September 7, 2024 • 10 mins
Steelers Digest Editor Bob Labriola sits down with Head Coach Mike Tomlin ahead of the Steelers Week 1 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlinking Day podcast with Steelers Digest editor
Bob Labriola, Okay coach. Earlier this week, it was announced
that Cam Hayward had signed a three year contract designed
to keep him with the Steelers to the end of
his career. You usually refrain from involving yourself in player contracts,
but do you have any comment on that one getting done?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
You know, it's a lot that's unique about Cam, and
I just think the contract is reflective of that. I
think this guy's a ten time captain. I don't know
how many ten time captains on NFL football teams they
have been in the history of the NFL, But I
just think that's reflective of his body of work. The
fact that we're talking about a fourth contract is reflective
of his body of work. It's been a unique story
(00:43):
and it's been cool to have been a part of
and witness not only his growth and development as a player,
but as a leader and how he carries the banner
for this organization. I'm happy for him, I'm happy for us.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Cam has talked about being a one helmet guy, and
that's a phrase for a player who camps, leads his
entire career with one team. What's the significance of a
player doing that both for himself, which is probably pretty obvious,
and for the team and his teammates seeing that happen.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
I just think it speaks to the special traits that
the player displays beyond his talents. To be quite honest
with you, you know, when you got intangible traits and strong
leadership qualities, it allows you to grow older gracefully. And
those are the guys that have an opportunity to be
quote unquote one helmet guys.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
In talking about your wide receivers during your news conference,
you mentioned being comfortable with how Van Jefferson and Scottie
Miller behave like veteran NFL players. How do veteran NFL
players behave and why might that be important? Starting with
today's game?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
You know they don't make They don't make mistakes twice.
I think that's the key component of it. Being a
savvy veteran player is about mistake elimination. And both guys
have high floors in that regard the position flexible. You
can move them around within the structure of an offense.
They can play X, they can play Z, they can
(02:09):
play F. They understand the global picture as opposed to
assignment football. And I think that those are the two
key components that I'm talking about when I'm talking about
how they behave themselves.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Something Joey Porter Junior showed as a rookie was a
willingness and an ability to match up all over the
field with the opponent's top receiver. When you're employing that
tactic in a game, what de mans does that put
on the other cornerback, you know?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And that is a very good question, first of all,
because everybody likes to talk about the guy that travels,
but you better have somebody on the opposite to him
that's capable of that as well. And it's not a
big challenge unless you play right and left corner historically.
When you play right and left corner historically, then the
other guy has to get footwork and line of vision
perspectives from both sides of the ball, and so it
(02:56):
is a challenge from him in that regard. But if
you go field and bound and things of that nature,
where guys are generally working from a left and right perspective,
it's very little placed upon them. As a guy that's
a partner with a traveler.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
So is Dante Jackson able to handle that role being
the other guy.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
No question. I've seen Dante over the course of his
career play on the left side of defenses, on the
right side of defenses, and so it's less of a
discussion for him.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
What will you have needed to see from rookies and
young players leading up to today's game to get them
on the field today against the Falcons.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
You know, an acceptable, acceptable level of execution. They got
to display an understanding of football. They got to play fast.
They got to have skill relative to their positions. Beyond
knowing what to do. You know, I think a knee
jerk reaction is just making sure that they know what
to do. But that's just the very beginnings. At this level.
(03:51):
You better have skill relative to your position. You better
have good hand usage and so forth. You better be
able to come off of blocks if you're a defender,
and just the general know how in situational awareness that
will allow you to play fast and big moments we
don't need, you know, guys playing slow on third and
three or in the red zone. Things happen fast in
(04:13):
those moments, and knowledge is on display, and lack of
knowledge is also on display. In terms of speed of play.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
A rule thing came up on Thursday Night's game. When
it comes to calling timeouts during games, there's a rule
that a coordinator cannot call a timeout. Why is that?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
You know, they just don't want timeouts coming from a
variety of places. There's a lot going on with the officials.
Their eyes are on the field and they have a
general understanding of where the head coach is on the sideline.
So oftentimes they're feeling the timeout as opposed to seeing it.
And we got multiple people with the ability to do it.
It makes their job more difficult.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
When it comes to your team, when does the quarterback
have the freedom to call a timeout?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You know, we don't have hard guard rails there. They
know generally that I'm in ards of the timeouts, and
if I'm doing what it is I'm supposed to do,
I handle those things. When the play clock's running down,
it's their job to try to get the ball snapped
before it does. If I don't feel like they can
do it, the responsibility is mine. Sometimes when they know
there's no chance of it for a variety of reasons.
