The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to great lengths to change the culture within their locker room. It started with the departures of running back Le'Veon Bell and receiver Antonio Brown. After a season in which the team played through drama, in some form, all year long, the focus now is one that focuses on football and maintaining a level of character.

When head coach Mike Tomlin spoke to ESPN’s Trey Wingo, he referred to the departure of petulant former Steelers Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell as a “cleansing,” which feels rather appropriate.

Tomlin's comment Saturday is understandable to some extent.

The Steelers went through more than their share of drama last season. Le’Veon Bell’s holdout was a season-long storyline. He was expected to report to the team at some point in the season but ended up sitting out the whole thing. Antonio Brown had some off-field issues throughout, which culminated in him being benched for the final game of the season. If you stretch back to issues even before that, Tomlin seemed to be ready to move on from Brown.

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It may very well be a good thing for the locker room that both Bell and Brown are no longer there. From a practical standpoint, though, a lot of production just walked out the door. Bell had 7,996 yards from scrimmage and 42 touchdowns through his first five years. Brown is first in receiving yards (11,207) and second in touchdown receptions (74) since entering the NFL in 2010.

The team obviously thinks James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster can continue to improve and produce at a high level in 2019.