Mike McCarthy Puts Steelers Entire Roster on Notice

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers are a 2-2 football team that doesn't look consistent, physical or like a winning program. Right now, there are serious concerns about how the 2026 season is going to continue to unfold if something doesn't change.

Head coach Mike McCarthy knows this.

During his weekly press conference, McCarthy got honest about the struggles of the Steelers through four games and how it needs to change, starting with him. And the way he's looking to go about it is by finding all of the problems and fixing them, or "cleaning" them, as he says.

"You have to play your best football each and every week to win in this league. Definitely play better than your opponent," McCarthy said about the lack of consistency with the team. "So that's really part of why we're going about tomorrow the way we're going about it because we need to clean our own house. Our house is not clean right now. And I get it, it's Week 5. So, you're hard-pressed to find a team or two that feels really good about where they are right now. That's the norm. So we're going to stay after the focus of what we need to work on. So that's what this weekend was about for me, and we've been working on it as a coaching staff, and we'll have clear factors of what we need to do as far as cleaning our house and then we'll get ready to go beat Indianapolis. That's the plan."

Cleaning House Doesn't Mean Cleaning House

McCarthy didn't say they need to "clean our own house" and mean that it's time to sell the farm. He's not looking to replace everyone and have a fire sale before the trade deadline.

What he meant was that it's time to improve. It's time for the group as a whole to play better and more consistently. And it's time to find out who can meet that challenge and who can't, because those who cannot will be replaced. He's already started to do that.

Rookie Robert Spears-Jennings replaced Rayshawn Jenkins at safety, and it doesn't appear that's going to go back to Jenkins starting. Jenkins has struggled, and Pittsburgh decided it was time for something new.

The same thing happened at cornerback against the Cincinnati Bengals and at offensive tackle and guard in the same game.

McCarthy is open to change. He understands the urgency of it. And if players can't fix their problems, he clearly has no issue pulling them and trying someone new.

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 3 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

So, the Steelers better improve or watch out. Their head coach is here to fix things, not let the ship sink. And that means everyone is on notice.

McCarthy is ready to clean the house, even if step one is cleaning from the inside.

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