Steelers players react to eyebrow-raising 'clean house' comments from Mike McCarthy

First-year Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy raised eyebrows when he said on Monday that "we need to clean our own house" because "our house is not clean right now," coming off Pittsburgh's 27-24 prime-time loss to the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 1.

On Tuesday, multiple Steelers players expanded on what McCarthy meant about the club's need for a cleaner "house" this fall. 

"Everything is good in" the Steelers' locker room

"I think people got that not accurate from what I’ve seen," Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth explained, per Chris Ward and Brendan Howe of Steelers Now. "It was more so us going over the first four weeks. What we can get better at. Get on the same page these next four games before the bye week. Everything is good in the locker room. We’re working to win. I mean, we’re 2-2. Obviously, we wish we were better, but some stuff on film’s correctable that we’re able to fix coming up, and we’ll be fine." 

McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers seemingly weren't on the same page when they became responsible for a viral moment in the first quarter of the Cleveland game. Following the Steelers' Week 4 loss, pass-rusher T.J. Watt noted that it was "just way too easy" for the Cleveland offense to drive down the field to set Andre Szmyt up for what became a game-winning 56-yard field goal. 

"Yeah, we’re always looking for areas to improve," Steelers running back Jaylen Warren said. "Coming off a loss, you want to see what it is that you want to improve on. That’s what today was really about. Self-scout: the first quarter of the year is done. Whatever we need to improve on, that’s what we need to focus on." 

Steelers using the mini-bye to reset, refocus

Due to playing last Thursday night, the Steelers had a bit of a break before they began preparing for their Week 5 home game against the 2-2 Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 11. Pittsburgh pass-rusher Nick Herbig mentioned that the extra time can "100 percent" be a positive for any team, let alone one that split its first four games of the campaign. 

"I think anytime you get a chance to get away, kind of step away, refocus, reanalyze, get your body right, most importantly, get your mental right, and come back ready to work," Herbig said. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Steelers as 2.5-point favorites over the Colts. Questions about the state of the Pittsburgh locker room could grow louder if the Steelers fall to 2-3 this coming Sunday.