PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Don’t expect the Steelers to change starting quarterbacks Thursday night in Cleveland. That’s not a shock, Mike Tomlin saying Monday he preaches patience with his team, his offense and the quarterback position.
“I’m experienced enough to see the big picture that we are very much in development,” Tomlin said at his weekly news conference. “I’m going to exercise appropriate patience and continue to teach and ask the guys to continue to learn.”
When asked a follow up, he said that does mean for quarterback as well. In fact, Tomlin praised things he’s seen from Trubisky, stuff you won’t see in the stats that show him as 25th in the NFL in passing yards, 31st in passer rating.
“I’ve liked a lot from him to be honest with you,” Tomlin said. “I think he’s done a good job of doing the things that come with the position. The intangible things, the leadership things, the communication things. Detailing and communicating the offense. Working hard to execute our agenda, the things we want to work on.”
“There is not any doubt with Mitch,” said Steelers center Mason Cole. “We know what kind of player Mitch is. Mitch is a winner. He’s won in this league. He’s won for this offense already. There’s no doubt in Mitch.”
Obviously, there is some doubt with the offense, even from the inside. Trubisky even said after the game some players were asking for other plays to be called in the huddle. He cautioned everyone just needs to worry about their own jobs. Tomlin actually said he doesn’t mind that talk, to an extent.
“That’s a good battle to fight, usually,” Tomlin said. “We got young playmakers. Guys with a lot of talent, guys that want to be the reasons why we are successful. I’d much rather say whoa, than sick ‘em. I think that’s a general attitude that we as competitors on a competitive football team in a competitive organization have. We are not going to make a problem out of guys wanting to be reason we are successful.”
Tomlin said they walk the line every day about taking risks in all situations with the game. Does he feel Trubisky is at least being too cautious?
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“I think when you lose and you don’t have enough points and you don’t produce enough splash-all of that is subject to debate,” Tomlin said. “That’s not a debate we are going to take part in. We are just going to roll our sleeves up & get back to work with a better desired outcome for this next outing.”
The Steelers head coach acknowledged the plan is to run tempo every week, but wouldn’t say if he would do it more after the success in producing a touchdown drive. He said he would like to see Mitch use his feet more either by design or ad-lib, but joked he won’t install the triple-option.
What you won’t see change, is Trubisky being the Steelers starting quarterback in Cleveland.
“We haven’t scored enough points here the last couple of weeks, that’s a collective-not just the quarterback position, not just the players,” Tomlin said. “It’s all of us responsible for ringing up the scoreboard. We don’t care about the noise. We are just working on things within our control to have good days. To continue the progression of this group from a developmental standpoint knowing the outcome is going to be what we desire if we keep doing those things.”
Even if the fans keep chanting for Kenny Pickett to come in, which Tomlin said he didn’t hear Sunday because he has a lot of other stuff going on, it will be Mitch.
“The fans can cheer all they want,” Cole said. “It is what it is, they are going to do what they do. Everyone in this locker room, everyone in this organization believes in Mitch.”
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