The 2023 regular season is moving through December. With the Steelers coming off two-straight embarrassing home losses where they were heavy favorites, they are on a slightly extended week ahead of playing on Saturday in Week 15. For this reason, head coach Mike Tomlin took to the podium on Monday to address in the media. 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.

T.J. Watt

Coach Tomlin was asked if T.J. Watt was checked for a concussion after he took a knee to the face.

“I assume that he was but again, you know, I’m managing the game. I leave that to the medical experts. They essentially tell me whether someone is out, whether they’re subject to return or whether they’re back. I got a report that he was subject to return. And then I got a report that he was back and that was just, you know my knowledge of the details of what transpired with him during the time that he was out in game.”

In a later question, Coach Tomlin was asked about T.J. Watt switching to a dark visor.

“I wasn’t aware of that, to be honest with you. So, I don’t have a response to that. I wasn’t aware that he changed visors, or. He normally wears a visor. You mean the tent of his visor was different? I wasn’t aware of that.”

Minkah Fitzpatrick

Following the game, Minkah Fitzpatrick said the Steelers need more guys that want to work for it. Coach Tomlin was asked how he evaluates the team’s work ethic at this point and if it’s something that needs to be addressed at this point of the season.

“You know, he probably was talking about smiling in the face of adversity. You know, these are going to be tough, tough games. They’re going to be some adversity. It’s going to be challenges. Nothing is going to be given to us and we got to fight that. We got a smile in the face of that. He’s a guy that does that and lives that life and I’m sure he’s just challenging others to do the same. We got to do a better job of that in an effort to change the outcome of a game, certainly.”

In a later question, Coach Tomlin was asked about the balance of using a guy like Fitzpatrick to shut down tight ends but also wanting to put him in a situation to make more plays elsewhere.

“Yeah, if you could clone him, you know, you would, but you can’t. And so, that’s just a component of strategy. You know, sometimes he’s in deep middle or deep half keeping a lid on it. Sometimes you bring him out of that circumstance in an effort to match up on people. We generally do that anyway, I don’t know that that’s becoming more of a discussion based on our present circumstance. That’d be a mischaracterization of the circumstance. We move him around, in general anyway, in an effort to best utilize his talents.”

Mitch Trubisky

Coach Tomlin was asked how he would evaluate Trubisky‘s decision making, particularly in the passing game.

“I thought it improved as the game went on and I think with a full week’s prep, I think it is reasonable to expect that to continue and then continue at an increased rate.”

Diontae Johnson & George Pickens

Coach Tomlin was asked about the decision on fourth down to go deep to Diontae Johnson. In his answer, he brought up connecting on a deep pass to George Pickens against Baltimore.

“We went deep to George Pickens late in the game against Baltimore, but we caught that one. And so, you know, oftentimes the result of the play dictates perspective, if you will, and we understand that. We don’t live in our fears, man. We play and play to win. A lot of big plays, explosion plays that happened in the NFL happen on weighty downs beyond the sticks. And so, we’re really comfortable taking that calculated risk and operating in that way. You can’t allow people to overplay the sticks. You can’t have that type of a personality. And that’s just playing and playing to win.”

In a later question, Coach Tomlin was asked if it is a problem for him or the team the way George Pickens is openly voicing his frustrations on the sideline.

“You know, it’s a problem because it’s not solution-oriented. You know, we’re all frustrated, but we got to manage our frustrations in a professional and mature way. And when it’s not done that way, it’s not necessarily pushing us toward solutions. And so, from that perspective, certainly.”

In a follow-up question, Coach Tomlin was asked if that should be happening with a guy who is well into his second year.

“Man, I think it can happen to anybody when things aren’t going well, to be quite honest with you. We care a lot. We put a lot into it. And so,frustration is a natural human response. But I’m also completely comfortable asking these guys to do unnatural things, because they’re professional athletes. Man, that’s our job to do the unique things and make it look regular. To make it look ordinary.”

Mason Rudolph

Coach Tomlin was asked if there was any consideration of getting Mason Rudolph some first team reps in practice.

“Mason (Rudolph) will get an opportunity to get some reps, certainly. You don’t get an opportunity to get a lot of that particularly when you’re at the three spot. When you’re at the two spot and you have a full week, certainly. Last week, there were a limited amount of reps for all parties involved. And so, he certainly will get more opportunity this week from a preparation standpoint.”

In a later question, Coach Tomlin was asked if he would give Mason Rudolph opportunity to compete to be the number one quarterback.

“You know, he just hadn’t had a lot of exposure in terms of in helmet prep. And so, I don’t know, what do you mean when you say a fair evaluation or shot? I don’t know that we evaluate practice performance in that way, this time of year. He’ll get an opportunity to get some work and we’ll evaluate that work and evaluate his readiness. But we’re not opening up competition and things of that nature. It’s just not an environment for that as we work.”

Keanu Neal

Coach Tomlin was asked if he knows if Keanu Neal is nearing any chance of return.

“No update on Keanu’s (Neal) status.”

Mason Cole

Coach Tomlin was asked about Mason Cole having low snaps in recent weeks and if there’s something they can do to fix that at this point of the season.

“There are certain routine things that we work routinely. We don’t wait until they become a problem in an effort to address it. C-Q exchanges is something that happens on a routine daily basis, and we’ll continue with that. I acknowledge that we’ve had some that hadn’t been good of late, but our behavior regarding it hasn’t changed because we’re not reactionary. We’d like to be out in front of those things. We value routine things happening routinely.”

DeMarvin Leal

Coach Tomlin was asked what went into the decision for DeMarvin Leal to not get a helmet on Thursday.

“We just had a lot of people available, we had to make some choices, and on a short week we put together the group that we thought could give us the best chance of winning.”

In a follow-up question, Coach Tomlin was asked if he needs to do more to show them something.

“Sometimes it’s not about what he’s doing or not doing, it might just be what someone else provides us.”

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

Coach Tomlin speaks to the media ahead of our Week 15 game against the Colts. @PNCBank

📺 : #PITvsIND 12/16 at 4:30 PM ET on @nflnetwork https://t.co/yNpn28iacm

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 11, 2023