The Steelers 2024 season came to an abrupt halt. After their defeat in Baltimore on Saturday night, head coach Mike Tomlin took to the podium to address in the media for our beloved Tomlin Tuesday for one last time. With plenty of questions asked by those in attendance, it is time for one last players mentioned article. Remember these are players where a specific question was asked during the Q&A period.

Russell Wilson & Justin Fields

Coach Tomlin was asked about what he has seen from Russell Wilson and/or Justin Fields that makes him think they can take it to the next step or where you need to get to.

“Just their professionalism and approach to business. Their relationship to the game was an encouragement in that regard certainly.”

Coach Tomlin was asked for whatever reason Russell Wilson should move on, be it the Steelers choice or Wilson’s, did Justin Fields showed him enough that he thinks Fields could be a starter and enter next year in the pole position like Russ did this year.

“Certainly.”

Coach Tomlin was asked what more steps would Fields need to take to perhaps be a 17-game starter.

“I think he took them. I thought that the way that he managed his professional circumstance was really impressive. I thought he brought an urgency in his day-to-day work regardless of his role. I thought he got continually better within our system of ball throughout the process. I thought the way he conducted himself makes that a legitimate thought or idea at this juncture.”

Coach Tomlin was asked about how he would describe Russell and Arthur Smith’s working relationship this year.

“I thought it was pretty good and fluid. I know they do an awesome time of spending time together and communicating
formally and informally. We’re not paid by the hour in this business,and I think their willingness to work and work together is
kind of a reflection of that sentiment.”

Coach Tomlin was asked if age and experience is a factor in evaluating quarterbacks with Wilson being 36.

“I’m certain that will be a component of the discussion but those discussions haven’t been had to this point.”

Coach Tomlin was asked how he evaluates Arthur Smith’s first season with the Steelers. In his response he mentioned Russell Wilson.

“I thought we had a good experience in a lot of areas. Certainly, the fact that we’re talking here today is reflective of it’s not always been good. That could be any component of this thing, man. We’re so interdependent in this business around that’s why it’s the ultimate team game. I get asked often how Russell [Wilson]performed or how Arthur [Smith] performed or how the defense performed, and those lines get blurred because of the interdependency in this game, and that’s just a component of it. Certainly there’s impact from outside forces on evaluations, but that’s why what we’re doing right now is so significant. We’ve got to comb through it and get to the guts of the matters, and so that’s why the exit interviews and the analysis of what transpired is so important, because I need to have a better understanding of evaluation components such as that. Because from my perspective and particularly as you stand here at the end of it, we win together, we lose together and there’s complexities in all those discussions.”

George Pickens

Coach Tomlin was asked if it is an offseason priority of the franchise to get George Pickens a contract extension.

“We haven’t had any conversations about pecking orders or priorities regarding any individuals contractually. It just — we’re not there yet, and I don’t know that that’s going to transpire this week. We’re just still assessing what transpired in 2024. Those are more 2025 things.”

Coach Tomlin was asked how he would assess George Pickens’ season.

“Certainly there’s a lot of room for growth there. I think he covered some ground in 2024, but there’s certainly a heck of a lot more ground to be covered and we’ll see where it leads us.”

Coach Tomlin was asked if he is concerned Pickens is where he is three years in.

“You know, I’m always concerned about the growth and development of individuals, whether it’s skill relative to the positions that they hold, professionalism, maturity, or combinations of all of the above.”

Coach Tomlin was asked if there is any accuracy to the report that George Pickens was late on Christmas day to the game against the Chiefs.

“That’s a few days back. I really don’t know that I have the answer to that to be quite honest with you. I got a lot going on in pregame. I can’t answer that definitively. Thanks, guys.”

T.J. Watt

Coach Tomlin was asked about T.J. Watt saying he would be more open to moving around to where he lines up on defense and what in his approach does he have to change to open up what has been the Steelers best defensive play-maker on this team.

“You know, I don’t know that a lot of dramatic changes need to be made regarding T.J. Watt, to be quite honest with you. I think his resume and production speaks for itself. He’s been ridiculously consistent over his stay here, and even in the midst of the 2024 season that didn’t unfold in the way any of us would like. I’ve got a lot of things that have my attention before I start getting into T.J. Watt-like production in terms of my to-do list.”

Joey Porter Jr., Keeanu Benton, Darnell Washington, & Nick Herbig

Coach Tomlin was asked about the second-year jump of Joey Porter Jr., Keeanu Benton, Darnell Washington, Nick, Herbig, and that group collectively.

“I haven’t thought a lot about it, to be honest with you. Certainly, I felt it at different times from all the individuals that you mentioned, but I hadn’t analyzed it more broadly to this point but that is a reasonable expectation certainly.”

Najee Harris

Coach Tomlin was asked about his thoughts on the running game and Najee Harris’ impending free agency.

“We like to ride the wave that our running game provides and produce chunks in the play-passing game off of it and some of these things and control games and minimize the potential of negativity in terms of turning the ball over. At different times, we had really good traction and success in that area. It didn’t feel that way in the end, but we need to go back and comb through with it in totality and understand why. ‘Naj’ [Najee Haris] has had an awesome four years here. I understand that he is a free agent. Again, it’s at the very beginnings of that process in terms of us assessing what we’re capable of doing or what we desire today and I’d imagine it’s the same thing from a player’s perspective. But, rest assured, we’ve had a good experience with him and obviously the ridiculous consistency in his performance in terms of producing four straight thousand-yard seasons speaks for itself.”

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

Coach Tomlin speaks to the media.@PNCBank | More on https://t.co/XL7UQsbZDF https://t.co/FyAJnBHKkE

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 14, 2025