News

Injury Report: "(LB) Akeem Jordan is out. (S) Colt (Anderson), (T King) Dunlap and (DT Derek) Landri are all questionable. They all practiced today and did a decent job."

Opening Remarks: "Look forward to the challenge of playing the Steelers. We obviously know they're a very good football team, great franchise and again we look forward to the challenge of playing in their stadium. Our guys have had a good week of preparation and are ready to do."

On whether WR Riley Cooper will be active on Sunday: "We'll see. We'll see how all that works. I haven't made any final decisions on that yet."

On the Pittsburgh receiving core and how he feels they match up with WR Mike Wallace and WR Antonio Brown: "Well, listen, you can add another couple in there too. They're good football players. Our defensive backs have worked hard this week in preparation to play them."

On whether T Demetress Bell will start at left tackle: "We'll see how all that works out. He took most of the reps there."

On whether T King Dunlap took some starting snaps at the left tackle position: "He mixed in. He played guard and tackle."

On the status of G Danny Watkins: "He's good."

On whether he has the team prepare a little harder with Pittsburgh coming off of a bye: "No, listen, we've got to go through our practice schedule and do what we do and prepare ourselves the way we get ready to play a good football team. And they're a good football team."

On why he believes the defense has been effective on third downs this season: "Well, I've said before, it all starts up front. You've got to start with the pass rush and then the coverage unit adds to that and making sure, which they have, that they stay aggressive."

On whether he anticipates the three players listed as questionable (Anderson, Dunlap and Landri) being able to play on Sunday: "I think they'll be ready to go."

On whether he feels DE Phillip Hunt is giving the same effort now that he was in the preseason: "The one thing he's doing is he's getting good rushes in and good solid rushes in. We're rotating (DE) Brandon (Graham) in there too so we've got a bunch of those guys going, five of them going at the defensive end position that all get reps. He hasn't had as many opportunities, but the one's he's had have been good, productive rushes."

On whether there is anything else he needs to see from Cooper or if the decision to play him lies in who is declared inactive: "I mean that's kind of it right now. I've seen what I need to see."

On what makes Pittsburgh such a tough place to play: "Well, they've got a good fan base. They're passionate about football and they've got good football teams and coaches and players. It's a great organization."

On the impact that FB Stanley Havili has made this season: "Stanley's done a nice job. He worked very hard in the offseason; put himself in a position where he can be the starting fullback in the National Football League. When he first came here, he wasn't as strong; not quite as big. He was more of a utility-type back in college where he did a little blocking but not much and did a lot of catching and running. He still maintains those skills, but he's added into it being a solid blocker and a good special teams player."

On how much more of a challenge Pittsburgh's rushing attack is with RB Rashard Mendenhall: "He's a great player, so we've got to be ready for him. We've worked on it this week. Guys know how good he is. We'll be ready."

On whether the defensive line is hungry for sacks against Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger: "Well, listen, I think every defensive lineman you talk to in this league, they're going to tell you they want to get the sack. Pressure is very important though and then taking care of the run at the same time, they've got a bunch of things they have to do there. But the main thing is that they play fast and furious and that's what they're going to do this weekend."

On how confident LB Jamar Chaney has looked in practice: "Chaney's done a good job. He's worked very hard to get himself back in there after the injury. He had a good week last week and had a good week's work this week."