Head Coach Mike McDaniel
Q. A couple close endings this season already. Those last two drives – picks off Kenny Pickett and then Noah Igbinoghene gets the toe-tapping grab? What’s going through your mind those two moments?
MIKE McDANIEL: ‘Hooray.’ This is something that we’ve been making a big point of emphasis within the team on turnover differential. So it’s something that we’ve been focusing on, getting one early, and then at the end of the game when it mattered most to get two more was obviously the difference in winning and losing. So it was very exciting, but on top of that, it was something that we’ve made a focal point so it was good to see that happen.
Q. What do you think happened with the offense? Obviously they scored 13 points in the first quarter, three the rest of the game. You were bogged down in the red zone. What do you think went into that?
MIKE McDANIEL: There was some — it wasn’t one thing. We were doing some good things, and players were doing some solid things. But then there was key mistakes, whether it was a bad play call or it was a guy making a play here or there. We just weren’t really coming together. We lacked that rhythm and especially after we had in the third quarter, that first drive that we went for it on fourth-and-3 in the tight red, felt like right after that we kind of hit a lull that we can all learn from because it was like we got punched in the stomach or something. Yeah, it was a struggle to the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, to their credit. They adjusted themselves, and we didn’t make the further adjustment, which is something that we’ll focus on moving forward.
Q. You mentioned that fourth-and-3. Can you discussion the decision to go for it there and then also the play call?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, so that’s something that we’ll never — I’m very aware that it’s one of those things that if it works, it’s a great play, and if it doesn’t, you know exactly what you have to — it could be a deciding factor in the game, so you do that. I think at the moment I had some faith in the players and then regardless, you do it, and you don’t convert; that’s a bad decision because you have points, especially with the way Jason (Sanders) is kicking. It would have been a two-score game. Those are things that you’re well aware of when you enter into it. It was something that I felt pretty good about it working out. It didn’t, so that’s something that I take full responsibility for and luckily the rest of the team had that decision’s back, and we were able to come up with a win.
Q. Specifically to that, was it one of those — in terms of your decision-making process, do you have somebody in your ear telling you the analytics behind it and win probability and then you go with your gut, or is it just a pure numbers thing in deciding?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, I have a couple guys within analytics that are in my ear in all those types of situations. In this situation they did not advise me to go for it. So there’s plenty of decisions that are made that — it’s a balancing act. You take the statistical percentage chance, which is what they’re evaluating, and it’s one of those things, I think it was a fourth — I think the scoreboard might have said three, but I think it was like a long two and a half, but it’s one of those if it’s fourth-and-2 they’re a lot more supportive; fourth-and-3 the percentages go way down. But that was something that I do pretty much every game where you’re balancing that with the momentum of the game and where we were at. I felt really confident that we’d be able to convert. Obviously we didn’t. I would have never even entered into that chance-taking process if I wasn’t super confident in the way the defense was playing. I really wanted the team to be able to make it a two-touchdown game because we were going to go for two if we were able to get in the end zone and score. It didn’t work out, but that’s why it’s an entire team function and job to win a football game. The defense came through, and we didn’t turn the ball over, so we ended up on the winning side.
Q. From a defensive perspective, what are some things you liked about what Josh Boyer did from a planning and then in-game adjustments, especially with all the injuries?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, it was a tremendous plan. We felt pretty good about our matchups with regard to our front and how we could really disrupt them and get them out of the pocket. We didn’t really get the sacks that we were hoping for, but you have to be very disciplined with that young quarterback because he is quick and he can make you pay if your rush lanes don’t have integrity. I really liked that. I really liked how the plan all week was going to play to our strength and then utilize fundamentals and make them earn everything and be physical. We’ve been working on a lot of open-field tackling and things like that and getting turnovers, and I thought collectively the entire defensive staff and the defensive players put forth a very winning effort, so it’s encouraging.
Q. Tua’s performance especially the quick start after missing three games and two full weeks of practice?
MIKE McDANIEL: It’s not an easy thing to do because we were on a Thursday night game in Cincinnati when he last played. Those games you don’t have full-speed practices. So his last full-speed practice was before the Buffalo game, which was our third game of the season. It’s to his credit. If he wasn’t so prepared and hadn’t put himself in the position of playing quarterback when he was out, he wouldn’t have been able to have any sort of success like that because it wasn’t like — I mean, it was a legitimate couple weeks where you’re not playing football. I think he did a tremendous job. I know he’s a competitor and a perfectionist and there was some stuff, particularly in the second half that was getting him frustrated to a degree but did everything it took to win the game, and that’s all that matters.
