Mike Shanahan --
On RB Travis Henry --
"He's a little bit sore. We're hoping it's not too serious. Anytime you deal with ribs, you're really not sure. "
On Broncos Defense --
"We didn't give up the big play. We gave up a couple runs of 20-25 yards. We didn't give up the 75-yard and 50-yarders. But overall we played much better against a football team that does a great job running the ball."
On run defense --
"A little different scheme this week. We had a couple weeks to kind of review a few things put a few things in. We did it very well in the first half, the second half we didn't do it as well. We gave up two drives late in the fourth quarter, but overall I thought we made some strides."
On not giving up big run plays --
"We talked about it last week when we talked about 11 guys working together to eliminate those mistakes and you don't give up the big play. It's a group effort. All reasons why we did a much better job."
On defense going forward --
"We made some strides. You hold a team (Pittsburgh) like that to 120 yards, it's been averaging a lot of yards running the football then you can put them in passing situations. If you don't stop the run, I don't care what level you're at, you're going to have a hard time having success."
On the offense clicking --
"Anytime you're averaging six yards a play, it's going to come. The problem is when you can't move the football and we've been moving the football. We've been waiting for a while to put it together and score some more points than we have and to do against a football team with that type of defense, it was a group effort. It takes a lot of people playing at a high level moving the football against that football team (Pittsburgh) because they are very skilled, very quick, very fast and they present some problems, but I thought our guys stepped up and we did what we had to do to win."
On QB Jay Cutler's progress --
"Instead of going up a notch, he went up two notches. He played the No.1 defense in the NFL (Pittsburgh) and found a way to move the ball in the fourth quarter and made some big time plays early in the game and found a way to win. That's what you're hoping your quarterback does for you. He made some plays in the fourth quarter when he needed it. He made some tough throws early in the game, especially in those third-down situations to keep the chains moving. That's what you're hoping your quarterback is going to do. You've got to make third downs and we've been doing that better this year than we have in a while and if you do that you have a chance to be one of the better offenses in the National Football League. If you're not very good on third downs, it's hard to really improve."
On how well the offensive line played --
"I was happy with the way they played. Anytime you have a new center (Chris Myers) and a new left guard (Chris Kuper) and the captain of your football team (Tom Nalen) is out and is kind of the center stone of that offensive line, calling out different schemes and protection, and you have a new guy come in there you're not sure how they're going to react. I thought Chris [Myers] did a great job and [Kuper] did a good job coming in and playing his first game against a very talented team. I was pleased with the effort, by no means was it perfect but it was very cohesive and it got the job done."
On C Chris Myers making the calls --
"The center has to make the calls, if he doesn't you need a new center. He did good. He was very sharp and aware and he handled the situation quite well."
On the Steelers tough front line --
"They do a lot of different schemes and a lot of different blitzes and they keep you off balance, they change things during the game and Chris [Myers] did a great job both in the running game and in the passing game protection wise."
On Monday's game with the Packers and Rockies vs. Red Sox --
"The thing that I didn't know of was the times were fairly close. I've heard they're trying to change the times and hopefully they can get that done. It's a little bit bizarre."
On preference of earlier or later game on Monday --
"It really doesn't matter to me. I just think it would be nice if people could watch both games. I know they're dealing with Boston as well as this area, you're talking about a late night so I'm not really sure what they're going to decide, hopefully it works out well for both cities."
On Cutler's two interceptions --
"That's part of football, sometimes you're going to make mistakes, you just hope you don't keep on making the same ones. You're a quarterback in this league and you're going to throw interceptions but what you've got to do is you've got to wipe it out and find a way to win the game and that's what he did. He made some mistakes and he'll learn from those mistakes. Sometimes it takes a while because there is such a learning curve in the growing process, but he found a way to make the plays when he had to and that's a sign of a great quarterback."
On CB Dré Bly --
"He just had a little AC separation. He played with it separated. I'm really proud of him because he played a complete game. He caught that interception and his shoulder popped out a little bit. I don't know if it's first degree or second degree but he played with it the entire game. He did a good job supporting the run as well as making some big plays in the passing game, I'm pleased with his effort."
