"Going to Give Him Hell": Steelers Captain Shares Locker Room's Reaction to Mike McCarthy's Injury After HC Missed Halftime Meeting in Steelers' Win

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy spent all of halftime in a medical tent on Sunday, and his players noticed. Defensive tackle and team captain Cam Heyward revealed how the locker room felt about it, saying McCarthy only avoided a round of ridicule because he was not in the room. The Steelers still went on to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-19 in overtime, which made the whole episode a lot easier to laugh about.

The injury came right at the end of the first half at Raymond James Stadium, with Pittsburgh trailing 13-3. McCarthy was seen limping and struggling to walk, and a Steelers staffer helped him off the field and into the blue tent on the sideline, where he stayed through the entire break. He did not address the team and only returned to the sideline for the start of the third quarter. On The Rich Eisen Show, Heyward explained what would have happened had McCarthy shown up in the locker room:

“I will say he came into the meeting room the next day and didn’t have a boot on or anything, so we were good there. If there was a boot on that foot, we were going to give him hell in those moments,” Heyward said on the show.

Eisen, who asked who would be the one to poke fun at McCarthy for ending up in the blue tent, joked that the coach could have gone further with ice, a boot and a limp cart. Heyward agreed and said:

The Steelers locker room is fired up, and Mike McCarthy's absence has only intensified their focus. Stay subscribed for insider access to how Pittsburgh's leadership navigates this pivotal moment.

“If he had done that, that would have been hilarious. I think our coach is a little bit tougher than that.”

McCarthy gave his own account after the game, saying he had his foot stepped on and adding that the tent was not a place he would recommend. A separate broadcast report said he twisted his ankle, and no diagnosis has been reported. McCarthy also described the conditions inside the tent:

“Don’t recommend it. It’s really hot in there. I got my foot stepped on.”

Assistant head coach Joe Whitt Jr. addressed the players at halftime, and McCarthy said he communicated from the tent to the locker room. McCarthy was also the one calling the offense, which had no touchdown and converted one of six third downs before the break.

“Joe has head coach responsibilities normally, so they didn’t miss a beat,” McCarthy said.

Rodgers, meanwhile, had no complaints about the team’s halftime routine, saying, “It was still the same chaos, but people said, ‘Hey, Mike didn’t come in.” And then people are wondering, ‘What the heck’s going on? Is he O.K.? Glad he’s okay. He’s from Pittsburgh. He toughed it out.”

Pittsburgh still trailed 16-3 entering the fourth quarter, then came all the way back. Rodgers drove the Steelers to a touchdown on a 5-yard pass to Darnell Washington, and Chris Boswell hit a 58-yard field goal to tie it at 16 with 1:58 left. Tampa Bay forced overtime with a 53-yard field goal, and Rodgers then drove 70 yards in 12 plays, finishing with the 6-yard touchdown to rookie Germie Bernard, the first of his career.

Jalen Ramsey sacked the Buccaneers’ quarterback on fourth-and-8 to end it. Rodgers finished 33-of-49 for 253 yards and two touchdowns. The Steelers, now 4-2, picked up their first road win of the season.

Meanwhile, the Steelers are headed to Paris for a Week 7 meeting with the Saints at Stade de France on Sunday, October 25, and after Heyward’s warning, McCarthy knows exactly what the locker room will be watching when he steps off the plane.

Trending Articles

The post "Going to Give Him Hell": Steelers Captain Shares Locker Room's Reaction to Mike McCarthy's Injury After HC Missed Halftime Meeting in Steelers' Win appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.