Pittsburgh Steelers Media Conference

Saturday, August 19, 2023

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

T.J. Watt

Postgame Press Conference


Steelers - 27, Bills - 15

Q. In terms of potential preseason tests, it feels like (indiscernible), that's a very representative group there. How do you feel like you guys faced giving them the competition?

T.J. WATT: I thought we did well. There's always going to be things that we can improve on, but to be able to go up against 1s on 1s for whatever reps it was, eight or 12 reps, it was good to get the action. I felt we performed well, but haven't taken a look at the film yet.

Q. You look at some of the young guys playing tonight, Mike talked about the energy and emotion they played with. What did you see out of those guys, Joey, (indiscernible) and those guys, what they did?

T.J. WATT: It's awesome to see those guys play here at Acrisure in front of Steeler nation, always bringing the juice to their play. The fans did an incredible job to make it loud for the defense out there. And awesome to see those guys be able to make big-time plays and provide energy to the group.

Q. Obviously it's very early, but if Nick continues to (indiscernible) skills, what can that additional depth behind you do for you and Alex in terms of (indiscernible) fourth quarter in terms of the season?

T.J. WATT: It's huge. I think Markus looked good tonight. As edge rusher in this defense we can't play 100 percent of the snaps. So to have guys we can trust to make plays when we're not in there, when we're sitting on the sidelines getting gassed back up to go back in is huge for the defense. I like the way our room is shaping up.

Q. How have you seen Nick progress from OTAs to now?

T.J. WATT: A lot. I think he's done a lot of good things. Credit to him for being a student of the game and continuing to evolve as a pass rusher and in the run game.

Q. Did you take any credit given the tutoring over the last couple of days?

T.J. WATT: No, man. You've got to give him credit. He works his butt off.

Q. Did you see this kind of potential in him?

T.J. WATT: Yeah, I think he's a phenomenal player. I feel like he's done a lot of really good things for himself at Wisconsin that's translating well.

Q. Did you tell anybody around here before the draft?

T.J. WATT: I've had a couple of conversations for sure.

Q. You guys were one of the best teams in the league in interceptions last year. You got your hands on a bunch today. There's a lot of new guys in the back end. What have you seen that's carried over (indiscernible) to continue?

T.J. WATT: We're playing fast. We're playing confident. As I said, we kind of look like we were locked away for 28 days together, just how we were gelling out there defensively.

I feel like we're flying around. We were having a lot of fun playing with a swag. I'm sure there's a lot of corrections to be made but we had fun, for sure.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
136023-1-1045 2023-08-20 02:16:00 GMT

ASAP sports

tech 129