Q. Were you okay with him twice lowering his shoulder in those situations?
MIKE McDANIEL: You know, it’s hard. Was I advising him to do that? I think no. I think he immediately the next series after the first time he did it, he was like, ‘Coach, I’m sorry. I needed that.’ I was like, all right. But it is football, and he’s going to protect himself, and he’s got that component to his game where he’s a competitor and he’s trying to get a first down for his team. I’m never going to totally encourage that at all. I’m probably going to advise him to slide every time, but when push comes to shove and a guy has the ball in his hands, it’s going to be tough to get him to completely turn it down, although I will try.
Q. Going back to the no-interception, how proud of him are you for that, and what do you think that will do for his confidence?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, it’s a big deal. It just goes to show, and it’s a great example for the entire team, this is a guy that because of certain matchups that we had going on at the beginning of the year, he didn’t start the year dressing. You can go one of two ways with that. You can either let it define you and rattle you, or you can not even blink and worry about the opportunities you do get. I think that’s one of my favorite examples of this season because he does his best to ignore the noise, but nobody is oblivious and he really, really wants to do big things in this league, and he’s only 22 or 23 years old. He’s super young. But I think the whole team really just in the locker room was really excited for him because they know how hard he’s worked to get on the field, to contribute, and then to do it at the end of the game, that’s a big moment that will always be one of the bigger ones in your NFL career because it’s his first game-ender.
Q. Realizing scoring is down across the league, you guys are moving the ball a lot. Your yardage is a lot and it doesn’t seem to be reflective in the points. Do you feel that way?
MIKE McDANIEL: Absolutely. No, we should be scoring more points than we are. I think everybody on the team would agree with that, so you have to — there’s no just like some sprinkle fairy dust to fix that or it’s just not an absolute. You have to identify and address what has been the hiccup when you get in those situations. I think we’ve had both misfortunes during the year. There’s been times we haven’t got it in the red zone enough because we are scoring when we’re there. In this case we were moving the ball, but things were — we had some hiccups and weren’t able to get touchdowns. So the whole deal is to continually progress with your game and make sure that that is not the norm because you don’t — it is frustrating for the whole team, and we’re not going to be able to just have to out-score 10 points every time to win games, so we’ve got to find a way to get better at that, which we’ll be focused on moving forward.
QB Tua Tagovailoa (Transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Q. How did it feel to be back?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It felt good. It felt good running out the tunnel. The atmosphere was great. A lot of support from the fans, and just being able to be out there with my teammates, it was awesome.
Q. Two late drives, the Steelers are driving both times for a potential go ahead score, what’s going through your head on the sideline?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, situational awareness of things that could possibly happen if they do score, if they had to kick a field goal, things like that. I would say I was prepared for whatever happened, if they did kick a field goal, and then we got the ball back, or if they scored and we got the ball back. The time, what that looks like with two time-outs that we had left. So going over situational awareness.
Q. When you see Noah get that toe-tagging grab in the back of the end zone, corner of the end zone, what emotions are coming upon you at that point?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, it’s gratifying. I think the defense played their asses off throughout the whole night. They gave us many opportunities offensively to go and put points on the board for our team so that we wouldn’t be in the situation we were in late in the game where it was
10-16. A lot of things that need to be corrected offensively. Obviously starts with me. But we’ll take the win. We’re extremely happy about that, and we’ll go back to the drawing board when we come back in. But to what you said — you know, a situation was coming to mind, as well, when Noah did get the interception because we thought he was probably down at the half yard line, maybe 1-yard line. I’m not too sure. That situation we probably have to quarterback sneak or do something like that to get out of the end zone and just run the clock down. But they called it a touchback, so we were able to kneel the ball.
Q. What was working so well early, especially in the middle of the field, and how did that close up as the game went on?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, I think they made really good adjustments defensively, but there were just little misses here and there that we had offensively. A lot of the misses could have turned into really big plays. Just better execution, and it starts with me, like I said.
Q. You finally had the opportunity to meet with Bob Griese for the first time. What did you take away from that experience?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: He’s a cool guy. We just said what’s up. He just said, “Are you going to ball out tonight?” I said, “That’s the plan.” We just had that kind of conversation back and forth. Really cool guy. Really awesome to kind of be around him and the other guys. It’s a great opportunity to be around a team and a group of guys like that, an undefeated season in the NFL. That’s hard. It’s hard to win games in the NFL. It’s greatness that I was able to shake their hands.
Q. How did it feel getting out there? Not having been out … are there any adjustments at this point in the season or because it’s this point in the season you’re (indiscernible)?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, not being able to play two games does have an effect on my performance in a way that I haven’t seen full speed reps in practice where guys are coming to hit me, tackle me. You know, so kind of getting used to that, and really just being able to help our o-line out, trying to get the ball out faster, trying to make quicker decisions for our guys, just so the defensive line doesn’t get comfortable with their rush patterns and kind of finding the spot of where I’m dropping at. Yeah, there are some things that you do kind of have to just see when you play the game. You don’t get some of the looks in practice.
Q. You said some plays could have turned into big plays. Did you feel fortunate that there were some potential interceptions dropped? Do you need some of that to win a game?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I wasn’t talking about their defense, I was talking about our offense. Miscues with ball placement, communication with a route that this receiver thought was this look and I thought was that look. Just miscommunications on our part with that. We just couldn’t find our rhythm again. Yeah, that’s something we’ll have to work on.
Q. You had two times where you lowered your shoulder and you were the aggressor there lowering the head. You had said this week that was something you might want to avoid. In the moment is it too hard to avoid?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, situation, I can see the first down, and to me there were close calls where it’s like, okay, maybe if I do just put my shoulder down, hopefully I can get forward progress with this. But that was all it was. I wasn’t trying to be Superman or a superhero out there. I was just looking at the situation. The second one was a third down, try to run and lower my shoulder hoping to get through the guy to get the first down. That’s all it was.
Q. Did you talk to Brian Flores afterward on the field?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Nope.
CB Justin Bethel
(What do you say about a guy like S Jevon Holland back there? He’s in control no matter what – no matter who is in there, right?) – “For sure. He is a great player. He is going to continue to be a great player for a long time. We just keep getting better from here.”
(As a defense, do you enjoy those moments when the game is coming down and it is in your hands the last couple series?) – “Yeah, when you’re in that kind of situation – the offense has done everything they need to do, and as a defense, it’s our job to keep the opponent from scoring. So, the offensive guys gave us the lead, and we were able to stop them from scoring at the end of the game.”
(What was your game plan against the Pittsburgh Steelers tonight that you felt worked so well? What did you like about what Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer came up with?) – “I think he did a great job just knowing the personnel that we had especially with everyone kind of being down DB-wise and making a plan that we could go out there and execute at a high level and be able to make plays on the ball.”
S Jevon Holland
(CB Noah Igbinoghene seemed like he was getting picked on the entire game, literally from QB Kenny Pickett and WR George Pickens and what not, then to come up with that pick to seal the game. How happy were you for him?) – “Oh, I’m ecstatic, I’m ecstatic. He’s got something. He’s resilient, keeps working no matter what. You can see it on the field. He gets his opportunity, he takes advantage of it.”
(It looks like a whole new neighborhood back there. The defensive backfield; it doesn’t matter who goes in, you guys are getting the job done.) – “We practice all week. Whoever’s out there is going to be out there and play the best of their ability. You saw Justin (Bethel) out there; he just stepped up to the plate and got himself a pick. Whoever’s out there, they’re going to play hard, you know that.”
(That atmosphere, it seemed like it was electric especially because QB Tua Tagovailoa was also back. Just talk about that whole atmosphere.) – “Yeah, hey, Tua was slinging that thing. I’m not going to lie. And I was like, ‘man, I missed that.’ I’m glad he’s out there doing his thing. I’m happy for him. He’s smiling, so yeah, it was awesome seeing him do his thing.”
CB Noah Igbinoghene
(What did that moment mean to you overall?) – “Man, I was just able to get the interception, that’s all I’ve been working on. That’s all the coaches have been preaching is just ‘get the ball, Noah, get the ball.’ And I was able to get it. I wasn’t really worried about the critics and everyone else was saying. I’m just focused on this team and what the coaches want me to do. Got this win for the team. Got the win so that’s the most important thing.”
(With the catch and the jump and getting your feet in-bounds, what was your whole thought process in that moment?) – “I just got to get my two feet in, that was my thought process.”
(What do you think you guys got right with the defensive game plan today because they didn’t score in the second half and you guys were really in control the whole game?) – “Just sticking with our game plan I would say. The coaches had a great game plan. We kind of stuck to our game plan in the second half and it worked. And we went up like you said we shut them out in the second half and it’s a blessing.”
