Mike Tomlin didn't outwardly confirm or deny a report that Mitch Trubisky and Diontae Johnson got into a heated exchange during halftime against the Jets on Oct. 2, which led to Trubisky's benching in favor of Kenny Pickett in the second half.
When asked about the alleged confrontation during his weekly press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, the Steelers' coach did, however, reinforce that sometimes tempers can flare up from time to time:
"Do you think that I will share with it you this environment? Probably not," Tomlin said. "Our business is our business. I understand in today’s climate oftentimes there’s leaks of our business hitting the street, but I’m not going to acknowledge it or confirm it or deny it in these settings. I’m just not. I ain’t got enough hours in my day for it. The things that happen among collectives from time to time is normal business."
According to the report, Johnson yelled at Trubisky over his lack of receiving targets, but Trubisky stood up to Johnson. Pickett was subsequently inserted and started the second half against the Jets, and later went on to start against Buffalo and Tampa Bay in the weeks to follow.
But, while Tomlin didn't publicly disclose whether a dispute took place, he did give his take on his players showing emotion.
"Everyone wants to win," Tomlin continued. "If it transpired, it’s good. It probably means there’s a couple of guys that wanted to win. If it didn’t transpire, it probably means that it should have because we are aggressively pursuing victory. And sometimes that’s emotion."
The Steelers are 2-4 in advance of Sunday night's clash in Miami. As of Tuesday, Pickett remains in the concussion protocol, but received clearance to return to practice fully on Wednesday, according to Tomlin.
Regarding Pickett, Tomlin also said that "if he's cleared to play, he'll play."
