Kovacevic: Tomlin's wonderful way with words never more welcome

In our society's seemingly never-ending search for normalcy amid a global pandemic, I, for one, will giddily accept an actual Mike Tomlin press conference on the week leading up to an actual NFL game.

Because it's only at one of these that I could learn of the Steelers' sentiment regarding their new 38-year-old punter, Dustin Colquitt: "We're really excited about his floor."

And this about his running back depth chart: "There is no question as to who our bell cow is and our bell cow is James Conner and he's our primary ball-toter."

And this about the Giants' 342-pound defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence: "His motor runs hotter than anticipated for a guy his size."

Coach Cliche?

Oh, my, Tomlin's anything but that. If anything, his artful, imaginative usage of the English language forces the listener to pause, even if momentarily, to put those words into play and picture them in action. And as someone who's been tasked with doing precisely that over a full life, I'll acknowledge right here no small amount of jealousy when he pulls some of these off, and with casual spontaneity.

Want know the real reason the Steelers dropped Jordan Berry for Colquitt?

Spare us the yards-per-punt and hang-time stats, and give me being "excited" about the successor's "floor." Because here's the crude translation of that statement: When Berry was bad, he was abysmal. And Colquitt, on the worst day of his life, isn't as bad as Berry's worst.

Love it!

Want to know how Tomlin feels about protecting Conner from his next inevitable injury?

Here's how: He'll hang a bell around his neck and make him leader of the herd ... until he isn't. Because the Steelers can't afford to "live in their fears," to borrow another Tomlin-ism at a position so important, or they won't maximize the best asset they've got there. So he gives him the long-familiar yet still-amusing designation of "primary ball-toter."

Moo-ving!

Want to know about the Steelers' opponent next Monday night in East Rutherford, N.J.?

There isn't a better breakdown of such stuff available on any scouting service anywhere than the one Tomlin offers each week. But again, patience is required to pick up on all his precision. It's clear he studies and weighs not just each individual involved but also calls upon personal history with their players, coaches, even supporting staff, seeking out any advantage.

So, in assessing the Giants' titanic talent in Lawrence, Tomlin didn't just rummage through his stats. He brought up that, in Lawrence's draft year out of Clemson in 2019, he was so intrigued by Lawrence that he took Lawrence out for dinner just to go "window-shopping," as he put it, while admitting he knew there was no chance Lawrence would fall to the Steelers. Which he didn't, of course, with New York snapping him up at No. 17 overall.

Hey, one never knows. That's how T.J. Watt comes knocking at No. 30.

I've got no real point here, no real purpose beyond sharing personal excitement. In fact, there really wasn't much news out of this gathering, other than a couple nuggets I'll share below. Moreover, this wasn't a full session in the Steelers' media room on the South Side, the way we've done it forever but yet another of those sluggish, blurry, hit-the-damned-unmute-button-already Zoom calls. 

But it was ... normal. And normal, in this case, extraordinary.

Bring on real football. 

• Getting worried yet about David DeCastro?

I might be, too, except that Tomlin keeps pushing back his potential availability by no more than a day. Which he did again here, disclosing that DeCastro didn't practice Monday -- a bonus day for the team -- while also not ruling out the next session, much less the next game: “We’ll see what tomorrow holds as we begin our preparation week. I know he’s excited about getting back out there with his teammates as soon as possible.”

DeCastro missed the first and final week of training camp. If he can't go, Stefen Wisniewski will go. And Wisniewski hasn't started a game since ... the Super Bowl in February, manning guard for the Chiefs.

• Still no word on right tackle, though that didn't stop Zach Banner from publicly declaring victory on some front or other right around the time Tomlin was speaking:

OK, whatever. But according to the one authorized to make -- and for that matter, announce -- any such decision ... there hasn't been any such decision between Banner and Chuks Okorafor: “It’s been a tough decision because I feel like we have two guys who are starter-capable. That’s a good issue to have. We’ll quickly sort that out as we get through the week and formulate what we think is best for us at winning this football game.”

Recklessly speculating from these pieces, Banner might get the start Monday based on a matchup, but he shouldn't consider it a triumph in anything more than the moment.

• Tomlin's reasoning for bringing back Josh Dobbs, then keeping Duck Hodges on the practice squad was as 2020 as it gets: Four is better than three, should anything go really awry.

"In this COVID environment," he explained, "you can't insulate yourself enough with quality depth at all positions."

Expect all four to share the classroom, all four to be involved to varying degrees with reps. 

"It's exciting have Josh back in the fold. We like Josh. He's an intelligent guy, and his prudent use of mobility is an asset to him. At the third QB position, it's good to have a trait or something that gives you a winning edge." 

Reading further into that one since, to repeat, there's always an extra layer with Tomlin: Mobility is a great trait for a third-string QB in mimicking a mobile QB on the opponent in preparation. 

See what I mean?

• Tomlin surprisingly offered this stark assessment of the other player brought back into the fold over the weekend: “Forget safety. Sean Davis has been a guy over his career with us who has been a quality punt-team player, a quality kickoff-team player. Those are the first things we thought about when we had an opportunity to reacquire him, the instant help he can provide us as a guy who spent a lot of time as a core special-teamer for us in his youth.”

Now, Tomlin did go on to describe Davis' value as safety depth, but ... ouch. This was a second-round pick not so long ago.

• Terrific answer, too, on what it'll be like to enter an empty MetLife Stadium for kickoff: "There are nerves and jitters every time we walk out of the tunnels, at least for me, speaking for myself. Especially the first time you walk out in a season or the first time you walk out, particularly in a circumstance such as this with no preseason. I think I'm really focusing my energies on using that angst or anxiety in a productive or appropriate way and working through it and finding comfort through work. That's what I’m going to challenge our team to do, and I’m not going to pretend like it doesn’t exist. I think that's a global thing and I think that's something that all of us in some form or fashion have to deal with here in 2020."

• Here's the full session, by the way:

• And here are the team's official media notes for the game, as well.

• Six days, people. Six days.