Browns President Mike Holmgren met with reporters Monday afternoon. Here is a transcript from the press conference:

Browns President Mike Holmgren press conference 1-3-11

(Opening statement) -- “Good afternoon everybody. As you know, we are going to make a change with the head coach. I had a chance to meet with Eric (Mangini) this morning. We had a very good but tough conversation. It’s difficult to say the least, but I want to thank him publicly. He and his family for everything they have done as far as the football organization is concerned and also the community. They are wonderful people and I wish them nothing but the best. Our conversation, I think we were very honest with one another. We have established a good relationship and that’s what made it even more difficult. We will begin a search for a new coach immediately. We’ve started the ball rolling a little bit today already. I am not locking myself into any timetable for this. My goal is to find exactly the right person for the job of Head Coach of the Cleveland Browns and who can eventually someday lead us to the championship. That is my only goal.”

(On if there is any chance he will be coaching the team next year) -- “I was hired to be the President of the Cleveland Browns and I think this year I have grown into the job. I think I learned a lot about a lot of things that I hadn’t paid much attention to before. Having said that, I am also a coach, I’ll always be a coach. Heck, the people in the building call me coach. To tell you right now that I would never coach again, whether it’s here or any place, that probably wouldn’t be honest. You know that, I know that. As of right now, I am the President of the Cleveland Browns and my job is to find the best coach available, the right coach available for this job. That’s what I am trying to do and that does not include me right now. To say I’ll never coach again, I probably won’t coach again, but I don’t want to lie to you ever. I’ve never done it and I’m not going to start now.”

(On if he has contacted potential candidates) -- “Probably around 11 o’clock we sent out request forms, based on league protocols, to a few fellos. We now are waiting on a few responses.”

(On if there is a race to get John Fox or Jon Gruden with other openings coming in the league) -- “Those two fellos I know very, very well and they are outstanding football coaches. It seems as though there are going to be a number of changes in the league so I would suspect that those two guys would be candidates on a lot of people’s lists. As far as how we are handing this, we are not going to announce people before they come in here. After I have interviewed the possible candidate, at that point I will follow up with you and let you know who came in and those types of things. That’s how we are going to handle it. I am not prepared today to give you a bunch of names or things like that but you won’t be kept in the dark on this. It’s just I think in fairness the people we are talking to and other candidates perhaps, I’d like to handle it that way.”

(On why wouldn’t he include himself in the search if he is looking for the best man and right man for the job) -- “That’s very nice of you to say Tony (Grossi) (joking). It’s just at this stage of my life that’s not what my first priority is. It really isn’t. I’m enjoying, I’m relishing the role that Randy Lerner had confidence to give me. I would like to continue getting better, continue to help guide the organization and get us to where we want to get from that position. I’m going to approach this a certain way. I think I’m a pretty good coach but there are a lot of good coaches, a lot of young coaches. I am actually anxious to talk to a few of them and just see how it goes, what the feel is like. I can get real excited about finding a young guy and having him take the ball and go with it.”

(On when he would coach again if he doesn’t coach now) -- “How old is Joe Paterno (joking)? That’s a good point so I think you are answering your own question. I was in the bright light a long time and I enjoyed it tremendously but right now my direction is going in a different way.”

(On when he made up his mind that Mangini would no longer be the coach) -- “Probably this morning. I’ve said all along and I’ve tried to be true to what I’ve told you, and certainly what I’ve told Eric all along is that this season I would make any decision I had to make once the season was concluded. Let the dust settle, let me think about it. That’s how I make decisions. That’s how I made the decision to keep Eric. And then come to some sort of conclusion. I didn’t sleep very well last night. I was up a fair amount of the night thinking about this, thinking what I might have to do and then finally trying to make the correct decision. Look, it’s difficult. I’ve never had to do this before. I like the man a lot. He is a hard working, bright, caring guy. Unfortunately this business at times and even though it wasn’t the only factor, I want to win here. We want to win here in Cleveland and we did not win enough games this year.”

(On if he could do the job of both president and head coach) -- “I’d rather not dwell with a hypothetical right now. My focus is in another way. If I have to answer that question, I’ll probably have to answer it way down the road but not right now.”

(On if he is limiting the search to coaches with NFL experience) -- “No Tom (Withers), we’ve compiled lists, columns if you will, of coaches that fit into certain categories and college coaches are certainly one of the categories.”

(On if he is ruling himself out of the search completely) -- “At the present time, yes.”

(On how close the team is to winning) -- “That’s a tough one to answer I think. I thought the improvement we made this year, other than the game yesterday, we were competitive in every ball game. Every ball game was a dog fight and it was relatively close. I don’t think you could have said that a year ago so you see certain areas of improvement. I think you’ve seen our young guys perform pretty well this year. Hopefully, they have bright, bright futures ahead of them. I am encouraged by that. To answer, I can’t give you a timetable on it but that is my hope and my goal.”

(On why Mangini was not the coach to take the team to the next level) -- “I think my expectations for the team and for this season were higher. I’ve already told you what I think of the man. This is a great game and at times a tough business. That’s what happened.”

(On if his decision was based on the direction the team was headed or more on the record) -- “I don’t know if you can separate the two.  I think if you look at our season it had tremendous highs and lows for me.  I think when we beat New England and New Orleans, I don’t think anybody in this room could leave this room without a smile on their face.  It was really something, something very special.  Then as good as we finished last year, a year ago, we finished as poor this year. If you’re talking about direction or how I felt the team was going, the finish wasn’t a feel good finish.  What I tried to do is not base my decision on any one game, any one play, any two games, any stretch but the body of work.  As I told the players when I met with them today after Eric had talked to them I went in and talked to them briefly.  I have high expectations and I’m not going to settle, I’m just not going to settle.”

(On how much of the team’s ability to win in the division was a factor in his decision) -- “That was one of the things I thought about because division games are very, very important, but we’re in a very tough division. I think everyone knows that.  Cincinnati even had some really great wins at the end of the year.  They were kind of a unique team in some respects but they were capable and then Pittsburgh and Baltimore of course are in the playoffs and had outstanding records.  It’s a tough division, knowing that, however, we competed.  I thought we competed very, very well except for the game yesterday.”

(On if one of the candidates does not really impress him if he will then consider coaching) -- “That’s really premature at this point.  Right now my whole focus is on putting a list of candidates, the right candidates together, interviewing them, hopefully you’ll make a good decision based on those interviews.”

(On if the inquiries they sent out to coaches today were to coaches with other teams) -- “Yes.”

(On it seeming like he missed coaching and was thinking about coming back during the bye week and what has changed since then) -- “I think at the midpoint of the season when I had that little conversation with everybody, I forget exactly what I said, but I think it kind of got blown out of proportion slightly.”

(On how he said then that he would be back in a suit but he wasn’t sure which one) -- “You have a very good memory, thank you (joking).  I have been thinking about it a lot.  During the whole course of the year because I didn’t know what my reaction would be to sitting, watching the games as opposed to being on the sideline.  I think I’ve mentioned that to you a few times.  I really know what it takes to coach, the time necessary and the emotion to do it correctly.  Unless I was 100 percent sure I wanted to commit, I don’t think you’re being fair to anybody. As we’ve gone into the season and in wonderful conversations with my young bride, the direction I want to go right now is to find somebody to take this over and do a great job with it.”

