PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Mike Tomlin believed he was pretty straightforward Tuesday as to why Kenneth Gainwell got more touches in the loss to Los Angeles than Jaylen Warren at tailback.
“We win more third downs we’ll get Jaylen more touches, it’s as simple as that,” Tomlin said. “Jaylen was having the trajectory of a good day in LA, but we didn’t convert enough third downs for you to really, really feel it.”
The lack of snaps obviously plays a factor. The Steelers had the ball for only 50 offensive plays due to their inability once again to convert on third down, the team didn’t convert one until the final drive when the Chargers were in prevent defense.
But many of those third downs Gainwell was in, not Warren. Warren is the guy who used to be your third-down back and who stands out in the backs-on-backers drill in practice every time, as someone who can protect the quarterback. Tomlin mentioned that he was on the trajectory of having a good day.
There is also this from quarterback Aaron Rodgers postgame Sunday.
“Jaylen made some really nice plays,” Rodgers said. “He’s a talented guy and we got to give him more touches.”
It isn’t an indictment of Gainwell and what he brings, but the thought going into the season with three tailbacks is you could ride the hot hand, Warren was the hot hand against LA.
“I'm comfortable with both backs in possession down ball, not taking anything away from Jaylen,” Tomlin said. “You know, he plays a lot on first and second down. You got to give him opportunities to catch a break. And so sometimes it's on third down. Sometimes it's not.”
It’s understandable if he had a massive carry amount, but only once did Warren have more than two carries in a row, that was after the hurdle for 14 yards, then carries of five and three yards and Gainwell came in on third and two. That one is explainable to the fatigue factor, but only two other times did Warren have back-to-back carries in the game and only 14 carries overall for 70 yards. The 27-year-old Warren had 24 total snaps to 27 for Gainwell, 26, who didn’t have a carry and caught two passes for four yards.
“He just simply cannot play every down, but I'm completely comfortable utilizing both guys on possession down play,” Tomlin said.
It’s not to say Warren would have changed all the problems the Steelers were having in Los Angeles. However, the hurdle run was the closest thing to a spark and with receivers not getting open, wouldn’t you push him more? The 24 snaps is the fewest all season and the 46% of the offensive snaps is second fewest. He had five games this year of at least 35 snaps, including 43 against the Patriots.
Warren had his only 100-yard game of the season (16 carries for 127 yards) against Cincinnati. Let’s see if that number climbs on Sunday.