HEAD COACH MARVIN LEWIS

How are you guys holding up?

Well, we are going to show up on Sunday.

Can you talk about your game against the Ravens last week? It looked like you guys moved the ball up and down the field pretty well until you got down into the red zone. What was going on there?

We did not do a very good job finishing the drives off. That’s the point, it really doesn’t matter if you don’t score touchdowns and points. We had the one turnover down there in the red zone, as well. We dropped the ball, we had some penalties, gave up sacks, it was not good enough to beat a good football team.

Did the Ravens have something to do with that?

They always do, don’t they?

How do you feel about your quarterback? How is he coming along?

Even better after three games.

Are you pleased with his progress?

I’m disappointed in some of the things that he did in Sunday’s game, trying to maybe get too much done and at times, make a bad play worse, particularly on one occasion. He is a fine player and keeps working and so forth. We have to do things that he feels comfortable doing, and he has to take care of the football, number one.

The Steelers were going to follow your philosophy and not play (Ben) Roethlisberger. They have been forced into playing him. What are the advantages and disadvantages to either move?

Well, first of all, you are giving me too much credit for my philosophy. I think the disadvantage of playing is if a guy is not quite ready. I think the Steelers football team is able to handle that, maybe a little bit more than we were last year with where we were. Their team there is used to winning. Here, our No. 1 goal was to win football games. I did not think at that point we could afford to use Carson (Palmer) as the reason why we were not winning, if he were playing. I think they are in a different situation, and obviously now with Tommy (Maddox) getting hurt, it becomes even a different situation. I wish last year would have been that Carson got to play some, because we would have liked to have had a chance to be able to compare that way. I basically compared sight unseen as far as Carson playing in real games. I based it on practice and I based on just what I watched Carson do in practice for us.

Will the former Bengals coach who is here now recognize his old team on Sunday, or have you changed things around drastically?

I am sure Dick (LeBeau) will recognize his team, as I still recognize the things the Steelers do. There has not been that much change. We have quite a few different players now than when Dick was here. But Dick meant a lot here to the Cincinnati Bengals, and a lot to me. I am sure he will recognize a lot of things that have not changed as much, maybe altered a little bit.

Have you seen the Steelers going back to some of the things Dick did when you guys were together here?

I don’t think the Steelers have changed much over time. The system, particularly defensively, has stayed very similar, and it has pretty much offensively as well. That is one reason that they stay near the top all the time. You put new guys in, you put new coaches in, and they come in and learn it. There is not a whole bunch of new learning for the players. I think when you look at the success the teams have had around the league, when the head coach stays intact and the systems can stay intact, that team generally doesn’t fall off for very long.

Can you talk about what Dick meant to you as a young coach here in Pittsburgh?

I have said it so many times that Dick just meant so much to me teaching me how to look at the opponent, how to talk to the players, how to coach the players. He was just a great friend and resource. I can almost blame my golf game on him, too. Dick was somebody that as a kid, I had his trading card. I remember realizing that I was going to coach with Dick LeBeau and how excited I was. He means a great deal to me.

Regarding your run defense, did you just catch two really good backs on two really good days?

I hope we had a part in that, too, just like the Ravens stopping us. I think both players are outstanding running backs. But we did not play as well on either day and we are still a team getting better and understanding what responsibility is. Then, when you get there and have responsibility, let’s make the tackle and get him on the ground. We had a little bit to do with it, the back had a little bit to do with it, the people up front had a little bit to do with it. We have to do a better job, though. You can’t beat anybody when you give up that many yards rushing.

How much will the loss of Nate Webster hurt you?

We will miss Nate. But we have other guys that have to step up and go play. But Nate brings a lot of spirit, as well.

Do you have a theory on why there seem to be so many injuries in the league this year?

I have no theory. We had good health last year. We were very fortunate last year, and this year we are certainly getting our share. The good thing is that at some point, we will rebound from this. We are beginning to get healthier now as far as a lot of our guys, I think we have almost cut our injury report in half this week from what we had on it. It is unfortunate that we are missing starters, though.

Who was tougher on the high school field, you or Coach Cowher?

I don’t want to recall that, we are getting too old for both of us to think about those days. I understand we have a Little Rangers-Carylnton Crafton Cougars game at halftime this week, or something at the stadium.

Did he every tackle you when you played quarterback?

No, I don’t think I ever got to play quarterback in a game. I got to return a kickoff against him. When I was a junior, Bill was a senior.

