Urban, can you wrap your head or grasp 20 straight losses for this franchise? How desperate is this team at this point?
URBAN MEYER: Desperate for a win, desperate for the way they go to work each day, each week. Desperate for a win. But we can't worry about the past, worry about the future, and a trip to London and try to get a win. Some guys are playing their tails off. But, yeah, we're desperate for a win.
Could you just talk about the decision to on 4th and goal, to not have James Robinson in the game and to possibly, obviously not try to sneak it with Trevor since it only had about four or five inches to go.
URBAN MEYER: I just met with Bev (OC Darrell Bevell) and we talked about it. I don't micromanage who's in the game. I should have -- James is running really hard, but so is Carlos. I've got to go find out if something was dinged up with James on that situation. And the quarterback sneak, he's not quite comfortable with that yet. We've been practicing that. I know that might sound silly, but when you've never done it, it's something that we need to continue to make that, so you can make that call in that critical situation.
8.2 yards a carry is what James Robinson was averaging today. Kind of shocking to see him not get the touch on the goal lines. But the tight ends for the Tennessee Titans were roaming free, big bombs. Did the game plan involve stopping Derrick Henry or keeping A.J. Brown in check?
URBAN MEYER: Tyson (Campbell) was unable to go. He practiced in limited capacity throughout the week. So we matched up Shaq with Brown, and then the tight ends, some mental errors, missed assignment. Any time you play the Titans, you're going to be focused on stopping Derrick Henry. It's going to be game over if you don't stop him. For the most part, we did a decent job, but there were plays we gave up. Then the third downs, we just couldn't get them off the field.
Coach, you've seen consistent improvement from the team each week, but the wins still aren't coming. At what point do you have to go back to the drawing board and start really evaluating everything from top to bottom?
URBAN MEYER: We're there. It's my job to do that every day. I see a group of warriors. I see a group of players that I love to death. I see a group of players that are spilling it on the field, and we're not getting it. We're not closing it out. From the Cardinals on, Cardinals, Bengals, and this one. We go down to score. I'm waiting to see Trevor get the ball in his hand with a chance to go win the game. We thought we were going to have that at Cincinnati, and then that penalty, and we couldn't get off the field. Then a similar situation today. If we score on that, we score there, our defense really stiffened up near the end of the game and played high energy, got pressure on the quarterback, stuffed the run, and we didn't slam it in from the one-inch line, two-inch line. Trevor Lawrence is a warrior. We love that guy. We all do. That guy is competitive. He's going to be great for Jacksonville.
Urban, do you have an idea of the extent of Brandon's injury? Emotionally, how devastating is it to see him go down like that?
URBAN MEYER: He's like a son. He's everything this team stands for. It looks like it's not as bad as they first thought. It looks like ankle and MCL, and we'll know more, and I'll update you this week.
Can you speak about why there have been so many communication problems in coverage with the secondary? Looked like you're playing man, and then looked like you're in zone, and it looked like you're in that at the same time.
URBAN MEYER: Kind of asked that same thing on the sideline, and we've got to get that corrected. I see the same thing you see. I see a defense that sometimes plays outstanding, elite football, like the first half against the Bengals and the latter part of the game of the one we just played. But then we're putting pressure on the quarterback and the guy is wide open. That was a miscommunication. It was man coverage, and the guy didn't cover his man. It's that simple.
Kind of building off of that, Urban, Myles obviously exited the game later, but did he have the green dot at the start of the game? Part two, what did you see from your linebacking corps over the course of this game?
URBAN MEYER: We have been evaluating that because Myles plays three positions - base, nickel, dime, and it's something we've been working on. He played his best football. We just did some research, he plays best when he doesn't have to make the call. So we gave it to Damien and also Rayshawn. So you were right when you saw that.
Was there then some confusion, do you think, because you had two guys out there making the calls, two different guys, I should say?
URBAN MEYER: I don't think so. That's a question I'm going to ask, and you're certainly welcome to ask it as well.
Two young guys, Shaq Quarterman, Chapelle Russell, linebackers. When they stepped in, Myles went down, Dakota Allen went down, that was when the two -- you forced them to punt twice. What did you see from those two young guys?
URBAN MEYER: I love those guys. I see it on special teams all the time. I'm very involved with special teams. I'm with them constantly. I'll watch the film. I just saw what you saw. I wasn't knee deep in the calls and all that. We were getting ready to go on offense. But those are great players and great people.
Trevor Lawrence seems to be getting every game. You had a 58-yard pass today. Can you speak to his progress?
URBAN MEYER: He's awesome. We all are, the 904, we all are waiting for that. Our teammates are waiting. Just to give him the ball with a chance to go win the game because I think he'll win it. His practice habits, his toughness, his leadership, it's getting better each week, like you said.
Urban, how emotionally draining was this week for you considering what happened? And did you see any of that impact any of the players at all today?
URBAN MEYER: I didn't. You could ask them. I apologized earlier in the week, and players had a really excellent week of practice and put ourselves really in position to win a game at one point.
You had said that from week 1 to week 4 you saw improvement in this team. Did they take a step back today?
URBAN MEYER: I don't think so. I'm going to look, and obviously I'll let you know. You were out there, like I was, watching the team lay it all on the line. You look up there, and we punched that thing in. The original score, they said it was in, and you're within striking distance to go win the game.
