Steelers 32, Seahawks 25
MIKE TOMLIN: First I'd just like to thank the fans. They were really into it and we appreciate their presence, creating the type of atmosphere that we desire here, that's for sure, so that was good to get back in front of them. A lot of good effort, some things to learn from, some positive things, some negative things. That's probably the nature of the first week out. It's good to learn those lessons and explore those things with a win.
I don't care what time of year it is, we play and play to win, and I appreciate the group's efforts, particularly a lot of the young guys. We held a lot of guys out. It created an awesome play opportunity for guys, not only in terms of play making and so forth, but just displaying conditioning and seeing if they're capable of playing with detail as fatigue and so forth sets in.
A lot of awesome efforts. We'll comb through this. It's big. I just told the group, the biggest thing that we've probably done to this point is the next time we come together and the analysis of this tape and the lessons learned and how guys, our actions as we lean into the next in-stadium opportunity, and that's the cycle that is this game.
It's a big week for us. We were able to stay virtually injury free. I think Karl Joseph had an ankle that's being evaluated. I don't know that any of the other ones are of any significance.
You guys didn't see us work on Friday, so Calvin Austin had a foot injury that didn't allow him to play. We'll evaluate him and hopefully he'll get back to it sooner rather than later but don't have a lot of details in that regard.
I'll pause and open it up for questions.
Q. What did you make of Kenny Pickett and what he was able to do there at the end?
MIKE TOMLIN: You know, he moved his group. He played situational football. He displayed a competitive spirit. A lot of good things to build on from a first performance standpoint.
Q. What about the first two quarterbacks?
MIKE TOMLIN: I could say the same thing about all three, to be honest with you. They moved their units. They did the informal things associated with the position from a leadership and communication standpoint. They were engaged. It was a good first time out for all three. Obviously we'll comb through it tomorrow and evaluate it in that way.
Q. The division of labor with them, did it play out pretty much the way you thought it would?
MIKE TOMLIN: Yes.
Q. What did you think of how your first two running backs ran today?
MIKE TOMLIN: I liked the efforts of those guys. I didn't like Jaylen putting the ball on the ground. I appreciate his tackle breaking and contact balance, but that standard of expectation is non-negotiable. He's got to get better there. These are good days provided we take care of the ball, and we didn't do that. Thankfully we got it back.
We've got to get better.
Q. See anything from George Pickens that surprised you tonight?
MIKE TOMLIN: No.
Q. What about the blocking and the other intangibles?
MIKE TOMLIN: I've got to look at the tape to analyze some of those things, but from a play making perspective his performance was consistent with what we've seen in practice settings.
Q. What's a play like that do for Mark Robinson, a young guy trying to make a team?
MIKE TOMLIN: It's a big play, not only for him but for us. Situational splash playmaking to secure victory. We value that.
Q. Did Anthony Miller have an injury? We didn't see him out there.
MIKE TOMLIN: Yeah, he's got a shoulder also, yes.
Q. Do you give the run defense a little bit of an asterisk? You didn't go with T.J. --
MIKE TOMLIN: The standard is the standard and we were below the line. We've got to get better there.
Q. Initial impressions of the offensive line?
MIKE TOMLIN: You know, we've got to keep them cleaner. We're capable of that. They brought some pressures and that was good. We had an opportunity to see some pressures and have our protection from an assignment standpoint be tested, but I'd like to see our quarterbacks cleaner than they were tonight.
But we made some plays, particularly at that position with our legs and so forth, and I'm appreciative of that, also.
Some of those things were able to be revealed because of it.
Q. What did you think about the cornerback play particularly of Maulet?
MIKE TOMLIN: We did some good things. We'll comb through it tomorrow with greater detail. I thought at the early stages we were doing some nice communication things that allowed us to have cohesion. There was less communication as the game wore on, and it created some looseness, if you will. Those younger groups got to remain vigilant about the communication component.
We had guys running in the flat open and things of that nature and situational football that's unacceptable.
Q. You've used rookies awe bunch in the past, Najee last year, Claypool before that. Is it as simple as anyone who can help you win the game is going to play, or is it more to it, an energy that they bring?
MIKE TOMLIN: No, it's just that simple. If they're playmakers, we put them in position to do so.
Q. He had a tackle on special teams, obviously getting used because of other tight ends that weren't playing. How do you think Connor Heyward has come on here in the last week or so?
MIKE TOMLIN: You know, it was good to see him make some coverage unit plays. You've always got questions about the white shirts. That's what we refer to as offensive football players in the special teams game, and I think he had a couple of kickoff tackles which is good for him and for us.
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