As PFT reported last week, the league office circulated a memo to all 32 teams reminding coaches and other personnel that they are not to criticize the officials or other teams. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin got the memo.
Tomlin said today that he won’t criticize Rams safety Mark Barron for the hit that knocked Ben Roethlisberger out for 4-6 weeks, nor will he criticize the officials for not throwing a flag on the hit. Tomlin cited the memo from the league as the reason.
“I’m not going to be critical of the hit or of officiating,” said Tomlin. “You guys know we got a letter [from the league office] a week ago stressing not to do that. So I’m not.”
There did not appear to be any ill intent in Barron hitting Roethlisberger, and Roethlisberger still had the ball when he got hit, so Barron wouldn’t have been in violation of the Carson Palmer/Tom Brady rules protecting quarterbacks from getting hit in the knee area after they’ve thrown a pass. Losing Roethlisberger is a rough break for the Steelers, but Tomlin is right not to complain.