Q. During your Tuesday news conference, you began by providing your review of the previous Thursday night's game in Cincinnati. You mentioned the defense not stopping the run effectively, the two turnovers by the offense, and the fact the team was highly penalized, with some of those penalties coming in significant moments. You concluded with, "Just as a collective, I thought they fought, particularly in less-than-ideal circumstances, but certainly we came up short. There's some lessons to be learned from that." What kind of lessons were you talking about?
A. I think it's a reinforcement of our values. Certainly, we have a lot of irons in the fire weekly as we build plans and divide labor to construct victory. But all tools aren't weighted the same. The ball search/ball security tool is a significant one. The run stopping tool defensively is a significant one. Not being highly penalized is another significant one. And so those are variables that weigh a little heavier than others, and when you're not checking those boxes, you're running on the beach in terms of engineering victory. And so I know that. Anybody who has been exposed to a bunch of levels of football for a long period of time understands that. But sometimes just feeling it is a good lesson for the collective. It's certainly what we emphasize starting on day one of team development, but I think there's growth in failure, and certainly in areas that we value, like those areas.
Q. You explained that the problem with the run defense allowing chunk plays was that it didn't keep the ball in a constricted space. What does that mean, and how is that done?
A. If you're in a 2-deep structure, there are four defensive backs along the perimeter of the action, and the ball has to stay within those four people. If you're in a single-high structure or three-deep back structure, then there are three people in open space who work to converge and constrict on the ball. Once the ball gets outside that outer structure, it's helter-skelter. And so from time to time, a guy could be out of his place in a gap, but if you keep that contour, those runs are the 8-to-12-yard runs that you see often in the league. When you get to 25-yard runs, it's because the ball got out of that outer shell. And so there are two levels to good run defense. Certainly you don't want people out of their gaps, but when they are out of the gaps, you want a good perimeter shell to constrict the ball so that a small problem doesn't become a much bigger one. And when you start talking about 25-yard runs, or 25-plus-yard runs, those are field flipping plays. Those are drive engineering plays that produce points, etc. A defense can absorb an 8-yard run, a 12-yard run, and it can be inconsequential in the big scheme of things. Very rarely is a 25-plus-yard run inconsequential.
Q. What does getting Calvin Austin back mean for this offense in tonight's game? What does he provide that the opposing defense has to account for?
A. A. He's a route runner, and he's also a deep threat. And a guy with that skill set is valuable. Route runners create space in a non-vertical area. They're good on possession downs and things of that nature. And guys with top-end speed like Calvin, are capable of taking the top off a coverage and really producing chunks. And that's what he provides us. He can win in a non-vertical space, and he certainly can win in a vertical space. And so his return is significant.
Q. The 21-day clock has started on Will Howard in terms of whether to add him to the 53-man roster or else he misses the rest of the 2025 season. What would you be looking for from him in making that decision?
A. More than anything I want to see what he has learned while he's been out. Some people are capable of learning through watching others; some people have to absorb the physical reps themselves. As a new guy, I'm interested in how he learns. Was he able to be productive during the time he was out? Was he able to learn by watching Aaron and Mason and others? And if he has been able to do that, then that aids in his return to us. If he's a guy who needs physical reps and effort to perform, then that doesn't help him, because to be quite honest with you, there are not a lot of physical reps during the course of this journey for a No. 3 quarterback type, because it's just the reality of our business. We spend a lot of our time getting Aaron ready to play, first and foremost, and then who is potentially backing him up. So his ability to learn from watching others is what I'm looking at. That's what's being tested. If he checks those boxes, that'll be a major component of the decision.
Q. Recently it was announced that Maurkice Pouncey advanced to the field of 52 in his first year of eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As someone who was there on the sideline for every snap of his NFL career, what makes Pouncey a gold jacket guy in your opinion?
A. Just everything about him, to be quite honest with you. The leader that he is, the pace that he set, the way that he performed in individual skill development. His individual skill development partner always had a career, because Pouncey went so hard in practice that he would absolutely kill you if you didn't match his level of intensity. And so guys like Doug Legursky and B.J. Finney and people like that had careers because of being around him and matching his level of intensity. And if you didn't, he was going to absolutely beat you up in individual period before we even got to the competition component of practice. And I think that's the sign of a really great player. They make those around them better. He was a tone-setter for the collective His personality was the offensive line's personality. And specifically his workout partner, undrafted guys, guys like Doug Legursky and B.J. Finney went on to have more than 1 or 2-year careers. They had careers because of their work habits, and their work habits were born out of working with and playing behind a guy like him, and seeing what the standard is.
Q. His rookie season, he won the starting job in the first week of training camp. Maybe two weeks in? That's kind of unprecedented. What were you seeing at that point?
A. I held it off as long as I could. I mean, there wasn't a lot of debate. Man, that guy was instant. In the words of Mike Mayock, he was plug-and-play.
