happened. We’re not afford that opportunity We have a formidable challenge waiting on us in Denver. I said what I said after the game, I thought it appropriately summarized the play. We got respect for those guys. We understood what was at stake for them and us. It’s a tough, hard-fought game against familiar opponents, It’s just part of football.
“We’re moving on, we have to. We can’t waste one iota of time living in the past. It’s not going to help us beat the Denver Broncos, so I’m not going to address it in any way, because addressing it just leads to another question whether it’s to me or someone that plays for us and that’s not going to help us this week. So, I’ll respectfully decline any of those questions. I’m sure it’s interesting for you guys, there’s not enough ball going on this time of year, so you’ll continue to chew it, but we’re not going to participate.”
Tomlin was then asked if he would talk to Porter about the incident and ask him to “calm it down” moving forward
“I’m not going to address any of that with you,” said Tomlin. “I’m not, respectfully.”
Tomlin did, however, say that Porter didn’t receive a game ball in the locker room after the win over the Bengals.
Porter is under fire for him being on the field Saturday after wide receiver Antonio Brown was injured by an illegal hit by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict. His presence near the middle of the field agitated several Bengals defensive players and most notably, Burfict, defensive lineman Wallace Gilbert and cornerback Adam Jones, who ultimately was flagged for a personal foul penalty for going after the Steelers coach.
On Monday, Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said that Porter is “an embarrassment to the coaching profession” and that in the past he’s asked the Steelers coach not to talk to his defensive players.
It’s yet to be seen if Porter will be fined by the league for what took place Saturday night.
