{"id":3679,"date":"2025-11-12T22:59:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/mike-tomlin-gets-brutally-honest-on-juan-thornhills-exit-wasnt-up-to-snuff\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T22:59:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:59:29","slug":"mike-tomlin-gets-brutally-honest-on-juan-thornhills-exit-wasnt-up-to-snuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/?p=3679","title":{"rendered":"Mike Tomlin Gets Brutally Honest on Juan Thornhill\u2019s Exit: \u2018Wasn\u2019t Up to Snuff"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0lost to the Los Angeles Chargers on\u00a0Sunday Night Football\u00a0<\/em>by a score of 25-10. The Steelers played one of their worst games of the season collectively, with the offense unable to gain momentum and the defense unable to stop the Chargers’ playmakers from controlling the tempo of the game. This performance is coming off the heels of the team’s best performance all season against the Indianapolis Colts\u00a0the week prior, in which the team was able to force six turnovers and hold superstar Colts running back Jonathan Taylor\u00a0to\u00a045 yards on 14 carries (his worst performance all year long).<\/p>\n

The wildly inconsistent performance of the Steelers from week to week has been a point of contention with fans, the media, and many others across the country. Recently, Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin gave his weekly address to the media and was asked about the performance of certain players and why they didn’t perform up to expectations. Specifically, Tomlin was asked about the play of former Steelers safety Juan Thornhill in recent weeks prior to the surprising release of Thornhill from the roster. Tomlin’s response to being asked about why Thornhill was released only for the team to bring in safety Sebastian Castro back to the practice squad, speaks volumes for how he feels about Thornhill and the safety room as a whole.<\/p>\n

“You know, the player wasn’t up to snuff,” Tomlin bluntly stated. “Castro was available to us. We went through the team development process with Castro, thought he had a good camp, good preseason, he played his tail off in that practice against the Bucs. I think that’s why, you know, they stole him from us, and we had an opportunity to reacquire him. We’ve absorbed some attrition since he left, and so, it was an opportunity to get him back. It was more about Castro and less about Juan.”<\/p>\n

Tomlin’s comments on how he felt about Thornhill’s performance shows in how Thornhill’s snap counts reduced over the weeks leading up to his release. The fact that Tomlin saw that Castro was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers\u00a0and was excited about the opportunity to re-sign him says a lot about how Thornhill had performed within the Steelers defense up to now. Castro signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Steelers this past offseason before the Bucs signed him off the Steelers’ practice squad.<\/p>\n

Castro re-signing with the Steelers gives the team more depth at a position that they’ve suffered injuries to key players in, as Tomlin stated about the attrition since Castro left. However, adding Castro back to the fold could be a move that not only solves an issue with the Steelers’ defense in the moment, but could add a player to the team that has the potential to contribute at a high level for a long time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The signing of Castro and Tomlin’s remarks about why the team chose to bring him into the fold rather than allow Thornhill to continue to sit on the roster speaks volumes about how the team is attempting to bring in talent to not only supplement a weakened safety room that is decimated with injury, but could also be attempting to get younger on the defensive side of the ball. However, the team still has a massive issue to address, even with the signing of Castro to the practice squad.<\/p>\n

Even as the Steelers sign players to address positions decimated by injuries, the team needs to find a way to change up how the defense is schemed on a weekly basis. It was predictable enough against the Chargers that linebacker Daiyan Henley\u00a0had\u00a0admitted that their goal was to get to Steelers quarterback\u00a0Aaron Rodgers\u00a0frustrated in the pocket, and they did a good job in that regard.<\/p>\n

If the Steelers can’t find a way to make themselves look less predictable on offense as the schedule gets tougher, then Tomlin’s remarks about the potential of Castro will be ultimately useless.<\/p>\n

For the second consecutive offseason, the\u00a0New York Mets\u00a0appear to be competing to pry an outfielder away from their crosstown rivals.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Mets are interested in free-agent outfielder Cody Bellinger, who spent the 2025 season with the Yankees. Heyman noted that the Mets have openings at center field and first base\u2014two positions Bellinger can play.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/t.co\/Cj9o233gEH\u00a0Can the Mets possibly sign a star Yankee OF for the second straight winter? They are interested<\/p>\n

Bellinger, 30, joined the Yankees in a salary-dump trade days after the Chicago Cubs acquired Kyle Tucker last December. It was one of multiple defining moves in the Yankees\u2019 pivot from Juan Soto, who signed a historic 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets after one season in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

Over 152 regular-season games in pinstripes, Bellinger hit .272\/.334\/.480 (.813 OPS) with 29 home runs and 98 RBIs. The left-handed slugger finished with 5.1 bWAR, the highest mark he has produced since his 2019 NL MVP campaign with the Los Angeles Dodgers (8.7).<\/p>\n

Bellinger not only excelled batting behind Aaron Judge but was also one of the best defenders in baseball. Playing all three outfield positions and first base, he accumulated eight defensive runs saved and was credited with +7 Outs Above Average by\u00a0Statcast.<\/p>\n

An UNBELIEVABLE Cody Bellinger catch secures the Yankees win!\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/XdzM96Amiw<\/p>\n

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has emphasized improving run prevention since the offseason began, citing it as one of the main reasons the team fell short of expectations in 2025. Adding a player with Bellinger\u2019s defensive abilities to the starting lineup could help address that issue, though his exact role would depend on other moves.<\/p>\n

When asked about the team\u2019s center field options Tuesday at MLB\u2019s GM meetings in Las Vegas,\u00a0Stearns said\u00a0Mets No. 2 prospect Carson Benge will have a chance to make the Opening Day roster out of spring training. The 2024 first-rounder posted an .857 OPS with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs across three levels this past season, though he hit .178\/.272\/.311 in 24 Triple-A games.<\/p>\n

If Benge starts in center, that would leave first base as a potential Pete Alonso replacement or either corner outfield spot as Bellinger\u2019s most realistic long-term fit in Queens. Both Soto and Brandon Nimmo are under contract through at least 2030, so the Mets would likely have to move one to a full-time DH role or trade Nimmo to accommodate Bellinger in the outfield.<\/p>\n

At no point during Bellinger\u2019s first nine big-league seasons has he been a full-time first baseman, though he has made 350 career appearances (274 starts) at the position. His career marks of 10 DRS and -1 OAA at first are not as strong as his outfield metrics, though they are noticeably better than Alonso\u2019s defensive numbers (-9 DRS, -9 OAA) in 2025.<\/p>\n

If there is one concern about Bellinger\u2019s potential fit in Queens, it is that the Mets already have an abundance of left-handed bats at the top of the lineup. That said, the two-time All-Star led all left-handed hitters in on-base percentage (.415) and slugging (.601) against lefty pitching in 2025.<\/p>\n

Like Alonso, Bellinger opted out of the final year of his contract ($25 million guaranteed) in search of a longer-term agreement this offseason. Both\u00a0Spotrac\u00a0and\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Kiley McDaniel project Bellinger to secure a six-year deal in free agency\u2014one that would exceed his previous financial guarantee in average annual value.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0lost to the Los Angeles Chargers on\u00a0Sunday Night Football\u00a0by a score of 25-10. The Steelers played one of their worst games of the season collectively, with the offense unable to gain…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t