Steelers - 27, Bills - 15
COACH TOMLIN: You know, some good things to be excited about from a performance perspective, and it was going pretty well. That's why we got the first units out of the game relatively early.
But also we got a five-day turnaround, so those guys get an opportunity to play again here in a short period of time. And so they did enough to check the boxes, if you will, for week two of the preseason. And because week three is coming so quickly we moved on, got some exposure to some other people. And so I'm appreciative of that.
When the first units operate the way they operated it really provides a platform for others to show their skills. Tanner Morgan got an opportunity to play, and that's not a given this time of year. And really it's because of the efficiency of the first groups.
I thought the guys were engaged. I thought they did some fundamental things well that makes them a tough team to beat. I didn't think we were highly penalized. I thought we largely maintained possession of the ball, those type of things. We played the field position game. We kept them on the long field with our midfield punting.
But there's a lot to be learned and a lot to be taught at this stage of the journey. We have to do it extremely quickly this week because it's just a quick transition. We'll be wheels up here in a short number of days. And, again, we expect to play everyone that's available to us and particularly the starters.
So that's why we proceeded in the manner in which we did tonight, having an opportunity to tee up this next one on the road.
Very few injuries to speak of. That's the fortunate thing. We probably limited Joey Porter in the end in an effort to prepare him to get him in the next stadium, because he's been practicing on a limited basis, as you guys know, those that have been following us at training camp.
So we wanted to get him work not only tonight but we think it's important to get him in as many environments in preparation for the regular season. We wanted to work him as much as we could work him tonight without absorbing too much negativity from a health perspective, in an effort to get him in the stadium in four or five days.
Q. Are you encouraged by the efficiency of the first-team offense you've seen in the first two games and the splash plays (indiscernible)?
COACH TOMLIN: I like the fact that we're getting some splash, but it's just not a large enough sample size. But that's the thing that we all battle this time of year. It's a limited sample size.
If you're looking to feel good, you can find it, but I don't know that I or we are looking to feel good; we're just working. And we're going to keep it moving and get ready for this next one next week.
Q. What did you think of Joey in his first outing?
COACH TOMLIN: Again, we can't get him enough snaps. We'll be working our tails off to make up for last week's missed opportunity. And so I like some of the things that he did, but, boy, we've got to see a lot more. He has to see a lot more. There's no substitute for snap exposure.
Q. What did you like from your young guys, Herbig tonight and J.P.J.? And how they've handled their early season situations.
COACH TOMLIN: They're playing with energy and emotion. And I know it seems like nothing, but when you're a young guy and you lack experience and you're worried about assignments and environmental things, it is a tough task to play with energy and emotion.
And I see a lot of our young guys doing that, and I think when you do that you really just provide an edge for yourself that probably allows you to make the splash plays. They're playing fast and fluid and with emotion, and that shows me that they know what they're doing. So those are just good signs.
I am always looking for emotion from young guys because that's, more than anything, it lets you know they're comfortable in what they're doing.
Q. What did you see about Jaylen Warren, what he does when he touches the football he makes positive yards?
COACH TOMLIN: He's built for the game. He's got a natural base about him. He's tough to get on the ground. He's competitive. But he's just a young guy that's working to get better. He brings that every day.
Q. Talk about the punting. Seems like all your special teams is pretty good. Calvin a big return. And Miles when he got hit on a punt. What did you make of those units?
COACH TOMLIN: We got so much growth ahead of us there. We've got to acknowledge that we are kind of turning over the guts or the core of our teams, if you will -- guys like Derek Watt and Markus Allen and Robert Spillane aren't part of us anymore.
We're working with an edge in that space. And some guys have to prove that we can hang their hat, we can hang our hat there and be solid.
So we've got good work from them tonight but, boy, they'll have our attention. We'll need work continually from that group to establish that core that I mentioned that you build and work from in that phase.
Q. Does a guy like Tanner Muse fit in there, what you're trying --
COACH TOMLIN: To be determined.
Q. What did you think of Kendrick Green's snaps (indiscernible) another one (indiscernible)?
COACH TOMLIN: Not good enough. Routine things routinely is what we expect, and it doesn't get any more fundamental than C/Q exchanges.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports