PITTSBURGH — Among the things that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin must fix going into the 2025 season is finding a way to keep his team healthier.
Tomlin admitted during his post-season press conference on Tuesday that the Steelers had a problem with soft tissue injuries during the 2025 season, and that conversations on how to make corrections to that issue have already begun.
“Those types of discussions are going on on a lot of levels,” Tomlin said. “How can we keep our team healthier, was a discussion that happened yesterday, for example. We experienced a rash of soft tissue injuries this year. That was impactful.”
A Steelers Now study in early December showed that by then, the Steelers already had a massive year-over-year increase in soft tissue injuries. The Steelers ended the season with 57 man-games lost from expected contributors to soft tissue injuries. They had just 23 man-games lost to such injuries in 2023.
STEELERS 2024 SOFT-TISSUE INJURIES
Justin Fields, hamstring, 1 game
Justin Fields, abdominal, 2 games
Nick Herbig, hamstring, 4 games
Alex Highsmith, groin, 3 games
Tyler Matakevich, hamstring, 7 games
George Pickens, hamstring, 3 games
Cory Trice Jr., hamstring 9 games
Roman Wilson, hamstring, 13 games
Russell Wilson, calf, 5 games
Calvin Anderson, groin, 5 games
DeShon Elliot, hamstring, 2 games
Larry Ogunjobi, groin, 2 games
Ben Skowronek, oblique, 1 game
The big jump in soft tissue injuries comes after Tomlin made a big change to his strength and conditioning staff last offseason, parting with 23-year veteran Marcel Pastoor and his entire staff, and bringing in a new crop of coaches led by Greenville, Pa., native Phil Matusz, who came to the Steelers from Boston College.
“I just thought it was time,” Tomlin said at the NFL owners meetings last March. “I just thought we got so many talented young big people. I wanted to put some fresh expertise into their growth and development. As an organization, you know, we own the development of our young players. And so, I’m just really excited. The acquisition of young talented players like Broderick (Jones) or Keeanu Benton is just a component of it. Their growth and development over the course of a 12-month calendar is equally as important as their talent. And so, I’m excited about the moves that we made there and in the fresh vision that we’re going to have in terms of some of our player development.”
It would be unprecedented for the Steelers to fire their strength staff after just one year on the job, but the team must find a way to reduce the number of preventable soft tissue injuries suffered this season.