Steelers’ Mike McCarthy: Bye week was for reset, now it’s full focus on Bengals

Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy framed the team’s bye week as both a personal breather and a professional reset, saying he wanted players to get away before getting them “activated” back into the schedule ahead of the second half of the season.

McCarthy said the Steelers managed a demanding three-game run that included Tampa and an overseas stop in Paris before returning to play a divisional opponent, and he described the off week as a chance to recharge for “what’s to come.”

When Pittsburgh began turning back toward football operations this week, McCarthy pointed to structured re-engagement rather than lingering on rest, saying his plan includes care coming off the bye as the team gets back “in-tune” through practice and prep.

On the matchup, McCarthy expects the Steelers to focus on their own improvement as they prepare for the Bengals. He noted that both teams enter the meeting with identical records at 6-2 and are each riding four-game winning streaks.

The first head-to-head meeting between the teams ended with Pittsburgh winning 30-27 at Acrisure Stadium, but McCarthy emphasized that the Bengals are the present concern while the Steelers keep building toward the larger season picture.

He also addressed the NFL’s 4 p.m. trade deadline, saying he does not spend much time on it day-to-day because general manager Omar Khan and team leadership handle trade discussions and evaluation, while he keeps his attention on coaching the group already in place.