"We need to understand that it's about working through the tough times. You work through the critical points in the game and keep your eye on the target. Do your job. This is a lesson that we needed to learn."

"We're obviously doing without some of our leaders."

"He's one of our guys who we expect to play better. He's one of our leaders and best players. So we're counting on Levi, just like we're counting on (right tackle) Willie (Anderson) on the other side. They're part of the reason why we believe we're a good offensive football team."

"Those people aren't good for you. They're not people who are on your side when the times are tough. That's the way it works."

"He is just so, so fast, and has a great competitive spirit about him when he gets an opportunity to get in the football game."

"We had an opportunity to make some things happen that we didn't get done early in the game. Some things that you can't do in a football game. Eventually, the game gets away from you."

"We do want to get things settled and get an opportunity to get the guy signed. I think it's important for us, for where our program is, our team, our city, that we don't have any problems with that and it's as smooth as we can make it."

"Kevin has done a fine job here and he deserves the opportunity he's going to get to be a starting player in Houston. But we feel it's in the best interest of our team to allocate the funds to another position."

"We didn't play very well on offense, defense and special teams. We didn't tackle, we didn't block, we didn't cover, we didn't punt. The fortunate thing is it doesn't count."

"They do come in bunches. The guys were on top of their routes and did a nice job of running the cuts with the receivers. Our guys can cover."

"I said sacrifice something you normally do and spend that time on Pittsburgh."

"In my mind, this is what I wanted to do. But I wanted to think about it some more and talk to both of those guys at the end of the year. But I announced it when I did because I wanted everybody to know, and put all the cards on the table."

"That's a part of it. There's no question that goes through [our] mind. But you don't go into this thing to fail. If you do the research, the character, the background all the way through ... you've got to feel like you've done the right thing."

"And that's what it's all about. That's been our mind-set all the way through, to bring players here who can handle that challenge and are up to that challenge."

"He's got premier talent. We've got to get all our guys clicking, and we're trying to do that. That's the challenge for our football team."

"So, I am learning about what their strengths and weaknesses are as we go. You want to try and find where they can fit."

"He's had a good week. Every time he steps on the field, he practices hard and he's learning what he needs to learn. He's getting closer to doing the things he needs to do."

"I sensed a different guy on the practice field last week, a guy playing faster."

"It's up to him to tell me he's ready to practice seven days in a row, if that's what (the threshold) is. That's what was disappointing about last year: His stress fracture wouldn't allow him to work every day. And I said that I don't want to put pressure on the coaches. If he's in, he's in. He understands that."

"[It's just the way Palmer goes about life. At a golf tournament, he and Lewis were playing with a corporate chief executive. The man marveled at Palmer's natural abilities.] I see it every day, ... But you would never know he is so good at everything. He just shows up, performs great and sort of slips out the door."

"I thought our offense did a good job of fighting through some early difficulties. But we have to do a better job of field position. That hurt us on both sides of the ball."

"He pushed very hard to get this done."

"He's understanding what his role and responsibility is. I think he's confident in those guys wherever the ball goes because they make plays. It's not like we have to go to one guy; I think he's confident in all of the guys."

"It's my fault, so I'll take responsibility and we'll coach harder. We'll improve it, and we'll do a better job and we'll play better football, or else we'll keep getting new guys, better guys. We'll find a way."

"For the guarantee, you've got to zoom in close, because I'm about to get myself in trouble,"

"I told the guys that that's a victory to be proud of,"

"He did a fine job last night, probably his best game that I remember where he didn't have eight to 10 catches because he hustled his tail off, he blocked. So as I watched that tape this morning, I was proud of Chad Johnson for how he played."

"I'm excited. I'm different than I was against Denver (2003). Last year we played on Sunday night (against Miami). That was something new and neat for our guys."

"Why would I want our game in Pittsburgh to be there on a Thursday night to open the season? (It favors the home team), particularly coming off a world-championship season."

"The defined role is to get him in the game and get him the football in his hands as much as we can."

"He finds a way to make football plays,"

"We have a plan. Some of it can be the game plan, some of it can be the opponent, where other guys are at the position health-wise. Sunday morning we should be pretty close. I want to make sure the guys who should be OK and ready to go are OK and ready to go."

"In a lot of their games this year they've got right down the field early and scored,"

"You can't purposely go out and hurt somebody. I've never seen that happen in the NFL. So I don't think there needs to be any resentment."

"Gee whiz. The guy got hurt. Let it go. There's nothing you can do. You can't get it back. To sit there and baby and cry like their quarterback did - ridiculous."

"We hung in there toe to toe, but we have to make plays to win. We're a good football team. In order to prove that, we have to go beat the other good football teams."

"We beat a good football team,"

"I think we're doing a lot of giving. I don't know how much taking we're getting to do."

"I'm proud of our guys for how hard they've worked, giving everybody something to smile about. We're ready to keep going."

"We have an opportunity to have a home playoff game in Cincinnati. We still have a lot of football to play, but it's time to stop hiding from it. It's time to go sit in the front row."

"Nah. It's not going to have any effect on who wins or loses the football game -- until somebody hits you in the mouth."

"We made a lot of mistakes. When you make a lot of mistakes, you can lose the football game. That's the way it is. We've said this before. It's medicine. It doesn't taste good, but it's good for you."

"He's got a lot of football ahead of him here."

"We're in a situation on our football team where no matter what position the guy plays, he doesn't necessarily have to come in right now and be the bell cow. We don't have to put the pressure on that guy to do that, right or wrong. But when we pick that first pick, we want a guy that we feel can be a fine pro for a long time."

"It's a pretty typical play whether they show it or not. It's a fundamental football play. Just cover your man. Don't let your eyes go to where they don't belong."

"We played another physical football game and we knew it was going to be that type of game. We've got to make corrections, both players and coaches."

"If you tackle well and you tackle with your arms, and if you keep going after the football aggressively, good things will happen."

"Our team needed to win games, ... As I said a zillion times, we could not afford to lose football games and having somebody to blame. All that would've done is give people an excuse to say, 'They're losing because of the quarterback position.'"

"We won't know where things are until we go out and begin playing football when it counts. That's the hard part of it. Even if he had been here every day, no matter who it is, what position, there's always something new that comes up, and how people handle those situations is always tested. That's why it's not an exact science."

"He's just a phenomenal athlete and has very quick feet, good speed and he has the desire to catch the ball."