STEELERS at REDSKINS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2008 KICKOFF -- 8:30 P.M. POST-GAME QUOTES
**HEAD COACH MIKE TOMLIN
*On the teams' victory over the Washington Redskins:
"What a great team win for us tonight. The guys showed some resiliency and played six minutes of football. By no means did we start the way that we liked, we are far from perfect, we make no bones about that, but we are a team that sticks together and makes plays at times that they need to be made."
On Steelers' quarterback Bryon Leftwich:
"Byron Leftwich came home to D.C. tonight and put together a winning performance for us and he is a popular guy right now in that locker room."
On Ben Roethlisberger's injury status:
"I have no update on Ben at this point, I'm sure I will have more information at the press conference tomorrow. Potentially he was capable of going back in the game, but we went down the field with (Byron) Leftwich there to start the second half. We will see how it is in the morning. I never got time to get information on how it transpired truth be known, but we will have more information tomorrow."
On the teams' outstanding defensive performance against the Redskins:
"That's our defense and why we don't fear being aggressive. The first call of the game (the kickoff) was on me. I wanted to have an opportunity to let these guys know that we were coming and coming to win. It didn't work out for us, but we have a good defense. Every week these guys get faced with a test, the number one rushing offense the week before and came back against the number two offense in Clinton Portis tonight. That is a great offensive unit and he is a great back, but our guys responded to the challenge tonight."
*STEELERS PLAYERS
BYRON LEFTWICH
*On coming in off the bench:
"I didn't really know (that I was coming in) until halftime when they told me to get ready. I knew we were getting the ball (at the beginning of the second half). I was just ready to play – I've been waiting on this moment for a while. I knew I could play. This is the first time I've been healthy in a while. I'm just happy that I got an opportunity to play today."
On being able to get drives going:
"First and foremost, I've got a good football team around me. I just wanted to get the ball in my guys' hands. We played a good football team today, and I was just trying my best to get the ball in my playmakers' hands and let them make plays."
On the Steelers' defense:
"I practice against those guys everyday because I'm the scout team quarterback, so I know how good they are. Coach (Dick) LeBeau has been good for so long, and as a defensive coordinator he always gives your team an opportunity to win."
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*James Harrison
On quarterback Byron Leftwich coming in during the second half:
"Byron has been a starter in this league before. He practices every week like he is going to help this team win in the next game. So he did the job we expected him to do."
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*Deshea Townsend
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*On how the Steelers executed their defensive game plan:
"Their West Coast offense is tough but once you get a feel for what they are trying to do we felt like we started to execute better. We still rushed the QB well, tackled well, and did not give up the big play. When we do that we'll often come out on the good end."
On how his interception changed the game:
"That interception was one of the bigger interceptions I've had. I was just trying to do my part to contribute to this team. At that point in the game they were still in it, so it was big for us."
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*Hines Ward
On quarterback Byron Leftwich coming into game:
"That's the hardest position, the back up quarterback. To come into the game, really not taking a lot of reps in practice, but he came in and did a phenomenal job. He missed some plays, but he made some plays at the same time. Byron has been given us fits down in Jacksonville for a long time so it's great that he could come off the bench with the guys really trying to rally around him to make plays. We did that. We made some plays, I made the third down catch and Santonio (Holmes) went in for the score."
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*Willie Parker
On quarterback Byron Leftwich coming in during the second half:
"Bryon is an experienced player. He is not new to this. Nobody was surprised by how well Bryon came out and played tonight. Ben [Roethlisberger] went down and Byron seamlessly came in and did what he had to do. Bryon came in and we came out victorious which speaks good of a team we have as well as how deep of a bench we have."
Overall feeling about the game:
"I felt our defense played very well tonight. We were able to capitalize on some tips and overall we did what we were supposed to do. Winning tonight wasn't a surprise, we practiced well and therefore we played well. We played hard the whole game, we never let up and as a result we beat a very good team tonight."
