Steelers CB Ahkello Witherspoon Responds to Benching

Ahkello Witherspoon and Mike Tomlin react to the Pittsburgh Steelers change at cornerback.

During halftime of the Pittsburgh Steelers' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the coaching staff made the decision to pull Ahkello Witherspoon and replace him with James Pierre. 

The move at cornerback came after Witherspoon allowed two deep touchdowns to Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown before the half. 

This was Witherspoon's first game back since Week 3 when he suffered a hamstring injury. Head coach Mike Tomlin said it was not health-related to bench Witherspoon, just because of performance.  

"There's no excuses regarding the play that we put out there, whether it's us as an individual or us as a collective," Tomlin said. "I wouldn't have put him on the field if he wasn't ready to go."

After the game, Witherspoon addressed the decision and did not disagree with the coaches. 

"Being in good position don’t mean a thing if you don’t make the play," he said.

The Steelers gave up 290 passing yards and four touchdowns to Philadelphia. Brown also beat Terrell Edmunds and Minkah Fitzpatrick deep for a touchdown in the first half. 

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