November 23, 2025 • 12 mins
Steelers Digest Editor, Bob Labriola sits down with Head Coach Mike Tomlin ahead of the Steelers Week 12 matchup against the Chicago Bears
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlinking Day Podcast with Steelers Digest editor
Bob Labriola. Okay coach. After injuring his wrist in the
first half last Sunday against the Bengals, Aaron Rodgers wanted
to go back into the game for the start of
the second half. Why did you say to Noe? Why
did you say no to him? In that situation?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
His desire to go back in the game was instant.
The process for clearance was not. We had to take
an MRI of his injury, make sure we had a
good assessment of exactly what it is that we were
dealing with. They certainly had to go through options in
terms of securing it or protecting it in some of
those things, and just from a procedural standpoint, by the
(00:41):
time you get through a lot of those things, we
were deep into the second half. We only had two possessions.
We managed those possessions very well. And so his desire
and logistically coming together with two different things.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So in situations like that, where a starter is injured
during a game, what do you need to hear from
the medical staff before making a decision about whether he
is allowed to go back into that game?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
You know clearance, and sometimes clearance is simply thumbs up
or thumbs down. Sometimes clearance involves medical devices used to
secure an area. Sometimes it may require medicine, and it
might take a certain amount of time for that medicine
to kick in. And so clearance is a loose term
(01:25):
that could mean a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
So against the Bengals, you made the move the Mason Rudolph,
and he came through with a kind of performance that
contributed to a victory. What skill set does Rudolph have
or what skill set that he develop that helps him
with that role?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
You know, it certainly can be developed, but it's also
something that's innate, something that you got to have, and
he certainly has it. And he has an unwavering belief himself.
I've been around him a number of years. Very rarely
we see him shaking or lacking in confidence, and that's
certainly a good gell set to have under those circumstances.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
What else besides the confidence.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
You know, to me, I think that's the most significant thing. Certainly,
he's a sharp guy and he works with extreme urgency
day to day, and I think that positions him for
performance when he's maybe not getting a lot of significant reps,
and so when you have a certain level of maturity,
you're smart enough guy that you can learn from watching
others or learn from a minimal number of snaps. I
(02:25):
think those are the tangible things that potentially elevates performance
under those circumstances. But I'll take the intangible things over
the tangible things one hundred percent of the time. A
guy that doesn't blink, a guy that's capable of it,
is still in confidence in others. A guy that has
belief himself and he checks those boxes.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
What do you remember about Mason during the pre draft
process in twenty eighteen when the team made him a
number three pick, seventy sixth overall from Oklahoma State.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I remember going to Steel Water Force pro day and
feeling his presence not only at that pro day or
but also on campus. He was a big man on campus,
an he ward in a natural way. Everybody liked him
as teammates liked them, service people around the program, et cetera. Uh,
(03:12):
the ladies in the cafeteria. He had that intangible quality
that you look for in the position, and sometimes you
know you can't see that on tape. That's why we
travel so much that's why we put boots on the
ground in places like Steel Water. You spend any length
of time in still Water that day or that couple
of days that I was there, you felt the intangible
(03:34):
power of Mason Rudolph.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
So generally speaking, not just quarterback, but in the in
the pre draft process leading up to a draft, do
when you're evaluating these guys, do you ever come away
with for example, if he's an offensive lineman, you say,
this guy could be a good swing tackle in the league,
or this guy could be a situational pass rushauran on defense,
(04:00):
this guy could be a backup. I mean, do you
come away with that? Or you just pick them and
then see how it shakes out.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I think that the draft grades themselves are an indication
of what you asked. Oftentimes, globally speaking, in the draft,
starter people that are viewed as starters are drafted the
rounds one through three. Core backups and core special teams
(04:28):
players are drafted in four and five, and guys that
have a chance are drafted in six and seven. And
so if you're talking about a guy, identifying the guy's
a swing tackle, he would have a fourth or fifth
round grade on him. For example, now oftentimes guys you know,
outplay those prospects, but globally, I think everyone in our industry,
(04:50):
based on draft grade, they're giving you that indication based
on grade.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I've heard you use the phrase football justice. What do
you mean by football justice? And does it apply to
James Pierre?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
You know, you get in what you get out what
you put in. There's no shortcuts in this business. That's
what I mean when I talk about football justice, and
certainly James Pierre is a reflection of that. He's been
through a lot. He came in as an undrafted in
the COVID Draft. He made the roster as a young man.
