November 12, 2021 On if WR Josh Reynolds will be prepared to play on Sunday: “Look, we’re just trying to get him up to speed as fast as possible. Anything is on the table right now, and I think he’s a pretty sharp guy. It will just be how much we feel and he feels comfortable as to whether we do it or not.” On how T Taylor Decker looked at practice this week: “I think he’s done pretty well. I think he looks pretty good. There again, we’ll see how he looks today and make a decision from there.” On if there is a plan in place to have T Taylor Decker play the full game or only a portion of it: “Here’s the good news is Taylor is – he’s been working his rear off while he’s been getting this thing back, rehabbing. So, he’s in very good shape. Now, we all know football is different, and so I think we’ll see how it goes, but I think if anybody could do it, it would be him.” On the importance of T Taylor Decker to the offensive line mentally: “I think you nailed it. It’s all encompassing because not only is he a talented player, he’s big, he’s long, he’s got really good feet, but he is, he’s smart. He’s very smart. He’s a student of the game, he gets it, he’s done it for a while. And so, just that level of experience too with the talent sure does – it helps.” On if the team is trying to leave the mistakes from the Eagles game behind coming off of the bye week: “I think you have to and I think that’s what we’ve tried to focus on. We put that game to bed and tried to put most of that to bed before the bye as to what we need to clean up, what we really need to work on. Here we go and now all of the focus has been on this game and where we’re at. These guys are coming off a bye. I thought they came out and practiced well, practiced hard, but there again, we’ve got another game and you’ve got to go out and execute.” On C Evan Brown: “Listen, Evan’s been solid. I mean, he’s stepped in and he’s a sharp guy. He’s smart and he’s really been – I hate it when you ask me stuff like this – but it’s kind of one of those guys, I don’t want to say you take for granted, but you kind of don’t think a lot about it and that’s a good thing. He’s in there and we know he’s going to set the table up and he’ll mix it up. He’s got good leverage and power. I’m glad we’ve got him, just like (Matt) Nelson. I’m glad we’ve got Nelson.” On if Offensive Line Coach Hank Fraley has played a role into the development of the offensive line: “I think so. Look, I think Hank is a hell of a coach, I do. He’s got a lot of experience and I feel like you just see him growing as a position coach. I mean, I’ve seen it just in our time here, but it does. He does a good job of developing those guys working with him. He works all aspects from the mental side to the schematic side to certainly the fundamentals of it. So yeah, that’s a credit to him.” On what has made the Steelers successful this year: “They know their scheme in and out because they have done it for so long. So, they know – like, they know their own blind spots if you will and sometimes that’s what makes you some of the great ones is because they know how they’re going to be attacked and they’re really good at that. And then on top of that, they’ve got some players that you can draw up all kinds of good stuff, but when you’ve got (T.J.) Watt off the edge and you’ve got (Cameron Heyward) 97 in there and then these backers can run, (Devin Bush) 55 can run. With what they have talent-wise, and then the fact that they’re – man, they’re all high motor and they’re all going after the football and they understand their own schemes and how they’re being attacked. That’s what makes them hard, it really is. We were looking at the red zone last night and it’s like, ‘You don’t see very much production in the red zone against this team because of the way they play.’ And really it’s the teams that get in there and it’s a tackle for loss, it’s a sack fumble, you start getting impatient. Those are the ones that struggle against this team. So, I do think you’ve got to be patient against them.” On if he focuses on fundamentals or working in trick plays to improve the red zone offense: “I think you’ve got to do both. You certainly need to do what you feel like you do well or can do well with your personnel. But at the same time, there again, you start – you go too far that way and then you forget about this rush or the mismatch in the run game one way or another. That will bite you. I know I’m speaking out of both sides of my mouth, but it is both. You’ve got to be aware of both.” On incorporating more trick plays into the offensive playbook: “Listen, we look at all of that stuff and our coaches do a good job, too. If I have it or one of our – I mean, we find it and we see it. And so, yeah, because you are, you are always looking for little trinkets like that, that you think that it’s something that you feel like you can do or it’s relative to the same type of coverage or scheme. ‘Is this something would make sense for us to do?’ But yeah, you keep your eyes on that stuff.” On preparing a defensive game plan for Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger: “Listen, it’s tough because he still is – he gets rid of the ball quickly and he can still make those downfield throws, those go throws, up and down, back shoulder, and when he’s in the red zone, he’s still as dangerous as he’s ever been. It’s even like what happened to us in preseason, these back shoulder throws to the tight end. Look, he can still do that stuff. He’s just not quite as mobile as he once was in the pocket. But look, it’s problematic and I still think that you’ve got to find a way to make these guys as one dimensional as possible. I think if you can do that and close the pocket in a little bit, at least you help your odds is the best way to say that. For whatever it is or isn’t I know this, he doesn’t lose this. This is only getting better, and so getting in the right play, knowing the right – there are just so many things that – to be the field general and to be able to get to some things that he just knows because over time he’s done it and get his team into it, or his offense into, that’s the real dangerous part I think is he’s seen it all. He’s done it all, and for him to have a little leeway to maybe make a couple of adjustments on the fly, that’s what makes him real tough.” On what T Taylor Decker’s chances are to play on Sunday percentage-wise: “I would say high. High percentage. Higher than 50.” On if he uses outside criticism as bulletin board material for the team: “Oh yeah, I don’t. There again, I don’t – man, it’s all about us in here and we’ve got to stay true to who we are and we can’t deviate from the standards that we’ve set from day one. It’s easy to do that. It’s easy to do that if you do listen to all of the outside noise and you start getting in panic mode, but we’re trying to build something here and I do like the guys we have in this building right now. As long as they just focus on each day coming out here and just getting better, this is the most important day, right now, because this is the day we’re in and it’s to get ready for Pittsburgh. And that’s all you can worry about. That’s all you can focus on. You can’t worry about the past. You can’t worry about next week. It’s got to be right now.” On trying to not let the outside criticism affect the players: “I just think it’s – there again, you just stay true to what the vision is and you just keep harping on it, and the hard work and the details. And you just reiterate the fact, ‘Man, you can’t read that stuff. You can’t listen to that stuff because that’s not what it’s about.’ And I go back to this, some of these teams that have won game after game after game, they’re being anointed right now, and that’s not true either. Just focus on what’s in front of you. That’s all you worry about.” |
