HEAD COACH MIKE TOMLIN SEPTEMBER 11. 2008
Coach Mike Tomlin:We had a good, spirited practice today. We raised the execution from yesterday; I like the direction that we are heading. We still have some work to do. We will review the tape here this evening and then come back and do this again tomorrow.
How is Deshea (Townsend) and what are his chances of playing this Sunday?
I really don't have the answer to that right now; he wasn't good enough to go today. He is going to try to go tomorrow and we will see where he is tomorrow. As of right now, he is not game ready. We are taking it day-by-day.
Do you think that your team will stay on an even keel after their performance last week?
I think that will be the case with these guys. They understand what this process is about. They understand that this is day-to-day; that is not a concern of mine.
Did Ben (Roethlisberger) practice more today?
He went through everything, but he was limited. He is pushing forward toward game readiness and tomorrow will be a better day I am sure; he will be ready to play on Sunday.
Is he following the course that you outlined on Monday?
He is, but we have to take it day-by-day. Sunday we will go out and play and he will be a part of that; there will be no excuses.
Do you have any other injuries?
No; not at this time.
You had another punter here working out. Why was he here and is there a chance of a roster move?
I don't want to comment about guys that we have working out; that is purely speculation. If we make a move on our football team then I will address it. We bring a lot of people in here to work out and we'd spend a lot of time talking about possibilities if I addressed those things.
Can we get that punter's name?
No.
Do you like seeing that spirit you talked about earlier during Cleveland week?
All of these games are important. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to take anything away from this rivalry that we have with Cleveland; it is special. This is the National Football League; every one of them are precious. We better have that edge to us every week.
Do you like what you see from Sean McHugh and will he be ready to go Sunday?
He is showing that he is moving towards game readiness. Of course we are not throwing the entire playbook at him; I think that would be unrealistic. He is functional in terms of the packages that we are asking him to learn at this point; that is encouraging.
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*Can you talk about being on the end of one of these losing streaks like the Browns are on against you guys?
I can't. I'm sure that they are not carrying the bags. It doesn't matter what we have done in the past; it doesn't matter what they have done in the past. We have a game on Sunday night; I think that Romeo (Crennel) said it best when he said that we played well enough to win in the past but that has no bearing on how it is going to play out on Sunday night. We better understand that and I think that we do.
Considering the yardage Dallas passed for and considering their injuries in the secondary, will you guys be passing more Sunday night?
We are concerned with playing to our personality and strengths. Was Dallas was able to do was right and good for Dallas. It may play out very differently because we are not Dallas, we are the Steelers. We are going to put together our plan and of course that is going to include some passing but not to try to mirror what Dallas did. We are going to try to play to our strengths.
