Taking the challenge: Coach Mike Tomlin threw the red flag on Sunday against Jacksonville, challenging the spot of the ball. He lost the challenge, but said given the circumstances and what he saw, he would do it again.
The Steelers were down 7-3 in the second quarter when Blake Bortles completed a four-yard pass to Keelan Cole. Tomlin challenged the spot of the ball, which on third-and-four gave the Jaguars the first down at their own 40-yard line. He lost the challenge, and the ruling on the field of a first down stood.
"Very rarely will I challenge a line to gain, unless there is visually a line to gain," said Tomlin. "I was standing on the yard marker, it was maybe the 40-yard line. There was a white line. When the line to gain is a line that is the only time I will consider challenging a spot because the visual evidence required to flip it you probably have a better shot as far as seeing something definitive. I was standing on the line, I didn't think he got the line to gain. I was extremely confident in it. I challenged it. I didn't win the challenge. I would challenge it again under the same circumstances based on what I saw."
- No death sentence: For the second straight week Eli Rogers was inactive for a game, missing both the Ravens and Jaguars game after fumbling a punt against the Bears that eventually resulted in a touchdown for Chicago. Tomlin said it last week, and reiterated it this week, that Rogers has the chance to take his role back, and that this wasn't a 'death sentence' for him.
"I am open to that," said Tomlin. "I was open to that a week ago. Like I said when we deactivated him it wasn't a death sentence. It was an opportunity to re-center and get squared away from a technical standpoint, particularly from a fielding a punt standpoint, which is one of the core jobs he possesses. He will be given an opportunity to prove that and wide receiver play this week and we'll see where it leads us."
Getting social: Things got a little interesting on social media on Monday night when Le'Veon Bell used Twitter to show his displeasure with what former Steelers safety and current ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark said recently about Antonio Brown. Clark referred to Brown as "selfish" after the incident on the sideline in the Ravens game.
Tomlin, who although he has a Twitter account, doesn't spend time on social media and said he doesn't spend his valuable time policing what the players are saying on a social media platform.
"I don't waste a lot of time in that area," said Tomlin. "Don't talk loud about our business, talk about your business, how you feel, what's going on in your life. Connect with your fans or people in your space, not our business. Not what we had for lunch. Not what we are talking about. Other than that public relations does a good job of talking to them about social media responsibility. I don't have enough time in my day to police it. I have enough issues policing my son's social media."
