For the first time, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be featured on HBO's "Hard Knocks" series along with the rest of the AFC North. While fans will certainly get a unique look at each team, there's one element of the Steelers' work week that likely won't be captured on camera.
Tomlin has never granted outside access to his postgame locker room speech, and that will likely continue to be the case over the season's final five weeks, even with "Hard Knocks" around. Tomlin was actually seen taking off his microphone prior to entering the locker room following this past Sunday's win over the Bengals, an indication that his postgame speeches continues to be off-limits to the public.
When asked recently about "Hard Knocks,"Tomlin said that it is yet another challenge his team will have to overcome during the regular season's stretch run. The Steelers are currently 9-3 and have a 1.5-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC North.
"To me, it's something to conquer, to be quite honest with you," Tomlin said. "We have to deal with it better than the other three teams. That's how I view a lot of things that come across my plate, particularly when others have to deal with it.
"I'm less concerned about the inconvenience of it and and more concerned about, are we positioning ourselves to perform under those conditions better than those that we compete against. It's something that everyone in the AFC North has to deal with, and so, it's our agenda to do so better than the other three teams."