(On if he is going to branch out from the Holmgren Tree and look at candidates that don’t have the same philosophy) -- “Yes, we’re opening it up.  It’s a pretty wide search in my opinion, we’re not limiting ourselves in any way.  Tom Heckert and I will be the point people on the interviews but there’s a group of us in the building that meet and talk about this and we will talk about this every day until it gets done.  That includes Bryan Wiedmeier, Gil Haskell, Matt Thomas, Tom Heckert and Mark Schiefelbein, guys that I know who know football, who know people.  Heckert and I will be the point people to travel to meet people and also the interview here.”

(On if there is a time table at all and if it is affected by the labor situation) -- “The labor situation, no.  The time table what affects this process as you know are the playoffs.  The league has rules on who you can talk to, when you can talk to them things like that so that would be the only restriction.  I’d like to get it done sooner than later I think everyone would answer that question that way but at the same time I’m not going to rush the process if I haven’t been able to talk to who I want to talk to.”

(On the rest of the football staff) -- “I met with the assistant coaches today and I will meet with them next Monday again.  I told them to take the week off while I’m in the process of searching or trying to do the interviews for the head coach.  They’re all under contract with the Browns for another year.  The assistant coaches worked so hard, that’s a good group of guys.  That was a difficult meeting because they really work very, very hard at their jobs.  The way I left it with them is that they’re under contract, however, I will meet with them again next Monday.  If something were to come up in the mean time they are to contact me otherwise we’ll deal with that next Monday.”

(On if he will take a head coaching job with another NFL team) -- “No, I’m not going to do that.”

(On if he expects to interview Gruden and Fox) -- “I’m not canceling anybody out. I have not talked to either John.  Again it would have been premature until today so now we’re going to start the process.  I’m not going to give you any names but I will be talking to any number of people.”

(On when he talked to Randy Lerner about his decision) -- “Randy and I talk daily and we meet at the very least weekly and we talk about everything regarding this organization.  During the course of the season we’ve had any number of conversations about how the team was going, what I thought about how the coaches were doing.  That’s just his normal conversation so he as the owner of the football team has been very involved certainty in knowing what my feelings were.  As we approached near the end of the season and it got where I thought maybe I would have to make some sort of decision, we continued to talk.  The beauty of our relationship in my opinion is he hired me to do a job and as the owner he has given me the chance to make decisions like this.  Does he know ahead of time?  Absolutely.  Do I talk to him about these things?  Absolutely, he is the owner of the football team.  Does he care?  He certainly cares.  He’s been involved all the way along and then when I finally did make the decision then he was the first person I talked to and he went with me.”

(On how much the emergence of Colt McCoy and his future play a role in the next coach) -- “I think it’s important.  I think if, there are some ifs here, if Colt is the guy and I’ve talked about him before and I think you see the potential there. I certainty do.  Who the head coach is, who the offensive coordinator is, who his position coach is they’re important for any team, but if all of a sudden you have the quarterback you think can be the quarterback a young man who can be the quarterback for the next 10-15 years hopefully it becomes even more important.  Absolutely that is going to be one of the considerations in the search.”

(On if the next coach will have run more of a West Coast style system) -- “No, I don’t think I can do that.  In what I tried to do with Eric (Mangini) this year and we talked about it this morning.  I said, ‘I wish I could have helped you out more,’ and we had one of those things where we were kind of talking to each other that way. If I hire a coach, I’m hiring a coach.  He’s going to run what he runs, what he’s comfortable with, what he knows.  Now will it be part of the consideration in the process?  Absolutely, but I am not going to interfere that way as a president.  I did not do it this year, I’m not going to do it next year and I’m not going to do it ever.  That’s not fair.  Is it a consideration in this process?  I think it is though.  Maybe not the ‘system’ exactly but certainly something that I think allows the quarterback in this case in one of our quarterbacks to be successful.”

(On how the next coach is going to be the Browns’ fifth in 13 years and how vital it is for him to get it right) -- “Huge.  I don’t want to do this again.  I think historically if you look at teams that don’t have to do this very much, they’ve been successful.  They’ve been successful it’s just like which came first the chicken or the egg? Are they successful because they haven’t done it?  You go through some bumps in the road if you think you have the right guy and the right system and all those things.  That’s part of it. It’s very, very important that we get this right.”

(On how positive he is that he will be able to get someone he really believes in) -- “That’s a tough one because I think we can.  That’s a tough one because it appears as though there will be a number of openings, there could be a fair amount of movement.  If you’re talking about the same people then it becomes who gets them.  We’re going to work very, very hard to get the right person you can believe that and I’m hopeful we can.  Am I positive?  I can’t say that.”

(On how he is going to sell the candidates on the Browns) -- “You guys have been here a long time, most of you and you’ve lived through the really tough things.  I think you have a tendency to view things just a little differently than perhaps I did when I came in or someone from outside coming in and looking at it.  This is one of the great jobs.  There are 32 jobs, this is one of the great jobs in the country.  You’re a head coach in the National Football League, if you are a football coach that’s what you want to be.  Another part of that is I would use the same technique that I used with Tom Heckert, Bryan Wiedmeier, Mark Schiefelbein, Jim Ross, Matt Thomas, all the guys now that are manning the offices upstairs that came from great football places but they came here to be with me to try and get something special done that hadn’t been done.  There’s a challenge there that I think appeals to men in this business.  That’s what I’ll be talking to the person about.”

(On how important it is for the candidate to have NFL head coaching experience) -- “I’m trying not to limit myself and giving any special weight to anything over another.  I was a coordinator, had no experience when I was hired.  In history, if you go back, the coordinator position is a good place to start because you’re dealing with a lot of the team most of the time and it’s the next step, the logical step.  Yet, Andy Reid when he was with me, he was a position coach, and he went from position coach to a head coach so it’s been done a lot of different ways.  I’m not going to limit myself as an example, I’m not going to put a lot of weight in former head coaches.  There are some great ones and absolutely they will be on our list but I’m going to try and keep it wide right now.”

(On what stands out in a head coach today that maybe you didn’t need 10-15 years ago coaching in the NFL) -- “I don’t know.  I’m sure there is but you’re probably asking the wrong guy. For this reason, when I was coaching in high school which I loved, I coached a certain way, I dealt with the kids a certain way.  However you want to label honesty, integrity, however you want to label that.  Coaching was important to me.  Then I get here and I’m a coach in the NFL, I didn’t change one lick, I don’t think I did.  They are big little kids.  You have who you are and that’s how you do it.  Is the money greater? Yes.  I suppose there are some issues that complicate the players’ lives a little more than 15 years ago. As far as the person who’s coaching the football team’s approach, I think the players still want certain things.  He wants you to look him in the eye and be honest, he wants you to shoot straight, you might not always like the answer but then don’t ask the question, he doesn’t want to be off balance, he wants you to believe you care about him and his family.  There are some general things that are important regardless of what area you in coaching I think.  It’s a challenging business but I don’t know if it’s any greater now than it was 10 years ago or not.  I don’t know.  Personally, I don’t think it’s a whole lot more challenging, it’s just what it is.”

