Inside the Steelers Locker Room: Quotes from after Steelers Week 7 win

Mike Tomlin

That was a great win for us as a football team. Guys made plays in all three phases. I guess the story of the game was the explosion in the second quarter. I think it really kind of got started on the third-down conversion by Le'Veon Bell. They were in man-to-man. He won versus a linebacker, and we not only converted the third down but we flipped the field. And I think that provided the type of emotion that the group needed. Then, we kind of fed off of that. The guys really capitalized on it. It was a nice explosion for us, and we rode that wave for the remainder of the performance. There were a lot of good efforts from all parties involved. We don't have a lot of time to really relish this one. Obviously, it's Tuesday already. We are working on a short week.There are no real injuries other than Marcus Gilbert. He left the game with a concussion. We will go through our normal concussion protocol with him, as we push through the week. We will let that be the guiding factor in determining whether or not he is available.

Ever seen three TDs that fast?
Yes (laughs). You know how it is. You stand on the sideline long enough, and you will see explosions such as that. It's good to be on the good side of it.

On Martavis Bryant?
I am not going to try to make more out of it than what it is. He made a great play, a necessary play that he's capable of making. It's a play that we watch him consistently make on the practice field. He's still working to round out his game, like a lot of young guys are, but that was a significant contribution to our efforts tonight.

On Jason Worilds?
That was a great effort (forced fumble), but we had a lot of great efforts by a lot of people. There was just good energy and effort tonight. Obviously, it wasn't perfect. We didn't get off the bus stop in the run in the manner that we would have liked. They had a little theme of the week defensively on third down. They mixed some coverages up. There was less pressure than we anticipated. It took us a minute to adjust. Once we did that, I thought we did a good job. It wasn't perfect by any stretch, but it very rarely is. But it was necessary, though.

On Keisel?
Ol' 99. We'll give him the week off and see if he can get his body ready to go on a short week (laughs), but I appreciate his efforts, not only on that (INT), but throughout the night. He provides veteran and savvy leadership and perspective during the course of preparation.

Intend to play McCullers that much?
We intended to play him. We had five defensive linemen suited. He was in the rotation. It had nothing to do with what was going on, on the field. He knew he was going to be called upon like Martavis and a couple of other guys that got the opportunity. We'll just continue to work to put the best group that we can put out there. It may include some young guys that will be given an opportunity to show that they belong.

Ben Roethlisberger

When did momentum shift?
Late in the second quarter when our defense got turnovers and we started scoring.

Good to see all three phases working together?
That's what it's all about. I said earlier that we lost together and win together. That was a good team win on offense, defense and special teams. I feel offensively like we still left a little bit out there. We scored enough and our defense got us the ball and we won the game.

Shots down field?
We thought that we saw some stuff and we wanted to give our guys some shots. We feel that we have guys that can make plays down the field.

More comfortable with all receivers?
I've always believed in them and have confidence in them.

What pulled you out of slow start?
Making a play. Defense made plays. They got us the ball on turnovers and we found a way to score. Scoring all those points was about turnovers and us finding a way to get touchdowns when we needed to. Just a crazy three minutes of football.

On TD to Bryant?
I tried to step up and the line did a good job of pushing them by for me to step up and take a shot up to him, and what a play by him.

On Le'Veon?
I say all the time that I think he's one of the best all-around backs in the game, and I think tonight he proved it.

On Mike Adams?
He played well. When I don't notice that he's out there, I think that's a good thing. He came in on a moment's notice against a really good defensive line.

Le'Veon Bell

First big play?
I saw that it was man-to-man coverage, and definitely it was a play that I had a chance to get the run. I made sure I won against the linebacker. Ben made sure he told me to catch the ball first. So, once he took me out, I knew he was going to come to me.

On Bryant catch?
He got us going. We were definitely excited for him, because of the fact that it was really his first opportunity to show people what he's able to do. We all knew what he was able to do. Obviously, that big play got us going.

Pride in being complete back?
I definitely take a lot of pride in it, because sometimes the running game can be a little tough. You have to find other ways to make plays. I just thank the coaches and the guys for giving me the opportunity to make plays.

Motivation against Arian Foster?
Yeah, there was a little bit. I knew he was one of the great backs in this league, and I knew that head-to-head against him would get me going a little bit. He had a tremendous game and came up to congratulate me after the game. It was good to meet him, because he's a guy I used to watch. So it was neat to catch up with him fate the game. We even exchanged numbers.

Cam Heyward

I thought we handled adversity early on. We just missed some tackles. It was not as good of execution as we wanted, but I thought we just continued to fight. Once we got one turnover, we really settled down and really started playing Steeler football.

Martavis Bryant

On TD?
Everybody started clicking after that. Everybody woke up. It was good to make the play to have the team wake up, get the momentum going and get the fans back into the game.

Feeling on scoring TD?
It was a great feeling to get the first touchdown and get it out of the way, but I want plenty more.

Should you have played earlier?
No, I don't think like that. I had to wait for my opportunity, and I just took advantage of it.

Maurkice Pouncey

On JJ Watt?
He's a good player. You all know that it's a dogfight in there. You've got to have your A game on. He's going to bring it, and we brought it today.

Antonio Brown

On his TD pass?
I did a great job rolling out and finding Lance in the back of the end zone and hitting him right in the numbers. We worked on it two times in practice. The first time was a little funny, but the second time it panned out and we're just thankful that it worked out today in the game.