QB Baker Mayfield (12.1.19)
What happened to your hand?
It hit the facemask obviously with a little bit of speed and force trying to throw the long ball. X-rays were negative so that’s good news. It got a little numb, took some medicine and went back out there so we’ll see.
Do you think wearing the glove and dealing with the pain affected you in the second half?
No, it didn’t at all.
What do you think happened after you scored your first 10 points?
We saw another one of those lulls I mentioned. We had to stay consistent. You can’t be satisfied. You have to hit the reset button and go back out their to do your job no matter what the score is, no matter the situation. It hurt us not being able to score and them getting the points before half and then getting the ball back right after that.
Did you notice how quiet the stadium was when you were up 10-0?
Yeah, we were playing well. We just needed to capitalize in the situation – continue to attack, make plays and do our job.
Did the angst of the last matchup have an effect with the crowd?
It didn’t play a factor obviously. They can use it as momentum for them – feeding off the energy. We just have to do our job. We expect that type of environment, and any time you’re winning, you can take out the crowd.
Why was the team unable to come out of the lull this time?
We’ll just have to look at the tape. Do our job consistently. Everybody has to do their 1/11th – things I’ve mentioned. We just have to put it together. You have to play as a team on the road to be able to have success, and we didn’t do it consistently enough to have a win on the road today.
Do expect to play next week?
Yeah, I fully expect to be able to play.
Will you undergo an MRI?
I don’t know, we’ll see. I’m not a doctor.
What’s on your hand right now?
Some compression, ice and a wrap. It’s a club.
What has this team learned on how to win in a tough atmosphere?
We’ve been able to make the plays we needed recently at home when it came to critical moments. On the road, it’s in the even finer details. We learned that we didn’t make one more play than they did today, and it’s in all three phases of the ball. It’s not like it’s in one area we can blame. It’s everybody collectively as a unit.
How were the Steelers able to win with so many second-string players?
One, it’s the NFL. You’re not just going to throw anyone who’s a slouch out there. It’s the NFL for a reason. They’ve been playing without Ben [Roethlisberger] pretty much the whole year. It’s never an excuse. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. For anyone to use that as a reason why, it comes down to us doing our job. It’s not about who we play from a week to week basis. We have to do our job no matter who we play. I’ve said that, and that’s what matters.
How do your playoff hopes look after the loss?
We just have to get back to a singular focus. We can’t control the things on the outside. We have to take care of our business, and that’s all we really can focus about.
Re: The last two possessions
We tried taking a shot after Terrance’s [Mitchell] interception. Almost had a great play. Jarvis [Landry] has come down with those before, but it’s a tough play. It’s not a routine play for anyone. They ran a couple of good coverages against us and got some pressure on the third down, and then we pinned them down deep, got the ball back – had all of the confidence in the world that we have a chance to go down and score. Just a little bit off on the seam throw. Joe Haden made a good play covering between the one and two and dividing those guys, then picked the ball off.
Do you feel like any outside distractions have affected the team?
No.
Do you feel like you’ve been able to focus and do your business on Sundays?
Yeah, we have.
What did you think of Freddie Kitchen’s shirt?
I don’t really have a comment on that. It’s just a t-shirt. I’ve done much worse.
Did the pressure affect your ability to throw it to Odell Beckham Jr.?
It’s frustrating. The types of plays we had drawn up require a little bit of time. We talked about it earlier in the week, they play well at home, that defensive front, and they did it again today. They made the plays when they needed to, so we weren’t able to get the ball down the field like we expected.
When’s the last time you threw with a glove in a game?
I couldn’t tell you. I don’t know if I have.
Did that affect your throwing the ball at all?
For the second time, no it didn’t affect me.
Re: The hit by T.J. Watt
No, I forgot about that until now. It was just a good hit.
Re: Not having Myles Garrett
We talked about it. There’s no real way to replace a guy like Myles. He’s just a one-of-a-kind athlete who can change a game. It hurts, but we trust those guys to step up and make plays. We just, like I said all three phases of the game, we didn’t make the plays we needed to today.
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