Has Mike Tomlin Learned Nothing From Last August?
Last August, the number of mistakes made by Mike Tomlin that arguably cost the Pittsburgh Steelers more than at least one additional victory, and therefore a playoff spot, were far too many.
And all of them were directly related to playing time.
First, there was the decision to continue playing Najee Harris in the preseason despite a foot injury.
Then the decision to play T.J. Watt at all, and the dangerous knee injury he nearly took at the hands of T.J. Hockenson in a meaningless preseason game.
And finally, the decision to not give Kenny Pickett any first team reps at all despite what was a very short leash on starting QB Mitch Trubisky.
While Watt didn’t miss nearly half the season because of a knee injury, it didn’t help shorten his recovery time nor heighten his level of play when he did return.
While Pickett would have undoubtedly struggled some early as a rookie quarterback, would those struggles have been as great if he hadn’t been thrown in cold without any first team reps?
While Harris wasn’t working with the benefit of a great offensive line, the exponentially better numbers he put up after the bye week, when his foot had finally healed, made it apparent just how much playing with a steel plate in his shoe was hampering him.
All of these issues could have been avoided -and again, perhaps a win or two added to the Steelers ledger, and with a them a Wild Card berth- had Tomlin simply given a rookie first team reps and not risked the health of any established players.
Yet, there Tomlin was yesterday at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, saying “all who are healthy will play.”
If the question is “Did Mike Tomlin learn anything at all from last preseason?,” the answer -if Tomlin plays any of his important starters and fails to play Broderick Jones or Joey Porter, Jr. with their respective first team units- is “Absolutely not.”
Karlsson Tours Lemieux Complex, Meets Media
A day later than expected, Erik Karlsson was introduced to the Pittsburgh media after touring the UPMC Lemieux Complex in Cranberry and the surrounding area.
“I’ve played against the Penguins for a long time, and been on the wrong side of things, so it’s nice to come over to the other side,” laughed Karlsson as he toured his new locker room.
Karlsson talked about the number of relationships he already has with certain teammates, from former juniors teammate Lars Eller, to All Star experience with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.
His affinity for his new city and new organization isn’t just limited to his preference for golf at Oakmont, the rolling greenery of Western PA, or his new co-workers, though. His new boss reminds him a lot of his former head coach, David Quinn.
Quinn and Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan have a shared history, from their New England roots, to playing together for a year at Boston University.
As Karlsson explained it though, the similarities don’t stop there.
“I’ve met Sully throughout the years, but I didn’t really make the connection between him and David Quinn until I first talked to him, because they sound pretty much the same and have the same dialect,” said Karlsson on Wednesday.
“I could tell they’re both Boston guys. I had a great relationship with Quinnie. Obviously that makes it a little bit more comforting knowing that they both come from the same school, or similar backgrounds.”
For what it’s worth, it sounds like Sullivan is equally excited about working with Karlsson.
ACC: Growing? Shrinking? And What Role Does Heather Lyke Play?
As the billion dollar game of conference realignment musical chairs continues, the question of what the ACC may do next is up in the air.
How hard will they have to fight to hold on to Florida State and/or Clemson?
Is their bid to add Stanford and Cal legitimate or just flailing about to vulture the remnants of the Pac-12 before someone else gets to them?
And how will Pitt fit in to all of this, especially with the news that Ohio State’s Athletic Director position will be open a year from now?
What does Gene Smith’s retirement have to do with Pitt and their place in the conference realignment hierarchy?
A lot, actually.
Under Heather Lyke, Pitt athletics – both the revenue producing programs and the Olympic sports – have found an extraordinary amount of success and stability.
That success and stability could take a hit if Lyke is lured away to Columbus, where she served as an assistant athletic director for 15 years.
It could also take a hit, regardless of who the AD is, if they’re in a dying conference or somehow end up in a less competitive conference.
Far be it from me to suggest Lyke, as long as she’s in charge at Pitt, and the rest of the athletic department, should look to bail on the ACC. It’s not yet time to push a panic button or pull an eject switch.
However, it’s likely there were high ranking administrators in Oregon and Washington and Stanford and Cal and other places who didn’t aggressively pursue other options even as the writing started to appear on the wall that conference realignment was going to put them behind the eight ball.
In a world where the Big Ten is 18-teams thick and stretches from New Brunswick, NJ to Westwood, CA, anything is possible.
And Pitt should thusly be prepared for anything.
More Daviscapades in Right Field
The Pirates losing a tight, back-and-forth affair to the National League-leading Atlanta Braves isn’t surprising, nor even necessarily disappointing at this point of the season.
Disappointing is watching Henry Davis look as uncomfortable again in right field as a nun at a strip club.
Last night it was a pop up in shallow right field that should have been Davis’s ball. However, whether it was because he got a bad read off the bat of Austin Riley or a poor jump on the ball, he let a backtracking Jared Triolo – who’d played exactly 17 innings of second base in his entire life before Wednesday – take charge. Michael Harris II tagged up at third base, and despite a solid throw from Triolo, scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.
It was a textbook opportunity for Davis to charge in hard, call off Triolo, catch the ball at a dead sprint, and show off his arm on a what would’ve been the kind of throw to either cut down Harris at the plate, or more likely, keep him from tagging up in the first place.
Instead, we got Davis looking like the right fielder who secretly hopes the ball is never hit his way.
Is it fair that he’s being put in a position he’d played only 18 innings of before this season? No.
If he’s the uber-competitive beast we’re led to believe though, he needs to make the most of whatever position he’s playing.