Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin - Ingles

January 20, 2011

Coach Tomlin: Good afternoon
I thought we had a good practice today. I really liked the energy and enthusiasm. It’s an arrow up on the execution, of course, which is needed as we push forward towards Sunday. But we’re not a finished product yet. It’s why we have tomorrow, of course, and the day after. So I like where we are, we’ll just continue to push forward.

Re: An injury update:

None at this point. We have some guys limited, of course. Aaron Smith is really kind of in the same spot he’s been in from a health standpoint. Arnaz Battle has an illness. We’ve asked him to stay at home the last couple of days so as not to spread the illness. And the other guys are marching back, talking about Bryant McFadden and Will Allen and Troy (Polamalu). We expect participation in some form or fashion from those guys tomorrow.

Re: Aaron Smith’s injury and if he wasn’t so respected and such a part of the team would the organization have placed him on injured reserve months ago?

I think from a football decision-making standpoint, the number one issue is what he brings from a playing standpoint. No question, he is a respected guy, he’s a great guy, he’s a team leader, but I think the number one element of reserving a place for him is we know what kind of dynamic player he is and we know he is capable of helping us if given an opportunity to get back in uniform.

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