Something new we’re doing for Steelers Depot. Every Tuesday is a Tomlin Tuesday, his noon press conference outlining what happened the previous weekend and focusing on the upcoming one. While we’ll write about the most notable things Tomlin had to say in separate articles, we’ll throw in a couple of smaller nuggets of information in this post. A one-stop shop for the rest of what Coach T had to say.
And if you want to hear the full press conference, hop on over to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ YouTube channel by clicking the link here.
Before we get into tidbits, here’s everything we’ve written so far today.
Injury Roundup: Mike Tomlin Says QB Kenny Pickett Has Bone Bruise, Will Practice Wednesday
Mike Tomlin Blames 4th-And-1 Pass Play On Injuries To Dan Moore Jr., Pat Freiermuth
Mike Tomlin Wants To See ‘More Fluid Decision-Making’ From Kenny Pickett Moving Forward
Broderick Jones To Make First Start Sunday; Mike Tomlin Assesses His Play
Tomlin Gushes Over Zay Flowers
When we start the pre-draft process for the Pittsburgh Steelers every season, we often look to prospects who may have a specific tie to head coach Mike Tomlin or the Pittsburgh Steelers in some way as they love bloodlines as well as players with whom they are well-acquainted. One player Alex Kozora specifically jumped on with his first pre-draft profile was WR Zay Flowers from Boston College, having played with Tomlin’s son, Dino, and shared a position room after Tomlin transferred from Maryland to BC.
Flowers ended up getting drafted by the Baltimore Ravens 22nd overall in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. The pick netted them a talented speedster at wideout, one who Tomlin mentioned specifically in his press conference by name as a player Tomlin knows a lot about and respects.
“Zay Flowers…can’t say enough about him, a dynamic player,” Tomlin said. “Not surprised that he’s having the type of success, that he’s having. I personally have seen a lot of him. His tangible talents are one thing and those are obvious. He’s got really good speed, short-area burst, change of direction, and body control and those things. But I quickly understood about him and from watching him at [Boston College] that that the interesting component of his calling card is the fearlessness in his play.
“He runs into dark places at full speed. He’s combative in his play. That’s probably the platform that that that provides him an opportunity to make the type of plays that he makes.”
Flowers is off to a strong start in his rookie season, having caught 24 passes for 244 yards (10.2 yards per reception) with no touchdowns while adding five carries for 11 yards on the ground. He put the league on watch during the preseason, making several explosive plays down the field and after the catch and has proceeded to do the same so far in the regular season. He will be a player that Pittsburgh needs to keep an eye on and make sure he doesn’t get over the top of the defensive backs or make a big play in space.
Tomlin Sees Baltimore Wanting To Run It Down Pittsburgh’s Throat
The Steelers have struggled three of the past four weeks at stopping the run, getting gashed by the San Francisco 49ers in Week One and the Cleveland Browns in Week Two. They did contain RB Josh Jacobs and the Las Vegas Raiders in Week Three, but then surrendered 139 rushing yards in Houston, RB Dameon Pierce literally run over multiple defenders as the Texans controlled the line of scrimmage.
Tomlin foresees Baltimore trying to do the same thing this coming week, having a committee of backs at its disposal after losing RB. J.K. Dobbins to a torn Achilles for the year.
“Given our recent circumstances in terms of our inability to minimize the run and lessen its impact on the game, we better be ready to deal with their run game in totality,” Tomlin said. “They got a committee of backs, but it does not speak to a lack of commitment in the run game. Justice Hill, Gus [Edwards], Melvin Gordon, it doesn’t matter, man. They can throw a lot of people at you. You better be really solid in terms of being gap sound in the run game.”
Tomlin Points To Steelers Needing To Play Harder To Show Their ‘Heart’
After suffering the humiliating loss to the Texans last Sunday, backup QB Mitch Trubisky mentioned to the media that the Steelers needed to show more heart than what they put out on the field in Houston. He said more heart and desire would help the offense be more successful on the field compared to what we’ve seen from the unit the first four weeks of the season.
Tomlin was asked about Trubisky’s comments about the team needing more heart and whether he and the rest of the coaching staff can coach “heart” into his players, something the team has evidently been lacking to start the 2023 campaign.
“No, he probably referred to his heart, but it is probably about playing hard, which is what I talked to the team about before we opened the locker room to the press,” Tomlin said of the aftermath of the Texans loss. “And so it was probably an interpretation of that discussion. They played harder than us, we gotta tip by cap to them for that, but we gotta rectify that.
“And the quickest way to rectify that is to acknowledge it sooner rather than later. I didn’t waste any time in doing so. I talked to the team about it immediately after the game. I talked to you guys immediately about it after the game. I talked to the team yesterday about it in our tape review, and all was done in an effort to change that narrative. That can’t be a component of how games unfold, regardless of whether we win or lose. The physicality component of it needs to be non-negotiable. That’s just how we function. That’s Pittsburgh Steeler football.”
