FRIDAY AVAILABILITY: Week 5 at pittsburgh
Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening statement:"OK, good to see everybody – appreciate you guys being here. It was a great day, good practice. The guys are very excited, and we're going to try to put our best foot forward on Sunday. We had one move we made: Brynden Trawick goes to IR-Designated to Return, however that works now with the terms, so he can come back in some number of weeks."
Did S Brynden Trawick have some sort of setback? (Luke Jones)"No, it's just a move we decided to make. It's kind of the way it worked out. It's not really as much medical. I mean, he's not ready to play yet, so we've got a little time there."
Do you expect to make a corresponding move before Sunday? (Daniel Oyefusi)"Yes, I do."
For the Steelers, it looks like the past couple of games when they've had QB Mason Rudolph, they're using some gadget plays and things like that. How much do you devote to those unknown trick plays that you might not know if they're using or not? (Jamison Hensley)"Right, you do; you devote some time to them. You talk about the possibilities. It's something that's an ongoing process with those kinds of plays. You always work them. You never know what you're going to get, but the principles are there. There are certain categories of plays, and you try to work them all the time. We're working them this week. We can never know exactly what they might do, but you work those along with all the other types of plays you can get, no different than the power plays or the three-step passing or the RPOs. It becomes part of your process."
OLB Jaylon Ferguson played a little more last week than the week before. What did you see from him? (Aaron Kasinitz)"I thought he did a good job. Yes, [he is] taking steps in the right direction. He's going to get more snaps this week, so I'm looking forward to seeing how he progresses."
Is there anything you can share about C Matt Skura? (Aaron Kasinitz)"Matt Skura, yes, he had something happen in practice. I think there's a real good chance he'll play. I'm very encouraged, so we'll just have to see. If not, we'll go with the guys we have."
Did you get word from the NFL about the drop kick that you executed [at Kansas City] being illegal? (Jonas Shaffer)"Yes, they looked at it afterwards. Just to be clear about that – and I think it's really important to understand this – we were in contact with the league officiating office all the way through. We didn't just pull it out and decide to try it and sneak it past them. A drop kick is defined the way it's defined. We talked to them. We explained exactly what we were doing and how it was going to go, and they said it was legal, we could do it. We talked to the officials before the game. They called the league office again. They had been in contact with the league office, the officiating office, and they said it was legal. Probably, the competition committee decided they didn't want to see it, someone on the competition committee – probably the chairman – decided with Alberto [Riveron] he didn't want to see it. So now, it's not legal. So, that's pretty much how it works and how it worked in this case."
