Steelers Not Involved in Schedule Change Discussions
PITTSBURGH -- Week 4 for the Pittsburgh Steelers is up in the air as of Tuesday evening. When head coach Mike Tomlin took the Zoom stage for his weekly press conference, he and the team were still dealing with the unknowns of their Sunday opponent, the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans have shut down their facilities until at least Saturday after three players and five non-player personnel tested positive for COVID-19 following their Week 3 game in Minnesota.
As of now, the NFL has yet to inform the teams whether or not they will postpone the game from Sunday, but have told the clubs to continue preparing as if the game will proceed on time.
Tomlin confirmed that he and the team hadn't been part of the ongoing discussions regarding the game. Reports have come out on the possibility of moving the game to a later week or later into the week, such as Monday or Tuesday night.
"I'm certain they're pondering the possibilities as they gather information relative to the current circumstance," Tomlin said. "We, or I, specifically haven't been a part of those discussions. We're singularly focused on preparing to play. That's the element of the equation that we can control as we sit here today."
Tomlin and the players have continued to prepare as if it's a normal week despite the possibility of change.
"At times we're challenged and we have to be light on our feet," Tomlin said. "We've openly talked about that as a football team throughout this process. Now, we get an opportunity to live it out."
The head coach said he isn't worried much about traveling to Tennessee while the Titans are dealing with COVID concerns.
"We're going to trust the medical experts," Tomlin said. "If they deem it safe for us to proceed, then we're going to go down there with the intentions of playing and playing to win."
Throughout the offseason, Tomlin pushed for "competitive fairness" amongst teams as they reported to facilities for training camp. The Titans could work off one day of preparation if the game remains scheduled for Sunday, but the Steelers coach preached that all 32 teams have the understanding that these protocols can call for challenges.
"Once we left the station and we got all teams into a training camp-like setting, we as a collective, meaning the National Football League, acknowledge that this COVID environment can be challenging to that," Tomlin said. "We all proceeded with that understanding."
The team will wait to hear on the NFL's final decision for their Week 4 game. Right now, they'll continue throughout a normal week.
"Those discussions are ongoing. That is their charge," Tomlin said on the league's consideration to move the game. "My mentality, our mentality, is we're going to proceed until regularly scheduled until we receive further information."
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
