Q. Kenny Pickett had surgery on his ankle on Monday and is out for tonight's game. You have said Mitch Trubisky will start, and in talking about his traits as an NFL backup at your news conference, you said he "has an outgoing and welcoming personality." What does that mean, and how is it an asset to his role?
A. He's a good and easy communicator. And that's one of the functions at which he has done a really good job as a backup quarterback. Continual communication with receivers, making sure that they're on the same page from a detail perspective, and that's something that's a very natural act for him. He does it with ease, and it's just helpful, particularly on a short week. On a short week, you don't get a lot of in-helmet perspective on the preparation, you get a lot of walkthroughs and film study. And so communication is a major component of understanding and gaining cohesion during a week like this week, and that's something that's just naturally in his wheelhouse.
Q. Is he an easy guy for his teammates to like.
A. Yes, and I just think that's a component of that demeanor or that personality. It's an asset on a short week. Guys who have that kind of personality are oftentimes good teammates. He's just good with people.
Q. Throughout this regular season, Mason Rudolph has been the emergency quarterback, and you explained that practice time for the player in that role is limited to running the scout team. Is it fair to call him rusty with respect to operating the Steelers offense in a stadium?
A. He's rusty from a physical rep standpoint, certainly, but he's involved in every meeting, in every walkthrough. He stands behind the guy who's actually taking the physical reps. And so he does everything in his power to ready himself, and obviously he's making throws and he's maintaining his physical regimen. And so there's a component in there that's missing when you're talking about a guy at the third quarterback position, and that's the in-helmet perspective on our work. That's what he lacks, and that's what makes performance somewhat of a projection when you're talking about a third quarterback.
Q. Is he a realistic option to play in a game after having only one week of preparation as a backup, with the exception of course of an in-game injury to Trubisky?
A. When pressed, but it's not ideal, because of the lack of in-helmet perspective on the work.
Q. Flipping it over to defense, Elandon Roberts injured a groin against the Cardinals, and he was a limited participant in practice this week and is listed as questionable for the game tonight. If he can't play, or even if he just can't finish, who gets the green dot?
A. You know, probably Minkah Fitzpatrick because he's an all-circumstances player. With the other linebackers, we're probably better served to cast a big net and utilize all of them in an effort to maximize performance. It might be a lack of conditioning or preparation from that perspective in the case of a Blake Martinez who hasn't been here a long time, or it might just be a lack of exposure from a guy like Mark Robinson, in terms of defensive snaps in the National Football League. So it's best to cast a big net to be inclusive to utilize multiple people when you're doing that. If Elandon is not the guy, it would probably be Minkah from a hierarchy of green dots, if you will.
Q. When you're looking for a guy for that green dot role, it would seem to me that it almost has to be a guy who's on the field for 100 percent of the defensive snaps. Is that accurate?
A. Yes, but it's 100 percent of the first and second down snaps. There's a transition on possession downs offensively and defensively because of specialization within those downs that provide opportunity to message plays in old style. I know, God forbid I'm talking about messaging plays in from the sideline, but that is an every week occurrence in the National Football League, particularly as you transition from possession down plays in and out of possession down plays. When Elandon has been our green dot in the past, sometimes he doesn't play on third down. And so you message some of those things in from the sideline. That's just really every Sunday activity.
Q. Can Minkah be the green dot if he's lined up in centerfield, just because of the distance from the line of scrimmage?
A. There are many mechanisms in place. This is really not as interesting a conversation as you believe it is. (Laughs) We have hand signals as well. There are a lot of fail-safes, if you will, from a communication perspective. We've got to be ready for an offense to operate at pace and other things. And so you know, we're pretty well insulated there.
Q. When it comes to kickoff returns, does the returner have discretion when it comes to bringing the ball out of the end zone?
A. Depends on the circumstance. In some instances, he has zero discretion. In some instances, he certainly has discretion. In some instances, we're telling him to fair catch balls in the field of play. You know, with that new rule there's some latitude from a decision-making and a coaching perspective back there.
Q. What would be some of the hypothetical situations where a fair catch in the field of play might be warranted?
A. You just want to gain possession of the ball at the 25-yard line without fear of penalty or loss of time.
Q. In an NFL passing play, does the quarterback know when he breaks the huddle who is the primary/intended receiver, or does he have to look over the defensive alignment first?
A. In some instances, there's a primary (receiver) regardless of what the defensive structure is. Oftentimes the primary is dictated by middle of the field, whether it's open middle of the field, closed middle of the field, defensive structure, things of that nature.
