Published: November 10, 2009 11:35 pm      

Tomlin won’t discuss released RB

PITTSBURGH — Steelers coach Mike Tomlin isn’t saying if the team has any interest in Larry Johnson, the former Penn State running back who was released by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Still, the Steelers’ answer appears to be the same as it was in 2003: Johnson isn’t in their plans.

Johnson, who has long wanted to play in Pittsburgh, was cut Monday after being suspended by Kansas City for the second time in a year. The Steelers have long stayed away from signing troubled players, and they appear to be set at running back with starter Rashard Mendenhall and backup Willie Parker.

“I don’t discuss free agents,” Tomlin said Tuesday, only a few hours after the Steelers returned from their 28-10 victory in Denver on Monday night. “That opens Pandora’s box. I tend to focus on the guys that are in our locker room.”

Tomlin made similar comments when quarterback Michael Vick was on the market in the summer. The Steelers had no interest in Vick.

The Chiefs cut Johnson – who was 75 yards short of breaking the team rushing record – two weeks after he posted a gay slur on Twitter, insulted fans and questioned the competence of coach Todd Haley. Haley’s father, Dick, once was a Steelers executive.