Jaylen Warren spoke about Mike Tomlin stepping down and the Pittsburgh Steelers hiring Mike McCarthy.
After the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round of the 2026 playoffs, Mike Tomlin stepped down from his post and former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was hired.
Steelers RB Jaylen Warren was recently on Good Morning Football and he was asked to talk about McCarthy replacing Tomlin.
"Me personally, I never thought he was the problem or whatever, but it sucks," Warren said. "I was -- I wouldn't say traumatized -- but it hurt, because he was the one who took me in as an undrafted [player], he gave me a shot, and that's who I was playing under for my first four years. To hear him resign, it sucked, but he had to do what he had to do."
"He's been energetic," Warren said regarding McCarthy. "Obviously, it's an NFL week, so he's been doing his thing as far as preparing us for what he wants and is expecting us to expect from him. It's been great. I just love the energy he brings, and I just love what he's about."
McCarthy is a Super Bowl champion like Tomlin. The Steelers haven't won a playoff game since the 2016 season. It will be intriguing to see how Pittsburgh does next season in Year 1 of the McCarthy era.
"It could be a lot of things. I wouldn't point the finger at anyone," Warren said. "Things just happened the way they happened. Moving forward, whatever the coaches have planned, I know we're ready to execute it."
Warren had 958 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns last season. He's unsure if Aaron Rodgers will come back next season.
"You know, I'm not really expecting anything," Warren said. "Whatever happens, happens. I'm rocking with whoever's at the quarterback position. But if he comes back, great. If he doesn't, then we'll miss him."
Rodgers finished with 3,322 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions last season. He completed 65.7% of his passes.
McCarthy and Rodgers won Super Bowl XLV against the Steelers as members of the Packers. Rodgers told Pat McAfee that he's open to playing for McCarthy again.
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