(On if a part of him wants to take a chance on an unknown coordinator or coach like what happened when he became a head coach) -- “I think if in our process we come to the conclusion that this particular person is the right person, the pedigree doesn’t matter.  It won’t matter.  Sometimes the path of least resistance is to hire someone that is a little more known quantity, I get that.  It’s a little bit more comfortable, maybe a little more expedient and I know a lot more expensive.  But I can’t look at it that way, I really have to kind of look at everything and then try and come to a decision of who would be the right fit for this team right now.”

(On if he and Mangini’s differences in philosophies hindered the progress this season) -- “I would hope not.  Eric and I talked about that a little bit this morning and I think if you asked him, he would say no it didn’t have anything to do with it.  I tried to be very, very careful and not overstep my bounds that way.  Would I talk to players?  Sure, I like talking to players.  Did I coach the players?  Not really, I never did that.  Would I talk to the quarterbacks whether it be Seneca (Wallace), who I coached, or Jake (Delhomme) or somebody about keeping their elbow out or whatever technique wise?  Yes, I might do that.  That was about the extent of my involvement.  What we had agreed to and what happened during the course of the year is Gil Haskell, who you know was my offensive coordinator for years, he and Brian (Daboll) would get together and talk and have these great football conversations just in an advisory-type of capacity, but no demands were placed on anybody.  I think in some respect, it helped in how we did in certain things, but that was all.  Brian asked to be able to use our experience on certain things, so I thought that relationship and those things worked very well.  That was my hope.  How it translated on the field, I don’t really know the ins and outs of how they were doing that.”

(On if it would be easier if the next head coach ran a West Coast offense so he could give input and advice) -- “Certainly it would be easier, yes.  It would be easier, but again, I’m going to be real careful about that.  I just don’t think it’s fair.  I would try and put myself in his shoes in having somebody pop into my office all the time saying do this, do that and do that.  I know how I would react and I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.  To answer, it would be easier, yes.”

(On if he being held in high regard around the league might make potential coaching candidates wary) -- “I hope not.  Coaches covet these jobs, we all know that.  I would hope that if I get a chance to talk to anybody, I could put any fears they might have aside.  That’s not me, I’m here to kind of contribute and help.  I think I can make that point to anybody that comes in here.”

(On what was going through his mind in seeing some of the offensive struggles this past season) -- “If I was a writer, I probably would have wrote what you wrote (joking).  I think we felt the same way, shoot.  All of you have followed football a long, long time and you know.  Plus you’re fans of the Cleveland Browns, so you’re looking at the game or any game like that and I’m going to react like you reacted I’m sure.  The tough part about my job is on Monday I have to come in and get it going again and kind of calm down and stuff.  I get frustrated just like anybody would, like our assistant coaches did when they looked at the film on Monday.  Yes, I’d watch games like that and say, ‘Shoot we missed an opportunity there.  Dog gone it.’  I was human.  Did it affect my relationships with any of those guys the following week?  No, I understand the business.  At that time on Sunday evening, you really didn’t want to sit next to me on the plane coming home though (joking).”

(On what the downside was of having kept Mangini on this past season) -- “You know what, I don’t look at it that way.  I honestly don’t.  I made a decision when I first got here and the year we spent together, this last year, I met a classy guy who is dedicated, smart and that was a good thing.  I don’t look at it as a downside.  I’ve learned in a year a lot about this football team and a lot about my vision for it.  I didn’t know that when I came in.  I didn’t know the coaches very well, I didn’t know the players at all.  After a year, you learn and you look at things differently, but I wouldn’t have given up the last year.  I made the decision when I first got here, I think, for the correct reasons and hopefully I’m doing the same thing now.”

(On if he is more concerned with hiring the right person for the job rather than continuity in styles) -- “Yes, I would say that’s correct.  I’m not thinking much about continuity right now, that’s not part of the equation.  I talked about that when I talked to the players today, that we are going to try and find the right person, we have to play better, we have to be more committed, we have to have a good offseason, which brings up a whole other can of worms.  No, continuity, I don’t think about that.”

(On the notion from the fans that they are starting all over and if he feels that they are) -- “I don’t, but I understand the feeling.  The ‘here we go again’ feeling is real.  Have we taken some strides this year even though it was a tough year in some respects?  I think we have.  As I mentioned to you earlier, I don’t want to do this again, so I have to get this one right.  I really think I have to get this one right for organizational continuity, for the ability to keep people in place for a long period of time to develop the organization.  While I understand how people would say that, I think we did do some things Tony (Grossi) this year that we can build on.”

(On if he felt he owed Mangini a definite decision one way or another when they met this morning) -- “I did.  I think in situations like this, in fairness to the coach, they don’t want anything to drag out.  What’s the point?  All it is is that their families suffer, he suffers and I suffer.  Once you make the decision, tell the person.  All along, I stated how I was going to do that.  Last week in fact, we talked and I said on Monday we will get together and have a meeting Monday morning.  He said, ‘Great,’ and that’s what we did.”

(On if Mr. Lerner asked him if he wanted to coach) -- “We talked about that.  I don’t remember his exact words, but he asked me if I wanted to coach.  We had that discussion, yes.”

(On what Mr. Lerner said he wanted) -- “As far as I could tell, he just wanted to open the discussion and get me thinking about it.  Actually he has been very generous to me, so he wanted to get me thinking about what was best for me and my family first of all, I think, then what would be best for the Cleveland Browns.  I think, and I could be wrong, but in that order.  He’s been very good to me.  We did have those conversations, and at the very least, what it did was get me thinking about what I really wanted, how it could change my life and to get me thinking about doing the right thing.  I appreciate the fact that he did that.”

(On if Mr. Lerner wanted to know one way or the other if he would want to coach the team) -- “No, I think it was just an open question.  He got me thinking, got us both talking about some things.  Actually, it was a pretty good strategy on his part I think.  Seriously, it was a very generous thing for him to do.”

(On if the final game of the season had any effect on his final decision to keep Mangini) -- “I said going into the year or at some point during the year and I said it earlier today that one game was not going to make my decision for me.  Was I disappointed yesterday?  Absolutely.  That’s our number one rival and we got it handed to us pretty good.  I didn’t like the feeling, there was nothing good about that game yesterday.  I also made a promise to Eric a long time ago that I wasn’t going to determine his fate by one football game.  That doesn’t make any sense to me at all.  While I was disappointed and kind of angry at the outcome, not at the people, I wasn’t going to base my decision just on the one game.”

(On how it felt to see so many Steelers fans at the home game yesterday) -- “I’ve been through that before in the Super Bowl.  We played there and I’d swear it was a Pittsburgh home game.  The stadium was full of terrible Towels when we played in Detroit.  I don’t like that.  When I first went to Seattle, when they were first constructing the new stadium that was on television last night, the team had been struggling and we had trouble selling tickets.  When we played certain teams like the Steelers, their fans travel well.  There was a section of our stadium there that was the other color and until we got to be competitive and good, they bought those seats.  I didn’t like it at all, so then it’s up to us to make the team such that those seats aren’t available.  I didn’t like it and that’s one of the things that hopefully we can change.”

(On if he would like to be hands on in developing McCoy if the new coach would allow him to do so) -- “Okay now there are two questions there.  I would love to be hands on, but I’m not the coach.  I love the young man. I liked working with quarterbacks, that’s what I did.  Once I hire the man to be the next head coach here and he hires his staff, those guys have the primary responsibility of developing our young quarterback.”

