Rookie LB Jack Sawyer shares strong reaction to fans chanting for Steelers to fire Mike Tomlin

Pittsburgh Steelers fans directed chants of "fire Tomlin" toward head coach Mike Tomlin during the club's 26-7 home loss to the Buffalo Bills that dropped the Steelers to 6-6 on Sunday. 

Shortly after the game wrapped up, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers insisted that he still believes in Tomlin. Rodgers also said that Pittsburgh players "need to take accountability" regarding the state of the club that has lost five of its past seven games. While speaking with reporters on Monday, Steelers rookie linebacker Jack Sawyer made it clear he didn't love hearing the chants at Acrisure Stadium.

Jack Sawyer "frustrated" over "fire Tomlin" chants

"Yeah, you're frustrated because that's bull— when people are saying that, but we're not playing up to our standard," Sawyer explained, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "...We need to take ownership as players and go out there and play a lot better." 

A Monday update indicated that Tomlin will have the final say regarding his short-term future whenever the Steelers' season comes to an end. The one-time Super Bowl champion head coach signed a three-year contract extension in June 2024 and has never had a losing campaign since he accepted the Pittsburgh job in 2007. 

However, the Steelers haven't notched a playoff victory since the 2016 season. Pittsburgh wouldn't be a postseason team if the tournament started on Monday, but the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens are both at 6-6. Those two teams will meet at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 7 in a battle for first place in the AFC North. 

Reactions of Steelers fans "disappointing and frustrating" for ownership?

According to Ross McCorkle of Steelers Depot, team insider Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said during a Monday morning appearance on radio station 102.5 WDVE that what occurred at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday "is disappointing and frustrating for" the team's ownership. Dulac also noted how Rodgers had to use a silent count for Pittsburgh's home game versus the Green Bay Packers in Week 8 because so many Green Bay fans were able to acquire tickets for that contest. 

"Every owner is aware of that when they start seeing, not that there's empty seats at Acrisure, but you get my point," Dulac said. "If you're gonna start selling it to the other team, and they're hearing that, that gets their attention."

That doesn't mean Tomlin is facing a "playoffs or bust" mandate regarding his job, but it sounds like he and the Steelers could be closer to a divorce than some thought when Pittsburgh was 4-1 back in October. As of Monday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Steelers as 5.5-point road underdogs against the Ravens.