Cam Heyward stood at his locker at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Monday not as a player who is panicked because of the Steelers 33-3 loss to the New England Patriots the night before, but rather one who was still annoyed by it.
"We lost. That is about it," said Heyward. "I have nothing else to tell you. We didn't have our best game and they did. Hopefully we learn some lessons from it."
Heyward would like to say he doesn't remember a loss that bad, but unfortunately one did come to mind, his rookie season in 2011 when the team lost at Baltimore, 35-7, also in an opener.
"We went there and got smacked around," said Heyward.
There is no panic in the veteran defensive end though. He knows it wasn't all bad, despite the outcome.
"We did some things right," said Heyward. "Not every play was a minus. I am going to treat it like every play was. I am going to attack it today, tomorrow, until we get to Sunday and get ready to kick some tail.
"We have a long season. Let's grow and get better."
That feeling didn't end with Heyward. Mike Hilton knows there was a lot of bad, but he also knows it's one game and there is a lot of football left to be played.
"It's still a long season," said Hilton. "We have a lot of adjustments to make. We will be prepared. It's just game one. We haven't brought out everything we are going to use. We just have to prepare for Seattle and be ready for what they are going to bring in here. We will be ready."
No rhythm: One of the most frustrating things for David DeCastro, who echoed his teammates about not panicking, was the inability for the offense to get into a rhythm early on Sunday night, therefore being in a situation where they were forced to almost exclusively throw the ball from mid-way through the second quarter on.
"If you don't get drives going, you don't sustain the rhythm, they get up some scores and you get one dimensional. It's not fun," said DeCastro. "You look forward to the fourth quarter when you can run the ball and finish out the game. To sit back (and pass) the second half, even the second quarter, it's not fun.
"It's very deflating. You get drives going. Those third-and-ones, you should be able to convert those. We just didn't play good team ball all the way around. It's tough. You get one dimensional. It sucks."
Saying goodbye: The Steelers traded quarterback Josh Dobbs to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday, before the players had all gathered for their team run. But Dobbs stopped by and said goodbye to teammates and coaches, something that didn't come as a surprise to Mason Rudolph.
"He is a first-class dude," said Rudolph. "Everyone in the room are good friends. We talk a lot, we are close. We hang out off the field. Josh is a great dude. Good friend, really good guy. I wish him nothing but the best moving forward."
