Pittsburgh Steelers coaches and players comment about their upcoming game against the New England Patriots.
On the Patriots Defensive Line...
"They have a lot of guys that rush individually, but also collectively. They will challenge us in a lot of ways because of that, as well as the variety of people they use. At least that is what we have seen thus far on tape."
- Head Coach Mike Tomlin
On facing New England's defense...
"For us, offensive football is about attacking with the run and the pass. We have to all do what we are supposed to do. When the opportunities are there in the pass or run game, we have to take them."
- Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley
On what makes Rob Gronkowski tough to defend...
"He's knowledgeable. He has really good instincts. He is big. He is strong. He has a wingspan, a huge wingspan. So he really muscles everybody a lot of times. If he gets the matchups that they want, then he is going to be quite a bit bigger than the person guarding him. He will body-up, and Tom Brady knows where to throw it."
- Defensive Coordinator Keith Butler
[wysifield-embeddedaudio|eid="356456"|type="embeddedaudio"|view_mode="full"]On Malcolm Butler...
"He is fearless. He is not afraid to put his face on somebody and hit them. He jumps all over routes. It looks like he studies and knows his stuff. Typically you try to take advantage of a young guy like that but from looking at film and what we saw last year and this year in the preseason, he is going to be a big test for our guys. I don't know if he is going to go with Antonio Brown or what is going to happen, but it's going to be a challenge for us."
- Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
On playing New England...
"In order to be the best, you have to beat the best. Fortunately, we have tough schedule this year. It's fortunate because it gives us the chance to be well prepared. I'm looking forward to the challenge. That's the way the NFL is. I loved it as a player, and I love it as a coach."
- Defensive Coordinator Keith Butler
On the atmosphere Thursday night...
"It will be electric. I anticipate it being, especially having Tom out there and with everything that's going to happen, it's going to be awesome. It's the way that NFL football should start, and maybe it's one of the reasons I knew that Tom would be out there. Because I know the NFL doesn't want to start a game without him out there. Nerves will be running. Jitters will be running for everybody. For young guys, I think it will be fun that they get to experience this. Even old guys like myself, I am sure I will be nervous."
- Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
"We just have to focus on the task at hand. We know we are going into a hostile place. We know they won a Super Bowl last year. They are the reigning champs. You want to knock them off their throne."
- Defensive End Cam Heyward
