T.J. Watt, by proxy of Rich Eisen, made waves earlier this week when Eisen shared the story implying young players were tuning out Mike Tomlin’s message. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Watt says Eisen’s comments weren’t interpreted correctly.
“I referred to myself as when I was a young player,” he said via the Trib’s Chris Adamski. “Just learning how to practice, how to apply yourself in the practice field. And it wasn’t attacking anybody. It was a general statement, as a leader on this team, I feel obligated to show people and with my actions how to practice. It was not taking anything away from guys not practicing. So I’m not sure how that happened. But it is what it is.”
During an episode of the Rich Eisen Show, Eisen discussed the state of the Steelers and whether for the first time in his tenure, Mike Tomlin had lost the locker room. After defending Tomlin for weeks, he began to relent and question if Tomlin would remain Steelers’ head coach next season. Eisen used a story from Watt during a pre-production meeting with Eisen and the NFL Network crew to bolster that thought.
“T.J. Watt said it was ‘wild’—he used that phrase—it was ‘wild’ to him that some of the players upon hearing [Tomlin’s address to players in meetings] don’t respond in a way on a field—or on a practice field!” Eisen said. “He used that word—it’s wild that some of them don’t want to practice in the way that everybody is supposed to practice”.
Watt apparently went on to say that younger players take criticism personally these days, Eisen inferring that it’s become a problem in a pretty young Steelers locker room.
Some of this is a game of telephone considering we don’t know Watt’s original comments to Eisen. But clearly, Watt takes issue with how Eisen framed things, leading to fans and media point to it as additional evidence for why Tomlin’s message has gone stale. It seems Eisen thought it was commentary on the current Steelers locker room whereas Watt was making a general comment about the state of the game.
For a Steelers season that hangs in the balance, this has been the week of the comment controversy. George Pickens’ comments, Mike Tomlin’s comments about Pickens’ comments, Eisen on Watt and now Watt on Eisen. The best thing Pittsburgh can do to end the week is win a game, return the focus to the field in a positive way, and get the conversation shifted back towards the playoffs instead of everything else that’s been going on since the Colts loss.
