Tomlin explains his failure to commit to Big Ben

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on September 19, 2010, 11:14 AM EDT

In the days preceding the start of the regular season, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin declined to commit to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger upon his return from a four-game suspension.

Earlier this week, Tomlin explained his reasoning for refusing to tell Adam Schein and Rich Gannon of Sirius NFL Radio what everyone believes — that Big Ben won’t be on the bench when he comes back.

“I’ll answer why I answered it that way,” Tomlin said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “In
order for us to see our way out of this situation, we need to have a
one-foot-in-front-of-the-other mentality. We need to be singularly
focused on what’s in front of us. That’s the only way we’re going to
work ourselves out of this situation.

“As the leader of the outfit, I’m going to subscribe to that as well.
I refuse to ponder the potential or hypothetical scenarios that wait
for us at the end of this situation. I’m in the midst of it. I’m living
it, like our football team is.”

Setting aside the question of why Tomlin didn’t simply say this when asked the original question by Schein, we don’t understand how acknowledging that Roethlisberger remains the No. 1 quarterback distracts the team from trying to win its first four games — unless Tomlin is trying to wave a vague carrot in front of Dennis Dixon, hinting that maybe he’ll have a chance to keep the job if he takes the team to a 4-0 start.

Even if he doesn’t.

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7 Responses to “Tomlin explains his failure to commit to Big Ben”

Bubby Brister says: Sep 19, 2010 11:26 AM

Reading way too much into things as usual.
Tomlin’s story adds up. I think Dennis is well aware of what his place is after the way he was treated like a red-headed stepchild throughout the preseason.
DonnyBoy says: Sep 19, 2010 11:50 AM

How do any of us know if Rapeandbugger will rape another girl or two in the next month?
Eventually he won’t be able to buy his way out of the charges.
Tomlin is simply hedging his bet.
NFLMMAfan says: Sep 19, 2010 11:50 AM

Dixon has too much talent to be rotting on the Steelers bench. Look for him to be elsewhere soon.
SDMF75 says: Sep 19, 2010 11:58 AM

You’re a little late on this story Mike. Old news….
DerekLutz says: Sep 19, 2010 11:59 AM

What coach ever talks about any game or situation other than the game in front of them that week?
No. 7, barring him losing his mind or another noggin bashing, will be on the field after the bye week.
stiller43 says: Sep 19, 2010 12:02 PM

He said this in his press conference on Tuesday…catch up to the times.
Richm2257 says: Sep 19, 2010 12:13 PM

Tomlin ought to simply go with the QB who can keep his stick in his pants the longest …… you know, the one who’ll most likely not be suspended.

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Tomlin explains his failure to commit to Big Ben