Mike Tomlin opened Tuesday's press conference by accepting responsibility for his team's role in Thursday night's melee with the Cleveland Browns.

"It was ugly," Tomlin said. "It was ugly for the game of football. I think all of us that are involved in the game, particularly at this level, want to safeguard and protect the game, its integrity. And in that instance, it was compromised, obviously, with an unfortunate incident.

"None of us want those incidents to transpire. It did. We were a part of it. We accept responsibility for our actions within it."

Tomlin also rebuffed the idea that the game-ending fight could be used as a teachable moment for his team.