(On if he would help out if the new coaches asked him to do so) -- “They’d have to pay me some of their salary to do that (joking).  Seriously, I don’t see them doing that first of all.  I would always feel I have the freedom to talk to any player on this football team, I reserve that right.  We are going to hire coaches to do that and they are going to do a heck of a job with it.”

(On if an offensive-minded coach would be more desirable to him and if a defensive-minded coach would really have to impress him) -- “I don’t want to be painted into a corner on that, I really don’t.  I think that there is an attractive part to both.  We lost a lot of close games, a lot of low scoring close games, so I would like to put a little bit more pizzazz, but that’s not necessarily really the head coach.  That’s the staff, that’s the players we give him and all of those things.  I’m just not going to paint myself into a corner on who I want and who I look for on this list.  Those questions though will be asked as part of the interview, absolutely.”

(On if Mr. Lerner gave him a budget of how much to spend on a head coach) -- “No, there is no budget.  He said, ‘We are to do what we feel we have to do.’”

Here is the official release from the Browns:

Eric Mangini was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Cleveland Browns Monday, the team announced.

"This decision was not easy for me, and it was one into which I put a great deal of thought,” Browns President Mike Holmgren said. "Although we have made improvements this season, my responsibility is to ensure that we establish a program that will allow this team to compete at a championship level. That will continue to be our goal in everything we do. I want to thank Eric for all of his contributions to the Cleveland Browns, and wish him and his family the best of luck in the future."

"The experience coaching the Cleveland Browns the past two years has been tremendous," Mangini said. "I appreciate the opportunity that the Lerner family gave me. I have a deep respect for the players that I have coached the past two years and how they have made a profound difference in changing the culture – a tougher, smarter, more competitive, selfless team that never gave up. Our goal was to build a team for long term success. The core characteristics we were dedicated to, I believe, will help achieve that goal, and have provided a strong identity for this football team and have helped to create a positive foundation upon which the organization can continue to build.

"I feel strongly that the Cleveland Browns are headed in a very positive direction and greatly value the commitment and exceptional efforts of the coaches, players and everyone in the building that I’ve worked with in trying to help achieve our goals. My family and I have thoroughly enjoyed living in the Cleveland community and appreciate the support and passion of the fans. I know Mike and Tom are also dedicated to building a championship caliber organization and wish them nothing but success."

Browns President Mike Holmgren said he will meet with coach Eric Mangini Monday morning, so the two can discuss Mangini's future.

This past Friday, Mangini said he expected to meet with Holmgren on Monday. On Sunday before the Browns began their regular-season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Holmgren confirmed the meeting will take place.

Holmgren also said he met with Mangini last week, and the two agreed to meet again after the regular-season finale. With one game left in the 2010 season, Mangini has guided the Browns to a record of 10-21.

Browns coach Eric Mangini met with reporters Friday morning. Here is a transcript from the press conference:

Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini press conference 12-31-10

(Opening statement) -- “The only guy that is missing here today is Peyton (Hillis) but I’m still optimistic that he’ll be able to play. I feel pretty good about it but we will see.  We will see tomorrow where he’s at and just take it from there.  Yesterday is our third down day, thought we had a good practice. I thought it was up tempo, thought the level of communication was really good and looking to finish out the week here strong with the red zone and goal line review of what we did yesterday.”

(On how Mike Bell looked last week) -- “I thought he looked good.  I really felt that Mike had his best week of practice last week too and it translated, it really did.  He got a lot more opportunities. I felt he took advantage of the opportunities both in the running game, made some nice plays in the passing game.  I really liked the way that he practiced last week and he’s had a good week of practice this week so if he gets extended time again here this week I feel good about him.”

(On if running back is an easier position to plug someone in) -- “It just depends on what role it would be. First and second down versus third down, there’s a few different things on third down, two minutes, some of those packages where it’s a little higher level of communication.  Maybe that’s not fair, not higher, it’s just different and to take all of it to have to do all of it is a lot but if you did it as a segment where one was going to work on first and second down, one was going to work on third down I think that’s easier.”

(On if Troy Polamalu is going to play) -- “I don’t know.  You read different things throughout the week but you’re not sure at the end of the day.  Pretty significant game for them in terms of what is at stake and I’m sure that if he can at all, he will.”

(On if Peyton Hillis is still really sore) -- “That’s been primarily the main thing is the soreness and it gets better each day but figure another day of rest will give him the best chance to be effective on Sunday.”

(On if they will call up Quinn Porter from the practice squad to make sure they have enough numbers at running back) -- “We’ve talked about some different things.  We can still do something tomorrow if need be so we’ve got some time to see where he is tomorrow.”

(On if they are considering bringing anyone in that hasn’t been with the Browns) -- “I tell you anything is possible.  I had situations like that in the past, where you get someone at the end of the week and away they go.”

(On if they are going to run more Wildcat to supplement the running game) -- “That’s one of the great things about having Josh (Cribbs) is you can put him back there and get the running plays with him and those are pretty effective and they’re very different in terms of how a team has to defend him.  He’s another great option.”

(On where Chris Jennings is now) -- “I think he’s in Cleveland.  He played in the UFL so there are different things that you have to do to get a guy out of their contract. It’s a little more difficult than how it had been.”

(On if they did a lot with Mike Wallace during the draft last year) -- “Yes, we interviewed all the different receivers.  You go through all the steps and sometimes guys slide and end up playing really outstanding like he has.”

(On if Wallace is the fastest player in the league) -- “He’s got to be right up there.  He’s pretty fast.”

(On the stress there is on the defense when facing a player like Wallace with his breakaway speed) -- “You don’t want to guess wrong on something.  You’re ability to catch up if you make a mistake, you’re chances aren’t very high and you better be playing the right techniques.  If you have to go from a back pedal in transition, the margin for error there too is pretty small because if you’re a little slow on it or awkward on it or whatever it is all you hear is, ‘Meep meep.’”

(On if Joe Haden will be matched up with Wallace) -- “We’ve got a couple different ways of playing their sets so I can see him being on him some and some other times not. There’s a few different approaches that we have in terms of handling the passing game.  They do a lot of things that create some good match ups for him, some good combinations for him and the other problem is with Ben (Roethlisberger) and his ability to move in the pocket, it’s not like it’s just the called plays that we’re going to be dealing with, it’s the play after the called play breaks down that we have to deal with.  It’s every game he does it and every game he does it really effectively.”

(On how the league is trimming some of the fines down significantly) -- “I don’t know what the process was whether they went through a grievance or whatever or how it worked but having had a fine in the past, I’m all for trimming those things down.”

(On fines being reduced because the league saw the players made enough changes since their incidents to warrant the reduction) -- “If that’s the case, I think it’s a good thing because I think sometimes you do come out really strong initially and maybe after you have had some time and you looked at a series of them and you’re able to take a step back and you see that there could be some adjustments to make it more equitable for everybody.  I think that’s always a good thing.”

(On if he thinks defensive players have adjusted to the rule changes on hitting) -- “I think the awareness is about as high as it can be.  There still have been quite a few big hits.  It’s good.  Again, I haven’t followed all of the hits around the league and who’s been fined, so it’s hard for me to say if it’s gone down dramatically or not.  I think it’s a positive thing if it has had that overall league-wide affect.  I think that’s a good thing.”

