Following the Pittsburgh Steelers embarrassing 31-10 loss Sunday to the Cleveland Browns, former head coach Bill Cowher and ex-wide receiver Hines Ward both made some strong statements regarding the toughness of the current team.
During his Tuesday press conference, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about Cowher and Ward’s comments and his response was straight to the point and simple.
“I don’t worry about that. That’s elevator music as far as I’m concerned,” said Tomlin. “I’m concerned about the things that are significant and that’s the men inside this organization right now and how they prepare and how they play. Love those guys, but those guys are on the outside looking in.”
Sunday immediately after the game, Cowher called the 2014 version of the Steelers “finesse on offense, soft on defense.” Ward, on the other hand, had a similar opinion of his former team.
“They’re very close to hitting that panic button … The defense looks soft. Guys are just able to run the ball up and down the field. I look at their personnel; they can’t cover anybody in the secondary,” Ward said Sunday night. “Offensively, I thought I’d never say it, but the Steelers are a finesse offense right now. I don’t even know who these guys are.”
Tomlin, as a whole, shrugged the comments of both Cowher and Ward off while saying that he respects the opinions of both.
“I take their opinions in regards to some of the things that they say with their job in the media with a grain of salt because they’ve got a job to do,” said Tomlin. “And obviously, if they’re not going to be critical of us based on circumstance, there’s a chance that they could be judged professionally.”
