Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger caught up with the media on Wednesday. Below is a transcript of the Q&A with the Steelers signal caller.

Is it the competitor in you to bounce back after a bad game?

Yea you have too. You have to bounce back when you have a bad day. When you start stacking bad days then you start getting worried. You get here a little early today and get ready to go.

Are the defenses doing anything different with you and Antonio Brown since the last nine years?

We’ve seen so many things in the last nine years it’s hard to show anything different. I think I just have to play better to help him get his numbers which would help get us wins.

Is it a variety of things, one thing effects another then it snowballs?

I think the biggest effect is one me not playing well enough, and two playing from behind. You have a big deficit, so you have to throw the ball every play, kind of takes the run game out of play so there is a lot of factors involved.

Is there is lack of deep speed with the absence of Martavis Bryant?

Well Martavis [Bryant] is one of those kind of freaks that don’t come around very often in terms of deep field speed, we’ve had a Mike Wallace, we’ve kind of [had] one guy like that but I think guys like JuJu [Smith-Schuster] would argue with you that he’s got the deep speed and I think James [Washington] would probably tell you the same thing, Justin [Hunter], and Hey-Bey [Darrius Heyward-Bey] is still I think one of the fastest guys in the league so I think it really comes down to me getting the ball to them when they are down the field.

Are you noticing deep safeties giving Antonio Brown more attention without Martavis Bryant?

Not anymore than they have in the past. I mean he always gets that safety look lean in. It’s just a matter of me getting them the ball.

You’ve had success throwing to the sidelines over the years, are teams playing that differently?

I don’t know that they are particularly trying to take away the sideline or anything. I haven’t noticed anything like I that. I just think it’s like they always do, put two guys on A.B. [Antonio Brown], one guy is holding him, and one guy is watching.

Have you been in situation where you can draw from?

We’ve been 0-4 before. Last year we kind of started a little sloppy, too, so you know you guys can look at records all you want, we’re not. We’re looking at this next week and trying to get a win because that’s all that really matters. If this has to happen it’s better to have it early in the season than middle or late in the season.

With Atlanta’s injuries what you have you noticed different with the defense?

Injuries that maybe forced them to do some different things in the secondary. They are typically a one-high, whether that is man or a three team and at the end of last week’s game they started to do a lot of 22-man and different things but really, I think they are a small menu type of team. A defense that doesn’t throw a lot of looks at you but plays their looks that they throw at you really well so its starts up front with the pass rush, we’ll have to neutralize that.

Have you moved Antonio Brown in the past on the offense?

We have, and we did. Two of the first three plays of the game he was in the slot. So, we do move him around. He still draws a lot of attention wherever he goes.

Is there a mindset that you have to win these games with offense?

Well we always say we have to score one more point than they do so offensively we have to score one more point than them. We want to take the approach that we we want to come out and score as many points as possible. So, we take these losses on us as an offense, and me as a leader of the offense, I take it on myself that we haven’t done enough to score enough points to win football games. So, offensively we need to be better and we will be better.

What do you think of Matt Ryan’s career and what kind of relationship do you have?

Spectacular career. His numbers speak for themselves with what he’s been able to do. Just a really good football player but even better guy.

 

Transcript provided by the Pittsburgh Steelers