Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy expressed regret Thursday night for the words he aimed at quarterback Aaron Rodgers during a first-quarter sideline flare-up that the NFL‘s Thursday Night Football broadcast caught in a 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Rodgers yelled “What the f—? Call it!” toward the sideline while waiting on a play call, and cameras showed McCarthy appearing to answer with profanity. “Any negative communication on my part, I wish I wouldn’t use those words,” McCarthy said after the game.
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What did Mike McCarthy say?
“Communication sometimes is not the best choice of words, but everybody’s competing on the field,” McCarthy said. “What’s said on the field, the way I grew up in this game, usually stays on the field. That’s not the case today. I understand that.”
The first-year Steelers coach also said the pace of the opening drive sped him up. “First drive was hectic,” McCarthy said. “I was talking faster than normal.”
McCarthy coached Rodgers for 13 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, and they won a Super Bowl after the 2010 season. Pittsburgh hired the former Packers coach this year after longtime head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down. After the Week 1 win over the Atlanta Falcons, Rodgers handed McCarthy the game ball.
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Aaron Rodgers blames stadium noise
“It was loud,” Rodgers said of the crowd at Huntington Bank Stadium. “So some of the calls, it was hard to hear, for sure.”
Rodgers’ outburst at the sideline came late in the opening drive, which went 17 plays and took 9:48 off the clock. It was Pittsburgh’s longest drive of the season, and it ended in a touchdown for a 7-0 lead. The broadcast also showed the 42-year-old quarterback in a heated exchange with his receivers.
Play calling has been on Rodgers’ mind before. After the Week 2 loss at the New England Patriots, he said he needed to tell coaches what was working “so we can call stuff that we feel like has a better chance.”
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How the Browns beat the Steelers
Rodgers threw an interception on the drive after the opening score, and a later trip into scoring range ended with a missed field goal.
With under two minutes left, Rodgers found tight end Pat Freiermuth for a touchdown and converted a two-point try to tie the game at 24. Cleveland answered with a 56-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt, and a Hail Mary toward Roman Wilson was intercepted to end it.
Rodgers finished 22 of 40 for 299 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. The loss dropped the Steelers to 2-2 and moved the Browns (3-1) into first place in the AFC North.
The Indianapolis Colts visit Pittsburgh on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. ET, which gives the Pittsburgh Steelers 10 days to regroup.
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