Is the team playing with mental toughness for enough to win?
Not for what it takes to win. With the penalties down in the red and the other stuff, we have to better. If not, we are going to have a sucky feeling after every game. You try your best to do it the right way in practice and if you don't do it right in practice, then you can't expect it to go right in the game. We've got to look at that, each man as an individual and say, "OK then, I've got to get better at this, this, and this."
What needs to get better in practice?
I thought we had a good week. I thought, but there were certain areas that if something just keeps showing up then you've got to address it so it doesn't become a problem in a game. But that's for everybody. But to answer the first part, I think we just – the mental toughness comes from doing it in practice. If you don't have the confidence to go out there – then you feel tough about it.
Is it more frustrating that you have not been able to get over the hump or because there is some redundancy why?
I think just the overall feeling of losing is what breaks my heart. I have seen what it takes to win at this level and I see what our coaches are saying every week. That is why I believe in what we are doing but we don't have the results yet. That's always hard too. You have got to remind the younger guys. They don't know any better either that, trust me, if you just do it the way they are saying, do it the right way, when you show up on Sundays it will get done.
What happened on the miscues in the passing game?
I think we will have to look at it on film. The batted ball or what not at the line of scrimmage, I'd have to see it. I am not watching them. Me and a certain guy, we have connected on a lot of passing in this league and today they didn't go our way. So, we will take a look at them on film and why, and we will try to get better from it. I felt like we were still able to hit some big plays in the passing game and I didn't feel like it was a shutdown or anything like that.
What did you see on the two-point conversion attempt?
They pulled the backside safety, they had (Kevin) Byard on Darren (Waller). Darren had to move to get inside and the backside safety was coming so I had to throw it back shoulder so that guy wouldn't pick it, so same conversation. I was just trying to give Darren a chance high in the back of the end zone and we didn't hit it.
Are you surprised the offense is struggling in the first few games?
Yes, I am. The fact that we haven't won. We have shown flashes of like, 'Boom, boom, boom, boom,' and it feels good. But it comes back to like what Josh (McDaniels) keeps telling us on the film, certain things keep showing up and if we don't correct those then it is going to feel this way. I don't have any doubt, I don't have any worries. I have definitely been on teams where I was worried, like, 'How are we going to do it?' I don't have that feeling. Not even close (to having) that kind of feeling especially when we are out there. We do have to correct some things, or it is going to be hard.
What things are showing up on film?
For me personally, I just have got to execute at the highest level on every play, and when it comes to anything else, that's for Josh (McDaniels). But for me personally, trying to pinpoint every time, to make the right call, make sure I am sliding the right way, moving in the pocket, all of those kind of things. Those are the types of things if I do it in practice it shows up in the game. So that's why I am just trying to do that.
What was going on in the passing game with drop balls, bad connections, etc.?
Just the play before you get, we call a certain play. We knew we would get certain coverage and he was tough as nails and our man caught it and he got hammered. I looked at him and I said, 'Are you good?' You know, it was going to be a bang-bang kind of thing. And a similar play down at the (inaudible), and he is the kind of guy that always makes that play, and I am going to try to put it correctly on him so he doesn't have to worry about anything. But both of us are going to be hard on ourselves to make sure that doesn't happen. Because at the end of the day it is us, we lose, we turned the ball over. You know me. I am not going to put it on anybody except me. They may want to do that too.
How much continuity can you build with 7 different offensive line combinations?
Those guys are working hard to do it. It's hard. I always say, especially like having coaches, the more you are around them the more you understand, the more chemistry you have. I know Josh (McDaniels) and our offensive staff are working really hard to find that group. We had different guys in there today and I thought they played well. I thought they did some really good things. There are definitely things they will want to work on, but time on task will help them and Josh (McDaniels) said that too. The more we keep doing it the right way, we will get better as we go.
What goes into it as a team to get the desired outcome?
It takes everybody. I can be optimistic, everybody can be optimistic, but if not everybody is doing the work or doing the right things in practice, it doesn't matter how much we hope for. You have got to earn it. But we are going to stay positive already. That's the kind of people we have in the room. We have been through our fair share of tough things, especially the players that were here, the coaches that were here last year and years before. We have been through a lot of stuff. We didn't start the season off the way we wanted to at all but there is no doubt in our minds that if we keep doing the right things we can figure this out.
Are you not thrilled with the overall effort in practice?
I think the execution was not at its best on some days but that's not the reason. It's not like that. I wouldn't say I am not pleased with it, but my point is you have got the meetings, the practice, the walkthroughs all matter, so if you are on it, on all those things, then you usually go out and you are on your assignments. So for me, I believe in that and that's what Josh (McDaniels) preaches, that it matters. When we go to the meetings, take what they are saying and go do it on the field. Then it will start happening more and more.
What do you do to stop this snowball effect?
It is not the end of the world, but at the same time there is urgency. It is not like we are in OTAs and we will get it right eventually, we have got to get it right now. So, whenever Coach (McDaniels) gives us our corrections tomorrow, we will go home and fix them then, take it and do better. It's a formula that is not hard itself, more personally, it gets hard to make a decision to do hard things right. It starts with me. It starts with the leaders and we are going to make sure we jump on that as soon as Coach gives them to us and grind away because the only thing that pulls you out of it is hard work. We are not going to get lucky at some point. You just keep working hard and things tend to go your way when you do that.
