Steelers - 19, Lions - 9
COACH CAMPBELL: Done everything that we've asked, and some of these guys it's not going to work out and it's hard. But hopefully they've got enough exposure, if it's not with us, it's with another team.
Q. What is the process, and (indiscernible) the other tomorrow and Tuesday and Saturday (indiscernible) the mesh of --
COACH CAMPBELL: We came into this game with some questions, you know, and things we were looking for. And we sort of tentatively had an idea of some things. And then what are we looking for coming out of this game?
We'll sit down tomorrow, we'll talk on the plane, we'll sit down tomorrow probably before noon and really dive into it. It will be a good process. It was last year.
And everything up to this point it's been great. Bud and I have a great relationship. We know how to give and take and work and talk. It's going to be good.
Q. You said the quarterback is an open position. (Indiscernible) you gave both those guys looks for the first team. What did you make of it?
COACH CAMPBELL: Here's what I would say. I think it became very clear. I think we got things answered, and I would leave it at that.
Q. You'll be looking into next week?
COACH CAMPBELL: I don't even want to go that far. I'm sorry. I feel like we got a lot of clarity.
Q. Clarity, is your backup quarterback on this roster?
COACH CAMPBELL: No, I just would say clarity and then we'll see where it goes. That's as far as I'm willing to go right now.
Q. You saw good things with the defense tonight when the first unit was out there?
COACH CAMPBELL: I did. Boy they stepped up. The fact they were put in adverse situations and showed up. You put your defense in a bind and they're already in field goal range, and they hold them to 3, that's a big step in the right direction. I thought they did some really good things defensively.
Q. One other thing on the quarterback. Blough obviously showed some strength (inaudible) in the end zone. But how confident do you feel that one or both of those guys can play games if they're put into the position in the regular season?
COACH CAMPBELL: I'm not going to get no it right now. I want to talk to Brad and I want to talk to the coaches that I know, just myself watching, I felt like we got a lot of clarity.
Q. And then Jared didn't throw any passes in practice the last couple of days. He wasn't playing. Is he dealing with that?
COACH CAMPBELL: He's good. Just resting, getting him ready. He'll throw this week.
Q. Starting defense you guys (inaudible), the NASCAR package that you guys used quite a bit. How productive has that been dating back to Indianapolis last week? Did you use it effectively? You used it earlier in this game. Just the versatility of those guys, how much do you like that?
COACH CAMPBELL: Yeah, no, I mean, we like to think whoever is going in the game we're going use. We try to do that across the board, whether it's defense or special teams. I mean, there's very few occasions where we take somebody and they don't play at all. We may have an eighth lineman, but that's a bonus to bring them anyway.
But as far as everybody else, we're going to use them. Otherwise we need to find somebody else to bring so that we can use them in the game that can help us win.
Q. How do you think Jeff's playing heading into the regular season?
COACH CAMPBELL: I thought he did some good things. I feel like he's been trending in the right direction now for two weeks. So I would say he finished up strong, and he's going in the right direction.
Q. Fair to say he's your starting cornerback?
COACH CAMPBELL: Yeah, I would say that. I would say it's looking like that. There's nothing after these two weeks to tell me that that's not his job right now.
Q. You guys have put him through a lot of tests and whatnot over the last few weeks, few months. Going back into rehab, how pleased are with how he's responded to that? How well is he playing going into the regular season?
COACH CAMPBELL: Very pleased. I mean, he's been able to come back out. And that's been a tough, tight battle with Will out there, because Will's done a good job out there as well now.
But we already said, you know, Will, we know Will can play out there but we think there's other things Will can do for us as well, besides special teams. He can probably play a little nickel for us. He can play some dime. So his versatility is something that we really value as well.
But love where Jeff is going. Love how he did step up to the challenge, you know. He answered the bell. He wasn't afraid of the competition and he went after it and I would say he's earned him a spot.
Q. (Indiscernible) rested your top two running backs today, and kind of mixed up the usage of your backups there. Just any clarity on that competition.
COACH CAMPBELL: I feel like there was some operation that showed up there as well, which is good to see. I need to go back and watch the tape and see. Until you can really -- all right, was this a bad cut or was this, we didn't block this properly, did we?
But I would say, look, all three of those guys did something pretty good. But Craig Reynolds goes into the game and makes something happen. And J.J. on the edge. And Jefferson had some runs there in the middle.
But I do think there was a separation that took place in that room, which is good to see.
Q. Will Harris, playing late in the game. Unusual for a kind of a starter?
COACH CAMPBELL: No, I mean, it was we wanted to make sure that everybody got those reps. Jeff started with the reps. So, Will, we still needed rep to get some reps.
So I wanted to make sure that everybody at least got 25 reps at a minimum. And if we needed them, if a corner needed a blow, it was either let's try to keep Amani and Jeff out because they got their reps. And if we needed Will back in, Will would play a little. You had Parker. You had Saivion, Gilly (phonetic). It's kind of spread it around.
Q. In regards to the first question Dave asked about the collaborative process between you and Brad, how much do you involve your coordinators and your assistant coaches in getting their temperature (indiscernible)?
COACH CAMPBELL: I certainly take that into consideration. That's a huge part of it. We want to make sure that we all see things a certain way and that they're able to voice their opinions.
And I would say there's always a collaborative effort between us, the coaches, the personnel department. But then there's even more of a deep dive to where, man, I'm working with the coaches here and Brad's getting the scouting side of it. We both have an idea of which groups think. And he and I come together and try to come up with the best combination of players that we feel like are the right 53 for us.
Q. The nickel, just the guys there, (indiscernible) all those first team reps (inaudible). How tight is that battle going into the final assessment?
COACH CAMPBELL: That's tight. Because there again, A.J., he's proven to be dependable. He's smart. He's crafty. Though he has limitations, he understands his own limitations. He's able to play at least one step ahead because he is a smart player. And so that's what he has right now going for him.
And it's like we said, he's one of those players, we go into that last game, just be a dependable you again. Just be dependable. Don't try to be something you're not. And then let the chips fall where they will.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports