(on how disappointing it was to lose today after the preseason optimism)
I mean, it's disappointing to lose, especially in the fashion we did. Obviously, first game, it was a lot of emotion. We were very excited to get out there and play and get a W, but it didn't work out like that. We just pretty much didn't play well at all on either side of the ball, special teams. We got out-coached. We got out-played. But, you know, hats off to them. They're a good team. They proved it today and they are a better team than us right now.
(on what went wrong today and why it was so flat from start to finish)
If I knew the answer to that, we would have played better. We've definitely got to watch the film tonight, really be honest and truthful with ourselves because we just didn't play well, and that's the bottom line. We have to be better than that if we want to be the type of team that we are, but as a leader on this football team, I'm going to make sure that as we watch this film and be honest with ourselves, we just flush it down the drain and get ready for Seattle. That's the only thing we can do.
(on the challenge of playing against Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray)
He ran around, made some good plays. Being the quarterback that he is, trying to corral him and get him inside the pocket is definitely tough. I think we did some good things on defense, but it wasn't good enough, especially on crucial downs, third downs. We just didn't make enough plays today.
(on putting issues to bed)
Like I said, I've got to watch the film. But at the end of the day, we just didn't play well enough in certain situations, you know, just on all sides of the ball. I mean, I do have to watch the film to make sure that I can see exactly what happened wrong, but it's just in certain situations we just didn't play well. I've got to play better. We've all got to play better so that's the bottom line.
(on the frustration of not having a play like his interception propel momentum in their favor)
Yeah, I mean, get an interception, get a touchdown, and then we give up a big play on the screen. We just didn't string enough good plays together to keep our offense in the game, get them rolling. So like I said, we've just got to be better in all phases.
(on how to tell his teammates to dig out of this loss)
We've been here before. It's a very long season. We have 17 games this year. It's not the start that we wanted to have, but at the end of the day, we find out what type of team we are when you have this type of adversity, especially to start the year. I'm going to make sure I come into the building tomorrow with a lot of energy, a lot of juice, a lot positive energy. Because at the end of the day, that's all we can do. We're not going to sit here, mope around, keep our heads down. We're going to keep battling, keep fighting and get ready for Seattle.
(on finding out what the team culture really is)
Yes, that's exactly right. We're going to find out what type of coaches we have, what type of guys we have in this locker room, and I know we have the right guys in the locker room. I know we have the right guys on this team to battle back after a tough loss like that. So, like I said, it's a long year and we're going to look at it just like that.
(on if there was a sense of overconfidence or lack of preparation for today's game)
Not at all. I mean, at the end of the day, I've talked about this before. These games are not played on paper no matter who we have, who we sign, what type of guys we have on this team. We've got to go out there and perform every single week. It's not about what you said you're going to do, whatever. It's about what you do. We didn't do enough to win. We put on a pretty bad performance. We've got to get back to the drawing board.
(on what it was like to play in front of a stadium with no capacity restrictions)
It was a great atmosphere. The fans were there. They showed up. They showed out. But if you put a bad performance out there, you're gonna get boos. Rightfully so, honestly. Like I said, we didn't play well. Can't really expect anything less. I think our fanbase wants us to be a great team and we want to be a great team. We didn't show it today, so we kind of expected the boos and all that good stuff.