(On if they ever got clarification on the hit that Harrison was not fined for on Cribbs earlier this season) -- “It was a while ago, I don’t even remember exactly what it was.”

(On on how he feels personally going into the last game and if he hopes this isn’t his last game here) -- “I feel really good about this week.  I feel really good about the way it has been consistent.  There is uncertainty with things and the guys have responded exactly the way that I’ve asked them to, which is to be consistent in their preparation, in the meetings, at practice and all of those things.  You want the guys to also enjoy the week and appreciate the week for a variety of reasons.  There is so much change that happens at the end of the season anyways, whether it’s free agency or retirement.  You don’t get to play with guys over the course of the year, so you want them to do that.  You want them to appreciate the week because it’s the Steelers, it’s the rivalry and all of those things.  Then you want to have that consistent level of preparation and still work on improving individually and improving collectively because you can do it every single opportunity that we have.  I’ve felt like guys have done that as well, which is a really positive thing.  I’m excited about the game and I feel good about a lot of things that we’ve done here.  I believe in it.  I know I’ve said this before, I think this organization and this team have a tremendous future, a really bright future and I’m excited about being a part of that.”

(On if it is difficult for him personally to stay focused on the game and not think about what might happen after the season) -- “It is and it isn’t.  There are so many things that you have to do during the course of a week to prepare for a game that the amount of time that you have to reflect on other things, it’s not like it’s a tremendous amount of time.  Again, I really am proud of the way that the guys have responded.  As I’ve said before, if I was any different in my approach and the coaches were any different in their approach, then it’s hard to ask a group of men, a group of players, to be consistent in their approach.  The future will come quick enough.  Jake (Mangini) every now and then will ask a question, he must hear things, he asked if we were moving.  I said, ‘Don’t worry about it Jake, we will figure it out.’  When you get those types of questions, you don’t think of how I am going to explain the situation to my six year old.  That’s part of the human element.”

(On if he feels that the coaching staff has been able to set aside distractions and focus on this final game) -- “I do.  We’ve been through uncertainty in the past, we have a little experience with it.  You know Brian (Daboll) and Rob (Ryan) really well because of their time down here (with the media), but all of the guys are good guys.  Brad Seely and right on down the line, Carl Smith, they’re all great guys that all want the same thing.  They want us to keep moving forward and win.  They’re not going to deviate or do anything or take any of their focus away that would hurt the ability of the team to do that.”

(On what he would do if he was told that he could stay if he made some changes to his assistants) -- “With hypotheticals like that, I’d rather just sit down with Mike (Holmgren) and talk to him and see what he says.  We’ll talk through those things when we do talk through those things as opposed to really talking about them now.”

(On when he will sit down and discuss things with Holmgren) -- “I’d imagine it will be Monday.  That’s my anticipation.”

Browns coach Eric Mangini met with reporters Friday morning. Here are some of the highlights from the press conference:

• Mangini said he expects to discuss his future Monday with Browns President Mike Holmgren.
• Mangini said it can be difficult at times to focus on the present instead of the future. His 6-year-old son, Jake, asked him if the family is going to move.
• Mangini said running back Peyton Hillis (ribs) won't practice today. Hillis hasn't practiced all week, but Mangini said he's optimistic Hillis will play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then again, he also conceded there's a chance Hillis might be sidelined.
• Mangini said running back Mike Bell has practiced well for the second week in a row. He said he feels good about Bell playing more than usual if Hillis is out.
• Mangini said wide receiver Josh Cribbs could supplement the running game by rushing out of the Wildcat offense Sunday, especially if Hillis can't play.
• Mangini said rookie cornerback Joe Haden will be matched up with Steelers standout wide receiver Mike Wallace at times but not not always.

Browns coach Eric Mangini met with reporters Thursday morning. Here is a transcript from the press conference:

Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini press conference 12-30-10

(Opening statement) -- “Good morning everybody. Today Peyton’s (Hillis) going to miss, Floyd’s (Womack) going to miss and then Kenyon (Coleman) is on the normal rotation.  Vick (Lawrence Vickers) is back, he just had something related with his teeth. It wasn’t anything serious, he just had to have it fixed but he is back and that’s it on that front.  In terms of practice yesterday, I thought it was good energy, good tempo, good focus, didn’t think the field was the best in terms of it was a really hard surface so guys had to focus that much more on transition, playing with their feet underneath them.  It was good from that perspective but we’ll go inside today just to get a little bit more work done than what we were able to do with the surface yesterday. I think everybody’s excited about the plan for Pittsburgh and playing Pittsburgh, it’s different than other games we play and they’re ready to go.”

(On how the football philosophies have meshed from him, Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert) -- “I think it’s going pretty well.  I know in terms of Tom and I, I’ve really liked getting to know him. I really like the relationship that we have.  He’s been great and I think philosophically there are different ideas as to whether it’s players or approaches things like that but we talk through them and it’s been really good.  I’ve really liked him a lot.  Then with Mike, that relationship has been good as well.  There are difference in terms of what he’s run historically offensively but with that being said, what I’ve always tried to do whether I was in New York or here is ideally take the best of a lot of different systems.  That was the approach in New York where we got (Brian) Schottenheimer who was from the digit system, a lot of shifting, a lot of motioning that type of thing.  Then the New England philosophy which is different, it’s more a stationary read, see the defense that type of thing. Then bring in Bill Callahan that was a take of the West Coast and the elements of that system and infuse it in and take the best of each one and you put together your system.  It’s the same thing really defensively. There’s a lot of components of you start at the base of what you did.  For me it was really in New York the 3-4 stuff that we were doing and then as you go to the next place a guy like Rob Ryan comes in and he’s got the 4-6 and all the things his dad did, we infused a lot of that stuff into it and then as new coaches come there’s new ideas.  You’re constantly adding to what you do.  It’s funny even the meetings we have defensively when I’m in there with Rob, Jerome (Henderson) as a player, (Bryan) Cox as a player and as a coach say, ‘Okay, remember that defense we ran in New York in ’97 against so and so?  I really liked that. I think that will work.  Let’s start that up.’  Then Rob and I will talk about a defense we ran against Tennessee, it was a night game we had to deal with a scrambling quarterback.  You’re going through the whole progression so now you’re pulling things out of historic defenses and it’s like ties, they come back in style and you wear them again and they look good.  Long answer but that’s kind of how it goes.”

(On how the players know what this rivalry means) -- “It’s everywhere Jeff (Schudel).  It’s in every newspaper, it’s on every TV, it’s on every person’s lips. It’s like Colt’s (McCoy) experience, it was a Friday where he went to the gas station, I told you guys this story didn’t I?  The father came over and he signed the hats and the two little kids are in the car seats yelling Steelers suck.  It starts at birth.  You get your Browns shirt and your I hate Pittsburgh shirt.”

(On how the players get a sense of the rivalry when football is so transitory) -- “We don’t all live here, they all go home and they’re out.  Whether it’s at Jake’s school where the kids are wearing the colors and they’re talking about it.  He’s in first grade and they’re talking about the Steelers and how they hate the Steelers and they love the Browns.  It’s pretty much ingrained from infancy.”

(On if he still feels good about Peyton Hillis for Sunday) -- “Yes, he’s better than yesterday and we’ll see how he is tomorrow but I feel pretty good about him.”

