Coach Mike Tomlin: First I acknowledge that we didn't get the job done. That is always our intention every time we step into a stadium, to win football games. When you evaluate it from a first preseason standpoint there were some positives and some things to build upon. Obviously we fell short in some areas. We have to go back to Latrobe and get back in the business of developing as a team. Too many errors, physical and mental. We'll deal with it. We won't accept it; we will deal with it this time of year. Some positive things, there were contributions from a lot of people. I like the effort overall of the group, but we have a lot of work to do and we will get diligent at getting about it.
From an injury standpoint David Johnson appears to have a severe knee injury. That is being evaluated. We will have more information when we get back to Pittsburgh. Mike Adams injury appears to be less significant. We will evaluate him as well. Jonathan Dwyer just had an AC sprain. Those are the guys that did not return. Anybody else that was shaken up in the game was just that, shaken up.
When did Adams get injured?
When he tried to pick the ball up and run.
Brett Keisel wasn't here?
He had a family matter. He was excused by me.
Did Chris Rainey impress you at all?
He did some good things tonight. He has some growth, some detail things, some assignment things. Obviously he provided a splash or two for us in the football game.
How did you feel about David DeCastro and Mike Adams?
I thought they represented themselves well at times. From an assignment standpoint I thought they were above the line. They were beat physically some, but that is life in the National Football League. I am sure they will take the lessons learned in this stadium tonight and build from it.
RE: Time of possession on the first two drives:
It was a good start, but it was just that, a start. We desire to finish everything we do and we didn't finish the job tonight. That is probably what burns in my mind more than anything.
The two touchdown passes, were those mental errors?
Those are physical, not necessarily mental. One Curtis Brown was there to make a play on it and he just has to make a play on it. Another one we had the quarterback in the backfield and we left our feet. We allowed him to get out of the pocket and create space and time and our coverage broke down. Errors that are critical in terms of the outcome of games, but they are also good lessons learned if we are smart.
