Mike Tomlin confirms Artie Burns was indeed benched Sunday due to late arrival

At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Mike Tomlin was asked about why Artie Burns did not play a single defensive snap against the Cleveland Browns.

“He was late to a Saturday walkthrough and then it was my choice not to play him.”

Tomlin continued to describe Burns work ethic leading up to the game.

“We’ll keep working with Artie. He had a good week of practice last week. I don’t want to make more out of it than what it is. But he was late.”

Coach Tomlin went on to expound on why he felt the need to to hold Burns out for the entire game.

“We wanted to be focused with the guys that were wired in and appropriately where they needed to be in the hours leading up to kickoff. So he (Burns) suffered the consequences of that.”

As for how Tom and will handle Burns moving forward, he made it clear that Artie is still a part of the Steelers defensive plans.

“We’ll roll that ball back out and get on track with him and others this week.”

Coach Tomlin was asked if Coty Sensabaugh can’t go, if he feels confident with Burns.

“I’ll let you know after I watch this week’s preparation. Not only in regards to him, but Coty. We’ll let his availability be our guide in terms of whether or not he plays.”