(On Colt McCoy learning how to throw in cold weather) -- “I think that’s another value of being able to practice in it and work in it so you’re not only doing it on Sunday.  He’s got quite a bit of work now outside and it wasn’t really that cold yesterday.  I thought it was a lot colder last week and the week before but he’s getting a lot of exposure to it and dealing with whether it’s the temperature, the wind, the snow.  Some of that just going to come from experience and playing in it and seeing how this throw went in this condition versus a different, what the trajectory has to be.  It’s not like talking to Phil Dawson.  Phil can tell you everything in the world about how the temperature affects the ball.  If it’s at this temperature the ball will travel at this length, if it’s at this temperature it will travel this length, the wind is blowing left or right.  His understanding of how his kicks are going to be affected by the temperature comes from him kicking in that weather and then also going back and evaluating, ‘What did I do well, what did I do poorly?’  I think it’s the same thing for quarterbacks, as you gain more experience you know, ‘I have to throw it this way when I’m dealing with these conditions.’”

(On if some quarterbacks have big enough arms that they can throw through the wind) -- “I think it just depends on how stiff the wind is, but there are definitely guys that have enough juice on the ball that it cuts through most stiff winds.”

(On if it is meaningful that Ahtyba Rubin leads the league in tackles for defensive linemen) -- “It’s meaningful.  Rubin, to me, the level of improvement he’s had is impressive.  It’s impressive and the thing that I love about him is his effort.  I was showing some clips from the last game to the guys and it was on (Rashard) Mendenhall’s run where we had hit backed up and it looked like he was tackled and then he bounced out.  Rubin is flying to get over there it was 25 yards down the field and even last game against Baltimore he’s showing up on the screen every play.  This is a big man, his effort it’s just outstanding.  He’s strong, he plays with good technique, he cares, he’s tough.  It’s not an accidently that he leads the NFL for a defensive linemen in tackles, he’s earned that.”

(On if Rubin gets a lot of reps in practice) -- “Yes, he gets a ton.”

(On if the amount of reps Rubin has gotten has worn him down because the run numbers have gotten worse in the last month) -- “The volume of runs we’re facing has increased. I think our ability to stay on the field offensively affects that as well.  You miss guys like Scott (Fujita). We need to be able to adjust to that, we need to be able to stop the run affectively.  I’m not saying that.  There are things that we can do as a complementary football team to help on both sides.  In addition to that Tony (Grossi), I thought that we played with a lot better technique last week and that helped us.  I think that’s going to be really important again this week is playing with sound technique.  Sometimes what happens is as you want to be multiple and you want to have different fronts and different ways to attack an offense sometimes you can’t rep those things where you’re playing it well enough and you have to actually say, ‘Okay, let’s cut back some of that to play the things better in our base defense.’”

(On how Rubin played against Maurkice Pouncey in the first game) -- “I thought he did well.  I thought he did really well.  He needs to do really well again this game for us to be successful especially in the running game, he does.  I didn’t see every game that the Steelers played this season but I saw a lot of them so he played against him as well as anybody.”

(On what makes Pouncey one of the better centers in the league) -- “Plays with a good base, he’s very athletic, I think he runs well and his lateral movement is very good so he does a nice job working in combination with the guards to get up the linebackers, plays well in space.  He’s strong enough to deal with the guys that are stout and he’s athletic enough to deal with the guys that are going to more of shoot-the-gap type players.”

(On the level of consistency with the offensive line this year) -- “I’d say it’s probably similar to a lot of areas. There’s some weeks where I felt like really outstanding and then some weeks where I don’t think we handled what he had to handle as well as we could have.  The one thing that I’ve liked about the group is I feel that they communicate well together and I feel like they give us a great opportunity each week to handle the multiple things that we have to handle.  We’ve faced a lot of defenses this year and I’d say it’s probably higher than what you’re going see on any given year in terms of the multiple look defenses.  Whether it’s New England or New Orleans or Baltimore, Baltimore we are going to see every year but the volume of that type of coordinator, that type of approach was very high this season and I think they’ve handled it well.”

(On if the offensive lines has played better when Floyd Womack played tackle) -- “I think Floyd does a good job at both spots and one of Floyd’s greatest assets I was just talking about communication, is he is the leader of the communication on that right side.  Whether he’s at guard or tackle he does an excellent job of working with the guard and tight end if he’s a tackle or the tackle and center if he’s a guard and that’s a huge plus.  It’s a hard thing to see and appreciate because you just kind of see what happened in the play but understanding from my perspective knowing the amount that has to go in to getting it right.  Floyd’s a real asset there.”

(On if Joshua Cribbs is healthy enough this week to have a lot of plays like Wildcat in the offensive package) -- “Yes, I thought Josh looked really good last week.  I thought it was probably the best that he’s looked from a physical perspective last weekend.  I’m assuming that that’s how it’s going to look this weekend.  There’s nothing to counter that. He looked good yesterday in practice, I’m sure he’ll look good here today and we’ll have a plan for him as a receiver, the Wildcat which we always have.  He’s done a lot of good work against Pittsburgh.”

(On what Chris Gocong has become as opposed to the pass rushing player he was coming out of college) -- “In college he was a defensive end and here he’s a linebacker.  He has to do a lot of different things, he’s in coverage quite a bit.  Same thing in Philadelphia, he was in coverage quite a bit there.  He’s much more of a complete player now than in college.  I’m not saying he wasn’t complete for what they asked him to do but he’s a legitimate linebacker that can do all different things, he can play inside, he can play on the outside, he can cover, he can run the defense.  You’ve got to give a guy like him a ton of credit because it’s a huge transition.  We’ve all seen it where sometimes it works out really well, sometimes it doesn’t. I think in his case it’s worked out really well from his transition college d-end to linebacker.”

(On Gocong not getting as many opportunities to rush the passer and him getting back to his big sack days) -- “We all want him to get back to his big sack days.  He’s had shots.  Again, with Scott (Fujita) going out, Scott did a lot of the coverage.  There was more flexibility when Scott was here from a coverage/rush perspective because Chris is a pretty good cover guy.  Now, there’s not that same level of flexibility, so he tends to be more in coverage than have the same volume of chances I think he would have had had Scott still been available.”

(On Joe Haden not biting on the double move from Anquan Boldin to get his interception last Sunday) -- “It was huge.  That was the play I was talking about the other day is how he played it, to me, was the best part.  In terms of being flush with him when he looked back for the ball, how he played the ball, huge, huge, huge progress.  Huge progress.  It may look like a small thing on that one play, but there had been so many times where you could ask him about it, I’ve been on him since day one about it. I was really happy to see it.”

(On saying in the past that Haden could get away with in college but not at this level and it that was one of the things he was talking about) -- “That was one of them, so yes I was pleased.”

(On if the touchdown Haden gave up against Tampa Bay wouldn’t have happened now with what he’s learned) -- “I’d like to think that he wouldn’t.  It was the first game.  I know there were some technique things we talked about at the top of the route, but I can’t remember if he was too close to the line of scrimmage initially, I can’t remember specifically.  I think the experience that he has gotten now from that point to this point would help him play that play a lot better.  In fairness to Joe, there were things that we could have done better on the blitz in the front part of it where he wouldn’t have had to hold up as long.  He had to hold up a little while longer than you typically would in blitz coverage.  Even the best corners when they are expecting to come hot or fast and now they have got to cover down the field, it’s tougher.”

