When Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke to Bob Labriola of the team’s official site, he was asked about his expectations for his team in Friday night’s preseason game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tomlin answered it perfectly and exactly the way you would hope a coach with his level of experience and success would answer:
Oftentimes people think NFL football is spectacular. Particularly for the guys who are new to us or new to the NFL, I’m looking for them to make routine plays routinely. That’s something that I’ve been harping on. Catch the catchable balls, make throws, and put people in position to run after-the catch. Make tackles, leverage the ball appropriately on defense. Be where you’re supposed to be and looking at what it is you’re supposed to look at. I want to see routine things done at a routine level. And I think that would be a good platform to build upon as we step in and out of this stadium.
This mentality is especially true of guys on the roster bubble. Yes, those big, flashy plays catch the eyes of the fans but the coaches are far more interested in players doing all the little things right and being consistent.
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