Steelers/NFL
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin answered several questions directly about his sideline incident for nearly 20 minutes today at his weekly press conference. It was surprising to see Tomlin go as in depth about it and it was the right move, though, I’m still in the camp that his intentions were to somewhat interfere with Jones and I’m saying that as a fan of Tomlin.
Among the highlights from Tomlin:
“My descriptions of my actions on that play are a lot of things…..embarrassing, inexcusable, illegal, a blunder,” Tomlin said. “I take full responsibility for my actions on that play. I acknowledge that my actions unfortunately became part of the play. I embrace that as head coaches we are held to the highest standards of conduct and I realize that blunder fell woefully short of that expectation.”
Tomlin said that his actions were not intentional and I’ll say this, it does seem that what happened really bothers him.
“I think my biggest error on Thursday night is not realizing that play jeopardized the integrity of the game from a perception standpoint,” Tomlin said “That is a mistake on my part. Since I left the stadium it’s been shocking to me that my actions have been perceived in any way intentional. I would never do such a thing. I would never consider doing such a thing. It was a blunder.”
MORE BUZZ
— LaMarr Woodley is a possibility for Sunday after missing the past three games. The Steelers will see where he’s at as the week progresses. But, the sense continues to be that Woodley goes right back to being the starter at LOLB and Jason Worilds starts at ROLB, that’s if Woodley is healthy enough to play. Keep in mind that the Steelers are stuck with Woodley next season, unless they want to eat a $14 million in dead money hit.
— Kelvin Beachum is likely out for Sunday’s game, meaning Guy Whimper will start at left tackle. Tomlin also said that David DeCastro can be looked at as questionable at this point…..Cody Wallace will start at center with Fernando Velasco out for the season. “We’ll make due as we always do,” Tomlin said. Velasco was a big loss for the Steelers and filled in admirably for Maurkice Pouncey.
— Le’Veon Bell is progressing and barring no setbacks, should be available to play on Sunday. Bell had his most complete game of the season vs the Ravens.