(05:24):
Under those circumstances, He's been a core special teams contributor.
He's ascended at times as a defensive player, sometimes with
less success than others. He has worked continually over that
entire process. He's been nothing but available. He's played more
games than any Pittsburgh Steeler since he's been here in
(05:44):
this organization, and he's continually gotten better. And I think
this recent upticking defensive participation is a reflection of just
the overall trajectory of his process. And I viewed a
totality of that as football justice because he is a strong,
mature professional who puts his hand into pile daily and
(06:06):
he deserves the fruit of that labor, and he's getting.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
It, Kate. Today's opponent is the Chicago Bears, led by
their first year coach Ben Johnson, who had been the
offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions. Do you see any
Lions characteristics in these Bears?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Man, I see a lot, which is not surprising. By
the way, this is Ben's first head coach and opportunity,
and so it makes sense that he would bring a
lot of the principles that he's been around. He's been
a part of the turning of a program. They've had
a lot of success there in the trajectory of what's
transpired in Detroit. I'm sure there's a lot of lessons
(06:45):
learned from that. But just looking at his tape, specifically offensively,
you certainly see some parallels. They got a commitment to
the running game. They got a strong perimeter running game
with Swift, the way they did with Gibbs in Detroit.
They do a nice job of taking care of football.
They're really schematically aggressive. They run a lot of gadget plays.
(07:07):
They go for it on fourth down, all the things
that have come to be synonymous with what transpires in
Detroit is really a reflection of Ben's philosophy, and he's
taking it to Chicago.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
The Bears offense averages one hundred and forty six point
six yards rushing per game, that's second in the NFL,
and they average four point nine yards per attempt, which
is sixth in the NFL. What is Ben Johnson's particular
approach to challenging defenses with his running game.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
It starts first and foremost with the perimeter. That rule
they changed several years ago that didn't allow people to
cut on the perimeter corners and so forth is significant
in terms of crack tosses in perimeter running game. They
got a strong perimeter running game, just like they had
in Detroit. That's an asset to him. He runs the
ball on third down probably more than anybody in the
(07:59):
National Football League, and it's an intentional, schematic or strategic
approach to football that adds to their running game prioress
and probably yards per catch. He catches defenses and dying
packages and so forth with small coverage people on the field,
and they run the ball. And lastly, his commitment to gadgets.
His number one gadget is a reverse play, and when
(08:22):
it hits, it hits. If you think about with Williams
and some of those guys in Detroit over the last
several years, Man, the amount of reverses, in the amount
of success they've had running reverses really aids their rushing attack.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Chicago's defense leads the NFL and takeaways with twenty two,
including being number one in the league in interception percentage.
Who are the Bears primary ballhawks and how are.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
They deployed kb Man, that veteran former Tennessee Titan back
there at safety. He's got big time instincts. He's got
the ball at every level that he's participated in. He's
got I think thirty eight or thirty nine career interceptions
in the National Football League. He's got five this year.
I think he had eighteen or so at Middle Tennessee.
(09:07):
It's interesting, man, the guys that that intercept the ball,
they generally have been intercepting the ball all their life,
and I think he's a reflection of that. But a
lot of it has to do with some of the
game circumstances that they're in as well. They get ahead
on people. Their offense is performing very well. They're possessing
the ball, they're running the ball, they're scoring points and
(09:30):
pressure burst pipes. Opposing offenses are having to take the
calculated risks and the effort to fight back or to
keep pace, and with that risk comes reward for the Bears,
and they're reaping it.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
During the last couple of weeks, you have had players
in the concussion protocol. What kind of player in the
concussion protocol do during a regular season week?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
You know, it depends on where they are in the protocol.
