Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said this week that the team will not be making any coaching changes “at this juncture,” which did not come as happy news for those who blame offensive coordinator Matt Canada for having a major hand in the team’s sluggish start to the season.
Running back Najee Harris is not among those who believe a coaching change is in order. On Wednesday, Harris said players “can’t just keep pointing fingers” at others because the offensive shortcomings fall squarely on their shoulders.
“Coaches can only coach. We’ve got to execute the plays,” Harris said, via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. We’re not trying to point the finger at all. This is not the time to do that. It keeps being a conversation brought up, things that are talked about so much. I can honestly say we’re not doing it. It’s not the coaches. It has nothing to do with coaches. We have to play better. We can’t just keep looking at the coaches as an outlet or whatever is putting out there. . . . It’s stupid.”
Harris also agrees with Tomlin when it comes to the effort and physicality the Steelers showed in last Sunday’s loss to the Texans. Harris said the team lacked edge against Houston and were “just playing soft,” which he also puts in the category of things the players control rather than the coaches. He pointed to a Week 17 game against the Ravens last year when the Steelers ran for 198 yards as an example of what kind of effort they need to have now and called this weekend’s game against Baltimore a “good time to get that back.”
