Todd Monken Press Conference at Steelers — November 1st, 2026

[0:00] Well, we certainly earned that. [0:04] We didn't start fast, turned the ball over a couple of times [0:07] early, then going three and out. [0:09] Really never got the run game going, [0:11] couldn't stop the run early. [0:14] They got a touchdown right for the half, [0:16] went three and out twice to start the second half, [0:20] 10 penalties, didn't play with poise, however many sacks. [0:26] So didn't coach well enough, didn't play well enough. [0:30] That's what's going to happen when you play a good team, [0:33] a well-coached team, and you don't play your best. [0:38] You don't give yourself a chance. [0:39] That's what we did, and that's going to happen. [0:42] And we earned that one, and we've earned being five and three. [0:46] I mean, there's no doubt about it. [0:47] We are certainly capable of a hell of a lot better than that, [0:50] and we didn't. [0:52] And it's a good learning lesson for this young team [0:54] that it's week to week. [0:57] And the bottom line is in this league [1:00] is you speak with your play. [1:02] And we didn't play well enough today. [1:04] And we'll come back tomorrow. [1:05] We'll look at it tomorrow, and we'll [1:07] fight like hell to get it fixed, coaching and playing. [1:23] Oh, I mean, without watching the tape, [1:26] they got us with a couple of schemed runs. [1:28] I mean, it's part of it. [1:31] One of them was a 50-yard run or something on third and 13, [1:35] a trap player. [1:37] So they hit us on some schemed-up runs [1:39] that we know we're going to get from teams. [1:42] Good call by them on third and 13, [1:43] but we certainly have to be better against the run. [1:47] And that was just one piece of the humble pie we got to eat. [1:52] And I'm not, listen, I'm not happy about it. [1:55] I'm really not, just in general. [1:57] But I'm happy that it's just one. [2:00] And I'm happy that we'll be able to wash this [2:03] and fight like hell to fix it. [2:04] But we certainly have a lot of things that we can fix, [2:07] which is certainly that's a part of it. [2:09] I heard you from this coming here. [2:17] Yep. [2:18] It seems to say you're shocked at it. [2:21] Well, I'm never shocked in the NFL. [2:22] I'm never shocked in the NFL [2:24] when you're going against the best in the world. [2:27] And I'm sure there's things they're going to say [2:30] they could have done better. [2:31] I'm not worried about them. [2:32] We certainly did not play well enough. [2:34] We didn't start fast enough. [2:36] Our defense did a great job after the turnover. [2:38] They missed a field goal. [2:39] We had a great field position, and we turned it over. [2:41] So, I mean, that's just the way it is. [2:43] I mean, it's against a really good team. [2:46] And they're a good football team. [2:48] And if you don't play well, it's going to look like that. [2:51] And we did not. [2:52] Coaching or playing. [2:53] I'm not just saying playing well. [2:55] And we did have a great week of practice. [2:57] And we had good weeks of practice. [2:58] We had a great week of practice leading up to Jacksonville. [3:01] Our guys like to practice. [3:02] This has nothing to do with that. [3:04] I mean, we've had really, what is it, five and three now? [3:08] We've had eight great weeks of practice. [3:09] We had a great training camp. [3:10] We had a great offseason. [3:11] And we got guys that like to practice. [3:13] We just didn't play well today. [3:15] And that's what's going to happen. [3:16] And you've got to own it. [3:19] And you've got to eat it and fight like hell to fix it. [3:39] I mean, first off, the two turnovers [3:42] really don't have anything to do with that. [3:45] When we got a stop after we turned it over [3:47] and they missed the field goal, that had nothing to do with it. [3:50] Sure, as the game wore on, it got a little chippy. [3:55] And it was the first game. [3:58] And we didn't do a good enough job in all areas. [4:01] That was just one piece of it, right? [4:03] Our poise was a piece of it. [4:04] The penalties were a piece of it. [4:07] Our lost yardage plays, sacks, ability to run the football. [4:12] Obviously, we got behind. [4:13] That's going to have a hand in that. [4:17] But yeah, there wasn't really any one area other than our fight, [4:22] other than our guys that continue to fight. [4:24] All the way to the end, our guys like to play football. [4:28] And they'll continue to battle and fight. [4:30] We just got too far behind today. [4:32] That way, we did it to ourselves. [4:34] And again, give them credit. [4:36] That's a good football team. [4:37] They earned it. [4:38] They've earned being 6-2. [4:39] We've earned being 5-3. [4:40] What did you see from a protection standpoint? [4:44] Deshawn was sacked early, even before you guys were kind of in the catch-up mode. [4:47] Well, like I've said, the other games where we've ended up with too many sacks [4:55] is certainly got to call it better, certainly got to scheme it better, [4:59] got to protect better, got to work to get our guys open. [5:04] He