On Bly playing with a harness --
"I don't think so. I don't think it was separated enough and with the extra day and a half recovery time he should be alright, at least according to Greek [Steve Antonopulos], hopefully Dré will feel the same way."
On TE Tony Scheffler --
"He's still a little bit sore, exactly how bad that is, we'll find out Wednesday."
On K Jason Elam's game winning kicks --
"He's a guy that does it consistently in practice. He takes care of his body. He does a great job in the off season knowing what to do and how to take care of himself, he comes in in shape and he kind of know his strengths and his weaknesses. At one time in his career he knew he couldn't kick off anymore, he still wanted to kick field goals. We took him out of that role and just had him kick field goals and he's done a great job for us. I compare him to a great golfer, a guy that, under pressure, he's got the same swing. That's what he does for us, he's got the same swing regardless if it's last quarter of first quarter. He's got a lot of confidence in his ability and he's come through for us a number of times."
On what sets Elam apart --
"What separates Tiger Woods from the rest of the golfers? It's hard to say but you've got to be mentally tough and obviously you've got to believe you're going to get it done in pressure situations and he's been doing it for a long time. I just think it's a guy that works extremely hard in the off-season to get himself ready and he's comfortable with those pressure situations because he's been through it so many times. The more you do it, I think the more comfortable you feel with it. I think he wants to be there in the pressure situations, I think he embraces it."
On DT Marcus Thomas --
"He did a good job for a young guy coming in. He's got a lot of ability. From the first day he came in here after not playing for a year, I knew it was going to take some time for him to play but he's come along a lot quicker than I anticipated. He hasn't arrived yet but he's going to be a heck of a football player for us."
On DE Simeon Rice --
"I think Simeon has made some strides and Simeon really believes in himself which is good. What I do is I take a look at practice and make decision based on practice if a guy's ready to play. Last week he had a better week than he had a week before so I'm going to judge him this week and if he practices at the level that I hope he does than he'll dress for the game. It's strictly a physical issue with the strength of his shoulder and if we feel like it's there from a coaching standpoint, we'd love to have him ready to go because we know what he's done in the past and hopefully he can get it done for us in the future. I just know looking at film if a guy can help us win. If I think a guy that we have on our roster can give us a chance to win, I think we all know what his potential is and what he's done and I'm hoping he's ready to go this week."
On CB Domonique Foxworth --
"I think [Foxworth] did a great job and had a number of tackles. He was ready to play, he got all the practice reps during the week and think he was looking forward to the opportunity and play. I thought he did a good job."
On players stepping up when starters go down --
"I just hope we don't lose any more players for you to test your philosophy. I'd rather not test it to be honest with you. It's always hard to replace great players but sooner or later a guy gets an opportunity and he shows what he can do. As I mentioned last week, for Tom Nalen to get his opportunity and Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey, somebody had to go down or they had to practice extremely hard to get their chance and once they get their chance they take advantage of the opportunity. We've had some running backs go down and all of a sudden we look at them and we say `hey, there's a 12-1,300 yard back.' A wide receiver goes down and you get a Brandon Marshall even Glenn Martinez made a couple good plays yesterday and competed well. You just don't know if a guy's going to take advantage or if the pressure's too great. When you're on center stage and ready to perform, some people embrace it and some people can't handle the pressure. You never really know until the guy gets that opportunity and it's always nice to see a guys step up. I think everybody knows when you lose a couple of your star players you have to play great all positions to beat a good football team and we knew to win that game everybody had to play their best game."
On WR Brandon Stokley in the slot --
"Usually when you're a great slot receiver you've got quickness, you've got the ability to beat people 1-on-1. A lot of times when you get in the slot, a slot receiver is stereotyped as a guy that doesn't have great speed but more quickness and maybe strength but Stokley has the ability to do both. Not only does he have exceptional quickness and strength but he has speed on the outside as well. He was a 4.4 guy coming out of college, he stays in great shape, great leg strength. As you can see not only is he exceptional in the slot but he can do a great job on the outside so it's sure nice to have him on our team."