HEAD COACH MIKE MUNCHAK
(on overall impression of game)
"It was very frustrating. The game started out exactly like you hoped it wouldn't. We got the ball first and went three and out. It started off with a tough play. I called a boot into an end up the field—had a little bad luck there—so we ended up punting. They started out exactly how they left off last year, the last time we played. They were successful on first down to grind it out and take a lot of time off the clock. They had a nice drive and were able to put points on the board. That kind of set the tone in the first half. We didn't have the ball much. Our defense—after that first drive—I think did a pretty good job in keeping the score intact and we were only down 10-0 at the half. We had opportunities there but with the untimely penalties before the half, that could have given usa chance to get three or seven (points) and making it a lot closer; even though statistically, we should have been blown out of the game at halftime. We had very few plays—the whole game I think we only rushed the ball a dozen times--and you won't win many games doing that. "
*(on playing Jacksonville) *
"It comes down to time of possession and when you play Jacksonville, you know that's the time you're battling against. They are going to take three downs to get ten yards quite a bit They're going to have third and two or third and one, six, seven, eight times and it's just real tough to stop them in that situation. And then they play—especially in the last four minutes—where they take a lot of time off the clock, when we needed to stop them. It was frustrating"
(on what positives came out of the game)
"The positive thing is, we had a shot to win that thing. I think we all believed in that. That was the fun part of it on the sideline. As miserable as it was for three quarters, we made the big play to Kenny (Britt) and got the touchdown to get within two, the defense did get the stop and made them punt…then there we were, 20 yards away from a field goal attempt to win that thing. That's the thing we have to hang our hat on and say 'You know what, that's the way the NFL is. We didn't play as well as we had hoped, but in the end, we actually had a shot to win the thing."
(on if Matt Hasselbeck got over anxious at the end with the interception)
"It was hard to tell what he saw. It was at a time when he needed to make a play. You'll have to ask him. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but he had a chance with Kenny Britt who had been making some great catches."
(on Kenny Britt)
"He played exactly how we thought he could play. He is a big play maker and is someone who has a chance to be a difference maker for us. Like I said, we wish we had gotten some things started earlier for him and some of the other guys, but the opportunities were slim."
(on the defense)
"You start pressing a little bit when you have three and outs and they're keeping the ball, it makes it hard on our defense. They played a lot of football. Even when we scored, they must have had 25 plays in a row somewhere in there which makes it awfully hard for anyone to hold up against. I think they did a very good job keeping them to field goals. You'll trade that off if you're only giving up 16 points. I mean you have to score more points on offensive and we had the opportunity. The defense got the fumble at midfield and then we got a sack and had a chance to get a fumble on that, but didn't recover the ball there. You have to take the out of their comfort zone and we weren't able to do that until late in the game when they had to throw the ball."
(on Chris Johnson)
"He made some plays here and there, but like I said there wasn't a lot of running room and if you want to get a back going, he's got to have more than four carries in the first half. He has to get more touches, but he didn't get them. It's hard to judge someone who, I think in the end, only carried the ball seven or eight times. It's kind of hard to judge where he's at when he didn't have the opportunity. He made some plays there at the end in the pass game right before the half and in the fourth quarter. He'll be fine, but I think this was one of those games where we really couldn't get him involved because we didn't have a whole lot of plays."
QB MATT HASSELBECK
(on the offensive game plan)
"We had a lot of frustration early on but we had to learn how to manage that. We couldn't stay on the field and couldn't convert third down. We were a little sloppy. We played 30 minutes of football instead of 60. We had a chance but that's not good enough."
(on the final drive)
"The bottom line is that we had a chance at the end to give Rob (Bironas) a chance to win the game. We didn't execute. That's on me. I have to make it happen there."
(on the interception on the final drive)
"I got a little greedy. That's exactly what happened. It was a matchup situation and the play that was called, I felt, could end the game. It didn't go down, obviously, like I envisioned but Rob is a kicker with a big leg and there wasn't a lot of time left. The smarter play would have been probably to hit Chris (Johnson), hopefully spike it, and give our field goal team a chance."