(05:18):
Hung up in the huddle, play clock started fast on
us to what have you. They're capable of doing it,
but generally that responsibility is mine and that discussion is
not what it used to be since they handed the
timeout rules over to the sideline.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Any other player have that freedom or ability, Minka, anybody
on defense.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
It's the same general discussion. I got my eyes on
the field. When there's an issue, I see it, and
so they're capable, but it'll come from me before it
does any of them. Their job is to try to
fix whatever's slowing us down. It's my job to make
the determination whether or not we burn the time out
in an effort to do so.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Okay, back in twenty ten, you refer to the weekly
competition between them, e Manuel Sanders and Antonio Brown for
a game day roster spot as two dogs one bone.
You currently have eight defensive linemen on the fifty three
men roster, and so when it comes to the game
day roster, how many dogs are there and how many
bones are available for defensive linemen?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
You know, as you mentioned, there's you know, as much
as eight dogs and there's less than eight bones. And
I'll say that week to week, there's a lot of
factors in determining how many helmets we put on a
particular position group week one, sometimes conditioning and fatigue becomes
a factory. If this game was played outside in Atlanta,
(06:38):
for example, where I'd have a bunch of bigs and
helmets because you never want to run out of bigs
and warm weather circumstances early in the year. And so
there's a lot of variables in that discussion. But make
no mistake, there's eight dogs, there's less bones, and who
gets helmets and who doesn't is determined by the quality
of their work and how we divide the labor up
during the week. Another component of it is special teams
(07:02):
usefulness and capabilities. There's always a few bigs that are
special teams capable. Leal is one of them. He's a
big defensive lineman, but he also runs well enough to
be a factor on kickoffs and things of that nature,
and those guys always have a leg up in the discussion.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Falcons offensive coordinator Zach Robinson worked under Rams coach Sean
mcvayh What are some of the characteristics of a Sean
McVay offense that Zach Robinson might incorporate into the Atlanta
offense he's now coordinating.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
You know, variations of pace as a weapon being the
first and foremost they start a series, they come from
the sideline to the ball. That's an element of pace,
certain offensive concepts, perimeter running game. They first sound and
try to pace you and catch you less than ready.
Oftentimes they transition from second down to third down with pace,
(07:53):
so you can't get specialized defensive groups on the field,
and things of that nature. Sometimes when they get in
the red zone, they pace to help their run game
in the red zone to beat you to the punch.
They pace to help their passing game in the red
zone to beat you to the punch. There's a lack
of vertical feel in the passing game, and so they
got to beat you horizontally misdirection passes and things of
(08:13):
that nature. And so pace is probably the number one
characteristic of the Sean McVay school of thinkers, if you will,
in a variety of circumstances.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
So how do you combat that in terms of them
coming off the sideline using pace, trying to use pace
between second down and third down in terms of what
you want to do and who you want on the field.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
That's one of the many things that we work on
during the course of a work week. Sometimes people think
that we're just running plays, and we are, but there's
a procedural component of this thing from a prep standpoint
that includes things that happen in between plays, and that's
how you show respect for pace and your preparedness there.
It's not just the defensive calls that we employ, our
(08:55):
execution of those calls. It's about how we communicate in
between plays. Is how we exchange defensive personnel and our
readiness in that regard. And so we're working on a
lot of things during the course of the prep week
other than rope, memorization, assignment football.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
In what ways is Kirk cousins game suited to the system? Robinson?
Likely he brought to Atlanta from the Rams.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
It was it was probably the central reason why they
they were really interested in him. Kevin O'Connell's offense, Kevin
O'Connell is a disciple, if you will, of Sean McVay,
and so he has system familiarity, and I'm sure it
was one of the major components that made him really
attractive to them.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
What style of runner is Bjeon Robinson?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
You know, he checks all the boxes, he really does.
But when you go as high as he did in
the draft. Generally you do guys like him, Saquon and others. Man,
when you go that high in the draft as a
running back, and there's been a lot written and said about,
you know the value of backs in the draft, and
so when you got one going that high, rest assured.
(09:58):
He can stop, start, he can stick his foot in
the ground and change directions. He can put together multiple moves.
He has really good contact balance in terms of bouncing
off of tackles. He has bursts that makes them tough
to tackle. He checks all the boxes.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
That's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast. Subscribe and download
new episodes every week and check out all of the
other shows we have to offer on the Steelers Podcast Network.
That's available on the Steelers Mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
He's the Mike Tomlinking Day podcast with Steelers Digest editor
Bob Labriola, Okay coach. Earlier this week, it was announced
that Cam Hayward had signed a three year contract designed
to keep him with the Steelers to the end of
his career. You usually refrain from involving yourself in player contracts,
but do you have any comment on that one getting done?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
You know, it's a lot that's unique about Cam, and
I just think the contract is reflective of that. I
think this guy's a ten time captain. I don't know
how many ten time captains on NFL football teams they
have been in the history of the NFL, But I
just think that's reflective of his body of work. The
fact that we're talking about a fourth contract is reflective
of his body of work. It's been a unique story
(00:43):
and it's been cool to have been a part of
and witness not only his growth and development as a player,
but as a leader and how he carries the banner
for this organization. I'm happy for him, I'm happy for us.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Cam has talked about being a one helmet guy, and
that's a phrase for a player who camps, leads his
entire career with one team. What's the significance of a
player doing that both for himself, which is probably pretty obvious,
and for the team and his teammates seeing that happen.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
I just think it speaks to the special traits that
the player displays beyond his talents. To be quite honest
with you, you know, when you got intangible traits and strong
leadership qualities, it allows you to grow older gracefully. And
those are the guys that have an opportunity to be
quote unquote one helmet guys.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
In talking about your wide receivers during your news conference,
you mentioned being comfortable with how Van Jefferson and Scottie
Miller behave like veteran NFL players. How do veteran NFL
players behave and why might that be important? Starting with
today's game?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
You know they don't make They don't make mistakes twice.
I think that's the key component of it. Being a
savvy veteran player is about mistake elimination. And both guys
have high floors in that regard the position flexible. You
can move them around within the structure of an offense.
They can play X, they can play Z, they can
(02:09):
play F. They understand the global picture as opposed to
assignment football. And I think that those are the two
key components that I'm talking about when I'm talking about
how they behave themselves.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Something Joey Porter Junior showed as a rookie was a
willingness and an ability to match up all over the
field with the opponent's top receiver. When you're employing that
tactic in a game, what de mans does that put
on the other cornerback, you know?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And that is a very good question, first of all,
because everybody likes to talk about the guy that travels,
but you better have somebody on the opposite to him
that's capable of that as well. And it's not a
big challenge unless you play right and left corner historically.
When you play right and left corner historically, then the
other guy has to get footwork and line of vision
perspectives from both sides of the ball, and so it
(02:56):
is a challenge from him in that regard. But if
you go field and bound and things of that nature,
where guys are generally working from a left and right perspective,
it's very little placed upon them. As a guy that's
a partner with a traveler.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
So is Dante Jackson able to handle that role being
the other guy.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
No question. I've seen Dante over the course of his
career play on the left side of defenses, on the
right side of defenses, and so it's less of a
discussion for him.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
What will you have needed to see from rookies and
young players leading up to today's game to get them
on the field today against the Falcons.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
You know, an acceptable, acceptable level of execution. They got
to display an understanding of football. They got to play fast.
They got to have skill relative to their positions. Beyond
knowing what to do. You know, I think a knee
jerk reaction is just making sure that they know what
to do. But that's just the very beginnings. At this level.
(03:51):
You better have skill relative to your position. You better
have good hand usage and so forth. You better be
able to come off of blocks if you're a defender,
and just the general know how in situational awareness that
will allow you to play fast and big moments we
don't need, you know, guys playing slow on third and
three or in the red zone. Things happen fast in
(04:13):
those moments, and knowledge is on display, and lack of
knowledge is also on display. In terms of speed of play.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
A rule thing came up on Thursday Night's game. When
it comes to calling timeouts during games, there's a rule
that a coordinator cannot call a timeout. Why is that?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
You know, they just don't want timeouts coming from a
variety of places. There's a lot going on with the officials.
Their eyes are on the field and they have a
general understanding of where the head coach is on the sideline.
So oftentimes they're feeling the timeout as opposed to seeing it.
And we got multiple people with the ability to do it.
It makes their job more difficult.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
When it comes to your team, when does the quarterback
have the freedom to call a timeout?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You know, we don't have hard guard rails there. They
know generally that I'm in ards of the timeouts, and
if I'm doing what it is I'm supposed to do,
I handle those things. When the play clock's running down,
it's their job to try to get the ball snapped
before it does. If I don't feel like they can
do it, the responsibility is mine. Sometimes when they know
there's no chance of it for a variety of reasons.
