After the Bills handed the Steelers their worst loss since 1989, an abysmal 38-3 defeat, Mike Tomlin said he would "absolutely" be open to making changes regarding his players or even his coaches.
And while Tomlin said he remained open to that idea during his Tuesday press conference, it doesn't look like any change will be coming any time soon.
"I'm open to it and I remain open to it, but I don't intend to change for the sake of change, or to shoot a hostage, if you will," Tomlin said. "If changes produce better outcomes or seemingly produce better outcomes, or we feel like it puts us in position to produce better outcomes, then I'm open to it, certainly."
The name that's been most entrenched in any call for change from outside the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex has been Matt Canada. The Steelers' offense has vastly underperformed this season, and even a change from Mitch Trubisky to Kenny Pickett didn't spark enough to produce more than three points, despite Pickett setting franchise records for pass completions, pass attempts and passing yards by a quarterback in their Steelers' starting debut.
Tomlin fielded a question about Canada directly, specifically how confident he is in his second-year offensive coordinator.
"I'm confident, but confidence means very little because of what's on tape," Tomlin said. "We understand that. We understand the nature of the question. That's just where I'm at with it right now. I'm not changing for the sake of changing. I'm changing if I feel like it produces a better desired outcome -- in any area. We're looking at those things. We're open to those things, but we're not in an effort to quell the masses or anything of that nature."
Through the first five games of the season, the Steelers are averaging 4.8 yards per play, which is tied for last in the NFL. They've only scored six touchdowns, which is also tied for last in the NFL. A Pittsburgh receiver has yet to record a receiving touchdown this year, and that's the first time the Steelers have had that happen since 1990. Under Canada, the Steelers have gone 14 straight games, including playoffs, without a first-quarter touchdown.
The evidence of a poor offense under Canada is piling up faster than Tomlin can come up with new clichés. Tomlin has never fired a coach in the middle of a season. So, it would be unprecedented if he were to start doing it now.
However, the Steelers are 1-4. They welcome Tom Brady and the Buccaneers to Acrisure Stadium Sunday, then have back-to-back road games against the Dolphins and undefeated Eagles. Without a quick turnaround against a very steep hill to climb, this team could very possibly be 1-7 before their bye in Week 9.
It may be unprecedented for Tomlin to fire a coach midseason, but he's also never had a losing season under his watch. If this team continues their tail spin, they will already be in an unprecedented situation.
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• The lack of tangible changes weren't only evident with the coaching staff. The Steelers released their updated depth chart, and the changes were very minimal and hardly impactful. Through the first four weeks of the season, DeMarvin Leal was listed behind Isaiahh Loudermilk in the depth chart, even though Leal has played every game thus far while Loudermilk has yet to earn a helmet. Now, Leal is listed ahead of Loudermilk.
The only other change was Steven Sims moving ahead of Gunner Olszewski, even though Sims already supplanted the former All-Pro as the team's primary returner last week. Olszewski didn't even earn a helmet this past Sunday.
• In the wake of the historic beating the Steelers sustained at Buffalo, Tomlin said the look back on the film reflected a similar feeling with his immediate reaction. Tomlin said his team was a "disaster" in all three phases of the game and took full ownership of the performance, saying, "We have to own that -- starting with myself."
• In regards to the health of the team, Tomlin listed all the known injuries as concerns for the week: Minkah Fitzpatrick (knee), Pat Freiermuth (concussion protocol), Levi Wallace (concussion protocol), Cam Sutton (hamstring), Ahkello Witherspoon (hamstring), and Larry Ogunjobi (back).
In addition to those names, Tomlin said Zach Gentry is dealing with a knee injury and Montravius Adams has a hip injury.
Terrell Edmunds (concussion) and Mason Cole (foot) are two players from last week's injury report that weren't mentioned by Tomlin. There's not been word yet that Edmunds has officially cleared concussion protocol, and Cole was in a walking boot Monday afternoon. Their participation in practice will be monitored closely this week.
Tomlin said Sutton was "out" with his hamstring injury, but still mentioned possible participation from him in this week's practice. Witherspoon is also scheduled to get some work in this week, which is the first tangible sign that his return is on the horizon. He had not practiced for the past two weeks.
