One day after the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns 23-9, head coach Mike Tomlin was brutally honest regarding their controversial trade with division rival Cincinnati

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski revealed last week that even he was surprised that a trade that sent Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals came together out of nowhere. He wasn't the only one who was caught off guard by the move. 

Mike Tomlin also found himself shocked by the trade, especially considering it helped an AFC North rival. The Pittsburgh Steelers headman shared his true thoughts on the deal during a Monday press conference ahead of his team's Thursday night showdown with the Bengals this week, taking a blatant shot at Browns executive vice president of football operations Andrew Berry in the process.

"Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us, because it doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening-day starter to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area," Tomlin asserted. "But that’s just my personal feelings."

Berry sent Flacco to the Bengals along with a sixth-round pick to net a fifth-round pick in return. Tomlin's candid quote was a telling one, particularly on the heels of his team beating Stefanski's Browns 23-9 on Sunday, and the quick turnaround before facing the Bengals. 

Naturally, Stefanski was asked about the quote from his friend – the pair coached together with the Minnesota Vikings in 2006. In typical Stefanski fashion he declined to comment, saying smply, "I don't have a comment on that."

Tomlin's comments didn't just make it back to Stefanski, either. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was also asked about the remarks on Monday as well and took a slightly different approach than Stefanski. 

"I was happy," Taylor said with a smile and a shrug. "I was happy. That's my only comment."

In his Bengals debut, Flacco completed 29-of-45 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns in what was a 27-18 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The 40-year-old orchestrate an entertaining comeback from down 10-0 to get Cincy within six points of the Packers with 3:22 to play, but couldn't quite bring his new team all the way back. 

Now he'll he'll draw Tomlin's Steelers, a team he's plenty familiar with from his time with the Baltimore Ravens. He's 11-11 all-time against Pittsburgh.