PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Could the Steelers give Justin Fields a shot on Saturday night? How about more reps for receiver Mike Williams? Plus, what Mike Tomlin said about covering tight ends and their confidence. It's part of the Tomlin notes from Monday.
Fields day?
Not only did Tomlin open the door for Justin Fields to play a role in the game on Saturday, he's wouldn't limit what he might do to help the offense improve.
"He has an awesome skill set," Tomlin said. "We've done some of that in the past. We've done less of it in recent weeks."
It's been since the Eagles game that Fields has played. An injury a couple of weeks ago impacted that. Tomlin said it took some of his opportunities away. This, though, is different.
"Certainly, in an effort to win this game, I am open to any combination or combinations of the division of labor in an effort to do so, and so I'm certainly
open to that as we develop plans this week," Tomlin said.
Since losing his starting job to Russell Wilson, Fields has thrown only one pass and rushed seven times for 58 yards.
Missing Mike
Another player who has not had much of an opportunity to make an impact is receiver Mike Williams. He was brought over at the trade deadline to make splash plays. He did with a 25-yard, toe-tap grab, but it was his only target against Cincinnati. Williams played only 13 snaps.
Since coming to the Steelers he's had nine catches for 132 yards, three of those for 20-yards or more including a 32-yard game-winning touchdown against the Commanders.
It was an interesting answer from Tomlin on this one. He said in order for Williams to have a bigger role, the other players getting more snaps have to do their job. So the guys who make the routine plays, if they do their job than it will mean more plays and a chance for Williams to get on the field more often.
Finding the TE
In the most recent game with the Ravens, tight ends caught two of the three touchdown passes. Mark Andrews finished with four receptions for 37 yards and Isaiah Likely had three for 29 yards. Bengals Mike Gesicki had eight receptions for 68 yards Saturday. Chiefs Travis Kelce had eight for 84 yards and a score on Christmas.
What needs to improve to find these players?
"It's about getting a conglomeration of people who do a good job communicating for us," Tomlin said. "And I think the overall trajectory of that has been on the upswing ever since we got DeShon Elliott back in the lineup, and I expect that to continue."
Elliott missed the last matchup with the Ravens but played against KC and Cincinnati.
Staying confident
Ask about the team potentially losing any confidence due to the four-game losing streak?
"I don't know that it needs to be restored," Tomlin said. "I just think that we've been in too many battles, and we've had too much success to be fragile in that way. We certainly can hate our recent performances and the outcome of those recent performances, but I don't think it's reflected in terms of how we feel about ourselves or our ability to make plays or engineer victory or win games."
