Pittsburgh - 19, Detroit - 9
MIKE TOMLIN: Excited about putting together a plan and executing it and seeing some of the characteristics of that. It's good to win obviously.
Some negative things, I thought early in the game we were settling for field goals when we were getting the short field from an offensive perspective. You can't do that in September, man. That usually bites you. So we've got some things to address there.
I thought there were a couple of third and longs that we let them off the hook in the first half. That draw on third and 12 was painful. We've got to be more aware in those type circumstances. Those were negative things that kind of caught my attention.
A lot of positive things to build upon. It was good to get Mitch a two-minute drive. He hadn't had that exposure, and we had talked about that earlier in the week, and it was good to get the execution there.
I would have liked it to have been more challenging from a timeout perspective, but we got what we were looking for obviously.
A couple guys weren't able to finish the game due to injury. The guys you'll be asking about, Diontae and T.J., we don't expect that to be serious. Maybe they could have come back into the game had it been different circumstances and so forth. But we'll monitor those guys and evaluate them and proceed from there.
Kazee's injury could be perceived as more serious. He's being evaluated now. It makes his availability in the near future questionable.
But that's part of the game. It's good to get back in the stadium, get back into the confines of our home stadium and perform in front of our fans. Now we turn our attention to our next opportunity, which is September 11th football.
Q. The offensive line seemed to be struggling some early. Maybe gained some footing in the second quarter. Is that how you saw it?
MIKE TOMLIN: I'll judge it after I watch the tape. I thought they were better today largely. I thought we were penalized some, and that put us behind the chains some. But I'll take a look at the tape before I pass judgment.
Q. Were you going to use your first team offense the whole first half, or did you just want to keep using them to see something?
MIKE TOMLIN: Again, like I told you guys, I was going to leave them in there until I got to a level of comfort in terms of what I wanted to see. Getting Mitch and that group and opportunity to execute two-minute was a major component, and so we got that.
Q. Do you have a starting quarterback?
MIKE TOMLIN: I might, but you're not going to have that today. Like I told you guys the other week, we're not going to make knee jerk reactions and statements following a performance. We'll go through our proper, professional procedure. We'll evaluate the game. We'll meet with our front office people. We'll have discussions. We'll talk internally. We'll talk external possibilities.
We'll go through our normal procedure this time of year, and we'll disclose it to you at our leisure, to be quite honest with you.
Q. Was the plan going in to give Mitch the entire first half?
MIKE TOMLIN: Again, like I told you guys, I wanted to see some things. I wasn't going to box myself into a corner. I'm glad he got the first half so we could see him in the two-minute, but it wasn't a requirement.
Q. Like you said, injuries are part of the game. How do you kind of balance getting guys valuable work but also making sure you get them --
MIKE TOMLIN: You don't. You get the work. You can't box without sparring.
Q. You'll make a pretty informed decision whenever you make it based on the opportunities, you got all those guys both in Latrobe and in the games?
MIKE TOMLIN: Correct.
Q. Coach, your thoughts on the team, the defense's two fourth down stands throughout the game?
MIKE TOMLIN: We'll take a look at the tape. Sometimes you win because of your opponent's lack of execution this time of year. So I don't want to get over excited. It felt like that some.
So there's a lot of young guys, fatigued guys in the game on both sides at that juncture of the game, and sometimes you just -- you know, you win because of those circumstances.
Q. What did you think of Kenny and the way he played third quarter?
MIKE TOMLIN: I thought it was in line with all of his performances. He was wired in. He had an opinion. He was competitive. He was urgent. I thought the group reflected it.
Q. Are you anxious to curb the enthusiasm by the fans? You hear the Kenny chants throughout the quarter. Curbing the enthusiasm by the fan base with Kenny Pickett in terms of them chanting his name?
MIKE TOMLIN: What's the question.
Q. Is that something you have to deal with as a coach?
MIKE TOMLIN: No.
Q. How do you feel about the receiver depth?
MIKE TOMLIN: I feel good about the group. I just appreciate the competitive spirit that all the guys gave us. And they played to their strengths. Big guys making big guy plays. Miles Boykin, Cody White making possession down plays at the sticks and things of that nature, the skedaddlers running around the perimeter.
I just thought that guys gave themselves an opportunity because they played to their skill set and their strength, and that's what you want. They're making our decisions difficult. And when you're in my position, you've got to respect and appreciate that.
Q. Did your quarterback play make your decision more difficult than you anticipated?
MIKE TOMLIN: Much like I was talking about the receivers, you want to make decisions because what people are doing and not because what others aren't. So the fact that they all played well is a good problem to have certainly.
Q. What does it say about your quarterbacks that none of them threw an interception throughout all three preseason games?
MIKE TOMLIN: It speaks for itself.
Q. Would you like to see anything more from Najee, or you're comfortable with what you saw?
MIKE TOMLIN: I was comfortable with what I saw, otherwise, I would have left him in the game.
Q. Did you learn anything about the team in the last month or so that really stands out to you?
MIKE TOMLIN: You know how it is. September 11th we'll know.
Q. Speaking of September 11th, how do you feel about the preseason is over, going into the regular season at this point?
MIKE TOMLIN: We still have two weeks of work. Just because the games are over, like I told that group in there, we're going to lean into the developmental opportunities between now and then. We've got to move ahead with urgency. We've got to prepare with an edge. Because we need to assume our opponents are doing the same.
Q. With the roster cuts on Tuesday, is that something you anticipate maybe getting rid of these guys before that?
MIKE TOMLIN: We'll meet tomorrow and go from there and do what's appropriate and professional.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports