October 12, 2025 • 12 mins
Steelers Digest Editor, Bob Labriola sits down with Head Coach Mike Tomlin ahead of the Steelers Week 6 matchup against the Cleveland Browns
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlin Gen Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay, coach, I'd let to start with
your impression of the atmosphere at Croke Park for the
first NFL regular season game in Ireland. How did it
compare it to a regular season game in the United States?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
You know, it was it was special, for lack of
a better description, on a lot of fronts. First of all,
I was amazed at what a horizontal city Dublin is,
you know, I kept expecting to come into downtown Dublin
and see some skyscrapers and so forth. The stadium was
the biggest thing in sight, and the number of fans
(00:38):
just along the side, walking in the pubs and so forth.
When the closer you got to the stadium and it
was probably just as many people outside the stadium all
day as it was inside the stadium. It was an
unbelievable environment. And within the stadium, just their level of
engagement at everything all game was really awesome, humbling experience
(01:00):
to be a part of.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Certainly, did you get the sense that the fans inside
the stadium really understood the sport based on how they
were reacting and acting.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
At times, Yes, it's at times I think they were
just excited, you know what I mean the level of
engagement you felt, But I don't know that you felt
the astute awareness sometimes that you feel in stadiums regarding
certain circumstances. But it was an awesome atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Nonetheless, in terms of the on the field back and
forth in the win over Minnesota, how much of an
impact was Aaron Rodgers's ability to utilize cadence and then
also to go late into the play clock before snapping
the ball when it came to deciphering what Brian Flores
was trying to do with disguising his defense.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
You know, it certainly was helpful in stadium, but I
tell you, I think his reputation for those things that
you mentioned probably was the most help I think schematically,
Coach Flores was less aggressive than he normally is, and
no question that that was one of the core reasons
I presume why Aaron has a reputation for handling a
(02:10):
lot of things at the line of scrimmage, for weaponizing cadence,
for getting in and out of perfect plays and so forth.
And I think largely Coach Flores didn't want to test that,
and so he was a less schematically aggressive than many
weeks that you see as units perform.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Another asset Aaron Rodgers is said to have is that
he quote operates on Timequote What does that mean and
how does that help an offense?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
He moves with great fluidity through his progression, sometimes deciphering
components of the progression prior to the snap, prior to
getting the ball in his hands, and all of that
leads to fluidity and operation time he gets the ball
out quick. There's a thing that we call him this
business TTT time to throw. His time to throw is
(02:55):
elite and usually it means this ability to process defense
and deliver the ball and delivered the ball to the
correct target. And as I mentioned, you know, it's not
only about pure progression for him. His ability to eliminate
potential throws or options prior to even the ball snapping,
because he just is great at gathering information of a
(03:16):
variety of ways aids in that TTT.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
During your Tuesday news conference, in going over the injury situation,
you said that Jalen Ramsey and Calvin Austin had been
really aggressive with the rehabilitation during the bye. What does
it mean to be aggressive with rehabilitation.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Simply time spent. I've seen those guys in a building
quite a bit. We're not paid by the hour is
a cliche that we use in this thing, and I
think it's reflective of those guys attitude regarding rehabilitation. They
were really aggressive, man. They spent a lot of time
with our training and rehab staffs, and I think it's
been helpful.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
With Calvin Austin inactive today. What the Roman Wilson and
or Scottie Miller having their repertoire that can enable them
to help fill that void.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
They're talented guys, and particularly in the case of Rome
and he just simply lacks experience. But the only way
to get experience is to play, and so he's worked
extremely hard. I've been pleased with his progress generally in
terms of his growth and development. He has more good
days than bad. Opportunities like this man are big for
young developing players. Oftentimes we say one man's misfortune is
(04:26):
another man's opportunity, and you're looking at it today in
terms of those two guys getting an opportunity to step
up and elevate their roles within what we do offensively.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
You know, you all often talk about expecting a big
jump from players in their second seasons. That's Roman Wilson.
That's a description of him. He is in his second season.
What have you seen from him?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I've seen dramatic growth and development in him day to day.
It hadn't necessarily panned out in stadium, but again I
watched day to day. I know that what happens day
to day invariably turns up stadium, and so it's simply
a matter of time. And sometimes it takes an opportunity
such as this, the lack of availability of Calvin Austin
to generate on that. He's had really good days, He's
(05:13):
really good in the preseason, and so it's it's a
natural progression from my perspective.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Today's opponent is the Cleveland Browns. In assessing their offense,
you mentioned that they're in their interior offensive lineman center
Ethan Possis and guard Joel Botonio and Wyatt Teller set
the pace for that unit. How can it and an
interior offensive line set the pace for the unit? And
how does that trio do it? Specifically?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
You know, in terms of volume, non situational moments, man
the core of their run game is centered around that group.
They'll zone scheme you, they'll gap scheme you, they pull
both guards. Those guys are experienced individually and collectively, and
so in non situational moments, the vast majority of their
plays run through the exploits of those guys, uational moments,
(06:01):
passing circumstances, and so forth. They just really solid up
the middle, and when you have a short quarterback man,
you need a group that's really solid up the middle
for clarity and so forth. I just think that oftentimes
in general football discussions, we spend a lot of time
talking about eligibles passers, runners, receivers, and so forth, and
there's certainly a lot to talk about regarding Cleveland. They
(06:22):
got a lot of interesting and exciting young people that
are playing significant roles for them, but quietly behind the scenes.
Man Pasik, Teller, Butotonio or they're the nuts and boats
of that unit, not only in terms of talent but experience.
And you'll feel that they're a very good short yardage
team because the short yardage runs through the center and
(06:43):
the guards, and so there's a lot of situational moments,
some subtle, some not so subtle, where their talent and
experience comes to the forefront, and I'm just not going
to allow our team or our defensive unit to miss
the forest for the trees.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
When it comes to how the Browns you tight end
David and Joku, plus his importance to their offense, is
he similar to how the Ravens utilize Mark Andrews and
his importance to Baltimore's offense.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
He's adding then some To be quite honest with you,
he certainly does the verticals things that Mark andrew does,
runs deep overs and seams. He's a red zone target.
I remember we played both teams last year. Both of
those guys had three four to five game streaks with
they had caught touchdowns in a row. But the different
component of his game is the tight end screen game.
(07:34):
In the checkdown game, he is a weapon after the catch.
In some of those low risk propositions, they throw tight
end screens on second and long to him and they
get back to third and manageable. You get in long
yarded situations, they get in max pro they dump him checkdowns,
and oftentimes you know, you've seen a lot of highlights
of him dragging smaller defenders and running and over and
(07:57):
through secondaries and the effort to create yards after the catch.
I think his run after catch is something that distinguishes
him in that comparison and discussion regarding his relevance to
his unit.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Brown's head coach Kevin Stefanski calls the offensive plays. What
kind of a play caller is he? And is it
different when it's the head coach who's the play caller
as opposed to a coordinator.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You know, I don't know the differences, particularly as it
pertains to when that unit's on the field. There's certainly
some consequences in terms of the totality of dealing with
all three phases, but specifically in terms of dealing with
the offense. I doubt there's very little differences in terms
of describing him as a play caller. He's practical, As
Kevin Kolber would say, if he's got red paint, he
(08:43):
paints his barn red. He's not going to expose that
young quarterback to too much. He's gonna play behind that
interior offensive line that I mentioned earlier. He's gonna let
that runner try to control the game, and he's gonna
take calculated risks associated with producing victy. He is very practical.
I've known Kevin a long time. We work together in
(09:05):
Minnesota in two thousand and six. He's a hell of
a football coach. He is going to work to accentuate
the strengths of the unit individually and collectively, and he's
certainly gonna do a nice job of minimizing things in
areas where they may fall short.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Besides Miles Garrett, who is Cleveland's key guy or key
guys on defense.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I'd say Delpit secondarily because he does so much. He
plays safety on first and second down. He's a good
blitzer and run circumstances, oftentimes they bring him off the
edge on the open side. He plays dime linebacker on
third down or in passing circumstances. He's capable of playing
(09:45):
big nickel when you got a tight end that's a
challenge for linebackers to cover in twelve personnel. He'll come
down and so he'll cover a tight end like John
Who on first and second down when they're a man
the man from the nickel position. His versetility and all
the things that he does for them really makes me
want to highlight him as the number two guy because
(10:08):
of all the things that he does. He's also the
personal protector on the punt team to speak to his versatility,
and obviously Denzel Ward is a top notch global corner
and who has done it at a high level for
a long time.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Is there such a thing as October football in the NFL?
And if so, how is it different than September football?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
You know, you should see those that lack experience gaining experience.
And so I think, you know, if you put a
gun to my head and made me describe October football,
particularly in the special teams game, Guys like Carson Brunner
and Jack Sawyer, they're not wet behind the ears anymore.
(10:49):
They've been in some circumstances and it's reasonable to expect
them to display that awareness in that snap experience. I
think that's what October is about. Though, those that are
going to do it and be able to sustain in
our business for a significant period of time, their experience
and the lessons that they're learning from September is starting
to show. And those that don't learn lessons, their lack
(11:13):
of progress starts to show. And as coaches and leaders
and decision makers, people who divide the labor up, we
better recognize those that are elevating and those that aren't.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Your record in games played the weekend following the bye
is fourteen and four. What do you think has led
to that kind of success.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I don't know, man, it must have been four failures.
To be honest with you, I'm trying to win in
all circumstances. I'm trying to do what's best for our unit.
Each bye week sometimes dictates different behavior. A lot of
things factor into it, the age and experience or lackter
of or your collective, the level of health of your
(11:53):
collective when the bye week falls in the calendar. And
so all of those games that you mentioned, they all
have their own individual stories. And if I'm doing my job,
I'm teeing the group up relative to that specific thing.
And so you know, that's what I'm always trying to do.
And so when I hear that, I think about four failures.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
That's the Mike Tomlin Show, brought to you by your
neighborhood Ford Store. The F one fifty is the official
truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm Bob Labriola, Rob King,
Max Starks, and Missy Matthews are next. As we countdown
to kick off, you're listening to the Pittsburgh Steelers Audio Network,
He's the Mike Tomlin Gen Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay, coach, I'd let to start with
your impression of the atmosphere at Croke Park for the
first NFL regular season game in Ireland. How did it
compare it to a regular season game in the United States?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
You know, it was it was special, for lack of
a better description, on a lot of fronts. First of all,
I was amazed at what a horizontal city Dublin is,
you know, I kept expecting to come into downtown Dublin
and see some skyscrapers and so forth. The stadium was
the biggest thing in sight, and the number of fans
(00:38):
just along the side, walking in the pubs and so forth.
When the closer you got to the stadium and it
was probably just as many people outside the stadium all
day as it was inside the stadium. It was an
unbelievable environment. And within the stadium, just their level of
engagement at everything all game was really awesome, humbling experience
(01:00):
to be a part of.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Certainly, did you get the sense that the fans inside
the stadium really understood the sport based on how they
were reacting and acting.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
At times, Yes, it's at times I think they were
just excited, you know what I mean the level of
engagement you felt, But I don't know that you felt
the astute awareness sometimes that you feel in stadiums regarding
certain circumstances. But it was an awesome atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Nonetheless, in terms of the on the field back and
forth in the win over Minnesota, how much of an
impact was Aaron Rodgers's ability to utilize cadence and then
also to go late into the play clock before snapping
the ball when it came to deciphering what Brian Flores
was trying to do with disguising his defense.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
You know, it certainly was helpful in stadium, but I
tell you, I think his reputation for those things that
you mentioned probably was the most help I think schematically,
Coach Flores was less aggressive than he normally is, and
no question that that was one of the core reasons
I presume why Aaron has a reputation for handling a
(02:10):
lot of things at the line of scrimmage, for weaponizing cadence,
for getting in and out of perfect plays and so forth.
