On last night's victory:
"It meant everything. It was pretty big for us because, at this point, every game is like a playoff game. We needed that win desperately so that we could stay in the hunt, stay in the fight. It was good for our team spirit. We came off of a tough loss that we deserved to win. I felt like everyone played hard last weekend, so just to be able to come out this weekend, play hard and get the 'W' was great for our morale and for our team."
On if he is developing 'a level of comfort within the scheme':
"Yeah. It's building. Typically, at this point in time, guys are trying too hard for things I'm settling in and letting the game come to me, taking on my opportunities one play at a time. I've been just trusting the process."
On defending the Steelers' offense:
"One thing we preached all week was being able to stop the run. We took a huge step these last couple of weeks. To fulfill that goal, we just keep building on what we were preaching and what we kept practicing. We were able to come out there and dominate. Everybody was able to step up. We were down a couple of guys inside. Guys were able to step up. Guys we eager to play and get their opportunity to shine. They made the most of it and I'm really proud of those guys. Everybody has just been working hard."
On the offense being confident enough in the defense to go for it on fourth down:
"That's definitely a sign of confidence. That's our identity. We want to establish an identity of being the aggressive team, a team that's not going back down. We're going to go for it. We're going to take control. We're going to put the game in our hands. We're going to end it the way that we want to end it. I love what [Head Coach Brandon] Staley does, his confidence and how he goes for it, and especially how successful we are in those fourth-down situations. It gives the offense another chance with the ball. It gives the defense more time to rest and keep building. It's great for our team."
On if last night's game was a 'must-win':
"Absolutely. It was a must-win. To be able to remain in that playoff hunt, where the AFC is wide open — you just saw all these teams lose, all these teams winning — it's wide open. For us, it was a must-win to be able to stay toward the top of our division and possibly make it to the playoffs and get the No. 1 seed. We have to keep fighting. Every game is a playoff game."
On the performance yesterday by DL Joe Gaziano, Breiden Fehoko and Forrest Merrill:
"That they didn't flinch. All of those guys practiced very, very hard during the week. If only you guys could have seen practice, they practiced really hard during the week. No matter what opportunity comes, they're always going to perform. They didn't back down. They never flinched. They were ready for the moment. They were playing like they've been in the league for 10-plus years. I'm very proud of those guys. They really work hard and they really stepped up in a big way. They really helped our team become victorious."
On the improvement of the run defense:
"We just got tired of all the noise, people saying that they can run all over us. As a man, that just hurts your pride. At some point, you just have a muscle up and say, 'F-that, we're going to go ahead and just start punching dudes in the mouth.' The bye week really helped everybody get a realization of what was going on here. The coaches really harped on what we needed to accomplish. Guys just said that enough was enough. Everyone was stepping up. Everyone said that enough is enough. We just really hammered in on that run game, really coming off the ball and being very physical and aggressive. That's something that Coach Staley preaches about every day, being aggressive."
On partnering with OLB Kyler Fackrell to help 'create opportunities' for OLB Joey Bosa:
"It helps him a lot. Joey Bosa is one of the premier pass-rushers of this decade. Any way that we can take pressure off of him so that he can go do his thing and be successful is great — if that's matching him up inside on the guards, or getting an overload to one side so that he can work on the tackle, whatever it may be; being able to send pressure or rush with four, guys getting their hands up and disrupting inside, that really frees up Joey to do his thing. We try to rush four as one, five as one, six as one. Everybody has a part in that, too."
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