(On if he would be open to changing their style of offense completely) -- “I figure I’ll have any conversations after the season, so all of that stuff will take care of itself.  To me, it’s Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh and it’s a great thing to have.”

Browns coach Eric Mangini met with reporters Thursday afternoon. Here are some of the highlights from the press conference:

• Mangini said running back Peyton Hillis (ribs), right guard Floyd Womack (knee) and defensive end Kenyon Coleman (knee) will miss practice today. Mangini said he's still optimistic Hillis will be able to play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• Mangini said fullback Lawrence Vickers will return to practice today after sitting out Wednesday.
• Mangini said wide receiver Josh Cribbs looked really good last week against the Baltimore Ravens, the best he's looked physically in a while. Cribbs has done a lot of good work against the Steelers, and the game plan will include Wildcat packages for him, Mangini said.
• When asked if he'd be willing to change his offense if Browns President Mike Holmgren asked, Mangini said he expects to have those conversations after the season. It will take care of itself, Mangini said.

Browns coach Eric Mangini met with reporters Wednesday morning. Here is a transcript from the press conference:

Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini press conference 12-29-10

(Opening statement) -- “Good morning everybody.  Today it looks like Peyton (Hillis) will miss and Floyd (Womack) will miss and should be full go with everybody else.  In terms of our prep today, we started the work obviously on first down on the Steelers.  There are a lot of similarities in what we faced last week with what we face this week in terms of another really impressive defense. They’re in the top 10 in I think 19 different defensive categories and they’re able to generate pressure whether it’s three man, four man or any of their multiple blitz looks.  All their linebackers do a nice job of pressuring the quarterback and they bring them in so much different combinations and variations that it’s really important that we can come out ID the front, anticipate what we can get and then be able to block it up.  That’s true both in the passing game and in the running game and I thought Colt (McCoy) did a nice job with that the last time we played them.  It’s going to be important again here today.  Offensively, just like last week this is another strong armed quarterback, another guy who can hurt you in a lot of different ways.  He can make any of the different throws and where Ben’s (Roethlisberger) really impressive is the plays where he’s able to extend the plays and it happens every single game where it looks like you’ve got him and because of his strength, because of his mobility he gets out of trouble.  The receivers are so in tune with him in terms of reading out and finding an open place especially a guy like Hines (Ward) that they’re able to generate a significant amount of big plays off of those things.  They’ve been running the ball effectively, they’ve been running the ball consistently and a guy like Mike Wallace is a homerun waiting to happen on any play.  On special teams, it’s a tough, physical group that plays sound both in the coverage game and the return game and we’re going to have to be able to match that and create some opportunities enough so we do a good job of containing their returners.  They have a range of guys whether it’s (Emmanuel) Sanders, (Antonio) Brown, (Antwaan) Randle El, a range of guys that have returned for them this season.”

(On if Hillis is missing because of his knee or ribs) -- “It’s the ribs.”

(On on if he thinks Hillis will be ready for Sunday) -- “I do.  We’ll see, get him some rest here today and just see where he is, see where he is tomorrow.”

(On if there is an advantage for Colt McCoy or the Steelers since they have already played each other once this year) -- “I think it cuts both ways.  This will be I think the first time in the two years where we’ve actually had a quarterback face the same division opponent two consecutive games so it does help because he does have familiarity with their scheme, he’s played against it, he’s seen the speed with which they bring their pressures.  It is a different speed.  Some teams will pressure and they come hard but the Steelers do a nice job of timing it up and they also do a good job with disguising it so you really have to be in tuned with what you’re looking for to make sure that you can communicate it out to the group and get into the right checks.  I thought he did a great job especially considering it was his first time and having that experience will help him, but on the flip side it’s also their second time of working against him and they have the tape of us and him against that defense and the things he did well, things he did poorly.  There’s some upside to that too.”

(On if it said anything about McCoy when he stood in the pocket with James Harrison hitting him on throw to Evan Moore during the first game) -- “It was a great throw.  It was a really outstanding catch as well.  He had a couple of those throughout the course of the game and it’s not easy to do.  Standing in there and get it off the way that he did so I thought that that showed a lot.”

(On cornerback Charles Woodson and safety Troy Polamalu and if the cornerback or safety position is more valuable to a team) -- “There’s value in both spots.   When you got a player like that (Charles Woodson) where you can take him, feel comfortable putting him against the opponents best receiver that allows you to do some things where you can shift the coverage to the other guy or combinations of double team or blitzes. There are things that you can do when you have the ability to handle a huge threat by your opponent with one player.  The other part of that is you’ve got a guy like Polamalu, he affects the running game.  He affects the running game dramatically when he’s down in the box and he is an outstanding blitzer.  He’s got really good instincts in the passing game some similarities to Ed Reed in the sense that he instinctually knows where it’s going and gets a jump on a lot of plays.  He’s made some amazing plays in the passing game, just amazing interceptions, things like that, break ups and he can affect the whole field as a safety.  My perfect world you’d have them both, then you’re in good shape.”

(On how Polamalu can drive his coach’s nuts because he takes chances on his own but they let him go because it works 3/4 of the time) -- “I think his hit rate is a little higher than that, higher than 3/4.  I remember coaching Rodney Harrison and he was supposed to be over on a tight end and he was way over on the other side of the field and made a big play and I said, ‘What are you doing?’  He said, ‘I knew it was going there,’ at that point he had made enough of those plays, the amount of times where he was right versus wrong was so significantly skewed in his favor what you don’t want to do is coach them out of their instincts.  You want to make them so robotic that they’re not making plays that they’re naturally used to making plays and he makes a ton of them.  The other thing he does really well is disguise.  He’ll come down and it will look like it’s post safety defense, eight in the box, no doubt about it, he’ll be on the line of scrimmage and then fly to half the field and he’s got the speed and the range to do it.  It’s hard to get a good read on that and then he’s down there sometime you think, ‘Okay, he’s doing it again,’ and he comes off the edge and blows you up.  He’s impressive.  There’s another guy, I know we’ve talked a lot about guys developing, I don’t think he started his first year.  At the early part of his career, there were some questions as to what kind of player he would be.  Over time and with the experience and things like that, he’s just outstanding.”

(On if James Harrison has changed his style of play recently after all of the fines) -- “He’s still making a ton of plays, he’s still disruptive in the passing game and he’s still a big hitter.  I don’t see there being any kind of drop off in terms of his production or the hits he makes or the pressure he puts on the quarterback.”

(On the difficulties of having a different quarterback each time when facing division opponents) -- “Like anything else, you’d like continuity as much as you possibly can.  Each guy has a different skill set, each guy has strengths and weaknesses and sometimes you can’t always get to what you hope to get to because it really doesn’t fit that player, it really doesn’t make sense for that player.  Then you get another guy in and you shift it again, you get another guy in and you shift it again and you have to do that.  You have to have the plan that the quarterback can execute well.  You have to have a plan that the quarterback believes in and is a partner in because he has to execute those plays and he has to run the offense.  Having some continuity and being able to look at, ‘Okay, here’s the first game, here’s what we did.  What did you like?  What didn’t you like?  What were you uncomfortable with?  What else do you feel we could’ve done?’  Even talking to the guy about, ‘See now in this coverage they are doing X, Y and Z.  They got you on this last time, but here’s what to look for.’  It resonates because he’s experienced it, he’s seen it, you're talking about it together and there are things that you can then build off of.”

