PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – As strong as Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin has been so far about giving a bigger role to rookie tailback Jaylen Warren. Tomlin said generally during his Tuesday news conference they are discussing the division of labor after reviewing.
Would they look at Warren as a feature back?
“He’s a quality back that’s made some plays,” Tomlin said. “We’ll keep giving him an opportunity to do so and maybe he’ll write that script.”
Game circumstances dictated some of it, but if you look at the numbers in their last game against Philadelphia, the undrafted Warren only had two fewer carries than the 2021 first-round pick. Harris had eight (32 yards) and Warren with six (50 yards).
“We spent a lot of time talking about how we are dividing the labor up and who we are choosing to feature and what component of play,” is the exact quote from Tomlin. “How much we are choosing to feature people.”
Harris suffered a lisfranc injury during training camp, rookie quarterback Matt Corral suffered the same injury a few weeks after Najee and is lost for the season. Is it just that Najee is still bothered by his foot, even after the steel plate was removed from his shoe?
“To what degree I don’t know,” Tomlin said of the impact of the injury on Harris. “He’s playing so obviously he’s healthy enough to play. I’ll let him speak to that.”
“Both guys have been available to us. We’ve gotten some awesome contributions from Jaylen, it’s reasonable to expect that to continue. When we are talking about a division of labor, who’s done what and who’s done what well. I know that was a topic of discussion and very evident in our tape review.”
Tomlin referring to spending the bye week reviewing where they need to improve, in all areas, but in this case the offense. If there is an area where they feel good about and can build going forward?
“I thought our misdirection passing game and our pocket movement stuff was really positive and efficient,” Tomlin said. “That’s been an asset to us. I think that helps us from a protection standpoint when we are able to change the launch point and are not a stationary target from that perspective. That’s one component that was really positive.”
What will we see Sunday against the Saints?