Kovacevic: This head coach really likes this quarterback, you guys

"Let’s be honest here," Mike Tomlin began a reply in a setting where, if I'm being blunt, he's often a lot less than honest. 

Meaning, of course, his weekly press conference, conducted each Tuesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.

"I’m getting to know Mitch," the head coach proceeded regarding Mitch Trubisky. "So I think anytime he and I step into a stadium, I come out of the stadium with a deeper understanding of what he is and who he is as a man and a player. It’s a process. And I don’t resist that process, but I don’t take it for granted at the same time, either. We’re learning and growing. And so it’s reasonable to expect him to be better, for me to be better with him, for us to be better with each and every passing day, particularly those days inside stadiums."

Point made: He likes Mitch. As in, a lot.

Further point made, unwittingly or otherwise: Mitch is, in fact, his quarterback.

I've covered enough of these press conferences to have a sense for how they'll go even as they're going. So when Tomlin rifled through a summary of the most recent game, his various injury updates and the obligatory scouting report on the next opponent that'll extoll the virtues of virtually everyone on that roster -- "Matt Slater is a legendary special teams player," came from the man's mouth in this session -- followed by taking reporters' questions only as far as he cares to take them.

When I asked, for instance, if his film study from Cincinnati showed improvement from the offensive line, the semi-terse comeback was, "Again, I’ve said that repeatedly. There was less negativity than there was in Jacksonville. We got hats-on-hats, we were less penalized, and there were a lot of things to be positive about if you’re looking to be."

No, he hadn't mentioned the offensive line at all to that point in the press conference. And no, I wasn't "looking to be ... positive" about anything related to the line, particularly not after panning them for months on end. But that's how these things roll. It's a curious mix of candor, curtness and outright cattiness.

I share this solely to illustrate how striking the above quote about Trubisky was, the extent to which it stood out from the norm. He'd been asked something about Trubisky going four games in a row without a turnover, and he took that intensive, personal route instead.

He likes Mitch. As in, a lot.

And from there, it shouldn't take anyone an additional split-second to see, again, that Mitch is his quarterback.

Even if I hadn't heard over the weekend in Cincinnati that Tomlin's a full-go commitment to Trubisky for the 2022 season -- barring injury or an unforeseen circumstance -- I'd have deduced it effortlessly after hearing him come perilously close to praising what was ... well, a lousy performance. At least I thought so after watching Trubisky go 21 of 38 for 194 yards, go three-and-out on 7 of 15 drives, misfire on most anything he tried at intermediate range, check down just to check down ... I mean, there's a four-year volume of work in Chicago that looked exactly like it. And an idle year as a backup in Buffalo hardly expunges the record except in the most hopeful imaginable context.

But there was Tomlin, moments after his defense dominated the Bengals into five takeaways, standing before a jubilant locker room, giving Trubisky a game ball. And minutes later in the interview area, asked how Trubisky'd fared, Tomlin cited the winning overtime field-goal drive, on which Trubisky accounted for all 45 yards by completing 3 of 7 passes, and added, "He didn’t blink. Made the necessary plays in the weighty moments. I’m appreciative of his efforts.”

When I asked Tuesday why the offense almost never threw downfield or over the middle, as had been the case through months of prep, Tomlin replied, "With downfield throwing comes the potential of negativity and turning the ball over. Environmentally, in the structure of how they function, we did what we thought was appropriate to win the game last week. It has no bearing on how we’re going to function this week."    

OK, I guess. But here's hoping that isn't the Standard.

I'll repeat into infinity: I've got no issue with starting out the schedule as the No. 1 quarterback. Kenny Pickett legit stands to gain from more time in and around NFL environments, including stadiums. And Trubisky's a sixth-year guy with the pedigree of having been drafted second overall in 2017, making him a worthwhile project unto himself.

But if/when all this reaches the stage of everything feeling like Trubisky's been unconditionally anointed -- and let's not forget Tomlin handing Kendrick Green the No. 53 jersey straight off Maurkice Pouncey's back, then declaring him the starting center based on ... wow, nothing at all -- then this will go well past the currently mild awkwardness.

• Count the blessings, my friends. There couldn't conceivably have been a more optimal outcome for the big injuries Sunday, to T.J. Watt and Najee Harris, than the wonderful word that came on both fronts Tuesday.

Even if it takes T.J. every one of the now-expected six weeks to return, it could easily -- and maybe smartly -- be extended an additional week, the Oct. 30 game in Philadelphia, to reach the bye week. That'd buy him until Nov. 13, almost exactly two full months, and minimize risk.

• Tomlin shared, before the questioning portion of his press conference, his view that the offense looked better in his film study than from the sideline.

"Looking back at it from a coach’s lens, taking the emotion out, I was encouraged by some of the things I saw," he'd say. "It’s no secret that we’re transitioning and gaining cohesion in that group, whether, again, it’s young players or players who are new to us. I thought we did some good things considering the variables. ... There was less negativity in terms of negative plays. We were less penalized. We just did good things. We took care of the football. We positioned ourselves to make the necessary plays in the weighty moments, and the significant guys delivered in those moments."

He singled out these two passes to Diontae Johnson and Pat Freiermuth, both in OT:

"Diontae in possession-down football, man, that catch he made on our sideline ... what do you say about that?" Tomlin elaborated. "Trubisky with a free down escaping the rush, moving to his left and putting that ball in the middle of the field to Muth in overtime to position us for Chris Boswell to do what he does ... it’s just a lot of encouraging things."

That's fair. It was also five quarters into the affair.

• What's worrisome to me, maybe ironically, is that these receivers and tight ends look like a dynamic playmaking collective. It'd be a shame to waste that.

• George Pickens was targeted three times, for crying out loud. Again, in five quarters. Caught one ball for 3 yards.

• Anyone ever wondering to what degree Tomlin prioritizes a player's poise within a stadium, this was his laughing-out-loud assessment of Jaylen Warren's NFL debut: "He didn't urinate down his leg."

That was praise. I think.

• Devin Bush was fine. Stop it already.

"I felt like I was able to go side-to-side, do my thing ... felt strong," he told me. And he's right.

One step at a time.

• My 90 excellent seconds with Terrell Edmunds in Cincinnati:

• Upon my second viewing of the game, more's needed from James Daniels at right guard. Not sure how he continues to escape criticism from the fan base, but it seems he does. This was a very expensive investment, and it isn't bringing a commensurate return.

• I'll reiterate, though, my stance from being on location that the O-line generally fared well in pass protection while still missing a push on the run.

That said -- and I suspect this won't be popular with nearly anyone reading -- it sure would be awesome if Najee could occasionally hit the hole that develops as opposed to the hole that's supposed to develop. I'm sorry, but a Pro Bowl running back shouldn't be regularly held to stat lines like 23 yards on 10 carries, half of that on a single run, and we've seen it a lot.

That's not blaming him. That's including him.

• Oh, my:

'The people,' in this case, meant a fan vote ... for the Keebler Elf to be emblazoned at midfield.

I can't. I just can't.

• Thanks for reading. I'll be at practice Wednesday with another column to follow.