What was he thinking?
That’s the thought on the mind of many Steelers fans Monday morning after they saw a couple stars have to leave the game with injury during a meaningless preseason win against the Detroit Lions.
Steelers Twitter is questioning head coach Mike Tomlin and why he let a majority of his starters play an entire half.
Some of the words surrounding Tomlin’s moves: “dumb”, “moronic”, “irresponsible” and simply, “F**k.”
It was frustrating to see wide receiver Diontae Johnson and T.J. Watt have to leave the game due to injury, when it could’ve been avoided.
Tomlin defended playing his players for as long as he did after the game saying, “You get the work . . . you can’t box without sparring.”
With two weeks until the first regular season game, Tomlin wanted to give his players more time on the field.
The good news for Johnson and Watt is that their injuries are not expected to cause them to miss significant time.
Players like Cam Heyward said he was happy he got to play as long as he did.
“I was all for it,” Heyward said. “Preseason I don’t get a lot of reps, but the reps I do get I want to make the most out of. I know everyone played the game before, I really wanted to be out there. Coach let me play for a half & I was excited for it.”
It’s great to know that his players want to be out there, but as some point Tomlin has to make the final decision and take his guys out.
After Tomlin saw Johnson leave the game and then Watt, why let Heyward finish out the half? What good did it do, the guys asked.
Another puzzling move was playing running back Najee Harris.
Harris directly contradicted the initial explanation given from his head coach after Sunday’s game. Tomlin said that Harris’ foot was stepped on.
“Just to give everybody an update, I never did get my foot stepped on,” Harris said following Pittsburgh’s 19-9 preseason win over Detroit. “I had a sprained lisfranc. That’s why I was out for a majority of the camp.”
The news of a lisfranc injury is a surprise. A severe injury to a lisfranc, located in the arch of the foot, could be a season-ender. But that, clearly, was not the case for Harris, who reportedly suffered a foot sprain during his sophomore year at Alabama.
The recovery time is typically four to six weeks and Harris was at week four when he played.
A lot of fans are also defending Tomlin, echoing his statements that players need to put the work in so they’re ready for the regular season.
But you just have to look at Watt, who missed the entire preseason last year with a contract hold-in. He just happen to be named the defensive player of the year last season.
Mike Tomin is a great coach and one of the best in the league, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t make mistakes.
Leaving your starters in for an entire half during a meaningless game seems a bit to risky.
