Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
On playing the Ravens again:
"We're playing someone that we're highly familiar with. They're also highly familiar with us. It'll be the third time that these two teams have come together. We'll do it in their venue. And so there's a lot of work ahead of us in preparation for performance. I don't find comfort in the familiarity. If anything, it just provides depths to the strategic waters, if you will."
On the Ravens offense:
"It's about 8 [Lamar Jackson] and 22 [Derrick Henry] for us, or for anyone, to be quite honest with you. Lamar's play has been spectacular. He's been very good with the ball. He's been good in the passing game. He's been good in the running game. He's been good at play extension with very little negativity. There's been very little negativity on their tape in general over the second half of the season. They don't turn the ball over. They don't have a whole lot of negative yardage plays that keeps them on schedule. And when you have that tandem and you're on schedule, you're going to score some points, and they do."
On restoring confidence after ending the season on a four-game losing streak:
"I don't know that it needs to be restored. I just think that we've been in too many battles, and we've had too much success to be fragile in that way. We certainly can hate our recent performances and the outcome of those recent performances, but I don't think it's reflected in terms of how we feel about ourselves or our ability to make plays or engineer victory or win games."
Steelers LB Patrick Queen
On if he thought he would play the Ravens in the postseason when he signed with the Steelers:
"It's crazy. But that's football. That's competition at the highest level, so it's just a great opportunity to go out there and play a good game."
On facing Jackson and Henry on the ground:
"It's tough, it's tough. There's schematics that could have helped us out and stuff. And just feel like there were plays that we should have just made. Like we should have just done our job and stuff. So it's small things here and there. But it's definitely a tough job. It's two of the best runners in football, obviously. So any time you've got to play those two guys, it's tough. So you just got to go out there and play a complete game and play a good physical game."
On if it helps that he has already played in Baltimore this season in terms of dealing with the fans:
"When I walked into the stadium, there were three fans right there that greeted me and were like, 'Hey, we miss you,' this and that. Like I said, you're going to get a mix of both and stuff. At the end of the day, that's the last thing I care about right now. I just care about going in there, helping my teammates, and getting a win."
On if there are added emotions for him this week:
"Not really, no. Maybe the first time I played them, yeah. [Now], not really. I think at this point, this is my third time playing against them. And I've been with this team for a whole season and we're going into the playoffs. We've got big goals, big dreams and stuff. So I just feel like at this point, this is where I'm supposed to be. I've made the right decision. I'm happy with my decision. And I just can't wait."
Steelers QB Russell Wilson
On the lessons he can take from the first two games against the Ravens:
"They're great matchups. Obviously, the AFC North and their battles, there are great football players on both sides, some of the best players in the world on both sides of the ball for both teams, and I think that we're going to have to play our best, do our thing and have great confidence. I think there's a lot of things they do extremely, extremely well."
On what made the defense a challenge in the second matchup this season:
"I think they've done a good job making adjustments. I think that as you go throughout season, there's highs and lows. I think that they had made some really good adjustments since Week 11 really. They've done some really good things. And so I think they created turnovers, they've done a really good job of that. Their star players have played great in certain moments and all that. And I think the biggest thing that we can do is just play great one play at a time. Hopefully it's 70 plus plays and all 70 of those plays are good ones."
Steelers Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin
On how he feels the Steelers are better suited to defender Jackson and Henry:
"Well, we're going to have to be if we want to have a chance to win this game. We've got to do things better than we did the last time out, and that means making sure we shut down the running lanes and we tackle."
On defending the run against the Ravens:
"I want to put 12 guys on the field this time. Would that help? (laughs) Yeah, I'll put 12, 13 guys and see what we can do. No, we just have to do a better job. I've got to do a better job of helping our guys get in into the right positions, to make sure that we have an opportunity to make plays."
Head Coach John Harbaugh
On playing without Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers:
"It's going to be an opportunity. We'll move guys around. Guys will play spots based on the gameplan, and the ball will kind of go where it will go based on the way it unfolds, in terms of how they play us and kind of take what the defense gives you kind of opportunity. So, we have a lot of weapons, and Lamar [Jackson] will distribute that thing the way he sees fit, play to play."
Bateman, Oweh, Hill & Harbaugh: Ravens Press Conferences 1/9/25
Head Coach John Harbaugh, WR Rashod Bateman, RB Justice Hill, and OLB Odafe Oweh speak with the media.
QB Lamar Jackson
On what stands out about night games at M&T Bank Stadium:
"Just the noise, the fans, the whole Flock Nation in the building, feeling like they're on the field with on us, the lights – how they do the lights in certain parts of the game – and just everything about it. Plus, we're at home."
On if he has to remind himself not to get too amped up for playoff games:
"Yes, I'm [usually] just too excited – that's all. [I'm] too antsy, that's all. I'm seeing things before it happens like, 'Oh, I have to calm myself down.' But just being more experienced, I've found a way to balance it out."
RB Derrick Henry
On pundits saying Jackson's MVP case is hurt because he plays with Henry:
"You can put anybody by Lamar [Jackson], and they're going to have a hell of a year. That's just the type of player he is. My success shouldn't knock his or vice versa. Lamar is the main reason why I came here – to play with a Hall of Fame [-caliber] quarterback, MVP-caliber quarterback."
On returning to the postseason:
"I'm excited. It's a different atmosphere during the postseason, because everybody knows what's at stake, so I'm just excited to be back in that atmosphere. ... It's been a while."
Henry, Jackson & Others: Ravens Press Conferences 1/7/25
QB Lamar Jackson, RB Derrick Henry, ILB Roquan Smith, DT Nnamdi Madubuike, and TE Mark Andrews speak with the media.
WR Rashod Bateman
On potentially having more opportunities with Flowers out:
"The situation that we have on our hands doesn't change anything about me and my role and what I [have] to do. My job is to go out and make plays no matter who's on the field. It might look a little different as far as where I'm at and different things, but overall, we [have] a football game to play, and I [have] to go play ball."
S Kyle Hamilton
On the defense turning things around in the second half:
"I think it's something that we all knew we could do, and we're proud of [it]. We finished the season strong, but at the same time, we're about to go in the playoffs now. No one really cares about that anymore. It's a one-week life that we're living right now, so we're just focused on doing it against the Steelers this week."
Hamilton, Likely & Coordinators: Ravens Press Conferences 1/8/25
S Kyle Hamilton, TE Isaiah Likely, Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr, Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken, and Special Teams Coordinator Chris Horton speak with the media.