You know, it gets to a certain point where they
physical exercise as a component of getting them through the protocol.
And so most of the time, by the time you
get to Wednesday, the first practice day, they're in that
stage where they're working and they're seeing how they're feeling
(10:15):
based on the result of that work, and then you
kind of proceed from there. And so there's several stages
and stuff. I'm not obviously an expert on it. I
follow the expert advice of our medical team, but usually
by Wednesday, if they're not in that working stage, it
doesn't bode well for their participation the following week. Experience
(10:38):
has taught me that if they're in that stage where
their participants, you're taking it day by day. You wait
the Thursday morning to see the results of Wednesday's work
or how they respond it to the Wednesday's work. You
repeat the process on Thursday. Hopefully it's moving in the
right direction. They become asymptomatic. If they're asymptomatic, they take
a concussion test at the end of Friday, and they
(11:01):
generally get clearance. And that's generally how the process goes.
But it's not a cookie cutter in terms of fluidity.
Some people move through it very fluidly, some people don't.
Each case is handled on an individual basis, but that's
kind of the process.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
One of the things you said during your opening statement
to your Tuesday news conference was teams are revealing themselves
this time of year. What is this team revealing about itself?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
You know, I like the depth of our collective. You're
not gonna get really, really far in this journey, particularly
when you get into the single elimination portion of this journey.
If you don't have great depth, oftentimes you can push
through the regular season and not be challenged in that way,
and as a leader, you're somewhat uneasy because it hasn't
(11:50):
been tested. Sometimes you go through the journey and you
got a lot of injuries and it gets tested and
it makes the journey more cumbersome. But as a leader man,
you find comfort in the fact that you know you
have guys that are waiting in the ranks that are
capable of delivering, that have done so, that have experienced
in doing so, that have enough talent to do so.
(12:12):
And that's one of the things that I'm feel feeling
comfortable with this group about. We certainly have been tested
from a depth standpoint in a lot of areas, and
I like what I've seen from a lot of guys.
And as you mentioned, you asked about James Pierre earlier,
he's the latest guy that somewhat of a poster child
of that initiative.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
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. After injuring his wrist in the
first half last Sunday against the Bengals, Aaron Rodgers wanted
to go back into the game for the start of
the second half. Why did you say to Noe? Why
did you say no to him? In that situation?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
His desire to go back in the game was instant.
The process for clearance was not. We had to take
an MRI of his injury, make sure we had a
good assessment of exactly what it is that we were
dealing with. They certainly had to go through options in
terms of securing it or protecting it in some of
those things, and just from a procedural standpoint, by the
(00:41):
time you get through a lot of those things, we
were deep into the second half. We only had two possessions.
We managed those possessions very well. And so his desire
and logistically coming together with two different things.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So in situations like that, where a starter is injured
during a game, what do you need to hear from
the medical staff before making a decision about whether he
is allowed to go back into that game?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
You know clearance, and sometimes clearance is simply thumbs up
or thumbs down. Sometimes clearance involves medical devices used to
secure an area. Sometimes it may require medicine, and it
might take a certain amount of time for that medicine
to kick in. And so clearance is a loose term
(01:25):
that could mean a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
So against the Bengals, you made the move the Mason Rudolph,
and he came through with a kind of performance that
contributed to a victory. What skill set does Rudolph have
or what skill set that he develop that helps him
with that role?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
You know, it certainly can be developed, but it's also
something that's innate, something that you got to have, and
he certainly has it. And he has an unwavering belief himself.
