Mike Tomlin: I send Patrick Queen out for the coin toss, motivation is a good thing

Both the Ravens and Steelers enter Sunday afternoon’s game with seven wins, so there’s plenty on the line before even diving into individual storylines.

One of the juicier subplots on that front involves Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen. Queen spent his first four seasons with the Ravens but signed with the Steelers as a free agent this offseason and said this week that the Ravens never offered a deal that would have kept him in Baltimore.

The queen he said “want feelings” during Sunday’s game as a result, and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin hopes to channel those feelings into a positive outcome for his team.

“I’m going to send him out for the coin toss, if that gives you any indication,” Tomlin told Bob Labriola of the team’s website. “Motivation is good. We’re human and everybody wants to feel wanted. And so I would imagine that’s not just a motivation this week, but it’s probably been a motivation for him every week. Especially those, you trade with, who you work shoulder to shoulder with every day, you want to be appreciated. And obviously they chose to move in a different direction. And if you are right-minded and mature about it, you use it as good fuel, like motivation and focus, and that’s what I’ve discovered about PQ since he’s been here, he’s taken what seems like a negative and he’s turned it into a positive because it’s been really motivating for him on a daily basis to be the best he can be and have a good relationship with us.”

The Ravens and Queen know each other well, and whichever side can better use that to their advantage should have an edge in Sunday’s battle for pole position in the AFC North.