Head Coach Mike McDaniel (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
(Second straight week where we’ve seen the offense really go down the field and score a lot of points, but on the other side of the ball the defense struggled to get stops until late. Is this type of play sustainable? From one side of the ball playing this well to the other side not being able to get stops for much of the afternoon?) – “I kind of see it the opposite way. I see that – I see a strong example of complementary football. There’s been instances all season that I’m really fired up about with the team where one phase, the whole stadium and both teams can feel that they don’t have momentum right now. For this game, it was defensively – (the Bears) were able to convert some stuff and really stay on the field and dominate time of possession for the first three quarters, really. But what I’m happy about is the resolve. Of course, you want to dominate your opponent. They get paid to … They did a good job not – we were hoping to get some turnovers, and they didn’t really give us opportunities to. They were very strategic in how they approached the game plan, I feel like and keeping the ball out of our hands. To their credit, Justin Fields is as dynamic with the ball in his hands as any player in the league, really. It will never be sustainable for one side of the ball to dominate in the National Football League anyway. It’s hard to within one game. What I’m just happy about is when the offense wasn’t able to score points, the defense found their best play, and that’s what we’re going to build on moving forward.”
(178 yards from QB Justin Fields running. What did you see that allowed him to be that successful and really keep that offense going for them) – “That was a big point of emphasis going into the game, just knowing how he’s really helped really change that offense’s complexion the last couple weeks. So, you do your best. There was a couple missed tackles live that I saw that you’d love to have. But ultimately, you just have to continue to stress rush lanes, and we’ve got to improve on our plan that we were trying to execute, that type of – you run into those type of players once in a while in the National Football League, and you’ve got to be able to take away what they’re doing really well. We were able to do that for probably the first three quarters, but I’m just happy that we did in the fourth.”
(On the fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter, you chose to go for it. A field goal would have made it a six-point game and you chose to go for it. Did that have everything to do with the missed field goal earlier in the day?) – “It had to do with the elements, which direction we were going. I wasn’t – Every decision is independent really in those situations. I know we’ve had a lot of situations where I have gone for it. That doesn’t mean I’m a riverboat type guy and that I’m just going to do that all the time. But in this particular situation, had we been going the opposite end, we probably would have kicked it. But that was a – in this stadium in general, it’s kind of a whirling, unpredictable gust type situation. I just thought it was safer in playing to the style of game a little bit more to go ahead and go. Didn’t work out, but it was definitely influenced by the weather and which direction we were going.”
(In that same sequence, what happened for you to burn those two timeouts?) – “There was one timeout where I think there was a huddle situation. Another one, it was probably the second time all year that I was going to get him the play that I wanted too late, probably with like 19 seconds on the clock. So instead of trying to rush it, I just let it bleed out and tried to get the appropriate play. There was a situation that the communication in the huddle was a little off one of the timeouts, and there was another situation where it was me just choosing to do that because I was going to get it in too late.”
(Off of that first question, is QB Tua Tagovailoa keeping… Do you see a growth week to week in his keeping composure and maturity whatever is hitting you guys defensively? Do you see a growth over time?) – “It’s really – the growth really since we started, I think our first team meeting was April 4th. So in seven months’ time, the growth has been unbelievable in how he’s playing the position, learning the whole system, and then how he’s handling the ebbs and flows of natural in-game momentum. I saw it again today. He didn’t really give the defense an opportunity to take the ball away, really, and then he just continues to impress by being — through the course of the game, just taking it one play at a time. The players themselves can really feel the visceral confidence and energy that he’s bringing forth to play the position and responding to it on both sides of the ball, I feel like.”