Q. Does a play-call also include an automatic second read?
A. Certainly, there's a progression, if you will. Various forms of offense have various progression processes. Some are full field reads – right to left, left to right, high to low, low to high – or half-field reads, depending on the concept and the offense. But there's almost always a progression that moves you from one to two to three, etc.
Q. Is there a third read and a fourth read?
A. In some instances. Play concepts sometimes are limited. Max-protection and things that go down the field usually require more protection and thus there are fewer options. With rhythm-passing game, West Coast passing game, and five out pass, oftentimes it's full-field reads – right to left, left to right, if you will.
Q. So does every play-call have an automatic check down? Is there a check down receiver for every pass play?
A. Yes, there's a progression, but It doesn't necessarily fall into the description of check down.
Q. What's a hot-read? What does that mean?
A. A receiver that you go to vs. a blitz when you don't have an appropriate number of people to pick up a blitz, so you handle it by getting the ball out quickly. But that's dictated not by what defenses do, but by the protection of the offenses.
Q. The last time you faced New England was in Week 2 of the 2022 season. Was that video of any value in creating a plan for tonight's game, or did you just depend on 2023 Patriots video?
A. I think anytime there's continuity on both sides, old video is useful as a resource. Whenever I play an opponent, win or lose, there are notes that I take in review of the game that week, things that went well, things that didn't go well, etc. You bank it, you put it away. That's probably the first thing you'll pull out the next time you play that opponent. And I imagine that's not exclusive to me or to us. And so any shared experience with an opponent, when there's continuity, is oftentimes a basis to begin in terms of new planning.
Q. What are the core principles of a team coached by Bill Belichick?
A. Educated in all three phases and capable of putting that education on display, whether it is education regarding the game plan and matchups, or education regarding the game and components of the game itself. It is oftentimes displayed in special teams for example, but it permeates throughout. I could get into more explicit detail in terms of the things that they value, because Bill has been at it for a long time, in the same way as I can tell you the characteristics of an Andy Reid group or a John Harbaugh group. And so there's a texture to it, if you will.
Q. On New England's roster of coaches, no one has the title of defensive coordinator. Is that something the head coach handles personally?
A. I don't know how they divide their labor up. They've been really conscious about being obscure in terms of titles and things of that nature, but that's neither here nor there. I don't care, to be quite honest with you. At this juncture of the season, there's so much video evidence of who and what they are from a defensive perspective. Who the potential play caller is and things of that nature is less relevant and not relevant to me at all. It might be interesting in September, but I don't know that is a factor at all from a strategic standpoint this time of year.
Q. So when you watch video of this Patriots team, is that a Bill Belichick defense?
A. In principle, in some things, yes. But Bill has been on the job so long, what you would describe as a Belichick-coached defense has evolved with the game, with the nuances of the game, with the trends within the game. And so, yes, I'm not surprised by what I see on video. But it's ever-changing, particularly on long-standing people in this business, because you adapt or die in our profession. Particularly from a coaching perspective, and so I certainly see some adaptation to trends and things that are going on in today's game.
Q. Mac Jones was the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft as a quarterback from Alabama. Najee Harris was the 24th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft as a running back from Alabama. What do you remember about that Pro Day?
A. I think Najee had most of my attention. It was two Pro Days. At Alabama, they had so many guys and so many things to cover. There were two Pro Days, and I think I went to both. I think at the first Pro Day I was looking at defensive players and the bigs, kind of knowing that I would come back and get an opportunity to focus on Najee and some other things on the second Pro Day, and so that was kind of my mindset.
Q. So as it turned out, 2021 was Ben Roethlisberger's last season. Did you do any window shopping when you were down there since Alabama had a quarterback who was considered a top talent?
A. We were looking at quarterbacks all the way back to 2019 or so. It was just a good process for us. When you've got a quarterback in his mid-30s, it's just a component of the business. And so, certainly I was evaluating quarterbacks in 2021, and I was evaluating quarterbacks as far back as 2019.
Q. So what do you remember about Mac Jones?
A. Just his intangible quality, how he endeared himself to his teammates. You felt his energy when he walked into a room, some Pro Day-like things, very good above the neck, could articulate the game. Mentally tough, because again, it wasn't instant success for him there. He chose to get in that fight, to wait his turn or battle and wait to get an opportunity, and a lot of those things were respectable from a football character perspective. And so just had a real good feel for him. I think the National Football League did, and I think that's why he went where he went in the draft.