can certainly work to progress. [5:06] I mean, we're all part of that until I actually get a chance to see it. [5:09] You see it on the tablet to look at it. [5:12] And they got good pass rushers. [5:13] They did a good job of working to edges and blitzing us. [5:18] So that's all part of it. [5:20] They do a good job. [5:20] They're certainly aggressive, certainly capable of getting after the quarterback, [5:24] and they did. [5:25] And we certainly didn't do a good enough job in the other areas, [5:29] getting the ball out. [5:31] And that's what happens, you know, and that's too many, obviously. [5:36] Did not. [5:47] I want to see him play. [5:48] I want to see him continue to play and battle, and he did. [5:51] There's some things that we need to clean up in coaching. [5:53] There's things that come up in the game, and you're like, man, [5:56] I could have done it better, right, as a coach. [5:59] Who are you if you don't say that? [6:01] Who you are as a man if you just say, no, it starts with me. [6:05] Everything starts with me. [6:06] And we can certainly be better how we do it offensively, [6:09] and then how we get our team prepared as a total team in terms [6:14] of our poise, in terms of how we handle things better. [6:18] And that's something we can certainly learn from, all of us, [6:23] coaching and playing. [6:26] On the games, the couple of run games, [6:28] talk a little bit about the way you guys put itself maybe to some [6:39] of those schematic opportunities. [6:42] Well, I think when you're the attack style front, I think as you work, [6:46] you're going to get schemed runs. [6:48] You are going to get your trap plays, your wham plays. [6:51] You're going to get the edge plays, try to pin and get to the edge. [6:55] And there's certain things you've got to do to combat that with your ability [7:00] to move the front, with your ability to pressure off edges, [7:02] with your ability to get over blocks. [7:05] Till I see the film, that's hard to really say. [7:07] They've got really good backs, really good coaches. [7:09] But everything that, whether it was the week before or this week, [7:15] certainly we've got to figure out how we're going to stop the run better, [7:18] right, I mean obviously. [7:20] Figure out how we're not going to have as many sacks as we had today. [7:23] And I'm saying it like I'm not joking about it, [7:31] but I'm sick and that we have that, right, whatever that is. [7:36] And we're going to fight like hell to get it fixed. [7:39] Tom, what does it mean? [7:42] Well, I don't know, they've got good backs [7:43] and there was a lot of space, and that's usually what happens. [7:46] When they've got good backs that are capable of making you miss [7:51] or breaking arm tackles, and there's space. [7:53] And there was a lot of space there. [7:55] I mean, that's one thing that I did see, there was space. [7:57] And it's not that our guys weren't running the ball because you saw that. [8:01] I mean, our guys will run at the ball. [8:02] They play hard. [8:03] But there was a lot of space. [8:04] And when there's a lot of space with those backs, [8:06] those two backs that run hard downhill, I mean, you're going to have that. [8:10] And that's what we got today. [8:13] Todd, you mentioned points a couple times. [8:14] Do you think the youth of your team in this environment is a factor in that? [8:19] Oh, I think that's just an excuse. [8:21] That's an excuse. [8:23] Do we have a young team? [8:24] Of course we have a young team. [8:25] Does that exonerate ourselves from two turnovers the first two drives and keeping our poise [8:30] and playing at a high level? [8:35] No, of course not. [8:37] Otherwise, what were the other five wins, right? [8:40] Are we going to take the ones that we win and say it's not the youth, [8:44] and then when we lose it's the youth? [8:45] It's bullshit. [8:46] That's a freaking excuse. [8:48] At the end of the day, we didn't play good enough today. [8:49] Coaching and playing. [8:51] And we're going to fight like hell to get better. [8:52] That's all you can do. [8:53] That is what we're going to do. [8:55] And that's all I've ever known. [8:56] And that's one. [8:58] Again, I'm not brushing it to the side because that's a big one. [9:02] That's a divisional game. [9:04] But we've got a lot of football ahead of us. [9:06] And like I said, we've earned being five and two. [9:08] And we earned this one today. [9:10] The similarities, were you guys going to fix last week? [9:21] You're going to see the similarities each week until you get it fixed, right? [9:23] Like you're going to, same thing, it's not just defense. [9:26] It's offense. [9:26] It's everywhere. [9:27] You're going to see the same stuff until you get it fixed, right? [9:30] Until we get our protection fixed, until we do certain things better on offense. [9:34] Which again, that's the NFL, right? [9:37] It's week to week. [9:38] And we certainly didn't put our best foot forward in a lot of areas today. [9:43] Coaching and playing. [9:45] And we're going to get a bus, we're going to get on the bus, [9:47] we're going to head back, we're going to look at that tape. [9:49] And we're going to own it, and we're going to fight like hell to fix it. [9:51] And you're going to get tired of me saying that as long as I'm the head coach here. [9:54] And this is going to happen. [9:56] We didn't play well enough, and that's what's going to happen. [9:59] Is that just part of it, or how do you feel about it? [10:13] I can't speak for them. [10:15] I can't speak for their players, their coaches. [10:19] I can only say that our guys fight, okay? [10:23] They compete. [10:25] But certainly, as we all know, ultimately, whether it's me or our team, [10:31] it's not what you say, it's what you do and how you play. [10:35] And that's in life. [10:36] That's not a Jared Burst thing. [10:39] That's not, that's everything. [10:42] It's what we do, not what we say. [10:44] And we did not do the things today that give you a chance to win. [10:48] And when that happens, the scoreboard's going to look like that. [10:51] And then you've got to eat it. [10:52] A couple more. [10:53] I know you talked about Tarson playing through the ankle. [10:56] Do you think that's affecting him out there? [10:58] Oh, I don't know. [11:01] I think he's a tough SOB, man. [11:02] He just likes to play. [11:03] I mean, there was a couple weeks ago I didn't think he'd play. [11:05] He played. [11:06] He's down. [11:07] It's the other ankle. [11:08] I just know he loves to play football, man. [11:10] He's an absolute stud, absolute warrior. [11:13] And we get a lot of those guys like that. [11:15] We just do. [11:16] We just got a lot of things to clean up. [11:18] And we just got to clean a lot of little things up to be better. [11:22] In that situation, not saying we're there yet, [11:25] what point do you generally with injuries to? [11:35] Well, there are, the NFL's put in a number of, [11:40] what would you say, of protocols for that, you know, from upstairs, [11:45] which I think has been great, you know, for protection of the players. [11:48] And our medical staff is always trying to protect our players. [11:51] I've never once seen that to be the case, [11:54] where our medical staff is not trying to protect players. [11:56] And I'm not saying you're saying that. [11:57] I'm just saying in general, it still is then eventually up to the player to say they can play. [12:02] Mike Hall came back when we played Pittsburgh, right, and had a hell of a game, [12:06] and then couldn't play for three more weeks. [12:08] And then we tell them what a warrior is and what a great job he does coming back. [12:12] So that's what you want out of your players, right? [12:15] You want your players to fight to come back. [12:17] And then it's up to the medical staff to give them the information, right? [12:20] That's what you do. [12:22] And our guys, I mean, if you play football in the National Football League, you're tough. [12:27] You've been tough your whole life. [12:28] You've put the pads on. [12:29] You've practiced over the course of your career, and you're a tough SOB. [12:33] And when that happens, most of those guys are going to want to come back and play with their brothers. [12:38] Well, he's been, I mean, what was it up until he missed? [12:50] How many had he made in a row? [12:51] 25, 24, 25 in a row? [12:54] He's human, right? [12:55] Like, okay, missed an extra point, a field goal here or that, what are you going to do? [13:01] Guy's going to miss a free throw. [13:03] Guy's going to strike out. [13:05] What, are you going to panic over after 25? [13:07] What, do you think he's going to make 50 in a row, 75 in a row? [13:10] No, it's going to happen. [13:11] And what do you do? [13:12] You support your players and say, you know what? [13:14] You're one of the best kickers in the NFL. [13:16] You're elite. [13:17] You're one of the best 32 in the world. [13:19] Go back to work. [13:20] That's all he did. [13:21] Just go back to work. [13:22] You got your back, man. [13:23] Last one here, America. [13:24] What have you seen about your team that leads you to rally from a loss like this and get [13:31] ready to go at it? [13:32] Happened week one. [13:34] I mean, hell, I didn't like it. [13:37] It's what you do in the NFL. [13:38] It's what you do in life, right? [13:40] I'm not worried one bit. [13:43] I'm disappointed. [13:44] I'm frustrated. [13:46] I didn't see it coming, but that's what happens. [13:48] We didn't play well enough, but to think our guys, I mean, we earned five and three. [13:53] And we earned the three losses that we have, but we've earned the five wins that we have. [13:57] So what are we going to do? [14:00] Just work, look at the tape, own it, and come back tomorrow and flush it and then get back [14:07] to work on Wednesday. [14:08] And who are the Saints, right? [14:10] That's what's next. [14:11] That's what will be next. [14:12] Who are the New Orleans Saints? [14:13] What do they do that we need to get ready for after their bye week? [14:18] Thank you. [14:20] Thank you. [14:21] Thank you. [14:22] Thank you. [14:23] Thank you. [14:24] Thank you.