In a covid-19 environment where NFL practices are canceled and games rescheduled on short notice, what Mike Tomlin experienced Sunday was as close to normal as anything the Pittsburgh Steelers coach could imagine lately.
Tomlin had his players on the field at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for a workout that resembled a typical Friday practice, yet was held two days before the first Tuesday night game in franchise history.
With coronavirus decimating the roster of the Baltimore Ravens — the Steelers’ opponent in the twice-postponed game — Tomlin was encouraged by the information provided by the covid-19 testers.
“I know that I got great news today that we had no positives,” Tomlin said.
That constitutes a victory for the Steelers compared to what the Ravens are enduring. The Ravens placed tight end Mark Andrews and linebacker Matthew Judon on the reserve/covid-19 list Sunday, giving them an alarming 22 players affected in some fashion by the spread of the virus.
The Steelers, by comparison, have five players on the list.
Of course, circumstances could change before the scheduled kickoff Tuesday night.
“It’s day to day,” Tomlin said. “It’s a sensitive situation. You’re talking about degrees of confidence and things of that nature. That’s a slippery slope.”
One the Steelers didn’t expect to be navigating a week ago when they returned to Pittsburgh after a 27-3 victory at Jacksonville that improved their record to 10-0. When the week began, the Steelers were preparing to play the Ravens on short rest in a prime-time Thanksgiving showdown.
Now, they won’t take the field until the final game of the Week 12 schedule.
“I think you have to roll with it,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said Sunday. “If we get stuck in the mud or you get thinking about how it has been this way, you’re preparing yourself for failure. We understand a lot of things are going on. We understand we can’t be perfect in this situation. The pandemic is not going to allow anyone to be perfect.
“We just have to be willing to adjust, make things happen on the fly and be ready to play when we get the opportunity to.”
When he game was postponed from Thursday until Sunday, Tomlin acted immediately to give his players an off day on the holiday. He extended it to Friday, and, when the NFL pushed the game back two more days, he gave them Saturday off as well.
“I needed it, so I’m not going to complain about it,” Heyward said. “We had some guys that had nicks and bruises that could use the rest. Whether it is taking care of the body, spending time with family, getting extra preparations, this is a week we can take advantage of it, so I thought we did that.”
As much as NFL players disdain Thursday night games because of the short turnaround after a Sunday game, several Steelers players took to social media to express frustration with the postponement. Tomlin’s promise of a six-day break after Thanksgiving likely had something to do with it.
“Everybody grew up on football on Thanksgiving,” Tomlin said. “They were excited about being a part of that. I think it’s a natural response to be disappointed to lose that opportunity, but that’s over. We are getting focused on Tuesday night.”
Heyward was asked if the Steelers can use this rescheduling — the second one for the team his season following a Week 4 postponement against Tennessee — as motivation for the playoff push that awaits.
“I’ve had some talks with some guys, and I’ve just said, ‘This is just a chapter in our book,’ ” he said. “This is something we will be able to write down in the future, and, hopefully, it is along with a Super Bowl. But for this group, we just have to keep rolling with it.
“We understand that every team is going through something like this. Not to this extent, but we have to be ready for any situation. I think Coach Tomlin has laid out the plan. It’s up to us to follow it, and it’s up to us to bounce back from it.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jrutter@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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