(05:18):
Hung up in the huddle, play clock started fast on
us to what have you. They're capable of doing it,
but generally that responsibility is mine and that discussion is
not what it used to be since they handed the
timeout rules over to the sideline.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Any other player have that freedom or ability, Minka, anybody
on defense.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
It's the same general discussion. I got my eyes on
the field. When there's an issue, I see it, and
so they're capable, but it'll come from me before it
does any of them. Their job is to try to
fix whatever's slowing us down. It's my job to make
the determination whether or not we burn the time out
in an effort to do so.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Okay, back in twenty ten, you refer to the weekly
competition between them, e Manuel Sanders and Antonio Brown for
a game day roster spot as two dogs one bone.
You currently have eight defensive linemen on the fifty three
men roster, and so when it comes to the game
day roster, how many dogs are there and how many
bones are available for defensive linemen?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
You know, as you mentioned, there's you know, as much
as eight dogs and there's less than eight bones. And
I'll say that week to week, there's a lot of
factors in determining how many helmets we put on a
particular position group week one, sometimes conditioning and fatigue becomes
a factory. If this game was played outside in Atlanta,
(06:38):
for example, where I'd have a bunch of bigs and
helmets because you never want to run out of bigs
and warm weather circumstances early in the year. And so
there's a lot of variables in that discussion. But make
no mistake, there's eight dogs, there's less bones, and who
gets helmets and who doesn't is determined by the quality
of their work and how we divide the labor up
during the week. Another component of it is special teams
(07:02):
usefulness and capabilities. There's always a few bigs that are
special teams capable. Leal is one of them. He's a
big defensive lineman, but he also runs well enough to
be a factor on kickoffs and things of that nature,
and those guys always have a leg up in the discussion.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Falcons offensive coordinator Zach Robinson worked under Rams coach Sean
mcvayh What are some of the characteristics of a Sean
McVay offense that Zach Robinson might incorporate into the Atlanta
offense he's now coordinating.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
You know, variations of pace as a weapon being the
first and foremost they start a series, they come from
the sideline to the ball. That's an element of pace,
certain offensive concepts, perimeter running game. They first sound and
try to pace you and catch you less than ready.
Oftentimes they transition from second down to third down with pace,
(07:53):
so you can't get specialized defensive groups on the field,
and things of that nature. Sometimes when they get in
the red zone, they pace to help their run game
in the red zone to beat you to the punch.
They pace to help their passing game in the red
zone to beat you to the punch. There's a lack
of vertical feel in the passing game, and so they
got to beat you horizontally misdirection passes and things of
(08:13):
that nature. And so pace is probably the number one
characteristic of the Sean McVay school of thinkers, if you will,
in a variety of circumstances.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
So how do you combat that in terms of them
coming off the sideline using pace, trying to use pace
between second down and third down in terms of what
you want to do and who you want on the field.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
That's one of the many things that we work on
during the course of a work week. Sometimes people think
that we're just running plays, and we are, but there's
a procedural component of this thing from a prep standpoint
that includes things that happen in between plays, and that's
how you show respect for pace and your preparedness there.
It's not just the defensive calls that we employ, our
(08:55):
execution of those calls. It's about how we communicate in
between plays. Is how we exchange defensive personnel and our
readiness in that regard. And so we're working on a
lot of things during the course of the prep week
other than rope, memorization, assignment football.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
In what ways is Kirk cousins game suited to the system? Robinson?
Likely he brought to Atlanta from the Rams.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
It was it was probably the central reason why they
they were really interested in him. Kevin O'Connell's offense, Kevin
O'Connell is a disciple, if you will, of Sean McVay,
and so he has system familiarity, and I'm sure it
was one of the major components that made him really
attractive to them.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
What style of runner is Bjeon Robinson?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
You know, he checks all the boxes, he really does.
But when you go as high as he did in
the draft. Generally you do guys like him, Saquon and others. Man,
when you go that high in the draft as a
running back, and there's been a lot written and said about,
you know the value of backs in the draft, and
so when you got one going that high, rest assured.
(09:58):
He can stop, start, he can stick his foot in
the ground and change directions. He can put together multiple moves.
He has really good contact balance in terms of bouncing
off of tackles. He has bursts that makes them tough
to tackle. He checks all the boxes.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
That's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast. Subscribe and download
new episodes every week and check out all of the
other shows we have to offer on the Steelers Podcast Network.
That's available on the Steelers Mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
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