Mike Tomlin realized his message on the importance of last week’s AFC North game at Cincinnati didn’t exactly register with his Pittsburgh Steelers players.
The numbers on the scoreboard — Bengals 41, Steelers 10 — provided ample evidence.
“But I am unfazed by that,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “I am. I’m excited about delivering messaging and shaping a plan and doing it with the guys again this week.”
On Wednesday, a pair of veteran players said Tomlin made sure his message wouldn’t fall on deaf ears again. Not with the Steelers (5-5-1) playing the first-place Baltimore Ravens (8-3) in a game Tomlin’s players can’t afford to lose if they hope to reach the postseason.
Inside linebacker Joe Schobert said Tomlin was “very loud” when he met with the players Monday morning, less than 24 hours after the Steelers lost their second game in a row and suffered their most lopsided defeat in Tomlin’s 15 seasons.
“There are a lot of leaders on this team, but coach Tomlin pretty much took the floor in meetings this week,” Schobert said.
Defensive lineman Chris Wormley said Tomlin’s tone didn’t change, but his words were more intense than usual.
“As a player and as a man, you understand the situation and what he’s trying to accomplish this week, which is to beat the Ravens,” he said. “If that means he has to fire us up a little bit, especially after Sunday’s loss, that’s what he’s going to have to do.”
“When you lose like that, it’s nice to have someone get in your butt a little,” Wormley added. “A guy like me, I kind of appreciate a coach who takes things seriously. That’s what he did. Today, we had a good practice, and we’re trying to carry that message through the rest of the week.”
A day after Tomlin said the team’s “attire” might change, the Steelers opened the practice week by donning pads. After Week 11, teams can use only three of their 14 allotted padded practices for the season and no more than one per week.
“A lot people were flying around and hitting,” Schobert said. “The pads were popping, so it was a good day of practice.”
Wormley also noticed an uptick in intensity.
“Playing a rivalry game, with pads on today, you can get a feel of different schemes more so than just putting your hands on somebody without pads,” he said. “The flow of practice seemed like there was a little more energy, it was more fast-paced.”
