Mike Tomlin's Stubbornness Hurts Steelers Once Again
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are lucky things aren’t worse for their most recent first-round pick. For the second year in a row, their top draft pick suffered an injury in the preseason. Last year it was offensive lineman Troy Fautanu, costing him the entirety of his rookie year in Pittsburgh. This time around, it’s defensive lineman Derrick Harmon, who exited the preseason finale with a reported knee injury. He will undergo an MRI, and he is expected to miss at least a few weeks.
The injury to a key player once again this year is a disappointing end to the Steelers’ preseason. Harmon was one of the most impressive players on either side of the ball during training camp, earning his way onto the starting defensive unit. His addition to the defense was one of the biggest reasons the depth along the defensive line had improved so drastically.
It begs the question - why was Harmon out there in the first place? The decision to put him and several other starters out in the most meaningless of meaningless games came back to bite head coach Mike Tomlin. Even worse, the injury to Harmon painfully illustrates the dark side of Tomlin’s decision-making and mantra as a head coach. While Tomlin’s gut instincts and toughness are hallmarks of his style, but sometimes those traits give way to stubbornness beyond any reason. Unfortunately, that same mentality is the reason their top rookie sustained an injury in the final game.
There was not one single reason that Tomlin can argue that makes playing Harmon, or any of his other top 30 or so players, acceptable in the final preseason game. Their opponents, the Carolina Panthers, one of the worst teams in the NFL over the past few years, played a junior varsity roster in the preseason finale. There was no offensive lineman for Harmon to match up against, which could have been the scapegoat for playing the rookie.
No, Tomlin can’t even hide behind that potential out. Instead, this injury is a direct reflection and result of Tomlin’s stubbornness. It’s a hallmark of the hard-nosed coach, but it often gets him and his team into troubling situations. The team practiced in a sizzling 100 degree environment for multiple days during training camp, and even as soft tissue injuries piled up as a result, Tomlin pressed on.
It’s the same approach that made playing Harmon such an easy choice for Tomlin. He wanted his top rookie to play every possible rep, no matter what.
The matter now is when will the rookie return to the lineup?
Look, injuries are a part of the sport and can happen to anyone at any time. There’s no way to prove that Harmon wouldn’t have suffered an injury in practice or the regular season opener as well. But Tomlin removed that possibility when he decided to play Harmon when he had no reason or motivation to, other than it was his way of doing things. It’s a painful reminder at the worst time that sometimes a head coach’s stubbornness can be his own worst enemy.
