Coming out of the Thursday Night Football loss to the visiting New England Patriots, there were some alarming comments made in the home locker room after the Pittsburgh Steelers had dropped another game to one of the worst teams in the league in just a four-day span.
Accountability was the word used most often, as star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick fired away at the Steelers’ mentality.
A few days removed from the ugly loss and with a chance to reset, the Steelers are getting set to attack the challenge head on of defeating the Indianapolis Colts on the road in Week 15.
It’s a new week, a new opportunity ahead. Yet, there are real concerns that head coach Mike Tomlin is starting to lose the Steelers’ locker room after the comments that have come from the room in recent weeks — from Fitzpatrick’s comments Thursday to ones made by guys like running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren and wide receiver Diontae Johnson in recent weeks.
For Tomlin, who spoke to reporters Monday ahead of the matchup with the Colts, those discussions and comments from players aren’t alarming, especially with the Steelers in a tough stretch.
“I think oftentimes these discussions come up when you’re not getting the desired results that you look for. And so, I’m not alarmed by the discussion,” Tomlin said to reporters when asked about holding players accountable. “I’m putting my focus where it should be, on our prep and improving our prep, in an effort to improve our performance. And sometimes improving prep is just acknowledging some things that you’re not doing well or you’re not doing well right now.
“It might just be because of the collection or the makeup of divisional labor or people that you have doing it. In those instances, those things need to be minimized.”
When things are going poorly for a team, some of these discussions about accountability, playing the right way, having the right mentality and preparing properly more often than not will pop up. The Steelers are not immune to it just because they are the Steelers.
It remains a young team that is relying on veteran leadership to police the locker room. There is only so much that guys like Fitzpatrick, Cameron Heyward, T.J. Watt and others can do.
That accountability then falls back on the coaching staff when it comes to playing time and rewarding players for preparing the right way, carrying themselves properly and really pushing in the same direction to try and help the team win.
Players should be frustrated. They have every right to be, especially when they see certain players get away with stuff too often, especially on the offensive side of the football. There are some supremely talented players that the Steelers have, but if they aren’t acting right, not being a team player and taking accountability themselves, then who polices them?
Tomlin is focused on winning this Saturday and strengthening the Steelers’ playoff position. He might not be alarmed by some of the comments, at least with what he’s saying to the media, but maybe he should be. Things don’t seem all that strong or cohesive in the locker room, and that’s what can rip a team apart from the inside out.