(Take us through that final play?) – “I turned around, I was playing my responsibility and the ball was right there and at first I didn’t think I caught it cause the referee right there said it was out. I saw the review and I saw everyone get excited and I got excited as well. I got the interception and it’s my first one. It’s a blessing.”
RB Raheem Mostert
(How great was it to pull off a win after losing three straight, to get back on that winning side of things?) – “It feels great. It’s always great when you get a win, but we have to move on to the next team. It’s the 24-48 hour rule, soak it all in and get back to work tomorrow or even Tuesday.”
(Primetime game, did you guys feel that atmosphere electric out there? And Tua (Tagovailoa) came back as well.) – “We felt it. When Tua came out there, you could just feel the energy. That’s something that we need on this team, especially having three losses. That energy was exciting. It pumped us all up, and I’m just happy that we won.”
(We’ve been waiting for game changing plays on defense too, how about that down the stretch?) – “Yeah, that was major, especially Jevon coming up with that interception big time in a critical situation, so the offense just has to capitalize on those opportunities, and they definitely gave us some opportunities to capitalize.”
WR Jaylen Waddle
(What did you like out of QB Tua Tagovailoa on that first opening drive? I believe that he was 6-of-7, but the ball was coming down really quick, finding you a couple of times on that drive too.) – “Seemed like he ain’t even missed a step; wasn’t rusty at all. Trusted what he saw, so it was good.”
(It looked like at times when you’re out there, you can find these, is it finding soft spots in that defense over the middle or were those kind of just designed routes?) – “Yeah, trying to find soft spots, so we were just getting a lot of zone, so it’s just getting in there, sitting down where I need to sit. I think Mike (McDaniel) did a good job of play design, putting us all in position to make plays.”
(You’re a young player who’s seen a lot of success early in your career. What was it like seeing a player like CB Noah Igbinoghene get that pick and the celebration for everybody afterwards?) – “It’s big, man. Noah (Igbinoghene) works tremendously hard throughout the week, and we’re all rooting for him. We expect that from him every week. Noah’s a great player.”
Coach Mike Tomlin
Visitors Postgame Presser
Miami 16, Pittsburgh 10
MIKE TOMLIN: Tough hard-fought game. Got to compliment the Miami Dolphins. They made the necessary plays to secure victory, man, and really we didn’t, and oftentimes, particularly when’s it’s a defensive battle the way game developed into, it’s about who catches the interception opportunities and who doesn’t. That’s just kind of the lens in which I see it. The Dolphins caught theirs and we didn’t catch ours. That’s probably the difference in the game. Sometimes when it’s a one-score game and it’s back and forth like that and the defenses are controlling it, defensive splash is ultimately the deciding factor. We didn’t give our offense a short field by producing a turnover or two, and they did. So we go back to work.
Disappointing, but we got another big game coming up and we’ll get focused. We will assess this, learn from it, and put together a plan and ready ourselves for the next one. From an injury competitive Levi Wallace had a shoulder. He’s being evaluated as we speak. I don’t have a lot of information on it.
Q. What allowed you to kind of get the game back under control after their fast start?
MIKE TOMLIN: Starts doesn’t define games. We gave them the ball first; they went down and scored. But it was a lot of ball left. I didn’t feel like it was out of control at any juncture, to be quite on honest with you. A start is a start.
Q. Is your offense getting any closer to forming an identity?
MIKE TOMLIN: I feel like we are, but we didn’t make the necessary splash plays today to secure victory. But I certainly feel like we are. Certainly.
Q. Any thoughts on Kenny Logan as third star; he seemed to look for comfortable in the third half?
MIKE TOMLIN: I thought he was highly competitive, played to win. He made some plays. Unfortunately he and we didn’t make enough.
Q. Talking about the interceptions, catching the ball, got a couple that looked like maybe 50/50. Do you
consider those plays that should be made or could have been made?
MIKE TOMLIN: I don’t know what plays you’re referring to, but I just tell you this: We had some interception opportunities and we got to catch them.
Q. Pickens had six targets, made six catches. Does he need to be featured more?
MIKE TOMLIN: You know, it just depends on what the contour of the coverage is. We’re a collective. We got a group of capable playmakers, and sometimes coverage in a contour, the coverage dictates where the ball goes. I understand the nature of your question. That’s the type of questions you get when you lose. But we’re not focusing on that. We’re just focused on doing what’s required for us to win. We didn’t do enough of that today.
