On assessing where the team is at this point in the season:
“4-4, a .500 team.”
On WR Jarvis Landry taking responsibility for the drops in the game:
“That is the kind of guy he is. It is on all of us. Everybody is going to point fingers at a few plays, but the fact is we just did not get into a rhythm today. We stubbed our toe a few times – penalties and just did not make the plays we needed to to win. It is pretty simple. Obviously, Jarvis is a veteran guy. He is one of our best leaders. It is unfortunate that it happened, but he is going to take ownership, he is going to get it corrected and we know how he is going to handle it. We all have to take ownership. This does not just fall on him at all by any means. There were a lot of throws that could have been made today, and there were plays we should have had. Plain and simple.”
On why the Browns offense struggled today:
“We just have to execute. Do the simple things right. Make the routine plays. There is something about that. We just need to make the routine plays, keep the chains moving and just push forward.”
On if he felt more comfortable with the left, non-throwing shoulder as the game progressed:
“I felt pretty comfortable from the beginning.”
On if there were any hits that bothered his shoulder today:
“I felt a couple, but no setbacks so that was one positive for me looking at this. Just have to get it corrected and continue to rehab and do all of that. On the field, we just need to do better.”
On if he thought his scramble on third-and-four to get the first down would be the spark the Browns offense needed:
“It was a first down. We reset the chains. Anytime that we can reset the chains and keep the ball in our hands, good things happen. We just did not convert.”
On if the Steelers had any defensive wrinkles to disrupt the Browns offense:
“They do what they do. They had a couple different wrinkles to eventually get to the same coverages and their base foundation schemes. They had a couple different wrinkles, but we just did not make the plays we needed to to win.”
On the incomplete pass to WR Odell Beckham Jr. late in the game when roughing the passer was called and if he threw the ball he wanted:
“I did not really see where it landed. I got hit pretty damn hard in the head so I had no idea where it landed.”
On Beckham only having one target on the day:
“Like I said, their base foundation scheme-wise, we have to find ways to format it and get the ball in his hands. We are not trying to force it to anybody. We have a talented skill group so I just have to continue to go through my reads and do that. We can do a better job of getting the ball in his hands, getting him going early and fixing that.”
On the AFC North being so tight and competitive this year:
“We need to be worried about us. We know our division is extremely talented. It is a very tough, physical division. We know that. Obviously, with the Bengals coming along, you can feel that. We have to take it one week at a time. We have to do our job. It is not about anybody else but us right now. That is just a fact. We have to handle it that way. We can’t be worried about the big picture. We have to take it one week at a time and just chip away at this.”
On T Jack Conklin sustaining an elbow injury after just returning to the team from another injury:
“It sucks. A pretty nasty injury. Never want to see that type of stuff. Jack is a tough dude. He was up walking around and asking how everybody was. He is still going to be a leader, be in that room and be a veteran for those guys – we know that. It is just very unfortunate when things like that happen.”
On if there were additional opportunities to scramble or run and make plays:
“I think I scrambled and did the things I could have and when I needed to. I obviously will look back at the film and see otherwise. We will see.”
On the Steelers recording a couple of sacks early in the game and if the defense took away where he wanted to go with the ball:
“There were a couple of times where their bye week they had some things schemed up and they had some recognition of formations and route concepts. They did a good job of passing things off. That is to be expected. Just trying to eliminate negative plays, though. They did a good job.”
On saying you can’t play scared in the NFL and the Browns coaches saying they were not going to gameplan his play style out of him due to the shoulder injury and if there were circumstances where the shoulder was on his mind:
“There were definitely certain positions where I was trying to land on the opposite side instead of the left, but it was not taking away from how I approached the game. There were definitely times where I went down quicker than trying to extend plays, but it is also a learning process and getting things corrected from Arizona, where I tried to extend the play too many times and turned the ball over. There is give and take with that, but I am going to approach it with an edge. That is how I have always done it.”
On saying the Browns have to ‘worry about us’ and if he is worried about the state of the team:
“No, I am sure all around within the sports media world, it is going to be ‘the world is falling down,’ but we are going to handle it within the building and make the corrections we need to execute. With the type of guys we have, I think we just need to simplify things and execute. We have a good enough team. It is just that we are kicking ourselves in the foot right now and stubbing our toes. Just need to execute. We need to get that confidence and get that rhythm and just build one week at a time. That is why I said we are going to chip away. There is no big-picture mindset. We have to chip away one week at a time, and we will do just that.”