Mum's the word
PITTSBURGH — Fines and flags, punches and puzzlement.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have faced a number of potential distractions since linebacker James Harrison’s helmet-to-helmet hit on Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi last month helped trigger the NFL’s stricter stance against dangerous play. They’ve been fined multiple times, and flagged for a record amount of penalty yardage.
While the Steelers are complaining that the toughened-up rules are being redefined almost weekly, causing confusion about what hits are legal and which will draw punishment, their coach doesn’t want any more debate about what is getting called — and what isn’t.
Tomlin, urging his team to move on, refused Tuesday to criticize the NFL for not suspending Oakland defensive end Richard Seymour or for the Steelers’ club-record 163 yards in penalties during a 35-3 rout of the Raiders on Sunday.
“I don’t have a reaction,” Tomlin of the NFL’s decision only to fine Seymour $25,000 for punching quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. “I tend to focus on the things that are relevant to our team moving forward, and the things that we can control. That doesn’t fall into either category. Really, that is between Richard Seymour and the NFL office.”
Tomlin’s implied message to his players is to focus only on what they can control, beginning with their preparation for Sunday’s game at Buffalo (2-8).
“I know there’s been some heated reaction from players and coaches around the league in terms of how the game is being officiated. Very rarely do I view guys being pleased with officiating when it doesn’t go your way,” Tomlin said. “Such is life, man. We’re not going to worry about those things. We’re going to prepare ourselves for the challenges in front of us.”
Tomlin’s remarks likely were intended to defuse any anger his players felt about Seymour’s punishment consisting only of a fine that is one-third as much as the $75,000 penalty that Harrison paid. While Seymour was ejected for his infraction, Harrison was not penalized for the Massaquoi hit.
Harrison, among others, wondered if the Steelers (7-3) have been more closely scrutinized than other teams since the stricter rule enforcement began. If the Steelers had delivered some of the same hits that Oakland did, Harrison said, “I think there would have been a lot more penalties called, they would have kicked five or six of us out of the game.”
Still, Tomlin hinted he was happy the Steelers didn’t cause the Seymour situation to escalate.
“Emotions are going to get away from you when something like that occurs,” Tomlin said. “You hope something like that never occurs in a football game, but it did. For the most part I thought our guys were able to gather themselves quickly after that sequence of events and get back to what we intended to do, which was playing winning football.”