(on adjustments made in the second half)
"There was a moment in third quarter where Coach Chris Palmer came over and said, 'Hey, be ready to go two-minute drill.' That sort of surprised me. I think he just wanted to change the tempo. We were going two minutes on that next drive and we scored on that very first play on the long one to Kenny (Britt)."
RB CHRIS JOHNSON
(on the offensive performance)
"Offensively we have to stay on the field and make longer drives. That will solve everything. There wasn't too much of what they were doing. We just have to stay on the field."
(on how he felt)
"I went out there and felt better than I thought I was going to feel. It's a good thing at the level and condition I am in right now."
(on will it take two or three games on where he would like to be)
"I wouldn't say that because I really didn't have a long drive to stay on the field and see how my body would react. I felt good out there and I think I will be alright."
(on whether Jacksonville was plugging up the holes)
"No, we just didn't have the opportunities. On first down, we would have no gain or a yard and we would have to throw the ball. That would leave us third down and you have to throw it again, so there was not many opportunities to run the ball. I feel like we just have to work as a whole offensive unit on the field."
(on if he didn't miss training camp would they would have won the game)
"I can't say that. We weren't really able to show what our offense looks like. Towards the end we made some plays and tried to come back."
WR KENNY BRITT
(on opening loss)
"I believe we started a little too late. We didn't get it going as we wanted to enough in the first half. There were too many penalties and that goes on us. Trust me, we'll go back to the drawing board tomorrow morning."
(on matchup against the Jaguars' secondary)
"I had confidence in myself and in the match-ups across the ball with our receivers and their defensive backs. They have a strong front seven and I believe our line handled that well today."
(on the offense)
"I am feeling very confident about this team. We just started a little late today like I said. In the second half, once we started moving there was no stopping us."
CB Cortland Finnegan
(on road loss)
"I think we had a chance at the end to win. We gave up yards to them. Their running game was real successful. I don't think they did anything in the passing game that we weren't expecting. As a secondary, we have to tackle better and then get off the field. At the end of the day, no matter what mistakes we still had a chance to win at the end and that's all you can ask for. We just came up short."
(on adjusting to new season with new staff)
"The coaching staff puts us in the right positions to make plays and they prepare us well. This new staff is ready, willing and able to execute. We just need to go out as players and do that."
(on bouncing back after week one loss)
"Each week on Sunday you roll it out there and the best team wins. Some breaks happen along the way and we just have to find a way to finish."
S CHRIS HOPE
(after the loss)
"We started off playing an opportunistic Jacksonville Jaguars team playing them at home with a new quarterback who came in and managed the game well. They came out and maneuvered well at the beginning. Once the defense settled down, we held them in check pretty much. We can't afford to play catch-up ball at home or on the road. So, next game we have to come out a little faster."
(on McCown's performance for Jaguars at quarterback)
"We didn't get a chance get a lot of film on him but we knew he was experienced and he knows the game. He knows where to go with the football."
DT SHAUN SMITH
(on the loss)
"It was a tough one. We had a chance to win it at the end. We just have to get better. Go back tomorrow, watch film and improve where we could. We have another tough game next week."
(on the defensive effort)
"Overall, we have to get better as a defense - the guys up front, myself, the linebackers and secondary. There's no finger-pointing. We lose as a team and win as a team. In this league most games are won by seven points or less and we were right in there to the end."
K ROB BIRONAS
(on the 66-yard missed FG in first half)
"I was kicking real well and I had a feeling we were going to have an opportunity to make a long one. It came down to it in the first half and I just missed it by about one-half inch on my toe. I didn't get all of the ball. There were four seconds on the clock. We were going with it."
(on the possibility of attempting potential game-winning field goal attempt)
"The winds had changed and were blowing at my back. I welcome those opportunities. It's not high percentage kicking from 60-plus but I know I can make them. The first one at half-time, I should have had a better hit on the ball. I don't think I would have missed two of those."
