Hamlin's situation 'really personal' to Tomlin

The health of Damar Hamlin has been at the forefront of countless minds throughout the sports world since he collapsed on the field Monday night at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, including Mike Tomlin.

With Hamlin being a McKees Rocks native, his situation has hit a bit closer to home. So it's no surprise that Tomlin has ties to Hamlin that predate his playing days at Pitt or even Pittsburgh's Central Catholic High School.

During his Tuesday press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, Tomlin dived into some of those details during his opening remarks:

"It’s a really personal thing for me. Being a Pittsburgher, and that young man being a Pittsburgher, I’ve known that guy probably since he was about 12," Tomlin said. "Just got a lot of respect and love for him as a human being, his commitment to the pursuit of his goals and dreams of doing what it is he’s doing right now, which is playing in the NFL. To watch him make personal decisions and make that a realization, it’s just an honor to get to know young people like that. Had an opportunity to express that to him whenever I seen him.

"I just respect the fact that you guys appreciate how personal it is for me. Not only for me, but just for all of us as people that thrive in this space. That’s not obviously something that you ever want to see."

The Steelers have played Buffalo each of the last two seasons, and Tomlin said he has taken advantage of the opportunity to continue the relationship he established with Hamlin early on.

"It’s just cool to not only appreciate these guys in terms of where they are now, but to know them since they were younger people and to watch their maturation, their development, to watch them earn what they’ve been chasing," Tomlin said. "It’s just really a cool thing, and he’s an example of that. I’ve got a lot of love for that young man."

Tomlin said he reached out to Bills head coach Sean McDermott to lend whatever assistance he could during this time of waiting for updates on Hamlin's status. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Bills announced that Hamlin spent Monday night in the intensive care unit and has remained there in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. 

Tomlin's personal ties to the situation were not only evident through his words, but also through his actions. After Tomlin opened the press conference to the media, it didn't take long for him to shut down the questions about Hamlin. Shortly after fielding the second question, Tomlin wanted to move on to questions only about his football team:

That's how personal it is for Tomlin. That's not anger. It was very clear that he shut down questions to prevent himself from getting too emotional.

Tuesday afternoon, Roger Goodell sent a memo to NFL clubs that the Bills-Bengals matchup will not be resumed this week and that the league has made no decision regarding its possible resumption at a later date. In addition, the NFL hasn't announced any changes to the Week 18 schedule.

And as of Tuesday afternoon, Tomlin isn't preparing for any changes.

"I haven't thought a lot about it, to be honest with you," Tomlin said. "I'm not anticipating scheduling issues and things of that nature. It's Tuesday. Guys are coming in here on Wednesday. We're gonna lay a foundation for our (game) plan. I think that's where I'm at."

It will be interesting to see what direction the league goes from here. This is an unprecedented situation. Obviously, those close to Hamlin are most affected by it. But, a tragedy of this magnitude has to be treated plenty of caution. 

Tomlin's words from Tuesday help provide its impact on a broader scale.

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• Of course, Tomlin didn't only talk about Hamlin's situation. After Tomlin turned the page and shut down questions about him, I asked what changes he's seen in his team, specifically coming back from a 2-6 start to the season.

"I don't know that it is anything that's mystical or earth shattering in any way," Tomlin said. "I just think you have to display a certain amount of resolve individually and collectively in an effort to have the type of focus that's required to work every day, to get better every day, to repeat the cycle that is preparation, regardless of what's transpired good and bad in an effort to increase your chances of winning with each opportunity, to improve your level of play with each opportunity, to raise your floor with every opportunity, individually and collectively. And I know that's kind of largely been our focus. If you just look at it from a high-level perspective, obviously there's a lot of individual things within that. Regardless of circumstance -- we're coming to work every day trying to make days individually productive. And then ultimately, taking that spirit and that work into stadiums."

• Regarding the individual factor of the aforementioned change or growth, Kenny Pickett's development obviously tops the list of players that need to continually get better. Pickett's streak of 145 straight passes without an interception, and only throwing one of them since the bye in Week 9, is a great example of that growth.

Tomlin won't comb through it in detail week in and week out, but he did have this to say regarding Pickett's continuous steps forward: "I think it's reasonable to expect a sharp, hardworking, talented guy to get better with each exposure and particularly to do so rapidly at the initial stages of gaining experience."

• Another player that's gotten more attention in recent days is Mark Robinson, who played half of the defensive snaps at Baltimore. Prior to that, he had only logged seven defensive snaps all season, and all of those came in the win at Carolina because Myles Jack was injured.

With a stout performance of eight tackles that aided in limiting the high-powered Ravens' rushing attack to only 120 yards on the ground, there is not only the question of whether he's earned more snaps but why he hasn't gotten more previously.

Tomlin answered why he suddenly played so much at Baltimore, and helped break down the coaching staff's approach this season to handling the seventh-round draft pick out of Ole Miss.

"He’s a guy that likes physical confrontation. That's the one component of his game that's never been in question. Growth and development, all other areas due to youth and lack of experience is," Tomlin said. "He's grown over the course of the season, and we've challenged him to get comfortable with professional football, and not only professional football, but we're talking about a guy who hadn't played a lot of linebacker. A guy who played running back in college; you guys know his story. There's a lot of growth that needs to transpire there in terms of the nuances of the position and a lot of the things that come with the position. To be blunt, we were stepping into a game that was going to challenge him in a specific area and that specific area was in line with his skill set. And so, we let him play."

• All five members of the offensive line have started every game this year. If you're wondering why this unit has improved so much over the course of the season, that's a key reason why.

"Availability would probably be at the top of the list," Tomlin said. "A collective like that where cohesion is significant, not having a lot of lack of availability within the collective is significant for collective growth."

• One of the reasons for the Steelers' comeback from a 2-6 start to the season has to be attributed to Tomlin's consistency week in and week out. With the young age of the offense and the health issues on defense (missing T.J. Watt for seven games), there was bound to be inconsistency with this team.

Tomlin's focus has been setting an even-keeled precedent for his team, and that's benefited a group that's still fighting for a playoff spot heading into the final week of the season.

"You know, I hadn't really paid a lot of attention to it to be quite honest with you," Tomlin said regarding his players rising to the occasion of big games down the stretch. "I'm more concerned with how I display how I handle it. A lot of young players don't have a mode, they come into work trying to figure out what the mode is. So, those of us that are experienced or those of us that lead, we’d better focus on displaying what it is we want from the young people as opposed to just trying to ascertain where they are."

• On the injury front, Tomlin only listed Myles Jack (groin), James Pierre (concussion) and Minkah Fitzpatrick (ankle) regarding any limitations to start the week. With Jack, Tomlin said he's optimistic about his inclusion during the week. Pierre is in concussion protocol, so his availability will obviously dictate where he is in the recovery process. Finally, Tomlin said Fitzpatrick's ankle injury could limit him early in the week, but isn't "overly concerned about the long-term prospects" regarding his injury.