Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin holds his weekly press conferences every Tuesday. Each week, we will take a glimpse at what stood out from coach’s comments about the previous week and heading into the Steelers next game.

The following are quotes from Mike Tomlin’s Tuesday press conference.

Opening Statement

Obviously, it was a big win for us. A necessary one. Really, the game unfolded in ways it needed to unfold for us in a lot of ways, and really, it’s because of a few things.

The series had been characterized by the turnover margin. They significantly handled the turnover margin.

Yes, the games have been close. There had been one possession games, three-point games and so forth. But oftentimes we’ve been in the midst of those games while being minus two and so forth in the turnover margin.

I just felt like if we took care of the football that it didn’t have to be one of those close games. We talked openly about it and I thought that was a significant element of how the game unfolded.

We maintained possession of the ball. Our defense got off quickly and I think it snowballed from there. Can’t say enough about the fourth quarter turnovers that we were able to get. Turnovers are one thing but to create negativity in the significant moments of the game. To get those game altering plays. We had an interception by Ryan Shazier. We had another interception by Mike Hilton which was tipped by Ryan Shazier. Huge plays in the football game.

I also thought it was a positive that we weren’t penalized in the kicking game. We’re continually working to get our penalties under control as a football team. It’s been gradually improving over the course of our first four games. I thought it was a significant step in a hostile game like that to not have any penalties in the kicking game.

Injury updates

From an injury standpoint we did not absorb any major negativity. Some of the guys went in with preexisting things. Things that we will monitor during the week leading up to the game. Guys like Sean Davis and Stephon Tuitt, and T.J. Watt but none of those things have appeared to be issues in-game or after the game so we’ll move forward this week.

Form a better perspective with the health, obviously we have normal bumps and bruises associated with play. We’ll watch a number of guys throughout the early portions of the week but nothing significant to speak of there.

On “overworking” RB Le’Veon Bell

I monitor him always. I don’t wait for something to become an issue to monitor his participation and his workload is something that I continually monitor. And when we choose to utilize him in the ways that we did last week it’s a conscious decision. So, I’m not worried about naysayers and things of that nature, no.

On discovering CB Mike Hilton

Mike [Hilton] is a guy that we have a lot of respect for and had a lot of respect for. We saw Mike a lot in the evaluation of Senquez Golson who we drafted out of Ole Miss. Mike is a unique guy. He wore 38 at Ol Miss. He wore the Chucky Mullins jersey. Anyone that knows anything about Ole Miss football, the guys that they recognize with that jersey, it speaks to their football character and the way that they play the game. They honor those that they choose in that way.

So, if you follow college football, you understand that element of it. Anybody wearing 38 for Ole Miss is going to get your attention that’s the first way he got our attention and we’re able to continue to follow him and do business with him and he’s doing some good things.

Antonio Brown’s sideline antics

It can be. I didn’t see it on Sunday. I heard about it after.

A.B. [Brown] is a competitor. We all understand that. It aids him, it aids us, but we’ve got to control it. He has to control it. If he does not, it could work against him, it could work against us.

Those are just the lessons you learn along the way. Sunday was a big game obviously for a lot of reasons. Emotions are capable of getting away from you. It doesn’t need to happen. It shouldn’t happen. Hopefully, it won’t moving forward.

Hopefully, he’s learned a lesson through that, and hopefully, others have learned a lesson through that. I think that’s one of the things that you’ve really got to focus on when you talk about something like that. We have young people on our team. They need to be taught good things, good lessons, ways to conduct themselves as professionals.

We all make mistakes. He made a mistake. I’m sure he’s ready to move on from it, but I also think there’s a lesson to be learned or a lesson to be taught there. I hope he addresses that element of it as well as he moves forward.

This is not Antonio’s first rodeo. I’m not going to waste a bunch of time talking about Antonio throwing watercoolers and so forth. Be a professional.

Eli Rogers being inactive against the Ravens

He put the ball on the ground the other week in the punt return game. That’s one of his chief roles. That’s one of the chief reasons why he’s a participant. I wanted to give him a week off from that and reestablish some good fundamentals in that area, and that provided an opportunity for Justin Hunter.

We’ll just see how [this] week goes. I’ll give him an opportunity. Like I told him a week ago, it’s not a firing. It’s a re-centering if you will. He had a good week last week. I’m sure he’s excited about getting back out there again tomorrow.

He’ll be given an opportunity like everyone else is. The decisions that we made a week ago were for that game, putting us in the very best position to win that game. I’m open to roles changing and evolving as we prepare this week. Specifically, when you took punt return off of his menu a week ago, that just opened up the discussion in terms of who added more value in that particular matchup between he and Hunter.

Safety J.J. Wilcox starting in place of Mike Mitchell

I think he’s quickly proving that he is, but we just don’t have a lot of snaps in terms of evaluating him in that area. I’m glad we acquired him. He’s a solid veteran guy who knows how to play. He’s played a lot of football. He’s been helpful to us. We’ve had a lot of injuries at that position over a very short period of time. Last week as we sat here, I wasn’t sure if we were going to have Mike Mitchell or Sean Davis, so I’m glad obviously that J.J. is a part of us and is doing as well as he’s doing.

James Harrison being a healthy scratch on Sunday

He was sick and he missed a lot of time in preparation for the game. That weighed into the equation as well. He was feeling better on Sunday morning, but he missed a lot of prep time last week.

Improved pass defense

Again, I never talk about the secondary without talking about the front. I know you guys would like me to, but if your front is playing well, it’s probably because your secondary is playing well. If your secondary is playing well, it’s probably because your front is playing well, and it’s the same thing at the negative end of that discussion. Our ability to keep the ball in front of us is a sign that the secondary is headed in the right direction, but equally as much in terms of the rush.