Colbert addresses Steelers’ perceived discipline issue
LATROBE â Kevin Colbert met with a small group of reporters Thursday, as he does annually at Saint Vincent College. The Steelersâ general manager keeps print reporters abreast of the clerical information theyâll need to understand the coming roster moves.
But this time, Colbert â after providing 30 minutes of background â took on-the-record questions that dealt with roster weaknesses, expectations for the absent LeâVeon Bell, the filling of the crater-sized hole at inside linebacker left by the injury to Ryan Shazier, and any other question for which he might be able to provide insight.
Only one question caused the normally stoic Colbert to become emotional, and it was probably the question he was hoping would be asked:
Q: Have there been any external discussions about players tweeting, talking about other teams, running to meetings, etc.?
It became clear soon enough that this issue â exacerbated by James Harrisonâs recent comments about a perceived lack of discipline under Mike Tomlin â has been on Colbertâs mind.
But he started his answer with a chuckle.
âNo,â Colbert said. âHonestly, a lot of that stuff was made into stuff that really wasnât a concern. I had no question about our mental preparation, our internal organization, how our team was run. Sure, guys do different things that maybe you donât like. Coach talks to them about âNo team business on social media.â He does a great job of understanding â Coach Tomlin understands a generational player. He understands younger guys. We have to manage what a lot of that stuff is, but a lot of the stuff â the team turmoil and all that nonsense â that wasnât a concern of ours.â
Fans have grumbled about what they perceive to be a lack of discipline after last seasonâs running âsoap operaâ: Bellâs âstayoutâ of training camp, the national anthem snafu in Chicago, Antonio Brown flipping over an empty Gatorade bucket on the sideline, Ben Roethlisberger saying he may have lost his skills after the first loss to Jacksonville, Roethlisbergerâs passive-aggressive criticisms of then-coordinator Todd Haley, the release of Harrison after, well, his own poor sense of discipline at meetings, Tomlin discussing New England before playing Green Bay, and Bellâs 2018 contract demands prior to the playoff game.
Colbert believes these bits of âdramaâ were overplayed by the media and bought whole as distractions by fans.
âWe are always critical of who we are, what we do,â Colbert said. âWe always review it. We talk about it. But itâs not like itâs a formal âGuys, we have to do THIS.â No, we always want to be better at what we do on the field, off the field, team attitude. The players got to take some of that on themselves. We can draft them. Coach Tomlin can coach them. But when theyâre out there, itâs up to them. A lot of this falls on all three aspects of this thing.â
Three aspects?
âOffense, defense, special teams,â Colbert said, before adding, âPersonnel, coaching, players. Itâs a whole thing. But thereâs no concern whatsoever about our teamâs attitude, discipline, all that other stuff that gets talked about. Absolutely no concern. Iâm very comfortable working with this organization. People donât see Coach Tomlin in a meeting room. They donât hear Coach Tomlin talk to his team and watch them pay attention. They donât see him in a one-on-one meeting with a player, whether the playerâs doing something good or bad. We get into their personal lives a lot, because he cares about them as people as much as he does as players. I think thatâs very uncommon for his position and the demands that are made on him. Heâll go beyond the professional demands to make sure heâs doing the best he can for the player personally.â
It was pointed out to Colbert that some of the players took exception to, for instance, Mike Mitchell talking about New England before beating Jacksonville.
David DeCastro, for one, was upset about that after the playoff loss. Ramon Foster was still upset when he reported to training camp.
âRight. And thatâs because we lost a critical game,â Colbert said. âWhen you lose a game, youâre not happy and you are going to look at different things. Iâm sure he wasnât happy with his performance, my performance, coachâs performance. No oneâs happy, and they may pick out certain things. But to think that we werenât prepared for that game, I donât agree with it. We got outplayed that day in all three phases. That is the simplicity of it. Whether it was preparation, I donât believe any of that. It was what happened once we hit the grass in all three phases.
âBut, yeah, itâs personnel, itâs coaching, itâs players. It always is. Did we get the right guys to win that playoff game? No. Did we have the right game plan? No. Did our players play good enough? No. Give Jacksonville credit. They played a great game and beat us. End of story.â
Colbert was asked about beating the Patriots this year but he didnât take the bait.
âWhat about them?â he asked.
Theyâre the team to beat.
âNo,â Colbert said. âWeâve got to beat Cleveland.â
The Steelers play the Cleveland Browns in the opener. If the lesson needed to be learned, consider it done.