Was he on the kickoff team?

He might have been kicking off, knowing him.

Was it a big difference this year going into the season as opposed to last year when everything was new for you? This is more your team than maybe last year’s was?

There is no question that the big difference is me understanding more of what my responsibilities are, and things not sneaking up on me as much and as quickly, and wondering who is supposed to do that and then realizing, oh yes, that’s me. I do think it is an ever-changing job with the injuries and the things we have had this year. We are in a state of constant flux here thus far this season. I am hopeful that we will start filling in the guys as the season goes on.

Is it pretty important not to fall two games behind the Steelers?

It is important. Last year, we dug ourselves a hole that we had to fight out of. This is a division game on the road.  It is a ballgame that you want to win. We are going into our bye week, and that would be good for us. We have a tough football game. It is tough to win games on the road, and certainly in Pittsburgh. We have our work cut out for us. They are playing well. They are playing very good on defense. Their offense is taking care of the football, for the most part. They are running the football effectively, and I thought the quarterback did a nice job last week.

What do you think of Ben Roethlisberger so far?

This is not going to be too big for Ben.  That is one thing I would say, from what I have known by having a chance to be a fly on the wall over here in the state of Ohio watching him, the NFL is not going to be too big for him. He is a kid that has great character and a strong presence, and a strong personality. Yet, he can go in and work, I think, in any area. But you have great skills and tools. He has a passion to play the game. He was very well coached in college, and understands and has worked very hard at being an NFL quarterback.


QUARTERBACK CARSON PALMER

How is the life of a starting quarterback in the NFL treating you these days?

Busy.

Do you think that if you played a little bit last year that it would have helped accelerate your development?

I think it would have definitely helped my development, but I think that it would have hurt the team.  We were in a much better situation and much better prepared having Jon (Kitna) play over me. That’s what matters. It matters because it helps the team and gave us a chance to win some games, where we would have probably struggled a lot more with me in there.

How much of an adjustment is it from the college game?

It is tough, but it makes you learn fast and grow fast as a player and as a quarterback.

Are the Bengals throwing the ball a lot more this year?

Well last week I think we were down 23-9 and at that point you have to really press to get the ball downfield and in the end zone, especially when the clock is running down. That is definitely not our mentality; I think that we are a run-first team with a running offense. We like to get out and have a chance to really run the ball thirtysomething times and also have a chance to run the ball in the fourth quarter.

What happened last week against the Ravens when you threw the two interceptions to Ed Reed?

They were good plays by him, but they definitely could have been better throws. He baited me into one, and I just made a dumb play on the other one. It is something that I learned from and I’m going to grow from.

Do you know Ben Roethlisberger?

Yes I have met him a couple of different times.

What are your thoughts on the way that he has played so far?

Obviously he has played great; he got a win in his first start. But I haven’t had a chance to see him play yet, but I know that all the talk about him is that he is going to be a great quarterback and he has a great future ahead of him.

With the Steelers playing late last week, were you able to watch that game?

I didn’t see it on television. I watched it on film. It was a tough game to try to study a defense just because of the conditions; everything changes whenever it is windy, rainy, and wet like that. It definitely is not a game that we are going to be studying to try to get an idea of what the Steelers are doing, but any time that a rookie quarterback can go in and get a win that is big.

What do you see defensively from Pittsburgh?

They are the same old Pittsburgh defense, one of the better defenses in the league. They really put a lot of pressure on quarterbacks and do a great job on the run game as well as the pass game. So as a team we are going to have to be playing our best football for it.

You have been sacked 10 times?

Yes.

What is happening with that?

A couple of times it has been a combination of things. A missed blitz pickup, me holding onto the ball for to long, or good coverage downfield. It has been something that I struggle with a little bit, but from week to week we are going to try to get better and improve on that.

Have you found that other teams are trying to show you things that you haven’t seen them do against other teams because you are a young quarterback?

Yes, a little bit. Teams are definitely trying to confuse me, get after me, and put pressure on me. I’m going to expect that all year long.

Why is there a new starting center this week?

Rich (Braham) has been out for the past couple of weeks, and we are hoping to get him back this week. But Jerry Fontenot has come in and done an exceptional job with only being here for two weeks.

How is Jon Kitna holding up with only being a backup this year?

He has been awesome. He has been completely supportive of me and really helped me grow, and really helped me learn this offense.