Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Monday he wanted his players to show more emotion during games. In Week 4, they delivered.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers showcased his typical grumpy demeanor he often has with the Steelers. In the first quarter, he shouted toward the sideline while receiving a play-call.
But other players were also fiery during the loss to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday. Most notably, Amazon Prime camera caught edge rusher T.J. Watt yelling into a headset on the sideline.
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was on the other end of that headset. That fact has caused some pundits to question whether there’s an overall issue between the Steelers veterans and coaching staff this season.
Graham, though, squashed any concern about that, downplaying the incident to reporters Monday.
“Just normal football conversation. I’m not going to get into details of it,” Graham told reporters. “Again, just talking to me and talking ball, talking football.”
Steelers’ Patrick Graham Addresses Playing With Emotion
Graham downplayed the specific Watt interaction from Thursday. But overall, the Steelers defensive coordinator was quite frank about his defenders and their emotions.
Graham made clear he and the coaching staff wants the team to show the passion it did Thursday and aren’t “sensitive” to when it perhaps looks like that emotion is too much.
“People always talk about an emotional game. We’re emotional people. So to me, I encourage the emotions in terms of I want their full selves out there when they’re playing,” said Graham. “How we direct that and funnel it, again, if there was a microphone on me every time or a camera on me every time I’m reacting up there in the box, I’m sure you guys would be wondering what the hell am I talking about.
“I’m not trying to sugarcoat it. I’m not trying to make a bigger deal or lesser deal of what it is, but I know this, we’ve talked about communication a lot and how we communicate to one another, and it’s important that we build these relationships with one another so that when stuff gets said, whether it’s in the heat of the battle, that nobody is sensitive.
Watt Received Criticism For Sideline Outburst
The verbal spat between Rodgers and McCarthy grabbed the most headlines and views on social media. But Watt’s sideline emotion was arguably more noteworthy since the All-Pro doesn’t typically express his frustration toward coaches as he did Thursday.
NFL insider Josina Anderson criticized both Rodgers and Watt for their tirades.
“Hopefully both players offer apologies that are as demonstrative as their outbursts Thursday night, whilst fully helping to stir the ship forward,” wrote Anderson on X.
Steelers DC Responds to T.J. Watt ‘Fiery’ Sideline Outburst