Catch the ball or face benching, Mike Tomlin tells Steelers' receivers
After watching his eligible targets drop ball after ball in the past two games, Mike Tomlin delivered an ultimatum Tuesday to the Pittsburgh Steelers pass catchers.
“They can catch the ball or they can get replaced by those who will catch it,” Tomlin said a day after the Steelers offense was beset by numerous drops in a 23-17 loss to Washington. “It’s as simple as that.”
Tight end Eric Ebron and second-year receiver Diontae Johnson each dropped multiple passes in the Steelers’ first loss of the season. Johnson also had several drops five days earlier in the Steelers’ 19-14 victory against Baltimore.
Johnson and Ebron were the two most targeted players against Washington, and they caught 15 of 23 passes thrown their way for a combined 139 yards. Ebron, though, dropped two easy passes and couldn’t hold onto another in the end zone.
Johnson has seven drops for the season, according to profootballreference.com, which is tied for fourth-most in the NFL. Ebron has been credited with five drops.
“As I’ve often said, I expect guys to make routine plays routinely,” Tomlin said. “When there is a pattern of that not happening, we’ve got to look at who we’re throwing the ball to.”
The four main receivers on the roster — JuJu Smith-Schuster, rookie Chase Claypool, Johnson and James Washington — were drafted in either the second or third round. Ebron is a former first-round pick, meaning the Steelers have a handful of players whose pass-catching abilities made them early draft targets.
“The coaching of catching the football with those that are employed to do so at this level is not something I’ve got a lot of patience for,” Tomlin said. “It’s not something any of us have a lot of patience for. Those guys’ jobs are to catch the football, particularly the routine ones. Where there is a pattern, you should expect to see less opportunities. That’s just fair. That’s just part of what this business and our game is all about.”
Tomlin expressed disappointment in the running game, which was held to a season-low 21 yards on 14 attempts in the second game without starter James Conner. Tomlin said Conner could be activated from the reserve/covid-19 list along with center Maurkice Pouncey, who also has missed two games because of the virus.
Tomlin had no update on inside linebacker Robert Spillane, who left in the third quarter with a knee injury. He verified that cornerback Joe Haden, who exited in the fourth quarter, is in the concussion protocol.
The Steelers finished the game minus Haden and Steve Nelson, who missed the game with a knee injury. Tomlin said Nelson has a chance to return Sunday night when the Steelers play at 9-3 Buffalo.
Kicker Chris Boswell’s return from a hip injury depends on how he fares in practice this week, Tomlin said. Without Boswell, the Steelers promoted Matthew Wright from the practice squad, and he made his only field-goal attempt from 37 yards but was not given a chance to try a 46-yarder with 4 minutes, 57 seconds remaining.
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Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.
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