Mike Tomlin Threw Major Shade At Young NFL Quarterback

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has never been afraid to say exactly what's on his mind and he isn't starting now. He had an interesting comment this week that many quickly took as a not-too-subtle jab at another young quarterback.

Ahead of the Steelers' game against the Minnesota Vikings, Tomlin was asked about having to play against veteran backup Carson Wentz rather than first-year starter J.J. McCarthy. Tomlin remarked that he doesn't see Wentz as a downgrade before making an interesting comparison to 2024.

“I don’t necessarily view it as a negative thing for the Minnesota Vikings, at least in the short term, that Carson is playing for them,” Tomlin said.

Tomlin then revealed last year before their game against the Indianapolis Colts he directed his players not to knock then-Colts starter Anthony Richardson out of the game because he didn't want the Colts to put then-backup Joe Flacco in instead.

“We were in a similar situation, a year ago we were playing in Indianapolis, and I commented to the guys, ‘Keep Richardson upright. Don’t put Flacco in the game.’ And Flacco ended up in the game. And I think that’s oftentimes one of the things you can run into when you run into a veteran guy,” Tomlin said.

But that's what ended up happening and the Steelers lost the game, never leading once after Flacco took over.