This is why I consider it a test.
He needs to find a way to push the right buttons and resonate the urgency with them.
When I coached basketball, I took a lesson from my old High School Basketball Coach, who brought a freshman up on the Varsity Team and it rattled everyone. Long story short, I overheard him chuckle about it as he had no intention of playing him, but was actually amused at how it scared everyone into getting serious about what we were doing.
I benched a popular starter for an entire game and barely won.
It didn't immediately resonate as they thought it a bluff. His replacement, bless him he wasn't nearly as good, but played his guts out. It didn't hurt I did a combo of things to get him 10 ludicrously easy points. And when the other kids realized he wasn't going to play that day -- it didn't take but another reserve making a single shot to realize they were all at risk of being benched.
Bottom line, my strategy was not about W/L that game. I was willing to sacrifice a Pawn to get the Rook. It worked.
Tomlin needs to find that button to push on these guys.