I've been around him a number of years. Very rarely
we see him shaking or lacking in confidence, and that's
certainly a good gell set to have under those circumstances.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
What else besides the confidence.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
You know, to me, I think that's the most significant thing. Certainly,
he's a sharp guy and he works with extreme urgency
day to day, and I think that positions him for
performance when he's maybe not getting a lot of significant reps,
and so when you have a certain level of maturity,
you're smart enough guy that you can learn from watching
others or learn from a minimal number of snaps. I
(02:25):
think those are the tangible things that potentially elevates performance
under those circumstances. But I'll take the intangible things over
the tangible things one hundred percent of the time. A
guy that doesn't blink, a guy that's capable of it,
is still in confidence in others. A guy that has
belief himself and he checks those boxes.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
What do you remember about Mason during the pre draft
process in twenty eighteen when the team made him a
number three pick, seventy sixth overall from Oklahoma State.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I remember going to Steel Water Force pro day and
feeling his presence not only at that pro day or
but also on campus. He was a big man on campus,
an he ward in a natural way. Everybody liked him
as teammates liked them, service people around the program, et cetera. Uh,
(03:12):
the ladies in the cafeteria. He had that intangible quality
that you look for in the position, and sometimes you
know you can't see that on tape. That's why we
travel so much that's why we put boots on the
ground in places like Steel Water. You spend any length
of time in still Water that day or that couple
of days that I was there, you felt the intangible
(03:34):
power of Mason Rudolph.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
So generally speaking, not just quarterback, but in the in
the pre draft process leading up to a draft, do
when you're evaluating these guys, do you ever come away
with for example, if he's an offensive lineman, you say,
this guy could be a good swing tackle in the league,
or this guy could be a situational pass rushauran on defense,
(04:00):
this guy could be a backup. I mean, do you
come away with that? Or you just pick them and
then see how it shakes out.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I think that the draft grades themselves are an indication
of what you asked. Oftentimes, globally speaking, in the draft,
starter people that are viewed as starters are drafted the
rounds one through three. Core backups and core special teams
(04:28):
players are drafted in four and five, and guys that
have a chance are drafted in six and seven. And
so if you're talking about a guy, identifying the guy's
a swing tackle, he would have a fourth or fifth
round grade on him. For example, now oftentimes guys you know,
outplay those prospects, but globally, I think everyone in our industry,
(04:50):
based on draft grade, they're giving you that indication based
on grade.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I've heard you use the phrase football justice. What do
you mean by football justice? And does it apply to
James Pierre?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
You know, you get in what you get out what
you put in. There's no shortcuts in this business. That's
what I mean when I talk about football justice, and
certainly James Pierre is a reflection of that. He's been
through a lot. He came in as an undrafted in
the COVID Draft. He made the roster as a young man.
(05:24):
Under those circumstances, He's been a core special teams contributor.
He's ascended at times as a defensive player, sometimes with
less success than others. He has worked continually over that
entire process. He's been nothing but available. He's played more
games than any Pittsburgh Steeler since he's been here in
(05:44):
this organization, and he's continually gotten better. And I think
this recent upticking defensive participation is a reflection of just
the overall trajectory of his process. And I viewed a
totality of that as football justice because he is a strong,
mature professional who puts his hand into pile daily and
(06:06):
he deserves the fruit of that labor, and he's getting.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
It, Kate. Today's opponent is the Chicago Bears, led by
their first year coach Ben Johnson, who had been the
offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions. Do you see any
Lions characteristics in these Bears?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Man, I see a lot, which is not surprising. By
the way, this is Ben's first head coach and opportunity,
and so it makes sense that he would bring a
lot of the principles that he's been around. He's been
a part of the turning of a program. They've had
a lot of success there in the trajectory of what's
transpired in Detroit. I'm sure there's a lot of lessons
(06:45):
learned from that. But just looking at his tape, specifically offensively,
you certainly see some parallels. They got a commitment to
the running game. They got a strong perimeter running game
with Swift, the way they did with Gibbs in Detroit.
They do a nice job of taking care of football.
They're really schematically aggressive. They run a lot of gadget plays.
