Tomlin Says Boykin Had To Earn His Opportunities

[Shoes]

BY DAVE BRYAN DECEMBER 13, 2015 AT 08:00 AM
Now that Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Brandon Boykin has started seeing extensive playing time on defense we expect it to continue Sunday afternoon against the Cincinnati Bengals. If you were wondering, why we haven’t seen more of Boykin on the field more up until this point, you were not alone. In fact, head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about that very thing on Saturday by Bob Labriolaof Steelers Digest.
“Opportunities and reps have to be earned,” said Tomlin. “Brandon was new to us and we were getting to know him. The train got going and we were having some consistent success with the mix of people we had. Sometimes you just have to bide your time and wait for your opportunity, and it has nothing to do with what you’ve done or what you didn’t do. That’s just football, but it’s also life.”
Tomlin’s remarks about his defense having consistent success this season are a bit over the top and especially when it comes to cornerback Antwon Blake, who has struggled mightily all season in both the coverage and tackling phases of his game. Tomlin, however, isn’t going to throw Blake underneath the bus.
While Boykin may have had to earn his reps, Blake certainly wasn’t earning the right to stay on the field and especially being as he looked like he was playing injured for the past several weeks.
As of last Sunday, Blake was relegated to mostly playing on run downs as a result of the changes that were made in the Steelers secondary with Ross Cockrell taking over outside on passing downs. In fact, had William Gay not had to leave the field late in that game, Blake’s snap total would’ve been considerably less.
Boykin, on the other hand, made an instant impact in last week’s game as he recorded his first interception of the season in the first quarter in just his second defensive snap. Sure, Gay caused that interception, but at least Boykin was in the right spot to make a play on the football. Boykin also recorded a defensed pass later on it that game.
Sunday against the Bengals it will be interesting to track how Blake is used on defense and specifically if he’s allowed to match-up against wide receiver A.J. Green when his offense utilizes 11 personnel. In the last meeting between the two teams, Green caught 11 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown with several of those catches coming against Blake.
In short, we expect the train to move forward with Boykin playing a lot in the nickel as he’s earned the opportunity due to Blake’s poor play. You’ll never hear Tomlin say that, however.

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2015/12...gals-steelers/

[cold-hard-steel]

I thought if he played more than a certain percentage of games or playing time or something like that ,then we would lose us a 5th round pick. Clue me in cause i'm clue-less to the clause of the trade.Or i just can't remember. Like if that could happen. LOL

[SteelerFanInStl]

Once again Tomlin is full of shit.

[cold-hard-steel]

Well at any rate hope we can use him today.

[Steeldude]

Once again Tomlin is full of shit.

I agree.

[steelreserve]

I thought if he played more than a certain percentage of games or playing time or something like that ,then we would lose us a 5th round pick. Clue me in cause i'm clue-less to the clause of the trade.Or i just can't remember. Like if that could happen. LOL

We traded a 5th-round pick, which would become a 4th-round pick if Boykin played over 60% of the defensive snaps on the season. Obviously, that became impossible long ago.

[ALLD]

If that's the logic, then Blake has earned a spot on the bench.

[Shoes]

In just two plays Blake missed two tackles and gave up a TD today. AJ Green nearly had another but the ball was poorly thrown, Blake had no idea where Green was.

[Mojouw]

Boykin gave up a TD as well.

[Shoes]

Boykin gave up a TD as well.

I didn't see that, but it sure as hell wasn't as bad as Blake's play today ...again.


From Alex...

We meet again, old friend. Blake had the biggest negative play of the day, getting beat on an A.J. Green double-move for a 66 yard touchdown, missing the tackle downfield, just to twist the knife that much more. It was odd to see Blake get so much work in the nickel, keeping Brandon Boykin on the sidelines. After that, Blake only played in the base defense. As it should be.

[Mojouw]

I didn't see that, but it sure as hell wasn't as bad as Blake's play today ...again.


From Alex...

We meet again, old friend. Blake had the biggest negative play of the day, getting beat on an A.J. Green double-move for a 66 yard touchdown, missing the tackle downfield, just to twist the knife that much more. It was odd to see Blake get so much work in the nickel, keeping Brandon Boykin on the sidelines. After that, Blake only played in the base defense. As it should be.

No doubt. Blake is playing like crap. Boykin is #25? I thought he got beat on a route up the seam later in the game for either a TD or a big play. But I was doing other things while the game was on, so I could be wrong.

Bottom line - there is no hiding it, scheming around it, or playing new players -- no matter what this is one of the worst secondaries in the league.

[st33lersguy]

Boykin has to earn playing time but Blake doesn't?

[zulater]

Boykin has to earn playing time but Blake doesn't?

Nah, you don't have to earn your playing time if you blackmail hand is strong enough.

[Shoes]

No doubt. Blake is playing like crap. Boykin is #25? I thought he got beat on a route up the seam later in the game for either a TD or a big play. But I was doing other things while the game was on, so I could be wrong.

Bottom line - there is no hiding it, scheming around it, or playing new players -- no matter what this is one of the worst secondaries in the league.

Agreed!

[Steel Peon]

Boykin has to earn playing time but Blake doesn't?

Ah Blake, you had some good plays (spiking AJ Green), and some really bad ones, and as for earning his play time he did that last year subbing for Cortez. But alas, even though our secondary has more holes in it than a linen factory full of moths, I actually see the Gay and Cockrell outside, with Boykin slot configuration as being better than the Blake and Cockrell outside, with Gay in the slot. I've defended Blake for a while now, and he's made a fair amount of great plays, but I can now say that Gay is our best CB and needs to be playing outside. Boykin appears better than Gay in the slot, and Blake seems better as a back-up, so I'm all for playing this secondary from here on out.

[steel striker]

Yeah I think Boykin plays much better from the slot and, we all know that we don't have shut-down corners.