Mike Tomlin Not Worried About Incidents Between Ben Roethlisberger and Todd Haley
By Josh Hill
A storyline that has been brewing in Pittsburgh this season revolves around quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and offensive coordinator Todd Haley and the general distain the two men have for each other. Right out of the gate in Week 1 the two were at each others throats over what Roethlisberger calls the “dink-and-dunk” style of offense that Haley runs.
But in an interview set to air tonight during NBC’s Football Night in America, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told Bob Costas that all is well in Pittsburgh and that he fully expects these little hissy fits to be had by both parties involved. When asked by Costas is he’s picking sides so to speak, or worried that it will be a distraction, Tomlin brushed the whole thing off.
“I don’t know,” Tomlin said in the interview. “I’m usually pretty busy when they get a little down time. I’ve always got guys on the grass, as we say in this business. I’m not worried about those interactions. If it hadn’t happened already, I’m sure at some point it will and it won’t be catastrophic. I’m sure we’ll all move on.”
In fact, if Tomlin had to choose sides, it sounded like he would side at least for the time being with his offensive coordinator Haley. Tomlin made it sound as if he believes the offense being run gives Roethlisberger the chance to minimize his mistakes.
“I think we’re doing a nice job [reigning in Roethlisberger], even in the midst of running the ball as poorly as we are, because we’re minimizing negative plays. And if you minimize the negative plays, that means your quarterback is upright. That’s one of the goals that we had here for this season, along with winning more games than we have to this point.”
As many have pointed out when it comes to this issue, all that matters is winning and that’s exactly what the Steelers are sort of doing at the moment. When the Steelers implode more severely, this issue will become the blame but for now, it’s just a brewing issue from within.