FRIDAY MEDIA AVAILABILITY: STEELERS – WEEK 9
Head Coach John Harbaugh
Opening statement: "OK, good to see everybody – thanks for coming. We had a good practice, a good week of practice, and we're getting ready for Sunday."
*Any updates [on injuries]? *(Aaron Wilson) *"Owen [Daniels] practiced today; you'll see that [on the injury report]. Terrell [Suggs] practiced today; you'll see that. That's good to see. It'll probably be a game-time [decision] with Owen, realistically, coming off knee surgery. 'Sizz' [Terrell Suggs] looks fine. I don't think we had anybody else really, did we?" *(Reporter: "[Marshal] Yanda.") "Yanda practiced today. We'll see how the knee reacts, but he's a tough guy."
In the AFC North this year, I think you guys are the only [division] that hasn't had anybody with a losing record. Just your thoughts on the quality of the [division] this year midway through?* (Aaron Wilson)* "I have a ton of respect for the teams in our [division]. I expressed that earlier in the year. And I guess it doesn't really matter; it's the [division] we have to play. The good thing is we've played most of the teams after this one, so they'll have to start playing each other. Maybe that's a little bit of a plus for us. But it's important to get wins in the division. This is one that we're going to work really hard to get a win at."
**As far as primetime games, are you a fan of – because of the wait during the day – are you a fan of that as a coach? Is it a lot of change in preparation? *(Jamison Hensley) *"It's not a lot of change in preparation. We've had a lot of conversations about that, where [we said], 'Do we change times, and how do we want to structure our week?' and things like that. We haven't done much this week with it. We did the first week, because it was a short week. But it's just a different day, and you have to get to the game basically [and] not get too wrapped up in the emotions of the [earlier] games. We watch games just like anybody else, and you can't get too caught up in the game, because it's easy to do that because it's crazy. This league is crazy. So, you have to divorce yourself from those emotions, because you have your own [game] coming up later, and try to get some rest in the middle of the day. It's part of our plan. It's terrible all day until you get to the game, and then it's great. Once you get to the game, it's awesome. We can't wait to get to the game."
Do you have any extra meetings during the day though, or is it more just players on their own? (Jamison Hensley) "We do. We have mid-day meetings with the guys."
People talk about this environment and everything about the rivalry. Is this something you address at all with guys who haven't played in it, or is it just business as usual as far as it being another road game? (Jeff Zrebiec) "I don't think you have to address it too much, because these guys all know it. They've watched it. They've grown up with it. C.J. Mosley and I were talking, and he said he has been watching Ravens-Steelers since he was a little kid. For him, that's about as long as the Ravens have been around. That goes to show you his whole life has been Ravens-Steelers. People talk about us being a young franchise, but for that generation we've been around for as long as any other franchise. This rivalry dates back for those guys that play for us that are young. But what we did tell them was to talk to vets. Talk to the vets; they'll tell you what it's like. Just like with the opening game, it was the same advice."