And I think largely Coach Flores didn't want to test that,
and so he was a less schematically aggressive than many
weeks that you see as units perform.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Another asset Aaron Rodgers is said to have is that
he quote operates on Timequote What does that mean and
how does that help an offense?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
He moves with great fluidity through his progression, sometimes deciphering
components of the progression prior to the snap, prior to
getting the ball in his hands, and all of that
leads to fluidity and operation time he gets the ball
out quick. There's a thing that we call him this
business TTT time to throw. His time to throw is
(02:55):
elite and usually it means this ability to process defense
and deliver the ball and delivered the ball to the
correct target. And as I mentioned, you know, it's not
only about pure progression for him. His ability to eliminate
potential throws or options prior to even the ball snapping,
because he just is great at gathering information of a
(03:16):
variety of ways aids in that TTT.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
During your Tuesday news conference, in going over the injury situation,
you said that Jalen Ramsey and Calvin Austin had been
really aggressive with the rehabilitation during the bye. What does
it mean to be aggressive with rehabilitation.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Simply time spent. I've seen those guys in a building
quite a bit. We're not paid by the hour is
a cliche that we use in this thing, and I
think it's reflective of those guys attitude regarding rehabilitation. They
were really aggressive, man. They spent a lot of time
with our training and rehab staffs, and I think it's
been helpful.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
With Calvin Austin inactive today. What the Roman Wilson and
or Scottie Miller having their repertoire that can enable them
to help fill that void.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
They're talented guys, and particularly in the case of Rome
and he just simply lacks experience. But the only way
to get experience is to play, and so he's worked
extremely hard. I've been pleased with his progress generally in
terms of his growth and development. He has more good
days than bad. Opportunities like this man are big for
young developing players. Oftentimes we say one man's misfortune is
(04:26):
another man's opportunity, and you're looking at it today in
terms of those two guys getting an opportunity to step
up and elevate their roles within what we do offensively.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
You know, you all often talk about expecting a big
jump from players in their second seasons. That's Roman Wilson.
That's a description of him. He is in his second season.
What have you seen from him?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
I've seen dramatic growth and development in him day to day.
It hadn't necessarily panned out in stadium, but again I
watched day to day. I know that what happens day
to day invariably turns up stadium, and so it's simply
a matter of time. And sometimes it takes an opportunity
such as this, the lack of availability of Calvin Austin
to generate on that. He's had really good days, He's
(05:13):
really good in the preseason, and so it's it's a
natural progression from my perspective.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Today's opponent is the Cleveland Browns. In assessing their offense,
you mentioned that they're in their interior offensive lineman center
Ethan Possis and guard Joel Botonio and Wyatt Teller set
the pace for that unit. How can it and an
interior offensive line set the pace for the unit? And
how does that trio do it? Specifically?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
You know, in terms of volume, non situational moments, man
the core of their run game is centered around that group.
They'll zone scheme you, they'll gap scheme you, they pull
both guards. Those guys are experienced individually and collectively, and
so in non situational moments, the vast majority of their
plays run through the exploits of those guys, uational moments,
(06:01):
passing circumstances, and so forth. They just really solid up
the middle, and when you have a short quarterback man,
you need a group that's really solid up the middle
for clarity and so forth. I just think that oftentimes
in general football discussions, we spend a lot of time
talking about eligibles passers, runners, receivers, and so forth, and
there's certainly a lot to talk about regarding Cleveland. They
(06:22):
got a lot of interesting and exciting young people that
are playing significant roles for them, but quietly behind the scenes.
Man Pasik, Teller, Butotonio or they're the nuts and boats
of that unit, not only in terms of talent but experience.
And you'll feel that they're a very good short yardage
team because the short yardage runs through the center and
(06:43):
the guards, and so there's a lot of situational moments,
some subtle, some not so subtle, where their talent and
experience comes to the forefront, and I'm just not going
to allow our team or our defensive unit to miss
the forest for the trees.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
When it comes to how the Browns you tight end
David and Joku, plus his importance to their offense, is
he similar to how the Ravens utilize Mark Andrews and
his importance to Baltimore's offense.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
He's adding then some To be quite honest with you,
he certainly does the verticals things that Mark andrew does,
runs deep overs and seams. He's a red zone target.
I remember we played both teams last year. Both of
those guys had three four to five game streaks with
they had caught touchdowns in a row. But the different
component of his game is the tight end screen game.
(07:34):
In the checkdown game, he is a weapon after the catch.
In some of those low risk propositions, they throw tight
end screens on second and long to him and they
get back to third and manageable. You get in long
yarded situations, they get in max pro they dump him checkdowns,
and oftentimes you know, you've seen a lot of highlights
of him dragging smaller defenders and running and over and
(07:57):
through secondaries and the effort to create yards after the catch.
I think his run after catch is something that distinguishes
him in that comparison and discussion regarding his relevance to
his unit.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Brown's head coach Kevin Stefanski calls the offensive plays. What
kind of a play caller is he? And is it
different when it's the head coach who's the play caller
as opposed to a coordinator.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You know, I don't know the differences, particularly as it
pertains to when that unit's on the field. There's certainly
some consequences in terms of the totality of dealing with
all three phases, but specifically in terms of dealing with
the offense. I doubt there's very little differences in terms
of describing him as a play caller. He's practical, As
Kevin Kolber would say, if he's got red paint, he
(08:43):
paints his barn red. He's not going to expose that
young quarterback to too much. He's gonna play behind that
interior offensive line that I mentioned earlier. He's gonna let
that runner try to control the game, and he's gonna
take calculated risks associated with producing victy. He is very practical.
I've known Kevin a long time. We work together in
(09:05):
Minnesota in two thousand and six. He's a hell of
a football coach. He is going to work to accentuate
the strengths of the unit individually and collectively, and he's
certainly gonna do a nice job of minimizing things in
areas where they may fall short.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Besides Miles Garrett, who is Cleveland's key guy or key
guys on defense.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I'd say Delpit secondarily because he does so much. He
plays safety on first and second down. He's a good
blitzer and run circumstances, oftentimes they bring him off the
edge on the open side. He plays dime linebacker on
third down or in passing circumstances. He's capable of playing
(09:45):
big nickel when you got a tight end that's a
challenge for linebackers to cover in twelve personnel. He'll come
down and so he'll cover a tight end like John
Who on first and second down when they're a man
the man from the nickel position. His versetility and all
the things that he does for them really makes me
want to highlight him as the number two guy because
(10:08):
of all the things that he does. He's also the
personal protector on the punt team to speak to his versatility,
and obviously Denzel Ward is a top notch global corner
and who has done it at a high level for
a long time.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Is there such a thing as October football in the NFL?
And if so, how is it different than September football?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
You know, you should see those that lack experience gaining experience.
And so I think, you know, if you put a
gun to my head and made me describe October football,
particularly in the special teams game, Guys like Carson Brunner
and Jack Sawyer, they're not wet behind the ears anymore.
(10:49):
They've been in some circumstances and it's reasonable to expect
them to display that awareness in that snap experience. I
think that's what October is about. Though, those that are
going to do it and be able to sustain in
our business for a significant period of time, their experience
and the lessons that they're learning from September is starting
to show. And those that don't learn lessons, their lack
(11:13):
of progress starts to show. And as coaches and leaders
and decision makers, people who divide the labor up, we
better recognize those that are elevating and those that aren't.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Your record in games played the weekend following the bye
is fourteen and four. What do you think has led
to that kind of success.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I don't know, man, it must have been four failures.
To be honest with you, I'm trying to win in
all circumstances. I'm trying to do what's best for our unit.
Each bye week sometimes dictates different behavior. A lot of
things factor into it, the age and experience or lackter
of or your collective, the level of health of your
(11:53):
collective when the bye week falls in the calendar. And
so all of those games that you mentioned, they all
have their own individual stories. And if I'm doing my job,
I'm teeing the group up relative to that specific thing.
And so you know, that's what I'm always trying to do.
And so when I hear that, I think about four failures.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
That's the Mike Tomlin Show, brought to you by your
neighborhood Ford Store. The F one fifty is the official
truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm Bob Labriola, Rob King,
Max Starks, and Missy Matthews are next. As we countdown
to kick off, you're listening to the Pittsburgh Steelers Audio Network,
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