Buccaneers 17, Steelers 14
MIKE TOMLIN: You know, there is nothing really mystical at all about the outcome of games. We determine how games unfold. Taking nothing from the Bucs. We have had a couple good days work with those guys. Respect Coach Bowles and their program, but it was self-inflicted wounds for us tonight that determined the outcome of the game.
You turn the ball over you're going to reduce your chances of winning. Thought we stalled a lot of drives offensively with penalties that put us behind the sticks and out is in less an advantageous possession down. I think we were 0-5 at the half as an example of that.
Got a penalty, roughing the kicker. They were settling for 3 and put them back on the field and eventually got a touchdown. You lose games when things like that happen. We lost leverage in the red zone and some passes there early on allowed them to score 7, and we got make people settle for 3 on the short field. We spend too much time working in the short field. We understand how important leverage is in that space, but we didn't execute it.
So there will be a lot to learn obviously from this game because of that. There certainly were some positive things. I thought several players took a step forward, two young guys in particular. Harmon and Kaleb Johnson really took a step forward off their first performance.
Again, that's a reasonable thing to expect. The second time stepping into a stadium you see more of their talents. I think we talked about that a couple days ago in anticipation of the game.
From a health standpoint, Christian Kuntz had a chest injury that's being evaluated. Gareth Warren is being evaluated for a concussion. Then we got some other bumps and bruises associated with play, many of which worked their way back into the game.
Working on a short week. Get ready to get to Carolina to finish off our in-stadium preseason work.
We'll work with extreme urgency, but for us, a major component of that is analyzing the self-inflicted wounds that were really kind of characteristic tonight and hadn't been us throughout this process. It was definitively us tonight the.
Pause and open up for questions.
Q. Mike, did you like what you saw from Roman Wilson, and can he become or is he becoming a viable threat in the pass game?
MIKE TOMLIN: He's had a good camp and he's backed that up with some quality in-stadium play. Feel good about the overall trajectory of him. We got another game in a couple more weeks and that time is critical for a young guy, so he has to keep his foot on the gas and keep working.
Q. Was Kaleb, anything specific that you really liked about his game, especially that third quarter?
MIKE TOMLIN: I just thought we saw more of his talents this time around, and that's a reasonable expectation. He's been in the stadium. The mystique of it is over. As people get settled in and more comfortable with their roles in this NFL environment, I think you'll see more of their talents. Just felt like we saw more of his talent tonight.
Q. Did you see a little bit of what you wanted to see from Kaleb Johnson?
MIKE TOMLIN: Yes.
Q. What do you think about the progress so far of the offensive line?
MIKE TOMLIN: I like the overall trajectory it. Again, as I mentioned, the same discussion with Roman. That's a young collective. You know, bunch of second year, third year types. So like each and every day from a developmental standpoint is critical.
We got another in-stadium opportunity, several more weeks of work. I expect them to continue to utilize that and continue to evolve individually and collectively.
Q. Is Logan a guy (indiscernible) as a long snapper, and would you have to sign somebody if Christian can't come back?
MIKE TOMLIN: You know, I am not ready to talk hypotheticals regarding Christina. I think we got some good news there. I certainly was pleased with the work that Logan gave us tonight. He's worked that since he's been here. Versatility helps him and helps us.
Q. Herbig is okay?
MIKE TOMLIN: Yes.
Q. Skylar didn't get a lot of reps early in camp. Has anything he done surprised you?
MIKE TOMLIN: It really has not. This guy has played some NFL football, man. He's had some starts and so forth in Miami, and so I'm not surprised that it's not too big for him. Not surprised that his talent a showing. He's a diligent worker.
One man's misfortune is oftentimes another man's opportunity. We live by that, and certainly Will's misfortune is his opportunity and he's taken a nice advantage of it.
Q. What did you think about Cole Holeman's play?
MIKE TOMLIN: I thought on the surface it was solid. I don't have anything other than that from a reactionary standpoint. I certainly will next time we come together.
Q. You got the first team offensive line out of there I think after the first quarter. Would you expect them in the last game to go maybe a little longer than that?
MIKE TOMLIN: We'll see. I'll talk to you guys before we play. Usually 48 hours before we play I'll give you some indication of our plans and go from there.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports