Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin received some high praise recently from his leader and quarterback on defense; Patrick Queen. Queen saw some issues with Pittsburgh's defense and recently opened up about how Tomlin helped him point out the problems he was seeing on the field, while also keeping his cool. Queen admitted in his praise for Tomlin that he has a tendency to get frustrated and blow up over things rather than humbly pointing out things he is noticing and correcting them in a professional manner. Queen praised his head coach for being the engineer of him finding his voice while staying calm.
Alysa Rubin / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen sacks Minnesota Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz during Pittsburgh's 24-21 win at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland.
Queen admitted that there have been times this season where he was not feeling confident in play calls. Queen pointed out that he did not feel the defense was playing to its strengths, whether that was a schematic or matchup issue that he was noticing on the field. While Queen had these feelings, he did not know how to fully and professionally express them to Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin.
On Thursday, Queen opened up about how that mindset has changed in the past month and a half while speaking on Thursday in a post-practice interview with Chris Carter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Queen, who is 26 years old, is definitely a younger player in terms of age and NFL service time. Queen's inability to communicate these issues properly should not come as a surprise, but he made sure that it is now well-known that the19-year veteran in Tomlin was the driving force in helping him to correct the way in which he expressed his concerns about the Steelers' defense to the coaching staff.
“That was the biggest thing me and Mike T talked about,” Queen explained. “We had to have a way of us communicating without me getting extremely mad about stuff. That was the biggest thing — me learning, going through that process, being able to talk to the coaches, and try to get an understanding between what we see as players and what they feel as coaches to get on the same page.”
Queen feels a greater sense of confidence since that conversation occurred, which is critical for the Steelers' success; especially later on in the season. The Steelers will go against a potent and versatile Detroit Lions offense in Week 16, so Queen being able to be more vocal while expressing his concerns in the correct manner is significant as the Steelers enter the stretch run of the 2025 season looking to win an AFC North division title.
Karl Roster / Pittsburgh Steelers
Patrick Queen and Joey Porter Jr. on the field during the Steelers' 35-25 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 8 of the 2025 NFL Season.
Steelers' Communication Will Be Key Down Stretch
The Steelers will benefit greatly from this conversation had by Tomlin and Queen, which can be pivotal if they go on the road to beat the Lions in Week 16. The Lions feature a two-man backfield, with running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs.
They also feature two explosive wide receivers in Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown. This will present a dynamic challenge to the Pittsburgh defense, a unit that has allowed teams to score 23.3 points per game and ranks 18th best in the NFL in that category. This is a regression for that unit, who ranked 10th in points allowed in 2022, sixth in 2023, and eighth in 2024.
Queen's vocal leadership will be critical for the Steelers, as they will again be without linebacker TJ Watt, who sustained a lung injury before their Week 16 matchup against the Miami Dolphins. The Steelers will also be without linebacker Nick Herbig, who has been having a breakout season for Pittsburgh in 2025. Herbig, who is just 24 years old, has set his career-high in sacks with six and a half in 2025, and has also forced three fumbles.
Aaron Anastasia / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' outside linebackers TJ Watt and Nick Herbig celebrating after making a play.
No one will probably ever know the full context of the conversation between Queen and Tomlin, but it certainly seems that the conversation has helped. In seven games since the Steelers’ Oct. 26 loss to the Packers, they have been better, allowing 21.6 points per game, which is the timeframe in which it is speculated Queen spoke with Tomlin.
This rate would rank 12th in the NFL and be only 0.7 points out of the Top 10 if it were held all season. The Steelers would definitely welcome that trend to continue in Week 16 at the Lions, an offense that is the NFL's best when it comes to scoring.
Do you think this conversation between Tomlin and Queen has helped improve the Steelers' defense of late? Let us know in the comments below!
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