Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has quite a few Tomlinisms. From “The Standard is the Standard” to “Make the Routine Plays Routinely” the guy is an absolute quote machine. You can always count on him to give you a few of these Tomlinisms in any interview or motivational speech.
One of these sayings in particular resonated with Steelers veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson. Peterson had this to say about it on The Rich Eisen Show.
“[Tomlin] told a cool story about when he was a first-year defensive back coach down there at Tampa, and he was talking about the room that he had with John Lynch and Ronde Barber and a couple other guys.” Peterson recalled. “He always just talked about ‘together we eat.’ And being here and just seeing the team from afar, he really thrives and believes and feeds off that motto. And you can just tell with the way he goes about his day-to-day life,” Peterson said.
Peterson went in-depth about how the motto reflects the current Steelers’ identity.
“It goes to show how we prepare each and every day throughout practice. How we watch film, how guys go about and have their own ownership and just even watch film in small groups just to make sure we’re always on the same page, because we know we cannot give up a big play that can end up hurting us in the long run.”
It’s a true team mentality with the Steelers, and that starts at the top with Tomlin. He wants to collective group to mirror the image and attitude of the team, and that’s to be a hard-nosed unit that is always one step ahead of their opponents.
Before he was the head coach of the Steelers, Tomlin got most of his NFL experience as the defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which he served as from 2001-2005. During two of those seasons, 2002 and 2005, the team allowed the fewest yards per game in the league. It’s obvious that Tomlin’s mentality and intensity resonated with the team and that’s something that’s carried over into his tenure with the Steelers.
For Peterson, he’s potentially viewing Pittsburgh as his last stop in the NFL. And for a guy who hasn’t been to the playoffs a ton, he’s looking to at least get one more taste of it before he hangs up the cleats.
This secondary was a huge question mark for the team going into the 2023 season, especially with the loss of starter Cameron Sutton, who signed with the Detroit Lions this offseason And in the first two weeks, the unit didn’t exactly answer those questions. Amari Cooper in particular had quite the performance against them in Week Two, regularly burning cornerback Levi Wallace.
But in Week Three, that all changed, and “everyone ate” as Tomlin or Peterson might say. Wallace picked up two interceptions, including the game-sealing one. Peterson also had his first interception wearing the black and gold. In general, Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had a rough night going up against the secondary. If that can hold and this unit can keep being a difference maker, this Steelers defense will be tough to score on going forward.
Watch the full interview with Peterson below:
