Tomlin Tuesday - 1/5/21

By: Michael Stiffler, @Stiffeezy_ on Twitter

SteelerNation.com

It is Wildcard Weekend for the Pittsburgh Steelers and they will be hosting none other than the Cleveland Browns. This will be their third time meeting in the playoffs with the last matchup being January 5th, 2003. The Steelers are 2-0 in those matchups and 1-1 on the 2020 season, even though the Steelers sat players in their Week 17 matchup.

Mike Tomlin opened his press conference as usual giving an overview of last week's game. He stated they didn't do enough to get it done but he did like their efforts. He highlighted Nick Chubb's performance with the big runs he produced, stating they will need to minimize him and Kareem Hunt this time around. He also highlighted Baker Mayfield's playmaking with his legs that gave the Steelers issues last week, and they will need to do better in their pass rush and containment. He did indicate that the last game could give the Steelers an interesting choice on who to make active this week, later discussing Josh Dobbs might be active in addition to Mason Rudolph.

Tomlin went into injuries, in particular Terrell Edmunds and Chris Boswell saying they anticipate them working their way back. Also he talked about guys having the ability to come off IR like Robert Spillane and Matt Feiler but did not indicate if they would immediately step back into their starting roles given the performances of Kevin Dotson and Avery Williamson. He did not provide any clear update on the players currently on the COVID list.

In regards to the big COVID-19 news out of Cleveland where head coach Kevin Stefanski and others tested positive, Tomlin says his routine has been unchanged where he wakes up at 6:00am and checks his phone to see where they stand on the previous day's tests and how they need to adjust. When asked if he was nervous about those individuals from Cleveland being in close proximity, he stated he has faith in the protocols the Steelers and the league have in place.

Watch the full press conference below.

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