On how he feels physically:
"A little better than yesterday, but obviously, some of the things I'm dealing with are just kind of going to be what we're dealing with. Training staff is doing a great job of helping me feel as good as possible. Better than yesterday, and hopefully, just keep that up."
On how he will deal with his injury for Thursday's game:
"Thursday's a few days from now so we're just focused on today, how we feel today. It's really just you take it a day at a time and see where we're at. That's kind of the plan of action right now."
On if he wears a flak jacket in games:
"I wear rib protectors. Yes, I wear rib protectors."
On if it is difficult to move through his normal day due to the soreness:
"It's part of what we do, part of this job, part of what we do. I'm not the only guy in this locker room that is sore. I'm not the only person that woke up somewhere dealing with something that didn't feel good. It's just part of it. You just go to work, do your job, part of those things that happen. Fight through it the best you can."
On if he will practice tonight:
"The practices on a short week are a little different so as we go throughout the day and the season, we'll see how it goes."
On having a short week to recover:
"It's tough. It's tough because the turnaround is so quick and you're trying to get a practice in on Tuesday and so on. It's not the easiest, but every team at some point goes through it, Thursday games. The good thing is once you're through with it, you get some rest on the back end of it so that's the key, also. I think maximizing both those things, the work week and then rest on the back end."
On if he could play if he had to make a decision today:
"The safe thing is I don't have to make a decision. That's all I can tell you. We'll see where it goes from there."
On if it will be a game-time decision on Thursday:
"Yeah, I guess as we move forward, we'll see how that goes. I'm going to prepare and do everything I can, like I've told you the last few weeks, to be ready to play. That's my mindset."
On making sure QB Duke Johnson Jr. is prepared for a division game:
"Absolutely, he was here last year so he's been through two weeks or preparation for this team and on a short week, as well. He's drawn from those experiences. Just like any work week, we'll work well together to make sure we're both prepared and ready to go so that doesn't change for us."
On if he is experiencing more soreness today than Sunday:
"That's probably fair, yeah."
On if it is hard to sleep and function normally at home due to his soreness:
"It depends on what I'm doing when I'm home, but obviously, when you're dealing with ribs and stuff that affects breathing and stuff like that, yeah, sleep is not the easiest thing."
On if he has had a comparable injury before and if he was able to play through it:
"Yeah, similar stuff. You do your best to play through it as much as you can. Like I said Sunday, as long as you can get yourself to a point where you don't feel like it's affecting your play or your throws, then you're good to go."
On the Bengals defense:
"You just look at what they've done personnel wise, defensively, the front is a very good front. They don't necessarily do a whole lot as far as different teams that we've faced recently where you get a third down and there's people moving around and stuff like that. They've just done a good job with personnel. (Bengals DT) Geno Atkins is a good player. (Bengals DE) Michael Johnson I got to play with last year in Tampa and has bounced back from that year and playing really well and (Bengals De Carlos) Dunlap. It's a strong front and starts there. Back is a solid group, (Bengals LB) A.J. Hawk is a veteran with a ton of experience and then the backend is good, as well. Similar to these last few weeks, we look across the board at these defenses and there's not a whole lot of areas where you go, 'Man, this group is a weak position group.' It's a solid group all the way around and that defense, they play complementary football with their offense. Offensively, obviously, (Bengals QB) Andy (Dalton) is playing at a high level and able to put up points and when you can do that it obviously helped the defense."
On if he still feels good about his decision to play through his injury after watching film:
"Yeah, I do just because I looked at the last throw to (WR) Travis (Benjamin) on the sideline against (Cardinals DB Patrick) Peterson, that's for me one of the harder throws because it's to the field and it's a back shoulder throw and I was able to make that throw. Yeah, even looking back now, I don't feel like it affected me at all."
On if he would ever request time off due to injury:
"I'm not wired that way. I just can't."
On why he might not be able to practice tonight since he was able to finish Sunday's game:
"When you're in the game, the adrenaline, it's a different feeling once you're warm and you're in the middle of the game and you have your adrenaline going. Obviously, when the game ends – we've already talked about the next day and stuff like that – there's a different feeling to it. To put your body back through that stress may not be the best thing immediately. It doesn't necessarily mean you can't play on Thursday. It just means why would you do that to yourself on Tuesday when you're trying to play on Thursday."
On if coaches are urging him to be cautious with how he sacrifices his body:
"Absolutely, I think Coach Pett (Head Coach Mike Pettine), first and foremost, he wants to win football games and he wants to do what's best for our team. If they come to that point, we'll talk together. If we feel like we're doing something that's not going to help our team, then we'll react accordingly. We've talked about that and that's the great thing about Coach Pett is he's been very open with the communication, and that's been good."
On Bengals LB A.J. Hawk:
"Ton of respect for A.J. He's a consummate pro. Just over the years in Green Bay, you just watch him, he's getting everybody lined up and he's making the checks. For so many years between him and (Raiders FS) Charles Woodson there in Green Bay, the guys that kind of glued that defense together and made it go. You see the same characteristics popping up on this tape, too. He's just a good football player, loves to play, plays with a lot of passion and flies around. It's obviously a good addition for them to add on that team because he fits in well with that defense."
On what trainers can do to alleviate pain from his rib injury:
"Yeah, there are different things here and there to try and help. Some of it just gets chalked into the pain tolerance type of thing and just time more than anything. Right now, we don't have that on our side as far as this game or really the season because you need probably a little longer than a few days or a few weeks to let this heal. It's part of it. Like I said, there are other guys going through that. There are guys fighting through injuries all the time. Again, you just want to get to where everything is stable, and if you're at that point, then it's just can you tolerate the pain."
On if he can do something as simple as putting a shirt or jacket on:
"Everything is with a – I don't do it as fast as normal. It's part of it. When you're dealing with ribs, you're careful with your movements for sure."
On the results of his X-rays, given Head Coach Mike Pettine didn't disclose more information yesterday:
"I'm just going to follow his lead, and when he wants to comment on that, he can."
On 49ers RB Reggie Bush injuring his knee after hitting the same wall in St. Louis that he did:
"I do feel for him. I ended up with a little bit of a shoulder and a forearm thing. God bless him, he got a knee. It's disappointing because we talk in this game and to me, that's a variable that you can control. We go out and you can't control the weather and some of those things, but to have things happen like that where it's a variable you can control is disappointing. Hopefully, they'll work to get that corrected because it's not good. We have enough going on with guys and with playing and this is a violent game and all those things so it's a heartbreaker. Heart goes out to him dealing with that."
On if his shoulder issues started when he hit the wall at St. Louis:
"It's more like forearm because I hit one of the pipes on the thing trying to stop because I was trying to avoid sliding. I didn't see Reggie's, but I was trying to avoid slipping completely. I thought if I just kind of ice skate into it maybe it would be a better result. I'm bummed for him, that's not good."
On if the offensive line is responsible for the number of sacks and QB hits:
"I don't put it on them. I said before we're throwing the ball a lot. When you're doing that a lot and asking those guys to pass protect, I give credit to our opponents. The D-lines that we've faced since I've been back are some of the better ones in the league. You talk about Denver and St. Louis and this group this weekend, those guys are battling. I have full confidence in those guys and that hasn't changed at all and never will. That's a great group to work with. I feel like every week they bring it and they bring something to the table. We're playing against some good groups so when you're having to face that every week and the number of pass attempts, sometimes those guys are going to win, and we understand that."
