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Peppers 'Not Interested In Talking About The First Two Weeks'

By Adam Hoge-

HALAS HALL (CBS) After battling an illness for nearly a week, Bears defensive end Julius Peppers was back at practice Wednesday and ready to put his early season struggles behind him.

"This week it's going to be improved," he said. "I'm not interested in talking about anything from last week. My focus is on Pittsburgh and getting better."

Through two games, Peppers has just two tackles and was limited Sunday with the illness. Asked about how he's feeling, the defensive end reiterated his desire to move on.

"I'm feeling fine. I'm not interested in talking about the first two weeks right now."

Peppers' struggles are just one part of a larger issue of the entire defensive line failing to get to the quarterback. Through the first two games, the Bears have just two sacks. This week, they'll have an even tougher task of getting to the larger Ben Roethlisberger.

"It's getting him down," Peppers said when asked about the challenge of facing the Steelers' quarterback. "It's one thing to get there, but when you get there you have to get him down and we're going to need a group effort to do that."

For what it's worth, Roethlisberger is anticipating a better test from the Bears' defense this week.

"Very good," the quarterback said. "Physical, obviously they create a lot of turnovers and they make a lot of plays so this is a big-time test for us."

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