After the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Christmas Day loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the major topic of discussion was the finger pointing that was occurring around the Steelers locker room.
Head coach Mike Tomlin addressed said internal “bickering” on December 30, and his response didn’t do much to ease the minds of the more frustrated fans.
“You know, I didn’t do much about it, man,” Tomlin answered candidly ahead of Week 18. “They bicker because they care, and we weren’t playing well. And oftentimes the solution is born out of conflict and confrontation, particularly when you’re in the business that we’re in.”
“And so, we’re not gonna let an issue like that be a big issue,” the Steelers HC went on. “It’s really not. Guys expressing truth and working to seek solutions and sometimes emotions are involved in that. And so, most of the time when you get out of those circumstances, you’re able to move on as a collective, and I feel like we certainly have done that.”
Perhaps Tomlin is right to downplay this situation, nipping it in the bud behind the scenes, but his public statement didn’t go over very well either way.
“I’m glad he admits his players are right and he sucks,” one user replied on X, “at least one of them called out coaches for not making any adjustments!!!”
Another commented: “Well not everyone [cares] apparently, judging by the results on the field.”
And a third fan called this “another dysfunctional yap session by tomlin and excuses.”
Finally, one angry response simply read: “They SUCK because they care!”
To be fair, at least one Steelers supporter did defend Tomlin, stating: “That’s the nature of the game 🤷♂️ guys are competitors that hate losing. Can’t be mad at that.”