Steelers Players Postgame Transcripts 9/20
STEELERS PLAYERS
Roman Wilson, WR
(On where the game got away from the Steelers)
“That’s a hard question. I just feel like, me personally, I could have played a little better. I could have been more detailed in my route running and fighting through pressure on my route. I can’t really speak for everyone else because the game just ended.”
(On the performance of the Patriots defense)
“I think they did a good job mixing up a lot of their coverages and a lot of their disguises. It could be just a matter of execution.”
Pat Freiermuth, TE
(On the loss)
“Pretty frustrating, obviously. I mean, it’s not fun, but we’ll be alright. There’s some stuff on film that we’ve just got to clean up. Coach [Mike] McCarthy said it best; the defense gave up 13 points. We should win every single game when the defense gives up 13 points. They’ve been balling the past two weeks, and we have a responsibility on offense to play complete team football. So, whatever that takes throughout the week to do that, we need to do that.”
(On if it’s a matter of making a few plays and getting things going)
“We just have to stay on a rhythm. I mean, we move the ball. We just have to continue to make explosive plays. When the opportunities come, we have to make them. That’s the whole offense, including myself. The first play of the game, I had a [expletive] angle on the outside zone, front-side block, and that just set the tone, in my opinion, for those first couple drives. So, it’s all over the board.”
(On DK Metcalf)
“I love DK. When he first got traded here, I was the first one to reach out to him. He’s been one of my better friends on the team. He’s had a couple rough games, but he is one of the top receivers in the league for a reason. We back him every single day, and he’s going to get out of it. He’s a true pro, and whatever he needs from us, everyone’s already told him, he’s got it. So, he’ll be fine. He’ll be bouncing back next week, and I can’t wait. I mean, he’s going to go out there the rest of the season and attack it. He knows what went wrong, and he’s going to catch the ball. So, he’ll be all right.”
Troy Fautanu, OT
(On the Patriots defense)
“They were just giving us different looks, bringing different pressures, stunts. Obviously, the coaches go over it during the week. We’ve got to be able to execute, go out there and block our man, regardless if we’re 1-on-1. We’ve got to do a better job.”
(On improving execution)
“Obviously, you’ve got to go back and watch the film, and then something has to change. I don’t know whether it is that we’re not working hard enough as an offense. We’re not working hard enough as an offensive line. We’re just not connecting well with each other, and something has to change.”
(On his health)
“I mean, no one’s 100%. Everyone in the NFL is dealing with something, so obviously, going into this game – we lost the game, so we’ve got to go watch the film and figure some things out.
Nick Herbig, LB
(On it being just the second game and having time going forward)
“I mean, at the end of the day, you’re trying to win all of them. So, we’ve got to get back to the lab, whatever that is. We’ve got to get right, we’ve got to dial it in, focus on details and onto the next one. So, we’ve got Cincinnati coming up, so we’ve got to be locked in for that.”
(On the run defense and what went right vs wrong)
“Hard to put a finger on it. We’ve just got to play better gaps on the football. We’ve all got to do our jobs, including me, including the coaches, including the players, everybody involved. Just got to be on our p’s and q’s.”
Alex Highsmith, LB
(On the outcome of the game)
“We didn’t do our best executing. I think, for us, we were able to get up on the ball at times, but we just weren’t detailed enough in all areas. So, we just have to get back into the lab and clean up what happened. Some of their run game — whenever any team is over 100 yards in rushing, we know that is not acceptable for us. For us it starts there, stopping the run. We just have to get back to the film, and we are going to get out there. We can’t come out of the game saying we gave up 13 points on defense, but they had some big plays. No, we can’t allow those big plays either. My thing is, we’re just taking a look in the mirror and seeing how we can be better.”
(On moving forward with the season)
“We have AFC North football next week — a team that we know well, and they know us. We’ve got to bring our A game. In a day, we just have to move on to the next one. Long season, but we know we’re a lot better than this.”
T.J. Watt, LB
(On if there is frustration)
“Oh yeah, we play this game to win, so any time you don’t come out with a win, you’re left trying to figure out what happened.”
(On what the team has liked defensively)
“I feel like it’s on the tape. We have a lot of great players, we have great schemes. I feel like we can create havoc in the backfield, it’s just a matter of, I think today it was the explosive. There were three or four explosive plays that can’t happen and are devastating when you play good football and let up those three or four. It sucks.”
(On message to teammates)
“All I know is to go back to work. Win, loss, draw, go back to work.”
(On growth of Nick Herbig)
“Hats off to Herb. Truly a great locker room guy, a good teammate, a guy that’s continually on the rise, a guy that will do whatever he has to do to help this team win. I have a lot of respect for him and his mentality. The football gods pay those guys off. He works hard and he performs well consistently.”
Asante Samuel Jr., CB
(On the performance of the defense)
“As a team, we’ve just got to play better. We, as a defense, could’ve played better as well, so there’s still things we’ve got to fix on the defensive side of the ball. It’s a team game, so we’ve got to work together. We will go over the mistakes tomorrow and then focus on the next game.”