Steelers' Mike Tomlin Gives Odd Reason For Benching Roman Wilson

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had some very concerning reports come out about wide receiver Roman Wilson recently. It seemed like he was on the verge of cracking the starting lineup full-time, but instead, he was benched so two veterans could make their team debuts in Week 14 (which included Adam Thielen officially getting the start). At this point, there are concerns on if the second-year wideout will get his chance to play another snap for Pittsburgh, let alone in the 2025 season. His future is very uncertain at this point. 

During his typical Tomlin Tuesday press conference, Head Coach Mike Tomlin was asked about why Wilson was inactive in Week 14. Obviously, he wanted to go with veterans at the position, but the reasoning he gave was a little bit head-scratching for the situation.

"Scotty [Miller]'s a capable backup punt returner, and I thought that was the difference," Tomlin said.

Special teamer Scotty Miller has had only one punt return in his NFL career, so that reasoning does not make a ton of sense for many fans. The Steelers have worked him out as a return man before, but they have never called upon him for that role. Essentially, they had him up and active for three snaps on offense and one on special teams in just his ninth game of the season. 

The real reason seems to be that Wilson is in the doghouse. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers spoke about how there was more focus in practice while he was working with the veteran receivers, as opposed to the young one. It seems like Rodgers and/or Tomlin are very displeased with the effort and the level of focus from the former third-round pick, and the benching is them sending a message to him to get back on track, or else he's done for the season. 

Wilson has had a bit of a history of getting on his coaching staff's nerves. He suffered an injury early in training camp in 2024, and his recovery was reportedly not great. He played five whole snaps that year before getting injured again, and another slow recovery cost him his rookie season. 2025 was going to be the year that he showed the world exactly what he could be.

Instead, he had to deal with Rodgers publicly calling him out and dropping to bubble player status in the depth chart. He did better in preseason, but not enough to earn the ability to get consistent, quality playing time. Instead, there have been more concerns about him, and the negative has started to outweigh the positive again. This could be a rough stretch here if Wilson can't bounce back like he needs to. 

It started in Week 9, when Wilson tried to hurdle a defender while the Steelers were trying to burn clock. He fumbled the ball, but the defense luckily did their job to secure the win. Rodgers has also previously spoken about him not being "deliberate" enough with his routes and decision-making. The talent is definitely there, as no one on the team gets open better than him. All reports indicate that he needs a little more attention to detail.

Steelers May Be Trying To Protect Wilson From Media

Tomlin's answer of Miller working out at punt returner may have been misleading, so he didn't have to publicly chew out his receiver. Wilson has received a lot of backlash already, and it's rare that the head coach will go to the podium and throw an individual player under the bus like that. 

Hopefully, Wilson can step back up and earn his spot on the field again before it's too late.

What do you think about Tomlin using Miller as the excuse for benching Wilson? Do you think that was the truth? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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