Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin holds his weekly press conferences every Tuesday. Each week, we will take a glimpse at what stood out from coach’s comments about the previous week and heading into the Steelers next game.

Injury Updates

From an injury standpoint Marcus Gilbert re-injured his hamstring. He’s down there getting treatment right now. I don’t know what this week holds for him. Obviously, we’ll let his availability and participation in practice be our guide there.

Optimistic about Ramon Foster’s participation. Coming off the game missed. Again, we’ll watch him during the early portions of the week.

Vince Williams had a hip injury. Optimistic about him but we’ll watch him in terms of how he works this week along with Tyler [Matakevich]. Tyler has a shoulder. With Vince and Tyler at the same position that bear is watching in terms of the rotations and availability there. We’ll get clarity there, I’m sure later in the day and I’m sure as we get into tomorrow.

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Comfort with the depth at middle linebacker and L.J. Fort?

I am comfortable. [L.J.] Fort is one of those unique guys that is third on the depth chart but he’s been here for a number of years. So. I’m comfortable not only with his ability but his exposure and knowledge as well.

If Arthur Moats can help out inside if needed

If need be but I doubt that it will be an issue. Again, both guys are leaking, talking about Vince [Williams] and Red [Matakevich] but both guys have potential for making it. It would take both guys not making it before we got into those type of scenarios.

On the Martavis Bryant trade rumors

I had no reaction.

I’ve had good fluent communication with Martavis [Bryant] throughout this process like I have with all the other players. He was a big contributor to our efforts on Sunday. He was excited like everyone else. I don’t know where these reports come from. Sometimes they come from family members, or people close to them, sometimes they can come from agents. I don’t judge him or my relationship with him based on things said by others. He appears to be happy and focused.

So, it’s a non-issue for us. I don’t know that this is a legitimate distraction. You guys can run with it and such. Martavis has been very open about the fact that it is a non-issue for him. We believe him. So, we’re moving forward. Where its coming from, the unnamed source and things of that nature, I’ll leave for you guys to ponder and digest but it’s not a real distraction for us.

Martavis getting back into regular playing mode

I don’t know, I think he’s doing great. Again, we’ve outlined this pretty regularly over recent weeks as I stand in here. I like where he is. He’s acknowledging that. Getting back on the train is a process. I think that the process is going well because of that acknowledgement. I think I said that a week ago. It’s still all very true.

It’s been great. I think week-in and week-out he’s think just playing faster and gaining more detail in his execution. I think it’s reasonable to expect that because he’s working hard.

Outside of catching the ball and blocking, what are the little things that JuJu Smith-Schuster does that make you feel really good about him?

You’re just assuming that I feel really good about him. He’s working, he’s getting better, he’s answering the bell in terms of the tasks that we’re giving him. He’s thoughtful about the tasks that we’re giving him because he’s young, and he’s doing an acceptable job at it.

Was Smith-Schuster’s play the reason Martavis Bryant did not have as many snaps this past Sunday?

I think both guys were over 45 snaps. You guys are cutting it pretty thin there when you’re distinguishing roles with both guys playing over 40 snaps. Sometimes it’s just schematic matchups, sometimes it’s things we’re trying to do in game. I wouldn’t read too much into it to be honest with you.

Will Harrison get more playing time as time goes on this season?

I’m open to it. I’m open to him being a positive contributor to our efforts. I know that he’s capable. Sometimes the circumstances might be ideal. Sometimes they might not be. We’ll weigh that week-in and week-out, but again, that’s not the first time I’ve said that to you guys either.

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Are the Bengals doing anything significantly different in the last three games as opposed to the first two?

I think we’ve got a three-game body of work. We’re looking at those last three games. Often times personnel dictates approach, and so we’ve got three games to look at with the personnel that he has in Cincinnati. I think that’s time well spent.

I think you see clarity in terms of the division of labor, particularly at the running back position. You’re seeing clarity in terms of how they’re distributing the ball. They’ve got some instability in some areas. [John] Ross has missed some time. Tyler Boyd has missed some time. Tyler Eifert now is on IR. I think all of that has really kind of culminated in a real centralized focus on getting the ball to 18 [A.J. Green] as it should. Nothing groundbreaking there. I think they’re just really settling in and finding their rhythm, whether it’s division of labor or how they’re going to function in their present state.

