When the offense feels you can't get a run game going, does that put a little more pressure for you guys on third down?
"Yeah, definitely. I felt like we just couldn't really get the run game rolling today, which is obviously what we've talked about all year focusing on. Put us in a lot of third-and-extra longs that are hard to convert. Just felt like that was the story of the day, couldn't get much rolling."
When you look at this week, being a short week, how do you reset?
"We've got a good team coming in this upcoming week at home. Got to watch this film early tomorrow morning, tonight. Flush it, get the corrections, make the corrections, and then move on to next week. I think a lot of us already kind of know what happened this game and what we need to correct. We're ready to move on and get a jump start on this upcoming game."
As one of the captains on this team, how do you go about keeping the confidence level high in the locker room?
"The mission's the same every week. You've got to come in with that same mentality. I know I do. When it's hard, that's when you have to work the hardest. The record is not what we like right now, but everyone's coming in the building every day to put their best foot forward and display what they can to the best of their ability out there on the field."
HC Lovie Smith mentioned how things weren't going well offensively because there was a lot of pressure in the backfield. How do you try to address that throughout the game?
"It's tough. A lot of it, we were trying to run the ball on first and second down. We might pop a run and then get some sort of penalty on the play that gets us pushed back. Just not much going for us today. They can bring pressure when they know it's a passing situation, and it's tough to defend some of those guys. They have some really talented players on the other side of the ball. Obviously we'll see the film. I can't make all the corrections and tell you what went wrong right now. Ready to see it tomorrow. We've got this game circled for later in the season when we go to Tennessee and see them again, so be ready for that. Like I said, see the film, make the corrections, and then move on to the Eagles early this next week."
What was happening in the first half with some of the penalties and miscues?
"It was tough. Some of them, I know two of them had it popped up. I got hit as I was throwing, so just tough. Then the interception, I've just got to put it on his body. It was a lack of execution of what we were trying to do, but still you've got to be smart with the football and not throw it to the other team. Can't do much there."
Knowing this is a national game and you're facing the only undefeated team in the NFL, does that give you something positive to hang your hat on?
"Definitely, yeah. I think it provides a lot of hunger for the team to move into this next week. Obviously everyone in the league has the Eagles circled right now being the only undefeated team. We're ready to obviously make the corrections from this game, but play a really good football game this coming Thursday."
As you take a look at your performance from last week compare it to this week, what changed for you?
"I feel like last week just stayed efficient. We were able to be dynamic and efficient on offense, running and passing. This week just shot ourselves in the foot too much. Got in bad situations that are tough to get out of.
I felt like that was kind of the story of the game. This was one of those games, can't do much. Flush it and move on to next week."
With the trade deadline coming up, do you feel like that causes a little miscommunication with guys in the locker room?
"I don't think so. Everyone is focused on what's going on in this building, not too much with what people are saying in the media. We're focused on what we got to do to win games."
How do you feel like this game shows or identifies you as an offense? What can you all do for the rest of the year to try to define it better?
"We know what we've got to do obviously. I don't think our focus is going to change. We're obviously still going to try to run the football. Got to be better in that regard. Then other plays will happen as we continue to develop the run game. If we notice we can't run the ball, we'll be able to mix in some different completion concepts and some just 11-personnel run game to mix it up that we'll be able to pop some plays. We'll keep moving forward and do what we need to do to execute our own stuff. We're looking forward. We've still got a long season ahead of us, so a lot of winning football can be played."