Q. During the offseason, this team added a number of proven NFL veterans to the roster, guys like Aaron Rodgers and Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith just to name a few. When those guys walk into the locker room, what are the things the young Steelers are looking for from them that can help with the development of cohesion and team chemistry?
A. These guys bring different experiences, and their experiences are what you can't place a price tag on. Some of those guys are World Champions. Jalen Ramsey is a World Champion. Kenny Gainwell is a World Champion. And when you win a World Championship, it changes you forever. It changes your outlook on football. It changes your outlook on team. It changes your outlook on the process or the journey that is a football season. And so they bring a lot to the table that could be helpful to the growth and development of young individuals, but also they just bring an asset to the collective with their experiences. And it goes beyond their talents. I think their talents are at the surface level of the discussion. Their experiences are something that really resonates with me.
Q. Aaron Rodgers said earlier in the week that he wasn't looking at tonight as a revenge game, that he has come to terms with his split with Green Bay, which was where he spent the first 18 years of his career. Do you believe that, or is he just saying the right thing?
A. I believe that. I believe the Jets was a revenge game. I believe that this is different. He spent 18 years there. He grew up there as a player, and however it ended, whatever that was, I'm sure the totality of 18 years and the experiences, the experience of being a World Champion, for instance, outweigh some of that. The greater time he gets between his departure, the less that's going to weigh. I'm sure that that's what he was relaying in his words this week.
Q. What makes Micah Parsons great at what he does, if you were to describe those things the way they would be written in a scouting report?
A. He's an alien. He's visiting from another planet. All of these guys in the National Football League are talented, but there are levels to this. Some people are freaky, even among the freaks, and he is one of those guys. I was at his Pro Day, and he outran cornerbacks. That told you everything you needed to know. He out-jumped perimeter players; 11-feet in the broad jump; 4.3 in the 40. He is just a unique physical individual.
Q. Even though they won't strictly compete with him tonight. Is there a little extra juice in this game for your edge people – T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig – because they're all sharing the same field with Micah Parsons?
A. I don't know about all of them, but it is for T.J., and that's just the nature of this thing. It's like any other sport when you're playing against a significant guy. You could take the basketball example – LeBron and Kobe. They might not guard each other, but I'm sure there were some things when their teams came together, from a competitive spirit perspective. I sense that in T.J. when we play Myles Garrett or Maxx Crosby or other elite rushers like them, and so certainly it applies to him. I don't know that some of the others are viewing it in that way.
Q. Josh Jacobs is Green Bay's leading rusher and he has 8 rushing touchdowns this season. Before going to Green Bay, Jacobs played for the Raiders, and in your games vs. the Raiders in 2022 and 2023, Jacobs rushed for 44 yards in one and 62 in the other. How did you minimize him then, and could the same things work tonight?
A. I don't remember the specifics of those defensive plans, but obviously, based on the statistics, we got the job done. But that's no reflection on his talents. We have an all-night job ahead of us in terms of minimizing his impact on the game. He's in a different collective, now a healthy collective. Coach Matt Lafleur and company have a real good environment, particularly offensively, and so we don't take the task lightly, and we certainly don't rest on the laurels of what we were able to do against him when he was in Las Vegas amidst some instability and interim coaches and so forth. He's a talent. You mentioned the 8 touchdowns this year. He's got 23 touchdowns since the beginning of 2024 when the Packers acquired him. And so his presence is significant. His contributions are significant, and our ability to minimize his impact on the game is a major component for us engineering victory.
Q. What kind of problems does Packers QB Jordan love pose to opposing defenses?
A. He's got arm talent. He's aggressive in mentality. He'll attack you vertically down the field, particularly in situations when faced with pressure. And his mobility is an X-factor. He's an easy and fluid mover. And I think all of those things show up in his highlight reels and in major moments, and that's what makes him so challenging.
Q. You mentioned his mobility. Is he one of those guys who uses mobility while always looking to throw, or is he a runner?
A. He's got mobility. He certainly is capable of being a runner if you're negligent, but his play extension is a component of his game that's worrisome. Certainly, his mobility is an X-factor at the NFL level.
Q. At the NFL level, with veteran professional players, is there such a thing as being embarrassed by a poor performance, and if so, can that be a motivating factor the next time that team enters a stadium?
A. There's certainly a component of embarrassment for having a negative performance. It can be an asset to you, but it also can be an anvil. It's all about the individual and/or the collective. Mind-set has a lot to do with it. We're gunfighters in this business at this level, and gunfighters get shot. And so your spirit, your ability to endure negativity oftentimes defines an individual and oftentimes defines a collective. You want an individual and you want a collective with a "run that back" mentality. You can equate it to pickup games in childhood. People who lose and say, "run that back" those are the people you want to do business with, as opposed to those people who are affected by the loss in a negative way.