What’s the biggest difference with Le’Veon Bell over the last couple of weeks?

He’s probably better equipped to answer that than I am. Like we talked about in the early portions of the season, it would be an adjustment – consequences for time missed. There were consequences, and maybe we’re through them. I don’t know that, but he’s playing extremely well.

After watching the tape, what was your view on Mike Mitchell’s hit on Alex Smith?

My view is what you guys saw. He got tripped by [Anthony] Chickillo, and it’s unfortunate. But it’s part of ball. He should’ve been penalized. There’s strict lability there and rightfully so. Player safety is big, but if you saw the play, you’d know there was no malintent or egregiousness there on his part. He got tripped. But Alex doesn’t have eyes in the back of his head and in-game, he doesn’t know that. So, it was reasonable for him to have the response that he had.

Did the pass defense face its stiffest challenge against the Chiefs and how did they handle it?

I wasn’t ready to say that pass defense was an issue. I thought we finished the year strong a year ago in that area. I thought we had a lot of core components back. I thought they had an opportunity to be better than they were. I didn’t come into the season with a negative mentality regarding the pass defense, so I’m not surprised that they’re doing well.

Did you decide to put Artie Burns on [Antonio] Brown in training camp in part to prepare for big matchups like [A.J.] Green?

No, it was just about the growth and development of Artie [Burns] as a second-year guy, and just making a point to him that, “Man, you have the opportunity to go against one of the best in the world on a day-to-day basis, and you better be game for the challenge.” He was. And I think he’s improved because of it. I think it’s helpful to him. I think it’s helpful to Antonio [Brown] to be challenged in that way by young talent. I just think it’s good for the overall team atmosphere. I think I expressed that at that time. If it produces anything beyond that, great. But those were the intentions at the time.

How would you describe your relationship with Harrison?

I don’t know. Sometimes I talk in great detail and provide great clarity. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes it’s haphazard. Sometimes it’s very thoughtful. James has been around me long enough to know that I’m capable of those things. James knows that I’m going to put the interest of this group above anything else in terms of how we prepare and who we utilize and how we utilize them. He’s a competitor. He wants to be a central reason as to why we’re successful. I know that.

I also know that he’s a great team player. He always has been. It’s not written and talked about enough. You guys like to write and talk about workouts and things of that nature, silliness. This guy is an awesome, selfless team player. Those guys who are around him notice those things. We’ve just been together for 11 years or so. Not a lot of conversations need to be had. I think we just understand those things that I mentioned about one another.

How do you determine whether or not you want a corner to travel with a wide receiver?

The matchup itself, the other match up. Often in times people love to talk about the matchups of the elite corners versus the elite wideouts. A significant discussion often times is the alternate matchup. I know I’m always excited about that. When we’re playing somebody and they’re talking about someone matching up with Antonio, I’m always interested in, OK, who’s matching up with 10 [Martavis Bryant] then, for example. There are a lot of variables in the equation, and some of them have nothing to do with the two parties involved.

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What separates Vance McDonald and Jesse James?

Just concepts, ways we want to choose to employ them. Whether or not we use one-tight end sets, two-tight end sets or three-tight end sets affects their number of snaps, and lastly the personnel we’re playing. Different teams present different challenges. Kansas City is a 3-4 team. The people who play over tight ends play out of a 2-point stance, guys like [Justin] Houston and Dee Ford. If you’re playing the Cincinnati Bengals, the guys who play over the tight end are much bigger people, guys like [Carlos] Dunlap and [Michael] Johnson. Each week presents different challenges. We’re going to employ the people who we feel give us the best chance to win per concept or per situation or per game, so we’ll continue to do that.

Is McDonald a better blocker than James?

I think we’re still getting to know Vance and his skillset. We don’t have that clearly defined division of labor that we had with Matt Spaeth. We drafted Matt Spaeth in 2007. He had been a part of us for a number of years. We knew what he brought to the table in some situations.