Mike Tomlin: ‘Easy Phone Call’ to Bring Myles Jack to Steelers

Myles Jack is extremely excited to be with the Pittsburgh Steelers, head coach Mike Tomlin said on Sunday.

The veteran inside linebacker has joined the Steelers after six seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. While there, he was a key part of their 2017 ‘Sacksonville’ defense that took the organization to the AFC Championship game. They almost defeated the eventual Super Bowl champions New England Patriots in the game, but a forced fumble and recovery by Jack was blown dead by a controversial early whistle.

Since then, the Jaguars have gone 15-50 and have finished in last place in the AFC South division in four consecutive seasons.

Tomlin uses one of his pet phrases, “we want volunteers, not hostages” describe players that are disgruntled with their current situation such as Le’Veon Bell during his contract holdout in 2018 and Melvin Ingram last season. This time, it is used to describe one of the volunteers, Jack.

“Really easy phone call, ya know?” Tomlin said in an interview with Missi Matthews.. “‘Hey Myles, you want to be a Steeler? Absolutely.’ And I love that. I live by the philosophy volunteers, not hostages and you didn’t have to be on the phone very long to find out the excitment of Myles wanting to be a part of this. And that really fires me up.”

Jack though has remained consistent since he entered the league in 2016. He’s had at least 100 tackles in three of the last four years. Availability is a big attribute with Jack, as he’s played in at least 11 games in every season of his career. In fact, he’s appeared in at least 14 games in five of his six seasons.

While he hasn’t made a Pro-Bowl in his career, he’s been able to contribute on all facets of the defense. He has 513 career tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and 6.5 sacks. An appealing trait to the Steelers has been his versatility as Jack has played significant time at both the outside and inside linebacker positions. He is likely going to start opposite inside linebacker Devin Bush in the middle.