Coach Mike Tomlin shared his thoughts on the Steelers offseason.<\/p>\n
The Steelers approach to free agency this year has been strikingly similar to what it\u2019s been in the past. It\u2019s a scenario where, if it\u2019s not broken, don\u2019t fix it. It\u2019s an approach the entire organization embraces, including Coach Mike Tomlin who talked about the offseason roster shuffling during the NFL Owners Meetings in Boca Raton, Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are taking our usual approach to it,\u201d said Tomlin. \u201cWe are adding talent via free agency. What we don\u2019t get done in free agency, we intend to get done in the draft from a need standpoint.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than anything, I am pleased that we have been able to retain some of the guys that we retained. They are not only quality players, but quality men and leaders, guys like Ramon Foster and William Gay. It was critical for us to continue to do business with them. It goes beyond knowing the drill, their jobs and knowing what to do. They are Steady Eddies. They utilize their experience for good. Both of them are very efficient at what they do. They are very professional. Really they provide a good example for young guys to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another player that Tomlin was pleased to bring back was receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, a guy who has shown how unselfish he is with the role he has embraced on special teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is endearing himself to us with what he is willing to do since he\u2019s been here, whether it\u2019s at receiver in the passing game or run game, or on special teams,\u201d said Tomlin. \u201cHe has a can-do attitude. He is always positively upbeat. We like doing business with guys like him. We are glad that he is going to be a Steeler for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Free agency hasn\u2019t been about just signing their own, though. With the retirement of tight end Heath Miller the Steelers knew they had a hole to file, and did so with veteran Ladarius Green, a player Tomlin is looking forward to seeing what he adds to the mix.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know the talent,\u201d said Tomlin. \u201cWe played against him last year and prepared for him, and we saw him. We have a lot of respect for his talents. We did good research on him when he came out for the draft. He was a guy that visited with us at our facility prior to that. I thought it was the basis of a relationship. We just quickly got back up to speed with what has been going on with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a talented guy, and I think we are going to discover ways to use him, and I look forward to that process of seeing how he fits and what dimensions he is going to add to us. I am not going into it with any preconceived notions or to try to squeeze him into a box of any kind. More than anything it\u2019s about getting to know him and utilizing his talents within our offense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tomlin also addressed the following topics:<\/p>\n
On replacing Martavis Bryant\u2019s production on the field:<\/em> On if his confidence in Cortez Allen coming back from a knee injury and contributing this year has changed since the end of the season:<\/em> On if he is pleased with Le\u2019Veon Bell\u2019s progress and what his timetable is:<\/em> On how Maurkice Pouncey is progressing:<\/em> Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Coach Mike Tomlin shared his thoughts on the Steelers offseason. The Steelers approach to free agency this year has been strikingly similar to what it\u2019s been in the past. It\u2019s a scenario where, if it\u2019s not broken, don\u2019t fix it. It\u2019s an approach the entire organization embraces, including Coach Mike Tomlin who talked about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u201cWe are going to throw the ball to the open man. Really, it\u2019s just that simple. We\u2019ve played without him in the past. So we are not overly concerned about playing without him in 2016, to be honest with you. We have talent at the position. We\u2019ve acquired talented men at the position. We are excited about the growth and development of Sammie Coates. I am more concerned about him, the man, as I am, him, the contributor to our offense on our football team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cNot at all. It hasn\u2019t. It\u2019s health. I don\u2019t know where his level of health is. I don\u2019t think that any of us do. I am sure we will at some point. I don\u2019t know where he is in terms of his schedule of rehabilitation but I am sure at some point in this process we are going to have a sense of where he is and what he is able to do, those types of things. I just don\u2019t have the answers to that as we sit here today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI am. I don\u2019t have any specific update, in terms of where he is in the process, but Le\u2019Veon doesn\u2019t have bad days. You ask him, he\u2019s ready to go right now. I love that about him. I believe the process is going well for him. I think we need to do what\u2019s right and we\u2019re going to do that. When he\u2019s ready, he\u2019s ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI think that\u2019s going to be determined. What he\u2019s capable of doing and what I allow him to do may be two different things. I haven\u2019t had those discussions or thoughts at this juncture. More than anything, we\u2019ve just been watching some of those guys go through their rehabilitation processes.\u201d<\/p>\n