The 2024 regular season is rolling into Week 7. The next week of preparation for the Steelers is underway as they prepare to face the New York Jets on Sunday night with head coach Mike Tomlin taking to the podium to address in the media for our beloved Tomlin Tuesday. With plenty of questions asked by those in attendance, it is once again time for a players mentioned article. Remember these are players where a specific question was asked during the Q&A period.

Russell Wilson

Coach Tomlin was asked about how to knock the rust off with  Russell Wilson short of getting him into a game.

“You knock it off to a degree just getting the in-helmet perspective on the work. There’s one thing to sit in meetings and digest football and be a full participant, like he’s been, or to be a guy behind the offensive group, digesting it from that perspective, but the in-helmet perspective and the reaction to see and do and some of those things, that’s what I’m talking about. But there’s also a totality of his resume as well that makes you more comfortable than guys with shorter resumes, in that regard, in terms of the ability to play ball on a limited amount of exposure. You know, I have that mentality about guys across positions, and we’ve had that discussion before with veteran players. There’s just comfort that comes with experience in some of those really sometimes uncomfortable discussions.”

Coach Tomlin was asked if Russell Wilson be working with the first team offense.

“You know, we’re going to determine that as we get closer to tomorrow. We got some more strategic meetings today, but I’ll acknowledge that that Russ proved his health last week, man, and we’re looking hard at it this week, it is up for consideration.”

Coach Tomlin was asked what he saw last week from Russell Wilson.

“You know, he just proved his health last week. He proved his ability to protect himself, to move appropriately within the pocket, to not be limited schematically in terms of some of the things that we were capable of doing or wanted to do. Those things had to happen before we could seriously consider him and his talents, and that happened a week ago.”

Coach Tomlin was asked how the quarterback threat of running changes the offense with Russell Wilson.

“It remains to be seen. And I think that’s one of the cute things about this discussion.”

Coach Tomlin was asked if he would consider Russell Wilson to be fully healthy at this point.

“Yes.”

Coach Tomlin was asked if Russell Wilson get first team reps in practice.

“I’m sure at some point, but I hadn’t decided who gets the ball first. That sort of minutia has been undecided.”

Coach Tomlin was asked about experimenting with using Russell Wilson this week when he did not do the same at quarterback last season.

“The people are different. It’s a different journey. I’m very cautious about drawing parallels between one year and another. The myriad of variables in our decision making in this game are such that it’s a fruitless endeavor. It’s never as simple as it seems, respectfully.”

Justin Fields & Terrell Edmunds

Coach Tomlin was asked about what Justin Fields needs to do better to be named the starter. In his response, he brought up Terrell Edmunds.

“Justin [Fields] has been really good, and we’ve been really good at times, but not to be confused with great. This is a competitive league, man. We’re trying to position ourselves to be that team, and we got a player with talent who hadn’t had an opportunity to play, so we’re going to potentially explore those things. Sometimes it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with what Justin has done or has not done. Justin has been an asset to us. Man last week, for example, man his ability to utilize his legs by design and by ad lib was a significant component of that game. He rushed for 50 plus yards and two touchdowns in game, and so we’re appreciative of that. We’re appreciative of how he’s taking care of the ball, but we’re just looking at all the people at our disposal the same way that we do at any position. We acquired Terrell Edmunds a number of weeks back, who we have a history with. And as soon as we got him up to speed and got comfortable, we started considering ways to utilize his talents. That’s what you’re doing in this thing, you’d better have your foot on the gas at all times. You better look to divide the labor up in the most appropriate way based on who’s available to you and healthy, and that’s just simply what we’re going to do.”

Coach Tomlin was asked when he looks at Field’s mobility if Russell Wilson has the same capabilities in terms of using his legs in a similar way.

“No, he does not. Justin’s legs are an X-factor.”

Ryan McCollum & Jeremiah Moon

Coach Tomlin was asked if the offensive line’s health is a component of the quarterback decision. In his response, Coach Tomlin brought up Ryan McCollum.

“You know, we haven’t had a healthy offensive line group at any component of this journey that is the 2024 season. And so we’re not holding our breath for that, we’re just simply doing what is required week in and week out to put the very best group out there. I thought we had unique depth in that position during team development. We talked about it a lot in this setting, and I’m thankful that we have because we called upon it. We’ll probably have our seventh collection of starters in seven weeks. But it doesn’t change our agenda or our expectations regarding those guys. One man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity. There’s been a lot of guys who’ve displayed that during the course of this journey, and Ryan McCollum will just be the latest guy to get an opportunity to display that this week.”

Coach Tomlin was asked what he thought of Ryan McCollum last week. In his response, he brought up Jeremiah Moon.

“You know, I’ve seen what I’ve seen from him in general, man. I’ve seen a high intensity guy who’s a heck of a communicator, who’s mature beyond his years, and I think that’s why we’re all comfortable continuing to operate the way that we operated a week ago, and I think that’s why we’re excited about the opportunity that it is for him. There’s always two sides to the injury coin, and I just always try to make a point to our team regarding it. We can waste a lot of time talking about the people that aren’t at our disposal, the people who whose services we don’t have. We’re doing a disservice to the capable men who are getting elevated, who are getting an opportunity to show that they’re capable, to put their hand in the pile and contribute. I was excited for [Jeremiah] Moon last week about his expanded opportunity on defense and in kicking, and that came through for us. We had a couple of other guys who had some really solid contributions and expanded roles. And that’s football man. Over the course of a journey, every man that sits in our team meeting room and is going to have an opportunity to ante up and kick in and live out their dreams and show their capabilities, and I just respect that. But I respect that not only in concept, I respect that in in culture, the things that we do day to day, to position that to happen, I think is a major component of it.”

Cam Heyward & T.J. Watt

Coach Tomlin was asked if there is anything about Cam Heyward’s game that still surprises him as he’s able to continue to play at such a high level. In his response, Coach Tomlin also brought up T.J. Watt.

“No, I’m not surprised, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate it, and it’s not only his talents, and it’s not only T.J.’s talents, their talents are what they are. It’s so secondary if you spend day to day life with those guys. Their commitment, their will, their leadership, the things that they do for themselves, the things that they do for others, the way they communicate, their general approach to business is as unique as their talents, and that’s why I don’t think any of us are surprised when we see the superhuman things that they do quite routinely.”

Zach Frazier

Coach Tomlin was asked if there’s anything about Zach Frazier’s injury that leads him to believe it’s going to be more than one week.

“No, I think week to week is a fair assessment of it.”

Roman Wilson

Coach Tomlin was asked how he assesses Roman Wilson’s first game action even though he only got about five snaps.

“That’s how I would assess it. Limited.”

Coach Tomlin was asked what more he’s looking for out of Roman Wilson before he is given more snaps.

“It is a process, his readiness. Not only first his health, but then we’re also talking about a guy who is getting on a moving train with no background. It’s a significantly different discussion than the one we were having regarding Russ. And so, he’s just got to continue to come to work every day, and when the door is left ajar, he’s got to step through it.”

George Pickens

Coach Tomlin was asked how he thinks George Pickens played this past week.

“You know, I thought he did some good things in game. I thought we left something out there. But leaving things out there is generally a collective issue and not an individual one. And I think that that can describe receiver production all the time. That’s why I’m somewhat resistant to detailed discussions regarding George [Pickens] because,a lot of things have got to happen for receivers to be impactful in play, protection and so forth. And then sometimes, it can just be a commitment to those that you compete against schematically to minimize their impact. And that’s why others get paid as well, and that’s why football is the ultimate team game. And so sometimes, I remember complete competing against Rex Ryan, years ago. He would put a punt return vice on a significant guy. He put two guys shoulder to shoulder. Well, the ball is going elsewhere when people make that level of commitment, and that’s why others have got to be ready and capable. And that’s why I look at it sometimes with resistance when asked specific questions about individual performance, particularly at receiver position.”

Patrick Queen, DeShon Elliott, Donte Jackson, & Dean Lowry

Coach Tomlin was asked how he would evaluate Patrick Queen’s play. In his response, he also brought up DeShon Elliott, Donte Jackson, and Dean Lowry.

“Man, I love the trajectory of Patrick Queen and what he’s doing for us. I think he gets better with every day. I think he gets more comfortable with what we’re asking him to do and his role within our ball. You know, I’m equally as fired up about him as I mentioned the other two guys a little bit earlier, [DeShon]Elliott and [Donte] Jackson. We’ve got some new guys to us, but they’re not new to the National Football League that are doing a really good job of contributing to our efforts. Dean Lowry, less significantly, but we just got a lot of new guys. They’ve done a nice job of assimilating into our culture and putting their hand in the pile.”

Mike Tomlin’s complete press conference can be seen here:

Coach Tomlin speaks to the media ahead of our Week 7 game against the Jets. @PNCBank

📺: #NYJvsPIT 10/20 at 8:20 PM ET on NBC https://t.co/CkycaLQZD4

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 15, 2024