No rest here: It was bright and early Monday morning, less than 10 hours after the Steelers had defeated the Baltimore Ravens, 43-23, in a physical game that lasted three hours and 39 minutes.
The expectation, to be honest, was it would be quiet in the locker room and weight room areas, with players enjoying some sleep on a well-deserved 'Victory Monday' off day. That couldn't have been further from the truth.
The weight room was abuzz, with the normal music pulsating through the walls. The locker room needed a revolving door, with players in and out, heading to lift weights, run or for treatment before they watched some film.
For the Steelers, off day or not, Monday was business as usual and it all began with linebackers James Harrison and Jason Worilds, who only got beat from making it before the crack of dawn due to clocks being turned back over the weekend with the end of daylight saving time.
Harrison even gave Steelers fans a look at their workouts with an Instagram post on his account.
"No rest at all," said Worilds. "We celebrated our win from yesterday last night. It's a new week and a new opponent."
That is the attitude that resonated with their teammates as well.
"We are used to the routine," said cornerback Brice McCain. "We are used to coming in on Mondays, looking at the film, lifting weight, getting maintenance done on our bodies. We come in here and do what we have to do. We can get the sleep later on. We are off today and tomorrow, so we come in today and rest tomorrow.
"We have a lot of veterans who know how important Monday is after the game. I think it's important. Everybody is hurting after a physical game."
Stacking up: Through the ups and downs of the early season players talked over and over again about wanting to stack wins. It's something Coach Mike Tomlin preached to them, and something that they wanted to do because it meant success.
The stack might be small right now, might not be where they want it to ultimately be, but it's a start and a good one at that with a three-game win streak.
"You get that good feeling and you want to keep it going," said Worilds. "Guys have that feeling. They will do anything in their power to keep going on Sundays. Whenever they have the opportunity to make plays they will."
The Steelers have defeated Houston, Indianapolis and Baltimore all at home, but they definitely see the bigger picture and want more.
"It's contagious," said McCain. "You win games, it becomes a habit to find ways to win in this league. You find ways to keep drives going on offense and get off the field on third down on defense and make the necessary plays to win the game."
Getting to know you: If you look back to comments from Steelers players from early in the season, there was a theme. Many talked about the potential of the team, the ability to get things done once they meshed and if they all 'got on the same page.' It's something that takes time, especially with younger players and veteran turnover, but it appears that this team is definitely on the same page now.
"We have a lot of young guys and new guys on this team that had to mesh together and I think it's finally happening and everyone is getting comfortable on the defense and offense," said McCain. "We are starting to make plays and be more comfortable out there."
There were growing pains along the way, but that is natural with change. The key is this is a team headed in the right direction.
"It takes a little while, being with new guys, you are getting to know them in a different way on the field, knowing where they are going to be, how they are on the field," said Worilds. "Everybody is getting more comfortable with each other and it's showing. It's the fruit of our labor. We came in and knew what our talent was and knew we could do it if we got on the same page. We just worked hard consistently on doing that and it's starting to pay off."
While safety Will Allen likes what he is seeing, he is excited about the potential the team has and sees even more room for growth.
"I think everybody is preparing hard and understands their individual role," said Allen. "Everybody is buying in because they see we can be very successful. It's good and fun to see everybody play hard, disciplined and for each other. It's great to see Ben (Roethlisberger) throwing the ball around and making great decisions. Guys catching the ball and scoring and making great splash plays. We are playing solid defense right now. I still think we could play better from a defensive standpoint. Special teams wise we have been playing really good all year up until that kickoff return we gave up (against Baltimore).
"We still have room to work, to still be complete. We are just scratching the surface of creating our identity of who we can be. It's fun, exciting, but there is still a lot of work."