Q. What does it say about your defense that you were able to hold them scoreless the second half?
MIKE TOMLIN: I thought it was a tough, hard-fought game by both defensive units.
Q. The second to last drive you hit the sneak with Kenny. What kind of happened on that sequence
there?
MIKE TOMLIN: I didn’t get a chance to talk to the officials about the nature of why they called what they called, but obviously we got some penalties in critical moments today that set us back.
Q. That last drive, looked like you might have been able to run for it.
MIKE TOMLIN: You said it, I didn’t.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
Kenny Pickett
Visitors Postgame Presser
Miami 16, Pittsburgh 10
Q. On that last drive, looked like you were going to pull it out.
KENNY PICKETT: Yeah, I felt good. It was just miscommunication. Thought Tay was going to come back
down. He went vertical. That’s on me. I’ve either got to throw it away to give us another chance or make a better throw over the top to him, so it’s definitely on me.
Q. How do you feel in your third start? Seemed like you were more poised, more accurate.
KENNY PICKETT: Yeah, I think there is some things to build on. Turnover, they can’t happen. That cost us the game. I got to fix that. I’ll be in there tomorrow working on it getting working on it and ready for next week.
Q. Can you just take me through that final drive. The play looked like you had some time to run.
KENNY PICKETT: Yeah, yeah. I felt like clock winded down and wanted give Tay a chance to make a play. Just a miscommunication. I thought he was going to come back down. He ended up going vertical. I wanted to put it high and outside and give him a chance to make a play, but that’s on me. I got to run it there and get out of bounds or just throw it out, throw it away, and play another down and give us a better chance.
S Minkah Fitzpatrick
(Has the defense figured something out here in the last two weeks? It seems the secondary as a
whole is playing at a different level then it was against the Bills.) – “I think we are just keeping it
simple. That’s allowing us to play fast, play smart and just be us.”
(This is a defense that capitalizes on turnovers. Is that kind of like the storyline today where you
had so many opportunities out there?) – “Yeah, we had chances. We got our hands on two or
three good balls and we didn’t make the plays. Those are game changing plays. We take points off
the board, get the ball into our offense’s hands, and we didn’t do that today.”
(How frustrating is it that it seems like the same storyline every week?) – “It is frustrating, but we
are doing good things. This is the point in the season where you could either come together, come
closer and let it bind us together and move forward and just start stacking wins, or we can let it hurt
us and start pointing fingers. Good teams are going to come together in times like this.”
RB Najee Harris
(Offensively, how tough is a game like that, especially when you’re so close at the end multiple
times to getting that score to put you guys ahead?) – “Obviously, we don’t want the game to end
like that. Like you said, it was close, but you know – we just got to go back and practice Monday.
We’ll have to fix what we can, make as many corrections we can, and if we’re put in that position
again, we can answer the right way.”
(I know it’s probably hard because you haven’t looked at the film yet and it’s so raw right now,
but what can some of those corrections, what can some of those fixes be?) – “Penalties.
Penalties. Pre-snap penalties. I think that the pre-snap penalties affect us at the wrong times, at the
most important parts of the game, like key moments in the game it affects us negatively. It changes
up the play-calling, and obviously, penalties are killing us. Not looking at the film, just walking off the
field – penalties.”
(It seems like the playmakers are struggling getting into a rhythm. How do you guys combat that
in practice? How do you guys fix that?) – “Practice hard. All you can do is just practice hard, stay
focused, don’t complain and just try to find a way to get better each day. That’s all you can do. You
can’t do too much other than just getting back to work.”
Steelers DT Cameron Heyward
(Do you think missed opportunities sums up how this one went?) – “Yeah. At the end of the day,
they had 3 turnovers, we had zero and you look at that as the difference in the game.”
(They were so successful that first scoring drive. What did you feel like the defense did to settle
in better, especially in the second half?) – “You know, really starting to win on first down, especially
in the RPO (run pass option) game. I thought we settled down and kept them out of the endzone after
that. They made some plays, but we were able to bounce back, but we didn’t capitalize on it enough.
We let this one go by, and it’s hard to take that.”
Myles Jack
Visitors Postgame Presser
Miami 16, Pittsburgh 10
Q. Myles, looked like they were (indiscernible) especially in the first quarter. What changed after that
that kept you guys in it?
MYLES JACK: Coaches talked about they was going to come out with their first 15, and I guess the flavor of the day was that RPO, so once we kind of simmered down, figured out what they was doing, we made some adjustments and kind of got a better hold of that. That’s a dynamic offense, you know what I mean? They’re going to get theirs. But I really like how our defense weathered the storm towards the end. Obviously you want to start out better and try to put the offense in better scenarios, but I like how we picked it up. Nobody got mad, nobody got down. We just continued playing. Even throughout the third and fourth quarter in crunch time, I felt like defensively we really strapped up.
Q. You guys also played strong last week against Tampa. What’s the key difference compared to the
first several weeks?
MYLES JACK: I feel like we are gelling together at the right time. Everything is coming together. Guys are
figuring out where they need to be. We are implementing roles. Coaches are getting a better feel of what we got and I feel like it’s all coming together at the same time. We’re a special defense and we are capable of a lot of things. We got to start out stronger, you know what I mean? Different things. Like for example the story of the day today was just starting out strong that first quarter. It started out crazy, but then we got it together.
Q. First big stop for you guys was the fourth down; you came up with the tackle. Can you walk us through
that play?
MYLES JACK: Yeah, coach called a man play. I got a little bit wider thinking the back was going to flare out, so I really kind of gave up the A gap. I forget who was the three take. He really closed off that A gap and I was able to run down, jump in there and get in on the play. So shout out it my D-line. They been doing their thing and I felt like they really held it down today. It was a great performance by them.
Q. Myles, do you feel like it’s coming together in time?
MYLES JACK: Absolutely. Like even scenarios like where we get thrown out in mid-field, I think it’s like two or three minutes left in the game, everything looks bad. We all run out there, we’re all looking at each other like it’s not over, we about to get this stop and put our offense back on field.
So the confidence, that’s the main thing. It’s one thing to have a bunch of guys out there, but when everybody can trust everybody and know everybody is going to hold down their spot and you just focus on your job, that’s when special things happen. I feel like we’re coming along. We’re coming along.
Q. That’s a more important development to you than (indiscernible)
MYLES JACK: I feel like for one, it’s early in the year. Obviously we’re — you could say we’re six or seven plays from our regular, and completely different, you know what I mean? At the end of the day we still got ten games left, so I feel like we can put a stop — kind of contain Tom Brady and come back to this dynamic offense where you got Hill, Waddle, Mostert, and we’re giving them 16 points, I feel like that’s definitely something to build off of. I’m excited. I’m excited. I’m not quitting.
Q. Along those lines, Mike said you guys were — the difference was that they held onto their picks and you guys didn’t. How frustrating is that as a defense?
MYLES JACK: That’s definitely something that as a defense we could definitely help the turnover ratio. If we could come up with a couple of those picks the score would look different, the whole mood right now would be different. But you can’t just blame it on one thing. There was a bunch of different plays that led up to things. That would be a cool ingredient to add to where we could definitely get some wins.
Q. You mentioned Hill and Waddle. That was big talk coming into this. How do you feel like you guys did in that matchup today?
MYLES JACK: I felt like initially they came out and set the tone, jumped out on us, scored points, put it up. I felt like as the game went on versus how it started and how it ended, two different stories. I was proud of that. We made a couple changes and I felt like we did a better job. Those are dynamic guys, so to hold that offense to 16 points, obviously we did not get the win, but that’s something that we can build off.
Q. Feel like most of the guys feel like you do?
MYLES JACK: I hope so, man, because I’m — I feel like the sky is the limit. I feel like we got a nice pretty cool opponent coming in next week against Philly. Nice to spoil them and get this thing on the road and get a bye week going and get our minds right. I think the sky is the limit. I see a lot positive things from our offense, a lot of positive things from our defense. I think we can be a really good team.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
Steelers WR George Pickens
(How do you describe what you saw from QB Kenny (Pickett) on those final two drives there?) –
“Really fight. To be honest, were all new to this, we’re both rookies so you can’t expect nothing too
crazy, but you also can’t expect nothing too low. I feel like he fought very well.”
(Can you go through the play where you scored the touchdown?) – “It was a regular fade. I saw the
ball in the air and made a play on it. I jumped to go get it, two feet down. Routine.”
(As a young guy in the league, you hardly ever lost at Georgia. How are you keeping your head
up through tough times like this?) – “I’d just probably say keep working. The only thing I can really
say is the guys with me. I could see if it was a different type of (indiscernible), but the guys with me
are going through the same stuff so I can’t really say ‘ooh, let me do this and they’re still…’ We are all
in the same boat, so we all just have to keep working. Maybe one guy more, maybe one guy less, but
everybody got to keep working.”
