Coach Mike Tomlin: We had an opportunity to grow. We learned some things about some people. We'll just take this as part of the process and move forward as a team. From an injury standpoint we got out of the game relatively clean. Ramon Foster got poked in the eye. I don't know that there will be any long term ramifications from that. Other than that normal bumps and bruises with playing.
It would have been nice to continue the situation at the end of the football game and see if we are capable of stringing together enough plays to do it, but we turned the ball over. You have to live with that. Obviously you turn the ball over in situational football it costs you. It did tonight. But there were several things that cost us. We missed a makeable field goal, gave up a long run. Things of that nature. We'll look at with a mind toward improving and winning next week.
Was Troy Polamalu hurt or did you elect not to play him?
I elected not to play him.
Any idea what happened on the long run, was there a breakdown?
We are going to have runs that breakout every now and there. We've got to get it on the ground in the secondary. Sometimes those things break free, they have to be 8, 10, 12 yard runs not 78-yard runs. It was a gap integrity issue in the core. That is less of a concern. I am more concerned about when those things do occur we do a good job of trying to minimize the explosion play and make it an 8, 10, 12 yard gain not a 78-yard play.
Any initial impressions of how Sean Spence played after his return?
I wasn't looking directly at him but I think that speaks to our level of confidence in terms of where he is. I will save the evaluation until we look at the tape and fine tooth comb it. It was good to have him back out there. I know he was excited to be back out there. He represented himself in a solid manner.
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Can you talk about Howard Jones playing until the whistle?**
It has to be. All of those plays, you play those plays out and let the officials sort it out. That's what he did and hopefully that's what we do in those circumstances always.Â
You said you were hoping for hard, fast and urgent, did you get that tonight?
Not enough to win. That is our number one goal. I am less concerned about style points and more concerned about bottom line. My emphasis in that regard was geared toward winning. We didn't get the job done, so even if it was above the line it's going to have to be better.
What was your assessment of Martavis Bryant?
It was an up and down day. He created a field-flipping play for us, got behind a guy and got a pass interference, a fumble. He did some other things. He is a young guy, it's the early portion of the process. I'm sure he'll be concerned about getting better during the course of this week and having a better performance next Saturday.
Are you concerned at all about the offense?
I don't have outstanding concerns as I stand here to be honest with you, schematically and of that nature. It's the first preseason game. We can be better situationally, but it's not like we practice a lot of situational football in an effort to prepare for this. We will though moving forward and I expect the results to be different.
Highlight photos from the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants. The Giants defeated the Steelers 20-16.