(07:07):
They go for it on fourth down, all the things
that have come to be synonymous with what transpires in
Detroit is really a reflection of Ben's philosophy, and he's
taking it to Chicago.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
The Bears offense averages one hundred and forty six point
six yards rushing per game, that's second in the NFL,
and they average four point nine yards per attempt, which
is sixth in the NFL. What is Ben Johnson's particular
approach to challenging defenses with his running game.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
It starts first and foremost with the perimeter. That rule
they changed several years ago that didn't allow people to
cut on the perimeter corners and so forth is significant
in terms of crack tosses in perimeter running game. They
got a strong perimeter running game, just like they had
in Detroit. That's an asset to him. He runs the
ball on third down probably more than anybody in the
(07:59):
National Football League, and it's an intentional, schematic or strategic
approach to football that adds to their running game prioress
and probably yards per catch. He catches defenses and dying
packages and so forth with small coverage people on the field,
and they run the ball. And lastly, his commitment to gadgets.
His number one gadget is a reverse play, and when
(08:22):
it hits, it hits. If you think about with Williams
and some of those guys in Detroit over the last
several years, Man, the amount of reverses, in the amount
of success they've had running reverses really aids their rushing attack.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Chicago's defense leads the NFL and takeaways with twenty two,
including being number one in the league in interception percentage.
Who are the Bears primary ballhawks and how are.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
They deployed kb Man, that veteran former Tennessee Titan back
there at safety. He's got big time instincts. He's got
the ball at every level that he's participated in. He's
got I think thirty eight or thirty nine career interceptions
in the National Football League. He's got five this year.
I think he had eighteen or so at Middle Tennessee.
(09:07):
It's interesting, man, the guys that that intercept the ball,
they generally have been intercepting the ball all their life,
and I think he's a reflection of that. But a
lot of it has to do with some of the
game circumstances that they're in as well. They get ahead
on people. Their offense is performing very well. They're possessing
the ball, they're running the ball, they're scoring points and
(09:30):
pressure burst pipes. Opposing offenses are having to take the
calculated risks and the effort to fight back or to
keep pace, and with that risk comes reward for the Bears,
and they're reaping it.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
During the last couple of weeks, you have had players
in the concussion protocol. What kind of player in the
concussion protocol do during a regular season week?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
You know, it depends on where they are in the protocol.
You know, it gets to a certain point where they
physical exercise as a component of getting them through the protocol.
And so most of the time, by the time you
get to Wednesday, the first practice day, they're in that
stage where they're working and they're seeing how they're feeling
(10:15):
based on the result of that work, and then you
kind of proceed from there. And so there's several stages
and stuff. I'm not obviously an expert on it. I
follow the expert advice of our medical team, but usually
by Wednesday, if they're not in that working stage, it
doesn't bode well for their participation the following week. Experience
(10:38):
has taught me that if they're in that stage where
their participants, you're taking it day by day. You wait
the Thursday morning to see the results of Wednesday's work
or how they respond it to the Wednesday's work. You
repeat the process on Thursday. Hopefully it's moving in the
right direction. They become asymptomatic. If they're asymptomatic, they take
a concussion test at the end of Friday, and they
(11:01):
generally get clearance. And that's generally how the process goes.
But it's not a cookie cutter in terms of fluidity.
Some people move through it very fluidly, some people don't.
Each case is handled on an individual basis, but that's
kind of the process.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
One of the things you said during your opening statement
to your Tuesday news conference was teams are revealing themselves
this time of year. What is this team revealing about itself?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
You know, I like the depth of our collective. You're
not gonna get really, really far in this journey, particularly
when you get into the single elimination portion of this journey.
If you don't have great depth, oftentimes you can push
through the regular season and not be challenged in that way,
and as a leader, you're somewhat uneasy because it hasn't
(11:50):
been tested. Sometimes you go through the journey and you
got a lot of injuries and it gets tested and
it makes the journey more cumbersome. But as a leader man,
you find comfort in the fact that you know you
have guys that are waiting in the ranks that are
capable of delivering, that have done so, that have experienced
in doing so, that have enough talent to do so.
(12:12):
And that's one of the things that I'm feel feeling
comfortable with this group about. We certainly have been tested
from a depth standpoint in a lot of areas, and
I like what I've seen from a lot of guys.
And as you mentioned, you asked about James Pierre earlier,
he's the latest guy that somewhat of a poster child
of that initiative.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
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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