Oct 20, 2015 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – Mike Tomlin wasn’t in the mood to play cat-and-mouse games Tuesday.

He declared Landry Jones the Steelers’ starting quarterback for Sunday when they play at Kansas City.

“As we build a plan to go into Arrowhead and to perform, I just think it’s appropriate that we build that planning around and behind Landry Jones,” said Tomlin. “He’s the healthiest of the group. He’s healthy and he provided a winning performance in the waning moments of that game last Sunday.”

It was an outside-the-norm move for an NFL coach to make the declaration so early. Typically, when there’s a question regarding health of a quarterback, teams will wait as long as they can before designating a starter in an effort to keep opponents guessing.

With Jones having come off a game in which he completed 8 of 12 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns in his first NFL game, in relief of injured Mike Vick, the decision was an easy one for Tomlin to make.

With Vick still hurting with a hamstring injury and starter Ben Roethlisberger continuing to try to work his way back into the lineup after suffering sprained knee ligament Sept. 25 at St. Louis, Tomlin has only one healthy quarterback.

Roethlisberger, who did 7-on-7 work last week, expects to increase his workload this week. But it won’t come at the expense of getting Jones ready for his first career start.

“We’re going to focus on getting Landry ready,” said Tomlin, whose team is 4-2 overall and 2-1 witout Roethlisberger.

“That’s what we do know. Some of the other things are speculative, and we can’t lose a whole lot of preparation time with speculation. When things reveal themselves to us in terms of the availability of Ben and/or Mike, then we’ll make necessary adjustments to our plan. As (of) today, we’re focused on Landry’s readiness and getting him the required reps to perform in an above-the-line manner.”

Tomlin was pleased with the performance of Jones, a fourth-round draft pick in 2013, and added that he wasn’t surprised, though the Steelers signed the 35-year-old Vick when it became apparent in the preseason that backup Bruce Gradkowski would be lost for the season.

“He has logged as many preseason snaps as anybody in the history of preseason football and took good advantage of those repetitions,” Tomlin said of Jones, who led the NFL in passing yards in the preseason.

“But I acknowledge that’s just preseason, and preseason is not an indication of what regular-season football is about. Doing it in a regular-season game is a little different than doing it in a preseason game. He made some nice plays. He’s a professional quarterback. We’re not going to throw a pep rally or a party because of it. He did what was expected. He needs to continue to work and prepare this week and deliver some plays.”

If neither Roethlisberger nor Vick can play Sunday, even in a backup role, Tomlin said the Steelers would consider adding a quarterback to the roster. They have wide receiver/quarterback Tyler Murphy on the practice squad.

Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward was fined $5,787 by the NFL last week for having “Iron Head” written on his eye black to honor his father, former Pitt and NFL star Craig “Iron Head” Heyward, who died at 39 of brain cancer.

Heyward had the same tribute in place against Arizona and expects another fine this week. Under NFL rules, the fine would increase to $11,576 for the second offense and any others.

Tomlin said he has spoken to Heyward about the issue and backs his player.

“I understand his perspective,” Tomlin said, who added he’s not going to call the league office on Heyward’s behalf. “He’s trying to pay homage in honor of those who deal with and fight cancer.

“I understand that the league office probably has a different view. I’ll let him sort it out with those guys but I understand the gist of what he’s trying to do. I respect him for it.”

Defensive end Stephon Tuitt left the Arizona game with a sprained knee, but Tomlin said Tuitt is feeling much better.

“I saw him walking pretty good (Monday), and we’ll see what (Wednesday) holds in terms of his ability to bounce back,” Tomlin said.

If Tuitt, who leads the Steelers with 3 1/2 sacks, can’t play, then Pittsburgh could try Cam Thomas or nose tackle Steve McLendon at defensive end.

Safety Will Allen, who sat out Sunday with a sprained ankle, might be a week away from playing. Tomlin said linebackers Jarvis Jones (hip) and Ryan Shazier (shoulder) will play against the Chiefs.