News

On Mike Goodson’s hamstring: “I don’t think it’s any big deal, but we held him out of practice today more for precautionary measure. We’ll have to see how he’s doing tomorrow and probably work him out before the game and see where he’s at.”

On if Rolando McClain is in a similar situation as Jon Condo last week: “Pretty much, yeah. Pretty much the same place where he was and we’ll see where he’s at tomorrow and even on Sunday.”

On the cornerbacks: “I think we have a pretty good plan for what we’re going to do and how we’re going to try to attack that position. We’ll be ready on Sunday come anything that comes our way.”

On the Steelers physicality: “That’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to match their physical play and that’s kind of been our plan has been to match them physically this week.”

On Troy Polamalu and James Harrison being out: “They’ve played good defense without those guys playing so we have to prepare to play the Pittsburgh Steelers defense whoever they put out there, the 11 guys they put out there. They’ll put 11 quality guys out there and we’ll have a challenge trying to meet that.”

On patience with the offense: “The big difference is that I believe in the system. I believe in what we’re doing and when you believe in something, you stick to it and you have your patience with it. But it’s all about a belief. Most of the time people, when they don’t believe in something, that’s when they want to make a lot of changes. I’ve got belief in it and it’s going to work.”

On Carson Palmer believing offense is close to breaking through: “I feel the same way that Carson does. Our guys are out here working extremely hard every day. We’ve got some talented players and we’ve got some explosive playmakers. All we’re looking for is one or two times where they get a crease or somebody gets open down the field and it becomes a big play. The difference between big play and just an average play is really minor in the National Football League. We’re close. We’re a lot closer than some might think and we’re going to continue to progress.”

On Sebastian Janikowski: “He’s questionable for the game, but I feel pretty confident that he’ll be out there.”

On how Coach Allen gets the team ready to match the Steelers physicality: “You’re stuck to what the rules are as far as how much contact you can have and how many times you can be in pads. We were in pads the one day we were really kind of allowed to be in pads this week. You try to prepare your guys mentally for the type of game it’s going to be and that’s the type of game it’s going to be. It’s going to be an intense, physical football game and we have to come out and play that way.”

On if Willie Smith will start: “We’ll wait to see on that. But he’s been taking some reps this week and feel pretty good about where he’s at.”

On other options to start at right tackle: “We’ve got Tony [Bergstrom], we’ve got Joe Barksdale. We’ve got other options that could potentially be there if we needed to.”

On DeMarcus Van Dyke now with the Steelers: “All those decisions are tough decisions and none of them are made easily. So yeah, it was a tough decision. He’s a young player and he’s got a chance to improve and sounds like they’ve been pleased with what he’s been doing there.”