(On how continuity at the quarterback position and in the passing game would change things for Hillis) -- “It changes things for a lot of reasons.  Not just for him, but for the whole group to have one guy, one voice, it’s like anything else.  You’re building reps, you’re building a base of experience, you’re building guys working together and when you do have continuity, you can address things in other areas.  You can look at strengths and weaknesses, how they relate to that position and try to do things to reinforce their strengths whether it’s through personnel or scheme.  It helps.  There’s a buildup of, you say reps, but it’s experience, it’s chemistry, there are a range of words that you could use.”

(On if it is as simple as a better passing game will take heat off of Hillis) -- “The more you can be productive in the passing game and the more threats that you have, the bigger opportunities there are in the running game.  One builds off the other.  I think Atlanta is a good example of that where they have got the threats in the passing game, they have the threats in the running game and now you have to choose each snap as to what you want to do.  Do you want to go stop Michael Turner or do you want to play split safety defense and try to take away the receivers?  The nice thing that I think we’ve had this season with the addition of Ben Watson and the things that he’s done in the passing game is that puts a lot of threat in the middle of the field.  Now when you can attack all of those different areas and you’re balanced and you have the ability to be balanced, that forces them to be balanced and they have to choose each play, ‘What do we want to take away?’”

(On if he has seen a change in the hits to the head since the league has taken a firmer stance in protecting that area) -- “I haven’t been following the fines for other teams throughout the course of the season, so I don’t know what percentage of guys are getting fined this week versus that initial week or whether it has actually dropped or flat lined.  Maybe it’s just not as public or whatever the word is, so I don’t really know what the statistics are from that perspective.  You still see a lot of big hits, you still see a lot of aggressive plays.  I do think guys are really trying to do it the right way, but I didn’t feel like guys weren’t trying to do it the right way before.  Any time you can emphasize something positive for player safety, it’s good, so I hope it has changed over the course of the season.  But again, I don’t really know what the numbers are or the trends are.”

(On the recent awards for Joe Thomas and Peyton Hillis and Thomas making the Pro Bowl and Hillis not) -- “I think it’s great that Joe has this opportunity and it think it’s great too that this week, he gets to play against another Pro Bowler.  We get a nice preview of that, ours against theirs and see what happens.  His consistency, in terms of performance and playing that position, that’s not easy to do.  With D’Brickashaw (Ferguson) getting it in New York, that took a lot of time where Joe got it in his first year, that’s really hard to do as a young guy to come in and play left tackle and play it at the level that he’s played it at.  It’s tough.  With Peyton, he’s had an outstanding season in so many different ways with running the ball, catching the ball, the threat that he’s added to the offense, the amount of touchdowns and all of that, and also the guy.  You guys have talked to him enough times, you know what kind of person he is.  He’s going to be a productive player here for a long time with a chance to be really an outstanding player.  He’s also going to be a tremendous part of the community whether it’s charity work, he’s just what you look for.  I’m really happy that he’s here.”

(On if he was disappointed that there was only one Pro Bowl selection on the team) -- “We had a lot of guys that are alternates, whether they’re second or third alternates or whatever the category was.  The individual awards are always nice and you’re always happy for the guys that get them, but the one thing that I found with guys who have gotten those awards in the past and the most impressive thing is how much they acknowledge the contributions of their teammates who allowed them to do those things.  It’s a big deal to them, they’re proud of it, but yet the team goals are something that are much more important to them.  I think all of the guys that receive recognition, whether it was Joe who made it or the guys that were alternates, would all agree how important their teammates have been to them and how important it is for us to continue to improve as a team, which is what I really respect about them.”

(On if Hillis has worn down through the course of the season) -- “I think during the course of the season, everybody gets tired and everybody gets dinged up.  Really the injury that he had Sunday wasn’t a function of fatigue.  It happened early in the game and it was a hit.  I don’t think that anything to do with him being worn down.  It happens too sometimes Jeff (Schudel) where you get hit the wrong way and it’s just kind of the virtue of the position.  He’s going to get hit quite a bit.  He’s in tremendous shape, he takes care of his body really well and he relishes this role, but during the course of the season there is going to be wear and tear on all of the guys.  I think they all feel it.”

(On if there is some type of protective jacket that Hillis could wear to protect his ribs) -- “I’ll have to talk to Joe (Sheehan) and Brad (Melland) about it.  They’re obviously looking into it, they have the different things for quarterbacks like the rib protectors and things like that.  Maybe it will be a combination or a little bit of innovativeness, we’ll have to see.”

(On why Floyd Womack is missing practice) -- “Knee, that’s a little bit more of the same, giving him some time here at the early part of the week as opposed to there really being something that got injured during the course of the game.”

(On what improvements he expects to see from McCoy since his first game) -- “I thought he did a lot of good things in that first game.  I think the main thing for him would be protecting the football, we had the two interceptions.  What I liked a lot about last game is the amount of completions that we had in that game I think far outpaced the amount of completions we had in the previous two games against them the year before and that’s a big part of what you have to do.  You have to be able to move the ball.  They’re not always going to be deep but he did hit the deep pass to Evan (Moore) late in the game and he hit the out pass to Evan early in the game, he hit Ben Watson on a deeper ball, he hit Chansi (Stuckey) on a deeper ball so it was a nice combination of the catch of run type stuff and some plays down the field.”

(On if he feels comfortable with the wide receivers he has now or if he is going to have to add some guys) -- “In the offseason you go through all the different scenarios, options.  What I do like is, Brian’s (Robiskie) continued to improve as a receiver which is a real positive. Chansi’s (Stuckey) improved in terms of his level of production.  We added a ton of production with Ben (Watson) which I think has really helped us.  We lost Evan (Moore) however many games ago but he’s another guy that had been productive throughout the season.  If you can add players who give you more opportunities, make you more explosive, you want to get as many of those guys as you can in the passing game, in the running game.  I think Ben is a great example of that, Ben and Peyton are two guys that have significantly helped the offense.”

(On if he can live with some of the interceptions from a rookie quarterback) -- “No, because he doesn’t want that either.  He gets the importance of turnovers and whether it was last week against Baltimore.  The numbers are the numbers, they’re 75-3 when they’re plus one, the odds of winning games like that they’re not very good and that’s over time.  It’s a consistent deal so what kind of chance are you taking? Or are you taking a chance for the home run or are you taking the chance at 15-20 yards. Whatever it is it’s got to be balanced.  You want him to not play scared or to not play tentative but to just know, what are the odds here? What are the percentages here?  He’s good like that, he’s smart like that, it’s important to him and he gets how it all plays in.  With Colt, he’s harder on himself than any of us could be.”

(On how hard it is to construct a game plan against Pittsburgh offensively) -- “We’ve had success against them a lot of different ways in the past. Some of it’s scheme.  Josh (Cribbs) has done a good job against them in the past with some of the Wildcat stuff.  There are different things there but at some point you’ve got to be able to run the ball and you got to be able to do it effectively and there were points last game where we did that.  Now being able to do it consistently that’s the important thing and that’s the challenging thing.  They do a great job of controlling the football offensively which keeps the defense off the field and coming out and playing well defensively so the time of possession skews in their favor.”