Re: The comments of Bill Cowher and Hines Ward calling the Steelers defense soft and the offense finesse:That's outside of this locker room and we just care about what's going on in here.Re: His thoughts of J.J. Watt and how dangerous of a player he is:He's probably the number one candidate for Defensive Player of the Year and probably (in the) top-three for league MVP. I think that speaks enough for what he is.Have you compared him to Terrell Suggs?Well I think that they do a lot very similar things. It's hard to block (them), (they) get after the passer intercept balls (and) they're disruptive. So yeah I think (they're) similar.Is it frustrating when you have a loyal fan base like the Steelers and them calling for change and questioning the team?Well they have every right (to). We're frustrated and we need to be better for our fans.**
How can Martavis Bryant help the team in the red zone and what does he bring to the game?Well he's a big body. I hope that he's on his p's and q's, in his playbook (and) knows his plays. We'll see. We might as well try every option we have.Re: Not being able to practice with Bryant much since training camp and if that is a problem:I hope not (but) I'm sure we'll see some this week. We have an extra day with the Monday night game so we'll give him the reps and I think the key is not to overload a young guy with too much stuff.Re: The problems in the red zone and if it's about execution right now or just revisiting everything including the play calling:Well we're not doing very well down there. Players play and coaches coach and as players we need to execute what plays are called. We need to do what's better on our end.Are you confident that everybody is on the same page moving forward and in particular you and Todd Haley?Absolutely. Yeah I don't think that's an issue at all.Re: If he and Markus Wheaton are on the same page:Yeah there are some things that we ironed out. Markus came in early this morning and came in our quarterback room and we watched more film together. I think that speak volumes about him wanting to get in there, wanting to learn (and) to be corrected. I broke down every single pass play that he did and told him what I expected (and) what I thought he did right or wrong. He's the type of guy that's going to take that and make him better. I have all the confidence in the world that Markus will come out and be better than ever.Re: Timing routes with Wheaton: That's just the sense of urgency. That's something that we've talked about with him that he's got to understand (in the) red zone that the ball is going to be on him quick. It's different. When you come to the NFL the ball (and) everything happens faster. He's getting used to turning around. In college you can kind of wait for a receiver to come out of a break before you throw it. Here you have to throw it before they come out of their break. He's working hard at making sure he gets his proper depth, gets his head around, gets his hands around with his head and makes the play. And I know he will.Have you guys got too exotic with the play calls and formations this year?I don't think so. I think we've had less looks this year than we've had with coordinators past. So I don't think that's an issue. I just think we as players need to execute better.Do you think that the offense is closer to scoring than people think based off of the yards the team has been able to generate?Yeah I think so. We've got confidence that we can make the plays when needed. We're really good 20 (yard line) to 20 (yard line). We just have to find a way to get better. (We're) even good from goal-line to (the) 20 (yard line). We just have to find a way to get better (from the) 20 (yard line) and in.Re: Teams not blitzing him as much this year and if he has noticed that:I didn't even know that they blitzed less. Teams always have, just like we have a game plan, to go in and go against certain defensive looks. They must have the same thing for us.Re: Importance of getting on the same page with Lance Moore:Yeah (with) everybody. Antonio (Brown) and I will sit out there and go over stuff (as well as) Heath Miller. Everyone needs to make sure we're on the same page because every week we have new plays, new things put in (and) corrections to be made. So I think it is important for Lance and myself to be on the same page as well.How has Le'Veon Bell done this year going through with what happened off the field?I think he's done a great job. I've said many times that I think he's one of the best all-around backs in the game. I think he shows it every week when he blocks, when he runs, when he catches. We've done a lot of new things and we put things in that we haven't even shown yet for him to be more of a receiver. Use him out of the backfield, use him lining up outside because he creates mismatch problems because of how talented he is.Has he done a good job keeping the distractions out?No doubt about it.Is this team tough enough?Absolutely.Is the team tough enough mentally?Absolutely.Have you changed your routine at all the past couple of weeks?There's no time to panic. I think you guys are all waiting for us to panic and stuff. We're not panicking. We're just going to make sure we execute and make sure we make plays when they're there.Re: Calling plays and running the same plays that have worked:**We've got a lot of plays that have worked every week so we keep running them. I figure we'll keep doing that. I think that's the smart thing to do.
