{"id":74272,"date":"2025-12-31T00:56:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/74272\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T00:56:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:56:19","slug":"mike-tomlin-reveals-steelers-plan-to-replace-dk-metcalf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/74272\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Tomlin Reveals Steelers’ Plan to Replace DK Metcalf"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf at practice on Nov. 27, 2025. — Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for a must-win game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18, but they are doing so without No. 1 wide receiver DK Metcalf and rising star tight end Darnell Washington. Head coach Mike Tomlin is confident in the team\u2019s depth to get the job done, though.<\/p>\n

Fans are right to question that confidence after wide receivers Scotty Miller, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Adam Thielen combined for just eight catches for 60 yards on 21 targets last week against the Cleveland Browns. However, Tomlin believes the extra week of preparation will help.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they give us 1-on-1 play-making opportunities, we\u2019ve got to make those plays,\u201d Tomlin said. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotta put guys in position to do so. We\u2019ve got very capable men. Oftentimes, I say there\u2019s a fine line between being a Pro Bowler and a backup. We\u2019re at the top of the food chain in terms of the football worlds, so it\u2019s a reasonable expectation, from my perspective, particularly with an additional week to prepare, that we put together a thoughtful plan and that we our guys to take advantage of our opportunities, and if and when they do present themselves, that we make the plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Metcalf, who leads the team with 850 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns on 59 catches, is serving a two-game suspension for his altercation with a Detroit Lions fan at Ford Field in Week 16.<\/p>\n

If the Steelers can defeat the Ravens in the regular season finale, Metcalf will be able to return for the playoffs, but that remains a big if following the group\u2019s underwhelming performance a week ago.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the difficult task of replacing the 6-foot-7, 311-pound tight end in Washington. The former third-round pick hasn\u2019t lit up the stat sheet with 31 catches for 364 yards and one touchdown on the season, but he has proven to be a difference maker with the ball in his hands as well as a significant piece to Pittsburgh\u2019s rush attack.<\/p>\n

\"SteelersPitsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 16 2025. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

However, Tomlin reiterated a similar sentiment to replacing Washington\u2019s production as he did to Metcalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use a lot of tight ends,\u201d Tomlin continued. \u201cWe also use guys at the position that don\u2019t play the position, Spencer Anderson, and so we have a lot of options at our disposal relative to that, from a strategy perspective. Certainly, given six or seven days to prepare, I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll be a strategic issue in terms of replacing his efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington is out for the season after suffering a broken arm against the Browns in Week 17.<\/p>\n

Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Darnell Washington<\/a> DK Metcalf<\/a> Mike Tomlin<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers News Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf at practice on Nov. 27, 2025. — Ed Thompson \/…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3276,6538,7405,73,75,74,1833,1829],"class_list":["post-74272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-darnell-washington","tag-dk-metcalf","tag-mike-tomlin","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-steelers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}