We've been evaluating throughout training camp, two-a-days, the off-season program, all the way through. We'll be fine. |
We've done a good job through the season, but that fourth quarter wasn't one of our better quarters when it came to run defense. |
We've got a lot of guys fighting for positions and backup positions. That's what preseason is all about. To see how they operate in game situations and hopefully they play well. |
We've got to keep our focus and grind it out for 60 minutes. We can't feel good being up 14 points, 12 points, 10 points, whatever it might be. In the middle of the third quarter, we have to finish teams. |
We've got to make that tough decision on what's the best thing for the team, |
We've got to play more disciplined than we played. We had too many penalties, but I liked the effort, and we've got something to improve on. |
We've made mistakes before, |
We've made mistakes before. We'll make mistakes in the future. Just because we draft somebody in the third round doesn't mean they're automatically going to be on our football team. We've cut our first-rounders, second-rounders before. You don't feel very good about those scenarios, but they do happen. |
We've seen it all through the years. If you do pick up a weakness, it's not there very long. You have to adjust throughout the whole game, and they are fundamentally sound. They play good, solid football. His players always know what they are doing. I don't care if they are rookies are veterans - they are very well coached and they play at a very high level. |
Well, first of all, you don't think about those things that you just mentioned ? excuses. You either get it done or you don't. |
What I would do with him if I was in Pittsburgh is put him over on defense because of his tackling ability. That was a great, great job of making a play. That gives you an idea of how competitive he is. |
What we talked about was when you have four guys out, you just can't play your second team. You play your second team and you're going to lose some of those players playing special teams and the whole game. Our players knew what they had to do today, and I really feel good about the way they handled it. |
What you try to do is get guys to understand their role. They may not like being second team, but when they do get an opportunity to play, they take advantage of that opportunity. . . . We've got a lot of players like that. |
What you're trying to get is turnovers. If you can put pressure on the quarterback, regardless of whether there's sacks or not, he's got to throw it a little bit earlier than he wants to and you've got a chance for good things to happen. |
Whatever the adjustments, I just believe that you have to run to do anything else. Big plays in the passing game, your routes, the things you do, are all because you run the ball. If you can't run the ball, you're just not going to get much done. |