Jets - 24, Steelers - 20
Q. (Indiscernible) said you're a little banged up there.
CAMERON HEYWARD: Mentally or physically?
Q. Start with physically?
CAMERON HEYWARD: Physically, you know, you get some bumps and bruises that come with the job. Just the way it is. Won't make an excuse for it. I was able to come back from it. But, yeah, took some hits.
Q. Kenny's debut, the crowd was rocking. Just can you put into words letting that one slip away, how disappointing that is?
CAMERON HEYWARD: 14 points in the fourth, offense did enough. As a defense, we didn't get off the field enough especially in the second half. And that's going to haunt me.
Just being -- we have to work together on defense. If we hit home up front we've got to make sure we're good on the back end. When the back end holds up and buys us extra time, we've got to finish those plays.
Not enough coordination through the entire defense. And not enough attention to detail. Like, I know that's easy to say, but it comes down to that. The little things. And fitting in your gaps. Understanding if we push it up field and we string it out, we all have to get to the ball.
Understanding angles. I don't think we did -- I think we did an okay job in the run game, but too much of that. And I think first down was critical for us in the first half because when we were able to win on first down, it kind of set us up for second and third. It didn't allow them to just get to second-and-5 because when you got to second-and-5, your whole playbook opens up.
I think that really put us in a tough spot, and when we did dominate that first down play, it really set them back. And then it came down to third downs in the fourth quarter and we just didn't get off the field.
You like to think third down, you're money down, your attention picks up to detail. Understanding what type of rushes you're doing. Sometimes they would go to different fronts to buy extra time in the max pro look, and we didn't clean that up as a front. We didn't hit home enough. And then when we did hit home, we didn't clean up on the back end.
It's a cycle where we all have to work together. If one guy wants to eat, he better depend on the other 10 to eat. And the other 10 have to do their job. We all have to be accountable to make these plays and be a good defense.
Q. What needs to change so that those fourth quarter letdowns, though details are still there later in the game?
CAMERON HEYWARD: We have to be accountable for it. I think you've got to look at the film. I'm not going to sit up here and say it's one guy or this guy. But I think all of us have to be better.
And whether it's using your hands and getting off blocks, it's easy to say the defense is (indiscernible) front but we're all accountable, whether it's run our pass, making sure we do our jobs.
Q. Do you have any clarity with Kenny in the game now in terms of this team moving forward, not that anything was mentioned today, in terms of you guys don't have to worry about answering the questions or worrying about the quarterback?
CAMERON HEYWARD: I don't know, man. I was not even feeling about it. I was getting an MRI at half -- I was getting an X-ray at half. I don't know what transpired. But I feel comfortable with either of those guys.
We are trying to win a game, and we haven't won a game in, what, four weeks, or three weeks. We have to do a better job on defense. But offense gives you seven points, so be it.
As a defense you have to be held accountable. Even on the trick play, like, we didn't contain well enough, and then we were wondering why the quarterback scored on that play.
Everybody's not being accountable for our positions. That's just one play, but we all have to own up to that. The defense has to be a lot better. And I take that personally.
Q. What you were saying with your previous answer, they were going to some different fronts to max protect it. Is that change that happened at halftime?
CAMERON HEYWARD: No, no, that's something that we get every game. And they're buying extra time for their receivers. We have to hit home. Zach Wilson is a pretty good quarterback who is going to buy some extra time. And we didn't finish enough of our rushes. That's something that you have to continue to improve.
You keep your tight end and your running back and they're hitting on the outsides, Alex and Malik and all of our outside players, they get bumped down, but we have things to accomplish to work through that and we have to be better because of that.
Q. In a general sense, (indiscernible) your team is now 1-3 going into a really tough situation in Buffalo, tough schedule, needless to say. What's the mental state of the team, what's the countenance?
CAMERON HEYWARD: I'm absorbing this loss now. I don't worry what happened in the past, what's in the future, I'm just focused on the game that we just played.
You tip your cap to them. They got the job done. They went on the road and won a game. But we will address it tomorrow. Like there's a lot of football to be played. You can't run from it. You've got to grow from it. You've got to continue to just keep looking in the mirror.
How can we better? How can I be better? How can I get off blocks faster? How can I be more of a force in the run game? What is it going to take for to us get over the hump?
I think all of us have to be concerned with winning the game. Doesn't matter what the stats look like. Doesn't matter who's our quarterback, who's not. We want to win a game as Pittsburgh Steelers.
Q. The details you're talking about, are these similar things that cropped up in the last two weeks?
CAMERON HEYWARD: Yeah, you know, they're showing their ugly head every single game. Even when we win, there are plays to be made and little things we can do to make those plays. We have to clean it up and grow from that. If you make mistakes, I'm not saying like anybody's perfect. But we have to grow from those mistakes. We can't keep making those mistakes over and over again. When we do that, we set ourselves back.
Q. You played with a lot of different pass rushers over your time with the Steelers. How much of what you guys are struggling with to get home is about timing and chemistry that you can see bumping up if you guys just keep working at it?
CAMERON HEYWARD: I think we're doing some things right. But it all has to be cohesive. You know, whether it's understanding if you have contain or letting a guy know you want to run a gain. Those are things that we have to pick up front.
I'm fine saying that my group has to be better. I put a lot of pressure and a lot of pride in what we do up front. But that comes with communication. That comes with being comfortable with what you're doing -- and working together in tandem.
It can't just be one guy being a cowboy. It can't just be two guys getting a call and the other guy's not. It all works hand in hand. And we all have to be responsible for that.
I look at myself. How can I communicate better with the guy next to me or the guy on the side of me? Because we have to be responsible, whether he's getting out of the pocket. Sometimes when it's quick passing you want to get your hands up you can't get pressure every single time.
It's a multitude of things. It's about working together up front and we have to continue to pick that up.
Q. I realize you might be more focused on defense, but when you look at Kenny Pickett, there's a lot more that goes into being a quarterback than just throwing a football. There's leadership and the intangible aspects. What stood out to you today in terms of the way that Kenny carried himself after he got the call?
CAMERON HEYWARD: I think I was way too in tune with the defense. You know, the quarterback position takes a lot of -- everybody looks at the quarterback position. And good or bad or indifferent, there's always going to be a spotlight at the quarterback position.
And I think both quarterbacks can handle themselves. In some instances the run game was good. We were able to run the ball a little bit better. But we all have to be better. I think everybody can look at it and say 1 through 53, we all have to be better.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports