The Pittsburgh Steelers took to the practice field again, this time at Latrobe Memorial Stadium for Friday Night Lights. Following practice, head coach Mike Tomlin briefly addressed the media about their evening on the field. Since he was only asked about a few players, I am going to continue the players mentioned and will do my best to dress it up a little. Remember these are players where a specific question was asked during the Q&A period. I’ll also include some other quotes from a similar topic.

Najee Harris & Jaylen Warren

Coach Tomlin was asked about the intensity shown during the backs on backers drill. In his response,he commended both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.

“I can’t say enough about those top two backs. ‘Naj’ [Najee Harris] and Jaylen [Warren] – they set the tone for the drill, man. That’s a drill that’s advantageous to linebackers, obviously. But when you’ve got some strong-minded runners, man, it makes it highly competitive, and those two in particular don’t run from the fight, they run to the fight. I respect it.”

In a later question that wasn’t specifically about these two players, Coach Tomlin was asked when it comes to one-on-one matchups in drills if it is scripted or if it is determined more in the moment.

“It’s both. We come into it with a mindset of ‘like bodies.’ People at the same stage of development. We want the competition to be intense and fair. If you win enough of your battles, you move up in competition. If you don’t win enough of your battles, you move down in competition. That’s just the nature of this thing. So, we come in here with that mindset, but we’re willing to adjust based on what it is we see.”

Mike Tomlin’s complete interview can be seen here:

Coach Mike Tomlin spoke with the media following the team's Friday Night Lights practice pic.twitter.com/nmcpcLLDyz

— Steelers Live (@SteelersLive) August 3, 2024