A look at what the Pittsburgh Steelers coaches and players are saying heading into their game with the New England Patriots this Sunday.
On facing the Patriots at Gillette Stadium...
"It's hard enough to beat those guys in your place, let alone their place, and not just for us, the whole league. What an awesome challenge it wil be."
- Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger
"It's the first game of the year. They are the world champs. We're just trying to get to where they have been. It will be exciting for all of us. I know the crowd will be excited. Sunday Night Football, it's not a one o'clock game. All those things add up to an exciting night."
- Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger
"I'm excited just to go against New England. Their franchise has won so many championships. I know how this rivalry is and to pop it off for game one it should be big. I am very excited to measure ourselves up to see where we are to start the season."
- Steelers CB Joe Haden
On Tom Brady...
"I want our defense to get after that guy, but it's an honor to share the field with arguably the best of all time. It's humbling and fun to watch. I just want him to have his worst game against us."
- Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger
"There's no tricking Tom Brady. It's all a matter of discipline and making the plays that you're supposed to make and being where you're supposed to be. You just have to be aware of what they like to do and be disciplined with what you have to do."
- Steelers LB Mark Barron
"I'm less concerned about tricking (Brady) and matching wits (with him). I'm more concerned about Week 1 things: Our level of communication; our readiness; our positioning; our eyes. We have to make sure that those things are consistently above the line. If we don't, he will exploit them. This is the issue for us as it relates to (Brady) at this stage of the season. It's a different matchup than in 2018 when we were playing them in the latter part of the year, when divisions of labor and what you could expect from both us and them was more established."
- Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
"It's not too often you get two old guys playing quarterback against each other in a game."
- Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger
On the hype heading into the game...
"Cooks like to be in the kitchen. These guys are competitors. That's a competitor's environment up there. I am not surprised by that at all. I would like to change the outcome of some of them. The only one that we can control is the one that happens this weekend so that is our focus."
- Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
"It's a big game. All eyes on us. All eyes on Sunday. We've got a chance to show the world."
- Steelers DT Javon Hargrave
On the Steelers mindset when playing the Patriots...
"We've got to be the most physical team, the most dominant team when we step on the field."
- Steelers DE Cameron Heyward
