Bill Cowher Gain Quotations

You might not see him again until Tennessee.

Let me in on this. Shanahan, I'll put my lower jaw and flying spittle on the line against your beady, darting eyes.

I was happy for him. That was his first live contact since last year's championship game. He's been running well in practice the last couple of weeks. He has been a trooper. He has sat there and been patient. Duce ran really hard against a good football team.

He is making good decisions. He is gaining confidence, and we feed off him. I like the frame of mind he is in.

We had another third-and-12 against Baltimore last week, we kind of stayed back in a basic defense and that was a touchdown. This was third-and-12 again and I was not going to do it again, so we came with the blitz and we were fortunate it worked out.

We were put in that situation when we lost those three games. We have to come back and win at home against Detroit and go on the road wherever we need to go.

You've got to find ways to get the ball in his hands. He's a very fast young man, a very powerful guy. He's got a chance to turn a 20-yard gain into a 40-yard gain.

We've got to run the ball better, there's no question about that. We've played two pretty good defenses and this one's no different, they're ranked fifth against the rush. We have to be able to run the ball more efficiently than we have the last couple weeks. We can't sit there and rely on throwing the football all the time. Not that we don't want to have balance, we do.

Willie's starting again next week. He's our starter. I've got to keep other guys involved and I'll attempt to do that, but Willie Parker's going nowhere.

Willie's starting again next week, ... He's our starter. I've got to keep other guys involved and I'll attempt to do that, but Willie Parker's going nowhere.

Willie's starting again next week. He's our starter.

I think Willie is a guy who has seized an opportunity. For the first two games he got over 100 yards. We didn't really run the ball that well against New England, but Willie is a guy who has a lot going for him and the best is still ahead of him.

We have not played against him a lot. But I have tremendous respect for the guy. He's one of those guys who can literally will a team to victory.

In hindsight, obviously you wouldn't want to do that in a game like this. Against this caliber of a football team, you cannot ruin opportunities like that. He understands that. I just told him to let it go, learn from it, and let's move on. Don't dwell on it.

Letting them take the opening drive right down against us wasn't very encouraging. We responded. We had some guys make plays ... (but) we just didn't play very well.

We did a good job today of having our offense break the huddle quickly. And we've had a lot of work against the no-huddle offense. We have hand signals for the defense on the sideline. So those are things that shouldn't come as any surprise to us.

It's all speed; that's the one thing you see in Willie Parker. Willie made our football team because he flashed and he got a chance to play in Week 16 against Buffalo and showed something. We had rested some linemen and he ran against a defense that that was near the top of the National Football League. He got over 100 yards and broke a run.

For every yard that he's gained on the field, this guy, in my mind, has exceeded that off the field ? the kind of guy he is, the way he gives back and what he stands for. I've never been around too many guys like that.

Certainly, Ben's got to feel comfortable being out there and there are no restraints, ... I don't want to put him or the football team in any kind of danger if he's feeling that way. He's much improved from yesterday, but again it's going to be day-to-day.

This will be a good barometer for us because this is by far the best team we've played and maybe will play. They are a football team that is not used to losing at all. For them to come off a tough loss against Carolina has really probably compounded the challenge that we have.

Ben has been working hard in practice to develop some timing and continuity with the receivers. That will be the biggest difference against Indianapolis this time.