On the play of the Steelers offense:
"We played very well offensively tonight. Although we got off to a slow start, once things started clicking we got into a rhythm and we knew we had an opportunity to beat a good team. Byron came in, we rallied behind him and we got the win."
WASHINGTON REDSKINS
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*HEAD COACH JIM ZORN
On not being able to get into a rhythm:
"We had such great field position early in the ballgame, and then to go three-and-out and kick a field goal and three-and-out and kick a field goal was very frustrating. There were plays that we had there within the drive that we couldn't get to. We kept having to start over and those were very frustrating points in the game."
On the Redskins' defense:
"I thought our defense played very well. I think that Greg (Blache) would be able to cite opportunities that we had to really put the kibosh on them and didn't. They fought hard. A good team beat us today – a really good team beat us today. We're a good team too, but we didn't sustain that rhythm in the ballgame."
On the running game:
"I tried to stay with it as long as I could, but when there were only 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter we just had to go. We had to score quickly. We were on the verge of making some good run yardage and then we wouldn't get the first down. Some of the run yardage that we left on the field had to do with not being able to convert on third down."
REDSKINS PLAYERS
Chris Samuels
On the Steelers defensive pressure on QB Jason Campbell:
"They were physical and got to our quarterback. We didn't do a good job of protecting him."
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*On what the bye week means for this team:
"It's been a long season up to this point, now we get a break to heal up. We get a rest mentally and physically and come back for the second half of the season."
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*On the Steelers defense tonight:
"They just made plays, they were physical. They executed and we didn't."
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*Kedric Golston
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*On the possible outcome of the would-be interception by Carlos Rogers:
"It would have been great to get that interception there, but Carlos [Rogers] played his butt off all night and that didn't decide this game. Carlos also made a lot of big plays for us today – we win as a team, we lose as a team."
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*On the Redskins being worn down coming into the late bye week:
"The coaching staff has been doing what it takes to keep us ready. We are professionals, we are called to go out there and play no matter what the circumstances are. We take care of our bodies, the coaches take care of our bodies, and I don't think that had anything to do with it."
Jason Campbell
On the Pittsburgh Steelers:
"You have to give a lot of credit to their defense because they played very well. They're smart and they did a good job. They showed us a lot of different looks."
On moving to 6-3:
"We just need to learn from it and move on. We are 6-3 and we're at the break point and we're getting a much needed break, so we just need to bounce back when we get back in here next week. We can't get discouraged. We're still in a good position. We just need to come back from the bye week rested up and get some guys back healthy."
On throwing his first interception of the season:
"Anytime a ball gets tipped in the air in the National Football League, more times than not, it's going to get intercepted. They intercepted it and it was a great play on their behalf. The second interception was just a miscommunication between me and the receiver. You just move on from that."
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*Clinton Portis
On his statistical streak being broken:
"That doesn't matter. I can get back on track with that. The worst thing is going into a bye week with a loss."
On the offense's role in the game:
"Our defense was playing great, we had great field position, and we just didn't capitalize. We let them hang around, they got momentum all of a sudden, blocked a punt, and we put the defense in a bad position."
On the Steelers performance:
"You've got to give them credit. That's a good team over there, and you don't take anything away from them. They had our number tonight."
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*Cornelius Griffin
On the Pittsburgh Steelers:
"They're a good team. You have to tip your hat off to them because they made some good plays tonight. They made more plays than we did tonight."
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**Chris Cooley
On the Pittsburgh Steelers:
"That was an extremely tough football team that we played. They were very well prepared and they did an outstanding job. You have to give them a lot of credit – they played a great football game."
On pressuring the quarterback:
"They did a good job of putting pressure on Jason (Campbell) and we didn't run the ball very well early. Passes took longer to develop. They obviously got enough pressure (on the quarterback). We were able to make short plays and a few times we were able to put together the starts of drives, but at no point in the game were we able to finish. That's something that has been a problem with the offense – we've been able to move the ball but we've had a little bit of a problem finishing."
