Q. Updates on Alshon and DeSean and whether they can play Sunday?
COACH PEDERSON: So Alshon, you know, we were hoping that he would get some practice reps this week. But he has an illness. It's not related to COVID. It's just an illness and so he's been out of the building the last couple days, so obviously he'll be out.
DeSean is another one that we're still trying to get through today to see where he's at, and try to see if he can make it to game time.
Q. With DeSean, if I may follow-up, how have you managed the soft tissue injuries with him, you mentioned last time about him being a track guy, but also just in light of his age, how do you guys manage his workload and how has that been? Has that been a struggle?
COACH PEDERSON: It really hasn't been a struggle. You know, he's obviously embraced what Ted, Rath and his team, the medical staff have put a plan in place for him with his specific injuries and lower body injuries and of course his hamstring. It's all about strengthening and getting him healthy there and making sure that he can -- there's no soreness, obviously. You want him to be 100 percent, and so just trusting that plan, that those guys have put together for DeSean, is really what I lean on and then just talking to DeSean and just seeing how he feels these last couple of days.
Q. What was it like the first time you met Jeff Stoutland and what have been your impressions working with him the last several years?
COACH PEDERSON: My first week on the job back in January 2016, obviously I had some tough decisions to make, hiring a staff and whatnot, and coach Stoutland, Jeff was one of the first coaches that I spent some time with, and obviously I feel like an offensive line coach is kind of the key to the kingdom on offense for us.
I had a lot of outside sources really give him a high recommendation and someone that I should consider keeping. He's a really great offensive line coach and these are from other professional coaches around the league.
So we literally spent, gosh, it must have been an hour or so just in his office, not only getting to know him but just talking philosophy a little bit and just he has a lot of energy, very, very excited. Obviously for him, I can understand it was a little bit of an unknown time, you know, right, next head coach coming in, you don't know if you're going to be here or somewhere else, but I just assured him that quite frankly, he was going to be my offensive line coach. But it was a great meeting. A lot of energy, and obviously looking back, a great decision on my part.
Q. Following up on the Josh McCown stuff, how are things going and are you getting what you wanted out of that arrangement?
COACH PEDERSON: Yeah, things are going really well. He's been attentive in all the meetings. He's been a part of everything with the quarterbacks and with Press. He's up on the game plan, and so he's constantly in communication with Carson and the quarterbacks, obviously not only in the meetings but privately outside of the building, which is really good. So his impact is being felt even though he's out of the building at this time.
Q. In Jordan Mailata's case, is there a chance that he could hold onto this job for rest of the season if he does play well? And as a follow-up to that, with Jason Peters, we didn't ask you, is there a sense of what the timeline is for him?
COACH PEDERSON: In JP's case, obviously we want to make sure he's 100 percent with the injury that he has. You know, look, he's a guy that as you guys know, he's one that we have a maintenance plan with him, as well, during the week, and making sure he's ready to go on game days. He's doing really, really well in his rehab. Again, no timetable on his return at this time.
In the case of Jordan may lat a, as long as he plays well, right now, in the near future it's his job. But we understand that when JP is healthy, that's a decision that we are going to have to make at that particular time. You know, we are focused on this week, getting Jordan ready to go. He's got a handful this week with Bud Dupree over there and T.J. Watt and those guys. So we're focused on that right now.
Q. This probably isn't front and center on your radar right now, but you guys have been really vigilant and lucky, I guess, with the COVID testing. You haven't had any problems in quite a while. Around the league, this is not so much the case. There are games being moved all over the place. This could affect you guys at some point through dominos. How do you feel about the fact that perhaps other teams and coaches haven't taken this as seriously or haven't been as vigilant as you guys have? What are your thoughts on that right now?
COACH PEDERSON: It's a great question and quite honestly, my concern is our players and my staff and making sure that we are adhering to the protocols.
You know, obviously these are some things that are -- these teams, they are out of our system control. We know and I know that somewhere this season, it's going to directly affect us, whether it's in our building or it affects a game that we are going to play.
And so we just have to -- listen, we just have to be diligent with how we approach each day, the testing protocols, the wearing of the masks. You see us at practice, coaches and players are wearing their mask or sort of those neck gaitors, and it's just a matter of us taking care of us. And we want to see the entire season being played. We know these next couple of weeks around the league, there's some Tuesday games and games being shifted to Monday, and it's probably going to eventually affect us somewhere down the line.
But honestly, I'm -- I can't worry -- if I worry about that, honestly, my stress level will go through the redshirt freshman already, and so I just want to focus and make sure that our guys are doing the right thing.
Q. And one more thing real quick. Quez Watkins, we kind of lost track of him. Where is he here? Is he playing this week?
COACH PEDERSON: Yeah, Quez was one of the players we activated from the IR list, so he's been working in practice. He's been getting himself back into game shape. We haven't made a decision yet on his status, but he's doing well. He's doing well.
Q. Edwards being out, obviously we know all about the next-man-up mentality, but who is the next man up behind T.J. and is Shaun Bradley,, do you feel he's ready for a role in this defense?
COACH PEDERSON: Obviously Nate that spot in the middle before. Shaun Bradley is the next sort of that back up linebacker in that spot, as well, and I do feel like Shaun is ready to go and you know, it's always been a next-man-up mentality around here and we know at the linebacker position over the last couple of seasons, we've shifted some guys around.
But we are comfortable with Nate playing in there and Alex Singleton coming into the mix along with Duke Riley, along with Shaun Bradley and Dave John Taylor. We are comfortable with the group that we have, and we know that they are going to play well in T.J.'s absence until he comes back.
Q. We've seen the D-Line over the last couple weeks play at a really high level. What's been Matt Burke's contribution, obviously he was here in a little bit different role, but you've gone through some different D-Line coaches, but what have you seen as far as his personal impact on the group playing at this level?
COACH PEDERSON: I think the way he prepares the guys in practice each week and we know that -- we play typically four tackles, four ends on a rotating basis and these guys are well prepared and that's a compliment to Coach Burke and he prides himself in his preparation, obviously No. 1 and then getting his players ready to go, and I think by just keeping him fresh and healthy and rested, you know, these guys are playing at a high level and it's really good to see now with Javon Hargrave in the mix and seeing what he can do, how disruptive he is and giving us depth there. And you know, Hassan Ridgeway has played well as a situational role player, and it's just all kind of coming together for those guys but they work hard in practice but that's really what it's come down to.
Q. You mentioned earlier that Alshon is probably not going to play and may or may not have did he Sean, so I mean, obviously that would mean another game with guys like Travis and Hightower, having to rely on them at wide receiver. What have you seen from those two guys in particular in week in practice and is that comfort level getting more and more as the season goes on with those guys?
COACH PEDERSON: Yeah, every time they take valuable reps with the starters, it just gets a little more, you know, routine with the quarterback, with Carson.
These guys have really -- obviously as coaches we have to be careful on the amount of information and the volume, right. We want to make sure it's small enough but yet enough plays in the game plan where they can go play and execute and they don't have to think a lot about a lot of moving parts, and keeping Travis in one spot and keeping Hightower in one spot, obviously Ward can move around and J.J. in the mix. These guys, they work really, really hard. You know, is it perfect in practice? No, and I don't want it to be perfect, right. I want them to -- as coaches we kind of want them to fail so we can instruct them and we can teach and improve that way, or they can go over to the other field and work with Carson on the side. These are all the things that we are seeing with these young receivers and it is paying off in practice and ultimately we hope it pays off on game day.
Q. If we can go back to the question about COVID for one second, was there ever a conversation with the league about what happens if a team has to miss a certain number of games? Was there ever a conversation about penalties or forfeitures or what that situation would be like?
COACH PEDERSON: No, not specifically like that. You know, obviously we know that the schedule can be disrupted, games being moved. But nothing -- I haven't been informed of anything other than that, right, just games being moved around and shifted. And this is probably what we're going to expect probably the rest of the season with COVID-19, and it's just -- again, it's out of our system control. I know the league is working diligently to try to provide answers to us, obviously. But we just have to do our part and maintain the protocols that we have.
Q. Pittsburgh, nobody has blitzed more than their first three games. As a game planner, what kind of difficulties does that present to you especially with all the moving parts that we've talked about on the offensive line?
COACH PEDERSON: Well, you know, we look at blitzes differently probably than, say, the outside public or a statistic. You know, this is a base three four defense, and they like to bring five guys, so they are going to rush, obviously Bud Dupree and Watt off of both edges and plus the three interior guys, so they consider that a pressure.
You know, those are all things that we know, when we play defenses like this, this is kind of their style. This is the style of -- I guess it's the expected pressure amount from defenses of this kind, right, the 3-4.
However, with that being said, on first and second down, they pressure quite a bit and it's something that we've studied all week. You know, obviously our guys, we put our guys in those situations, not only in the run game but also in the pass game with protections to try to handle all the pressure that they do.
And it's all about recognition, you know, with the quarterback, with the center, with the tight end, whoever is in protections recognizing it, recognizing the front, the coverage, whatever, and just doing their job.
So it is something that we've studied. We prepare our players that way and now it's a matter of just execution.
Q. You saw baseball sort of go through a couple of out breaks and there wasn't a whole lot of penalty, even though some guys maybe did some wrong things. The first question is, do you think that the Titans should be penalized? Should they lose draft picks or forfeit games? And in baseball, it served as a Wake-up call. A lot of teams started being more vigilant. Has it resonated in the league? Has it resonated in your building? Do you have a place where guys could go and sort of isolate themselves? Have you created a bubble the way the New Orleans Saints have?
COACH PEDERSON: Obviously I'm not the NFL league office, so I can't comment on penalties and fines and all that stuff. I mean, that's not for me to decide. So I can't control that, obviously.
But what I can comment on is obviously what we're doing and how we are handling our situation here. I do think it's a little bit of a Wake-up call for the entire league, coaches and players, right, to maintain the protocols that are in place, everything that we started way back when camp began to now, we've got to maintain that and we can't let our guards down at any one particular moment. We have to maintain that. Even when we leave the building, you know, I guess the fear is, where do coaches and players go. We hope they go home, right. That's probably the one fear that we all have.
But you know, my message to the team has been consistent. We are going to wear our masks. We have to test daily. We do have areas in the building where players can go and kind of get away and socially be apart from one another. All our meeting spaces are set up that way. They are also set up to go virtual if we have to go virtual.
So we have things in place that if there were something to happen, that we can jump on it right away.
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