The big changes Mike Tomlin teased after Sunday's 30-6 loss to the Texans are not coming in ways that one might believe.
The performance, specifically from the offense, was "not good enough" Sunday in the Steelers' coach's words. Despite this, Tomlin confirmed Matt Canada will continue to call plays and the personnel of coaches will remain the same as the Steelers prepare for Sunday's clash with the Ravens.
Emphatically.
"Not at this juncture. No," Tomlin said when directly asked if there will be changes to his coaching staff in his weekly press conference.
Fear not. In that same press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, Tomlin reiterated change is coming.
The change?
The Steelers will hold a padded practice in order to increase and optimize physicality.
"There were several things that were disappointing about the game. I think chief among them was the fact that Houston, we thought, were more physical than us and played harder than us," Tomlin said. "That's something that's got to change immediately. I felt that in stadium, I expressed that after the game, and so we've got to look at what we're doing in an effort to make sure that doesn't reoccur.
"And, specifically, in terms of the structure of preparation, it makes us look at our practice attire the last couple of weeks due to a variety of circumstances. Short weeks via Monday Night Football, short weeks because of travel adjustments, et cetera. We've been in helmets in preparation and I think the start of that game, us warming up to the physicality component of it probably had something to do, particularly in the early stage of the season in terms of development and fundamental development, practicing in helmets. I thought they had better pad level, particularly early in the football game, on both sides. I just thought that was a catalyst in how this game got started.
"... That's kind of an assessment of it, if you will. The physicality component of it is something that has our attention, particularly as we prepare to get ready for the Baltimore Ravens game. Those of us that have been in this game, we understand what that's about. But, largely, obviously, there's a lot of things we've got to do better in all three phases so results of games don't look like that. Physicality component is something worth mentioning because we cannot compromise that."
He acknowledged the Steelers "warmed up" to the physicality the Texans brought, but once the Texans went up by two scores, "you're running on the beach" at that point.
That beach might as well be filled in with quicksand. The Steelers are searching for remedies for the 29th-ranked offense and 29th-ranked defense in the NFL while preparing to face a Ravens team that can gain some separation within the AFC North in the early goings of the season.
Tomlin acknowledged the players' preparation and execution of the coaches' game plan as a major flaw from Sunday's performance. This circles back to his point of how the Steelers are running their practices.
"Sometimes the game plan being up to par or not being up to par has nothing to do with the schematics,” Tomlin said. “Our presentation of the schematics, the training, how we allocate physical reps in preparation, the amount of fluidity and understanding being demonstrated by the players early on in the game, all of that is coaching and coaching-related decisions in terms of the positions that we put them in during the course of the week. So, yes, you do look at the game plan, but not just solely the concepts. How many times we’ve repped a concept, what looks we provide, the realistic component of it, the division of labor within the concepts, and so there’s a lot to that. But, obviously, that’s something that’s being looked at and being looked at very hard given the trajectory of the starts.”
The schematics can only be tweaked so much as long as the same coaches remain in place. While that is not going to change any time soon, Tomlin did not rule out finding new or different roles for players in order to help usher in this change.
"I was talking about the physicality component and a lack thereof, and it didn't take long for me to realize practice attire early in the year, but also some matchup-related things," Tomlin said. "We're open to dividing the labor up more finely in an effort to get better play, to put people in circumstances that are advantageous to their skillset without being too specific and getting into game plan-related things. We're open to doing whatever's required to highlight the skillsets of people based on what we have seen to this point in the journey."
This change comes with three new major injuries piling up on the offense. Tomlin said Kenny Pickett's knee sprain is minimally going to limit him in practice Wednesday and "the quality of his work will be a determining factor in his availability" for Sunday. Tomlin also said Dan Moore Jr. will be out this week with a knee sprain, and Pat Freiermuth is to be considered doubtful for Sunday with a hamstring injury. These come in addition to James Daniels missing Sunday's game with a groin injury and Diontae Johnson remaining on injured reserve through the bye week with a hamstring injury. Daniels is expected to return to practice this week.
There are only so many things that can be changed by Tomlin and this team that will affect the short term, and now a decision on a starting quarterback is piled on top.
Tomlin confirmed that if Pickett cannot play Sunday with his knee sprain, Mitch Trubisky will get the start. He also added that he will meet with his offensive staff to determine a plan for Pickett's reps on a day-to-day basis and, in turn, how Trubisky will be handled throughout the week.
More from Tomlin in our Steelers Feed.
