(on the disaster that today was for the team especially for the offense)
Yeah, I feel like I can come up here and say the same things. You've got to keep it positive. One thing is, I think we've got some guys in that room, we've got enough guys to make it work. We're just not playing well and that's something that you obviously see on tape. Everyone that watches the game, they see. You know, I thought the start of the game, obviously we didn't put any points on the board but we're moving the ball. We were really good on third down. I thought we had a really good plan. I felt dialed in. I felt like I was seeing it well, especially in the first half. Obviously, the one interception off two-live, the guy was in the right spot, caught the ball. That's tough, you know? That's just a play that bounced their way. And then from there, we kind of seemed to go downhill. I'm frustrated the way I finished. Obviously towards the end of the game, that last interception, I think that was definitely the worst one, as far as decisions. I'm frustrated with that. I can't give them the ball again even if the game is probably already away from us. You've got to take care of it and put a drive together and feel good about where you're at. I didn't do that. I got a little careless with the ball that throw so definitely want that one back. Tennessee had a good plan. They had some cover-zero looks that were different. The one, the second interception, we had Tavon (Austin) on a route inside and he beat his man, but then the linebacker dropped out underneath it right as I thew it and they brought more guys than we could block. That's a tough one. Obviously, chalk that up on me. Pre-snap I didn't like the look and I was behind the clock and I wanted to check it. I just should have called timeout. I rushed myself into that one. Hindsight, obviously, I would have wished I would have called the timeout to get us in a better situation. Yeah, like I said, I think that last one definitely was the one that annoys me the most, for sure. It's just careless with the ball. Yeah, offensively, obviously we've got to run the ball better. That starts in this league. If you can't run the ball it's tough, and today we didn't. I know, we've got the guys to do it. We've got a great running back, couple of great running backs, great O-line. We've shown – we've done it earlier in the year so whatever that piece is to get that back going, we've got to find it. We're going to go back to work this week and figure it out. That's something that you've got to be able to do and didn't do it today, obviously. We had a couple calls that killed some momentum. I'll have to look at them. I'm not saying they were bad calls, but you just look at them. We had a big play and there's a holding call, brings it back so we've got to be better with the penalties like we said earlier in the year as well. And then for me, I've just got to finish better. Got to keep playing. Like I said, I felt really good at the beginning of the game. I thought we were doing a good job taking what the defense was giving us. I felt like we were all on our assignments. It just got away from us in the end. I don't think we played a full game at all. Obviously, you can tell that. We've got to help our defense, you know? They kept us in the game, gave us plenty of chances but we didn't do anything with it. A lot of things to correct and you've got to take it one thing at a time. Like I always say, I've got to watch the tape and see where that starts, but it obviously starts with me being the quarterback and I've got to accept all the blame for what I did. I didn't play well, didn't put us in good situations. I take that on the chin and we're going to keep getting better and keep going to work. That's all there is to do. The season is not over yet. We've got to keep building, keep playing, try to build some confidence toward the end of the season.
(on the conscious effort to throw more deep balls today)
Yeah, that was an emphasis that we had and I thought we had a really good plan to attack them down the field. Like I said, you look at – I missed one. I overthrew it by a yard or two to Tavon (Austin) on third down. That was one we could have hit, and then the go to Marvin (Jones Jr.) that he caught on the sideline that got brought back for holding. Hit that one and then I think the next play, threw the one to Laquon (Treadwell) on the right side. He makes a great catch. Just giving those guys a shot down field. They did a great job. So those are two really that we hit. One of them got brought back. The scramble like you were talking about, third-and-10, late in the game. We need to get something going. I try to make a play and Jaydon (Mickens) did a good job working back and trying to give him a chance to make a big play. It ended up being like a long punt, I guess, on third-and-10. Obviously, you don't want to turn the ball over and throw, I guess that would be my third pick in the game. Maybe in hindsight just try to scramble, get four or five, put us in fourth-and-four and you have a chance to go for it and dial up whatever play you want, gives you a better shot. But in my mind, you know, just give a him shot to make a play.
(on how hard it is to focus with the news stories about the team this week)
That's not a part of my job to worry about that. I play football. Guys in this locker room have done a great job of staying focused. I hate to even say that when we played like that because it doesn't look like it, but really we've got a great locker room and everyone's stayed together and stayed focused. We're all just doing whatever we can to go try to win some games. But to your point, it's just control what I can control. All I can control is who I am, how I treat people, the way I respond, and just being as prepared as I can and going and playing the best I can. Today definitely wasn't my best, but I feel I was prepared. I feel like I saw everything well, especially early in the game. And then later, like I said, got away from us. To your question, there's only so much you can worry about that stuff. There will be a time and a place where that stuff is addressed. I don't know exactly what that is or my involvement. I'm here to play ball and be the best quarterback I can and lead the team. So, I'm going to keep doing that and I think everything will work itself out.
(on the frustration of running back James Robinson's lack of carries after going to bat for him last week)
A lot of stuff happened that game, so it's hard to keep track of exactly what the situations were, why we did this and that. Like I said, I need to watch it and break it down. And that's something that I'm sure we'll talk about, obviously, because the run game is so important in this league as far as time of possession, field position, play action, all that stuff. It's really critical, so that's definitely something we have to look at and obviously have to get James (Robinson) involved more. I know some of those were different, you've got some runs called and release throws and all that that end up being some quick-gain throws if you have the numbers. That happened a couple of times, but you're spot on. We have to look at it. Can't let that happen.
(*_on playing a little freer this week offensively_*)
We are, we're trying to do that. I don't think that's the reason for the turnovers today. A couple of them just bad breaks, and then two of them, bad decisions by me. You have to compartmentalize those and learn what you can from them. I thought pushing the ball downfield, we did a good job. I think the biggest thing was just consistency. We were actually, I don't know what the numbers were, were pretty good on third down, especially the first three quarters. But it just seemed like we'd get a first down or two and then the next set of downs we'd have to punt. So, it's like we just couldn't get a few of those in a row or hit a big play and continue that drive in the red zone. Like when we hit the one to Laquon (Treadwell), I checked it down for like six, seven yards, holding call brought us back. And then on the next play where they dropped out and the linebacker picked me off, I tried to throw it inside. That's something where we get down there in plus territory on the 30 and you have to be able to put a drive together to at least get a field goal. But we need to score a touchdown there to get us back in the game.
(on if sparking the offense is like 'trying to find a needle in a haystack')
There's definitely that feeling because you have to do something. If something's not working, you have to try to figure it out. But, to the same point, you can't try to change everything and I think that's where you have to be careful. You have to figure out what you're good at. Obviously, we don't know that right now cause you can see we're not playing well on offense. That's something we need to work on and need to have a lot of conversations and figure it out. You can't try to change everything, but you're right, there's definitely some things we need to consider to jumpstart the offense because we have to be better for the defense. They're playing pretty well and we put them in a bad spot.
