Mike Tomlin has faced a great deal of criticism over the way the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season ended, but several players have come out in defense of the head coach over the past two weeks. Veteran defensive end Cam Heyward is the latest.
While speaking with reporters from the Pro Bowl on Thursday, Heyward was asked about the perception that Tomlin does not hold his players accountable.
Cam Heyward when I asked him about the criticism Tomlin gets about lack of discipline: “that’s a load of crap.” @TheAthleticPIT
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) January 25, 2018
Cam Heyward: “As much as we are talking about drama there was nobody getting arrested or getting caught with stuff.” @TheAthleticPIT
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) January 25, 2018
One recent report claimed Le’Veon Bell was one of one of several Steelers players and assistant coaches who ignored Tomlin’s requirement that everyone report to the locker room two hours before the kickoff of games. Heyward claims that never happened.
Cam Heyward on players showing up late on game days: “No, that never happens.” @TheAthleticPIT
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) January 25, 2018
Bell missed a portion of Pittsburgh’s walk-through the day before their playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he said this week that he had a good excuse for that and Tomlin was made aware ahead of time.
While there have been instances where Steelers players clearly showed a lack of focus (like Antonio Brown’s infamous locker room video from last year), the bigger concern with Tomlin should be the situational coaching mistakes he has consistently made. Those have hurt the team in recent years, most recently against Jacksonville.
