Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley is recovering from a hip injury he suffered during an incident outside a bar near Heinz Field on New Year’s Eve.
A Pittsburgh Police spokeswoman told the NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo that before the incident, Haley’s wife, Christine, was involved in a “minor scuffle” that “quickly ended” inside Tequila Cowboy. Haley “was not involved nor injured” during that altercation, the spokeswoman said, and no one was injured in the incident.
Haley, who has been the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh since 2012, was not at the team’s facility on Tuesday but is expected back this week. The team has a bye this week and will play its first playoff game on the weekend of Jan. 13-14.
Earlier this season, friction between Haley and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger erupted publicly when the two differed over a call at the end of the Steelers’ loss to the Patriots. On the play, it appeared as if Roethlisberger was going to spike the ball to stop the clock, but instead he was intercepted when he threw a pass that ended up in the arms of Duron Harmon. The game was over and the Patriots left Pittsburgh with the top seed for the AFC playoffs.
Afterward, Roethlisberger said his inclination during the chaotic closing seconds was to spike the ball. “It wasn’t a fake spike,” he said. “I was yelling ‘clock it’ because I felt that was the thing to do, to clock it and get yourself one play. And it came from the sideline: ‘Don’t clock it, don’t clock it.’ ”
That would mean it came from Haley.
“Well, at that time I’m already — everyone thinks it’s clocked,” Roethlisberger said, “so you don’t have time to try to get everyone lined up . . . [Receiver] Eli [Rogers] saw and he ran kind of a quick slant in there, and at that time you just gotta try to make a play.”
“It has nothing to do with the relationship that coach Todd and I have,” Roethlisberger said in a radio interview earlier this week. “It’s more about making it easier to communicate with my quarterbacks coach.”
And, he was asked, is the relationship with Haley good?
“Yeah. Yeah.”
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