Tomlin Talks About the Four-Point Win Over the Jaguars

Coach Mike Tomlin: It was great to get a win. It wasn’t the kind of finish we were looking for but obviously we will take it. The way we played, we will evaluate it and move on. That’s what we will do. We acknowledge that we didn’t play the style of football that we like to play in the second half. We didn’t get off the field enough. We gave them an extra possession on special teams, with the roughing of the punter. We weren’t good enough on third downs, offensively, to sustain drives. All that being said, it’s great to talk about those things and learn lessons that will make us successful. We made the necessary plays there at the end. We got a first down offensively but we weren’t able to kill the clock. We had a nice punt, and then we applied enough pressure at the end to preserve victory. So for that, we are excited. We had some in-game injuries: Doug Legursky has a dislocated toe of some kind. That’s being evaluated. Chris Hoke had a stinger. Ryan Clark had a shoulder injury of some kind. That’s being evaluated. Troy Polamalu went out with concussion-like symptoms. We wanted to err on the side of caution there. We will get that evaluated, and we will find out exactly where he is. That’s not a bad laundry list. We will continue on. We will probably continue to get some people back that have been out. We will march forward onto our next challenge.

Did their defense show you anything different in the second half?

No, we just weren’t good enough on third downs, and we were in some manageable third downs. We moved the ball and we ran the ball. We were in some third-and-three’s and so forth. We just didn’t convert. You have to tip your cap to them. They executed and they applied pressure. They mixed some things up from a coverage standpoint. They did a nice job.

Did your guys let up once they got a lead?

No, that roughing the punter probably took a little air out of us, in terms of giving them an extra possession. I acknowledge what that does to a defense when you get off and then you have to go back on. That’s why you can’t do that. But I didn’t sense a let up of any kind. That would be disrespectful to Jacksonville. I thought they played and made plays in the second half, and we didn’t.

Was the punt block on when that penalty was called?

The block was on.

What do you think of your pass defense?

I think the jury is still out on us. I don’t run away from that. As a matter of fact, I encourage it. It’s a good, working mentality for us to have. We’ve done some nice things but due to some circumstances, one way or another, we haven’t been tested like we will be. The big challenges lie ahead. We need to prepare for them.

Re: Letting Rashard Mendenhall stay in the game after his long run:

He was great. We made eye contact. He nodded that he was good. We are looking for guys that are highly conditioned. He is one of those.

How did Rashard do after missing a game with an injury?

He did a nice job. Obviously he was healthy. He ran the ball well. We blocked well. We put the ball where it was supposed to go. We finished plays.

Did Rashard have any problems with his hamstring?

Not at all.

Re: Jonathan Dwyer getting carries:

We were in the 30s in terms of running the football. We had three running backs suited, so we wanted to utilize him.

When did Troy get hurt?

In that short-yardage situation, when he knifed into the backfield. It was at the latter stages, not the last possession. It was the one prior to it.