Shaun O'Hara on scoring drive:
On the scoring drive it was a real good ball by Rhett to Steve (Smith). Steve came up with a real big catch. It just seemed to ignite the offense and it got us rolling. We were able to put the ball in the end zone. It was a great run by Ahmad (Bradshaw). It's always tough to judge before you watch the tape on your performance but I know we came into this game saying we wanted to run the ball. Early on I think we had a couple of decent runs. We were trying to get a couple of different runs. We kept changing it up. I felt our zone runs were doing pretty well. I though Rhett did a good job. He prepared all week. The good thing is that early on he knew he was going to get a lot of playing time. He didn't hold back. He jumped in. He grabbed hold of the reins. He handled himself extremely well. We went into the game knowing that we were going to have to protect him. We knew that they were going to give him a lot of exotic looks and try to confuse him. I still think we could have done a better job of protecting him. We wanted to come into this game and not let him get hit him at all. He had to scramble a little too much for us.
Justin Tuck on overall performance on defense:
We tried to get our legs back early on after last week. We were a little bit heavy legged in the beginning. We felt a little more fresh after a while. We kind of hit more of the game plan today. We started opening up a little bit more and it gave us a lot of freedom out there to be able to get some penetration. And lucky for us we made some great plays. We got some tackles for losses. And we will be able to build on this. We have been preaching about turnovers; we want to get more turnovers this season. Corey (Webster) made a great catch on the interception. We got a lot of pressure on Ben (Roethlisberger). We didn't get a sack on him but we flushed him outside and made him throw on the run. And Corey made a great play. That is something that we have been working hard on all training camp. It is starting to come to fruition for us. And hopefully we can take that right into the season and that could be a big difference maker for us.
Corey Webster on interception:
This is something that Coach has been preaching to us all camp. We just want to get our hands on the ball any way we can. The receiver made a double move. And I was able to get back into position. I was able to make a play on the ball. We are just trying to build on last week. I think we did pretty good even though we lost. We can use this as a stepping stone. And that is all we can do right now. We still have to go back to the drawing board and just get better.
Deon Grant on tonight's game:
We lost the game. We put some good things on the film and some bad things on film. They had too many points. Our goal is to keep them under 17 points. They had way too many points. We didn't reach our goals tonight. We did get a pick but we didn't get as many turnovers as we would have liked. We gave up too many points. \
Aaron Ross on the punt return:
It felt really good to finally get my hands on the ball again. I have to get the vision back so that I can take it all the way to the house. Overall it was great blocking. I was able to hit the hole and just kept running. I think we did a good job tonight but we have to be tougher against the run. I think they had too many rushing yards. We talk about stopping the run all of the time. I think our defense could be great after that. We have to look at the film and see how we can get better against the run. The DB's had a chance to get their hands on the ball again tonight. We struggled with turnovers last year and that is why we are preaching it this year. Hopefully we can lead the League in turnovers. And that is our goal.
Osi Umenyiora on tonight's performance:
I think we did okay. Obviously there were things that we could have done better. We got a turnover. We played physical. We got some good plays with some tackles for loss of yardage. We need to get back to doing a lot more of that. Coach Fewell does a good job of emphasizing turnovers. We didn't get enough of them last year. So this year we are trying to get as many as possible.
Ahmad Bradshaw on tonight's touchdown run:
We had a zone play going. They stuffed it up the middle pretty good. I believe they had a blitz on. Everybody blocked it up good. And I jumped it to the outside and I was able to sprint to the corner. I think we established the run pretty good tonight, which was one of our goals. Our guys did a great job up front. And Rhett did a good job of controlling the game.
RB Andre Brown
Q: You're getting more reps now, esp. with the injury to Jacobs. How'd you feel out there?
A: I just thought of it as another opportunity to get out there and showcase my talent. I felt good out there because we've been out there doing two-a-days out, so you feel like it's a little bit easier to go out there and do more stuff. I'm feeling good, and I'm just hoping to go out there and take advantage of opportunities that I get and go out there and make plays, run hard, pick up blocks. I just want to contribute and go out and do the same thing.
Q: The Achilles, is it still on your mind at all?
A: No. Not the case. I'm just comparing last week's game to this week's game. I just felt more comfortable, and my legs were under me. I guess that I'm getting my football legs. I'm not out there worrying about it, I'm out there just running as hard as I can. That's it.
DT Chris Canty
Q: Does playing against several different QBs present a different challenge.
A: Each quarterback presented a few different challenges. I think that we were ready to embrace the challenge of trying to neutralize their quarterbacks. At the end of the day, they were able to make enough plays and win the ballgame. We would like to win the ballgame, but the tape is going to provide some good things for us to learn from.
C Shaun O'Hara
Q: you guys showed some resolve out there.
A: I think that we came into this game really wanting to establish the run, and start fast. I think anybody is really enthused about the way we started, but I think this team really kept playing, and I think that's what it's all about. I thought our guys did a great job of battling through some adversity throughout the game, and I think our defense played pretty well. I think we can definitely run the ball better and I thought Bomar did a good job of stepping in at quarterback, and we knew that it was going to be a good test and a big challenge. I thought he did a pretty good job.
Q: The preseason is really all about getting ready and healthy, do you think the team is getting there?
A: Let's hope so. I think health is certainly one of our biggest enemies right now. We're just trying to get back to good strength, and since day one, we've been battling uphill. The preseason is definitely about us, not so much about Pittsburgh or the Jets. It's about us improving. I think we did a few things better in week two on a short week. I think, really, that we need to make a lot of improvements from the second game to this third game coming up.
