Pittsburgh Steelers coaches and players comment on their upcoming game against the New England Patriots.
On playing the Patriots on Thursday night...
"I just know you just can't take anybody lightly in this league. I'm not sure who said that or reference that, but if you ask me, I've been around too long to know that anybody can win on any given day. So, we play on Thursday this week, and the best team is going win. So, we just got to come out prepared and ready to go."
- Steelers Quarterback Mitch Trubisky
On the Patriots defense...
"They're always very sound. I think they're guys up front don't get a lot of credit, but they're very good players. They're very stout against the run. They keep it in front. Always well coached. They do a good job of mixing it up, trying to confuse the quarterback with different looks. So, it's a really good defense. They're not giving up a ton of points. So, we got a lot of respect for them. It's going to be a good challenge for us on Thursday."
- Steelers Quarterback Mitch Trubisky
"Been watching a lot of their tape. I'll start first with the defensive side of the ball, man they're doing an awesome job keeping scores down. When you look at them. I think you just look first and foremost at this safety tandem (Kyle) Dugger and (Jabrill) Peppers, they do a lot. They do a lot schematically. Both guys are capable of playing in deep defense and do. Both guys are capable of playing at the linebacker level and functioning on the second level of defense and are very capable tacklers. Good at shedding blocks, big blockers, offensive linemen. They're not foreign to playing in the trenches. Both guys are really capable blitzers. They get opportunities to do that in all phases of the game first, second and third down. They get in their subpackage ball, and they bring in (Jalen) Mills and others. And boy that really allows (Jabrill) Peppers and (Kyle) Dugger to get down and do things on and around the line of scrimmage and really highlight that versatility. If we're talking about moving the ball and moving the ball with fluidity against these guys, man, we better locate those two, understand the structure in which they play in the various packages and how they move those guys around to highlight their skill set. Up front they got a veteran group (Lawrence) Guy, (Deatrich) Wise, (Christian) Barmore, Davon (Godchaux), man, they've been together now for a number of years,and I think that's a component of why they've been able to really keep scores down, man. They're very stout against the run, they're where they supposed to be, they're very good technically in terms of hand usage and gap control and gap elimination. They give up very few explosion plays via the run. I can't say enough about (Ja'Whaun) Bentley as an inside linebacker and a guy that plays behind that group and doing a really good job of minimizing that component of play. They're multiple on the back end, they are. They play a variety of zones and bogus zones. They play man to man, they bring pressure. They do four-man rush in man to man. They do a really good job particularly in situational moments, in terms of some of the schematics and the multitude of their schematics in the secondary. And I think those are the reasons why particularly of late, they've done an awesome job of keeping scores down and keeping themselves in play. They play extremely hard. They're good tacklers. And as I mentioned, man, the safeties provide the wave that others ride. I just finished looking at their turnover reel before I came over here and those two safeties have half of the Collective's turnovers for example. And so, they're big-time splash playmakers and we better take care of the ball. We better locate those guys and work to minimize their impact on the game."
- Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
On the Patriots offense...
"Looking at their offense, particularly on a short week, man, I'm really concerned about the quarterback position and the things that they're doing at the quarterback position from our preparedness standpoint. They got two guys that are somewhat similar in Mac (Jones) and Zap (Bailey Zappe), but Malik Cunningham potentially is very different. And they had all three up just yesterday, and so that has our attention as we prepare. The quarterback mobility component, particularly in a short week is something to be focused on and to make sure that we're solid thankfully, we play enough quarterback mobility, that we're not starting at ground zero. And hopefully, our cumulative history against quarterback mobility will allow us to make some quick decisions and so forth because when you're working on a short week, there's a limited amount of physical reps that you get. And so, when you're looking at something, potentially like wildcat or quarterback mobility or designed quarterback runs, period, they have your attention. And it would behoove us to be prepared in that way given their present circumstance, the things that have been going on with them at quarterback. I guess (Rhamondre) Stevenson may be somewhat limited and I don't know the status of some of the running back things. Obviously, they've got Ezekiel Elliott, and so we're working with an edge preparing ourselves for the things that they're capable of doing offensively, particularly as it pertains to quarterback mobility. Man, they've acquired some quality players on the receiving end due to free agency that we have to be prepared for. JuJu Smith-Schuster obviously, we're very familiar with. Tough guy, football player got a lot of respect for JuJu, but at the tight end position. Hunter (Henry) is a guy that they've acquired. They've acquired the guy from Miami. They got some dynamic tight ends in the passing game that are potentially challenging for us, particularly given some of the things that we've given up in the interior portions of the field as recently as yesterday. We got to be real solid versus that dynamic, tight end group and the multitude of things that they do with that group."
- Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
"Obviously, they've been struggling a little on offense. They have a quality run game. I think their offensive line is outstanding. They really put hands on you and move you in the run game. We've got to really make sure we stack up against the run."
- Steelers Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin
On the Patriots special teams unit...
"In the special teams game, man, they got Matt Slater and no way you play New England and not mentioned Matt Slater as a high-quality teamer. It looks like he's got a young partner, that young man from Texas, 41(Brenden Schooler) has already got double digit tackles. I think he's got 11. There's always a couple of guys in New England that are really zeroed in on the special teams phase and I just got so much respect for (Matt) Slater and what he's been able to do. And then he's got a new partner. I think he's got 11 tackles and a kick block already. And so, those are some of the things that occupy our attention here on the short week."
- Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
"They do a lot schematically. On the back end, those two safeties, 23 (Kyle Dugger) and 5(Jabrill Peppers), are good players. Then they do a really good job of supporting them with other guys in the secondary. So, you'll see those guys in a variety of spots. They'll be back playing Cover 2. They could be in man on a back or tight end. They may be in the box. There's some similarities to Arizona and what they would do with Budda Baker and (Jalen) Thompson. Schematically, they do some things structurally where you have a lot of conversations in a short week. We've just got to make sure we're really clean in discussing those things. But those two safeties are really good, and their versatility allows them to be multiple and create some issues for you."
- Steelers Offensive Coordinator Eddie Faulkner
On Bill Belichick...
"Obviously, I respect Coach Belichick, what an unbelievable career, but from the standpoint of quivering over the fact that he's over there, no. We're just going to prepare for him the way we do everybody else."
- Steelers Offensive Coordinator Eddie Faulkner
