PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It's one thing to have problems, it's another to have the answers. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin believes he has solutions to what ails them. Not that you will immediately notice Sunday in Green Bay.
"We are not going to dramatically change who and what we are at this juncture," Tomlin said Tuesday. "We are not resistant to change for the purposes of getting better. We are not going to be so unsteady that we move away from our compass. The identity that we worked hard to develop and will continue to work hard to develop."
Tomlin didn't really have an answer to what their identity is this season. While we saw glimpses of it against the Bills, especially offensively there isn't one.
The 15-year Steelers head coach says ultimately, he takes the blame. He said they will work 'with an edge' to correct the mistakes. Tomlin said they don't like where they are (1-2), but it's not about whether they like it or not. What are they going to do to correct it?
Game plan
"The schematics of the positioning of the people," Tomlin said. "We got to continually do a better job as a staff to have an understanding of what our strengths and weaknesses are from a personnel standpoint and play to our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. We haven't done that well enough."
The basics of football
"We got to get the guys better fundamentally and that's skills relative to their positions," Tomlin said. "That just requires tedious work or repetition of routine action. That's what we are doing in practice settings."
Play smarter
"Along the way as players individually or collectively they have to gain a knowledge of the game relative to the positions they play," Tomlin said. "That's born in practice based on experience. It's also born in games based on experience. We all need growth in that area collectively."
After the team goes through what Tomlin said will be a tough week. Then, like the end of a school semester, comes the exam.
"We realize there will be a test at the end of the week that comes in Lambeau Field in the form of the Green Bay Packers," Tomlin said.
"We have to have tough skin. I assume that they do. I know many of the ones that I worked with for an extended period-of-time do. We have to teach the young ones because that's a component of getting out of our present circumstance as well."
"I believe in these guys and their football character. Their willingness to work. It's been on display throughout this process. I'm excited about getting back to work tomorrow."
