Steelers' Mike Tomlin on facing Vikings: 'Grizzly veteran' Carson Wentz 'certainly has our attention'

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The Minnesota Vikings offense ran as smoothly as it has all season in Week 3 with Carson Wentz at the helm. That didn’t surprise Week 4 opponent Pittsburgh or coach Mike Tomlin.

“That certainly has our attention,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “He’s a grizzly veteran. Oftentimes, particularly when you have a young, inexperienced quarterback, there’s some big-time benefits of playing with a vet backup. The veteran guy oftentimes does the intangible components of the job very well. … They oftentimes are able to carry more schematic responsibility and so forth at the line of scrimmage. So, I don’t necessarily view it as a negative thing for the Minnesota Vikings, at least in the short term, that Carson is playing for them.”

Tomlin noted that last season, when the Steelers faced Indianapolis, he told his players to keep Anthony Richardson “upright” so they wouldn’t put Joe Flacco in the game. Richardson got injured in the first quarter of that Week 4 tilt, and Flacco led the Colts to a victory over the Steelers.

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Tomlin’s point is that “at least in the short term,” a veteran can stabilize an offense, which Wentz appeared to do last week for Minnesota. Already, there are rumblings about whether Kevin O’Connell would be better sticking with Wentz over J.J. McCarthy.

The Steelers are keenly aware of the talent surrounding the quarterback, which makes life easier on Wentz.

“He certainly has a full repertoire of targets available to him. The return of Jordan Addison, I think, is significant,” Tomlin said. “Certainly, (Justin) Jefferson is a man to be reckoned with, good 50/50 ball guy, tough, good after the catch, as well. T.J. (Hockenson) at the tight end is a challenge. So, Carson has a nice arsenal of people to throw the ball to.”

The Steelers and Vikings kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET (2:30 local) from Dublin, airing on NFL Network.

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