Mike Tomlin Comfortable Steelers With Depth At OLB
Mike Tomlin discusses the Pittsburgh Steelers' depth at outside linebacker following T.J. Watt's MCL injury.
Transcript
00:00 >> How is your depth different now at outside linebacker than maybe in previous
00:04 times when you haven't had TJ?
00:05 >> It hadn't been a lot of times where I think about not having TJ,
00:10 to be quite honest with you.
00:12 But we've got depth at that position.
00:14 That's why we went out and thoughtfully acquired our Marcus Golden.
00:18 That's why we drafted Herbie.
00:20 We're as deep at that position as we've been in some time.
00:23 We're comfortable with the quality of depth.
00:26 Johnson has had a helmet for the last number of weeks,
00:30 although his contributions have been primarily on special teams.
00:33 There's another guy at the position that knows what to do that's available to us.
00:37 And so we have an appropriate number of people.
00:39 We have guys that are capable.
00:41 We have guys that have been here.
00:42 We have guys that know what to do.
00:45 So we're gonna utilize all of that.
00:47 >> That committee approach that you referenced in your opening remarks,
00:50 that you lean into those other outside linebackers and
00:54 the guys in front or you potentially be able to get more, not get Casey and
00:59 potentially make it back to Blitz and be more creative from that.
01:03 >> It'll be a mix of all of the above.
01:05 As I mentioned, you got a few lines in the water when you're trying to
01:10 replace the impact of a guy like TJ.
01:13 >> Like when you look at Nick Herbie, what has he shown you,
01:15 especially over the last three weeks, that tells you to keep ready for
01:17 this moment to step in and help out?
01:19 >> Not a lot defensively.
01:20 He's just been a core special teams player, but
01:22 it's beyond the last three weeks.
01:24 He's gotten better over the course of the journey that is the season.