Mike Tomlin’s Benching of Antonio Brown Doesn’t Last Long
Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports
Oh, Mike Tomlin.
I guess taking table games away is more of a focus than actually following through on your threats to take away playing time, am I right?
Although Tomlin benched Antonio Brown late in Pittsburgh’s previous game in Foxborough for failing to “execute” at a “quality” level, Pittsburgh’s head coach reportedly handed his leading wide receiver his starting job back according to Ed Bouchette of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Tomlin: Weren't getting quality execution from assignment standpoint when asked why Antonio Brown was taken out of the game. OK
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) November 5, 2013
#Steelers Tomlin said he will start Antonio Brown this week, said WR was just frustrated Sunday and there is no problem there.
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) November 5, 2013
Of course, the move itself does not surprise me for a number of reasons.
The first is the simple fact that Brown is the team’s leading receiver and is currently on pace to shatter single-season franchise records for receptions and receiving yards this season. In fact, Brown is the NFL-leader in receptions (61) through nine weeks of regular season play. The former Central Michigan Chippewa is the team’s most talented receiver, and there is little in terms of effective depth behind him outside of Jerricho Cotchery.
While “Captain Obvious” might grandstand and espouse all sorts of rhetoric about “benching” players who fail to play up to “the standard” in his post-game press conferences, there is no way he would go into Pittsburgh’s next game without his team’s leading pass-catcher.
Granted, Tomlin could set an example with Brown and illustrate that he is actually as committed to disciplining his players who get out of line or under-perform as he is about taking their table games away from them. Yet for a guy appears to possess the leadership qualities of a manager of a lemonade stand at a local mall, this particular decision is simply “par for the course” for Pittsburgh’s head coach.
Of course, this type of benching could just be Tomlin’s way of “unleashing hell.”
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