Q: What kind of
offensive challenges does Pittsburgh present?
Mike: “They run the
option, they run a lot of screens, and they play three people at quarterback in
any one game at times. They have a player, Randle El, who's a wonderful young
man, who's a great football player. He was a quarterback at Indiana in college,
then we had him in the Super Bowl, and now he's a wide receiver for them, but
can play quarterback and he does punt returns. He can do a lot of things. He's
an exciting young guy. And Bill's always done that, he's always found that guy.
He did it with Kordell Stewart. He's comfortable with that and he's been able to
do that and make it work for them. They do a lot of empty formations. They just
make you prepare for a lot of stuff, and you'd better be ready
defensively.”
Q: Will you be
tweaking the defense this week?
Mike: “We're going to try
some different combinations on the defensive line. Partly because Lamar King
will in all likely hood be activated for the game. That's one thing. Norman
Hand's situation, depending how his foot feels and things like that changes the
dynamic of the defensive line just a little bit. I said earlier in the week we
were going to do that and that's really what we're doing there. I wasn't
particularly pleased with how we played last week in that area and neither was
Ray (Rhodes). We have good football players now and I think it's important we
settle in as a group and go from there.”
Q: The Steelers are
having their own problems, are they the remedy to get you out of the funk from
last week?
Mike: “Well, the next win
is. It just happens to be the Steelers who we're playing. Yeah, I think the next
time you win a football game and now everyone feels a little better and then you
go on. I have great respect for Bill Cowher and the job he does and has done
there. Watching the Steelers on film, they're kind of a scary group. They do a
lot of things on offense that challenge you. It's a very interesting thing.
They've used anything and everything on offense, and you shouldn't be surprised
by anything you see. Now defensively, they show you a scheme you don't see every
week. Not many teams run a straight 3-4 anymore. So that gives you a special set
of problems. They've always been a good football team and they're a better
football team than their record. I know that. Shoot, it's going to be a battle,
like they all are.”
Q: Do you feel like
you have a home field advantage?
Mike: “I think we're
getting there. We haven't been in our new home long enough to really say that
for sure. But we've won games there recently, and that's good. The fans have
been wonderful. The noise has been good noise when we've needed it. We're
getting there, yeah. Now, I think we still have to play a few more games before
I say, now it's real.”
Q: What is Cowher's
style?
Mike: “He's a passionate, intense guy. He was that
way as a player, and he's that way as a coach and I think the guys, like Willie
and Chad, who have played for him, guys who I've been around that played for the
Steelers who later I coached, they like him a lot. He has a style of coaching
that is sincere and he's emotional. The players sense that and know that about
him. And then his teams have always been well-prepared and he's a very bright
guy, a very smart football man and he's done a nice job. And then the other good
thing about that whole situation in Pittsburgh, in my opinion, is that Mr.
Rooney believed in Bill, and when he went through a couple of tough years a few
years ago, they stuck with him, and that's a perfect example of the owner
finding a coach and they're committed to one another. It doesn't happen so much
that way anymore.”
Q:
How is Chad Brown feeling?
Mike: “Chad Brown is better, and
so he'll practice a little bit this week. Hopefully he'll have a full practice
on Friday and then with him probably all season it will come down to how he
responds to Friday's practice and how he feels on Sunday. It's just one of those
things we have to do it that way, especially this first year after the surgery.”