Mike Tomlin wants to curtail 'too many hits on the quarterback' that he saw in Steelers opener

As encouraged as he was by the quarterback play he witnessed Saturday night, Mike Tomlin’s review of the film from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 32-25 victory against Seattle left him dissatisfied with the group tasked with protecting his trio of passers.

While Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett threw touchdown passes and had passer ratings over 100, they also were chased out of the pocket and put on the ground too many times for Tomlin’s liking.

“I thought they played with good energy,” Tomlin said positively about the offensive line.

Then, Tomlin rattled off his dislikes Monday.

“I think we’re still growing from a cohesion perspective,” he said. “I thought we gave up too many hits on the quarterback. Some of it is cohesion. Some of it is guys physically getting beat. I want a cleaner pocket for our quarterbacks than what I saw.”

Instead of holding a walkthrough Monday morning, Tomlin kept his team in the film room. What the study showed went beyond the stats book, which showed the Steelers allowing 14 pressures, seven quarterback hits and three sacks.

Rudolph, who entered after Trubisky played the first two series, was sacked on his first snap. Pickett, who played the entire second half, was sacked twice, including an 8-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 rollout.

“There were a lot of good things, but (protecting the quarterback) is something we are going to be uncompromising regarding,” Tomlin said. “Our goal is to keep our quarterbacks as clean as possible, and we could have done a better job even for a first time out.”

Last year, with the Steelers starting two rookies — Dan Moore at left tackle and Kendrick Green at center — and having just one returning starter at his position from 2020, pass protection issues surfaced. Ben Roethlisberger, in the last of his 18 seasons, was sacked 38 times, his highest total since 2013.

The Steelers added center Mason Cole and right guard James Daniels in free agency and switched Green to left guard while keeping the tackle tandem of Moore and Chuks Okorafor intact. The entire starting unit played together for three series against Seattle, with Cole, Daniels and Okorafor heading to the bench after logging 16 snaps each.

Green and Moore remained on the field for 19 more plays.

“I got sloppy at times, and when I got sloppy, Mitch got hit a couple of times,” Daniels said. “I just need to get focused on not being as sloppy.”

Trubisky, though, was the only quarterback who wasn’t sacked. Moore was beaten for the sack against Rudolph that preceded a 26-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens.

Daniels, Moore and Green allowed two quarterback pressures, apiece.

“It’s a matter of keeping our quarterbacks off the ground early,” Moore said. “In that first quarter, we took some hits early on, and we think it affected the tendencies of the quarterbacks. We want to make that a point of emphasis moving forward.”

Tomlin chalked up some of the first-game sloppiness to defensive players not being allowed to hit the quarterback in practice. The offensive linemen perhaps were not prepared for the pass rush the Seahawks generated.

“It’s acknowledging how we practice out here isn’t necessarily how you practice in-game in terms of the pocket,” he said. “There is a certain professionalism you do in a practice setting. We encourage rushers and defenders to stay away from the quarterback and his arm action. Sometimes it will take an offensive line group a while to warm up to in-stadium action from a strength standpoint.

“It’s reasonable to expect those guys to be better in that regard.”

The front five likely will stay on the field longer Saturday night in Jacksonville, the second tuneup on the preseason schedule. That group could include Kevin Dotson, who returned to practice Monday after sitting out the opener with an ankle injury.

“Some changes are hard. Some are easy,” Daniels said. “The offensive line is such a technical position. When any of us gets beat, we know what went wrong as soon as we got beat. It’s focusing on when you’re out there, doing what you are coached to do. You want to make sure the lights aren’t too bright that you can’t do what you’re told.”