(What did LB Bradley Chubb and RB Jeff Wilson Jr. offer to the team today?) – “Oh, it was very, very good play by both of them. The particular individuals, not just their skills but the human beings, getting them this week was exactly what we had hoped. They’re the type of people that are both physical but team guys and very talented. So that really paid off all week, had everyone real excited. I think that it paid off in several people’s statistics defensively. The rotation – guys were able to be a little bit more fresh. (Bradley Chubb) was in and around the ball a ton. Then Jeff (Wilson Jr.) was exactly what I had known from my experience with him. He’s a big-game player that really thrives when his number is called upon, and to bring that aggressiveness and then made a couple plays in the pass game that were pretty cool. (I’m) really happy with those two guys – glad they’re with us.”
(With the score on special teams, your perspective of LB Jaelan Phillip’s blocking the punt and then LB Andrew Van Ginkel?) – “We were hoping – we knew we were going to shoot our shot, so to speak, and try to get one. When you have those opportunities, not only do you have to get home, but you have to be on the spot. For Jaelan (Phillips) to come through like that was phenomenal and to turn it into immediate points with (Andrew) Van Ginkel’s scoop-and-score, it’s pretty cool that I think those two also with – maybe that doesn’t happen if that group isn’t as fresh, and we can’t use them as much on special teams. So the whole team benefits when everyone is playing and contributing. It was awesome to see those guys flourish then.”
(In the first half, we saw you guys work going down pretty easily. I think there was about 40 seconds left and you had an illegal formation that pushed you back and you had to burn the timeout to save the time. You ended up kicking a field goal, but can you just kind of walk me through what happened there?) – “So kind of the mode of operation, or what we’re trying to do, is you have the ball, and you’re trying to have one or two things happen. You’re either finishing the half with points or the ball, because that ensures that the other side doesn’t get an opportunity, which is what our kind of mode was. You’ll see at the end of halves, there will be times where we’re moving the ball well, but we’re taking the whole 40-second clock knowing that we have a chance to lap them in the second half, getting the ball back. The 12-men kind of threw me off a hair. So then after we called the third-down play and it was surprisingly short – I was thinking it was going to be a first down just by the depth of the route, so I immediately took a timeout right after the completion. In hindsight, had I known that it would have been fourth-and-short and we didn’t get enough distance, I would have waited until like four seconds before I called the timeout. But there was solid execution. There were a couple things that we can learn from, and then I will adjust my vantage point because my angle from where the spot was and where the first-down chains ended up hurting us in that given moment.”
(I apologize if you’ve been asked this before. There are a lot of running quarterbacks, a lot of mobile guys. What was it about QB Justin Fields that made the running element so difficult to contain?) – “Well, he’s as fast as any skill position runner. Like he is really, really fast, and he can cut and break tackles. There are a lot of running quarterbacks. This one in particular, I think, is very elite and adept at that. In those type of situations, it ultimately comes down to like an arm tackle a lot of times and a difference between a sack and a 40-yard explosive, so you have to go back to the drawing board. Then when you ultimately are in a situation against a player like that, you have to recognize how big of arm tackles those are, where you’re half engaged with a lineman and you’ve got an arm on the guy, you’ve got to find a way to wrap up a leg or do something like that, because he makes those very small windows of opportunity to these gigantic (windows) very fast. We had a plan. They definitely got the better of us in that regard, so we’ll take a look at the tape and see how we can improve, because that’s something that will always be the case in this league. There’s going to be dynamic players at that position.”
(WR Tyreek Hill had a big day, 20-yards per catch. He has over 1,000 yards for the season now. There was one play in particular, it was his 39-yard catch, I think it was in the second quarter. He’s in a bunch formation on the right side.) – “Yup, I know the one.”
(I wanted you to kind explain that route to me because it was so cool, he kind of like casually walked a couple steps and then burst down. I wanted to know what you see in him in that and what exactly that route is for him?) – “There are certain times where you can utilize his unparalleled zero-to-60 burst. In that particular play, he was an option for the quarterback that if they gave us a certain coverage and they were attacking internally with man coverage, attacking internally on the inside part of the field, that he’d be able to find his way through traffic and we could layer something out there. It’s something that you’re not really afforded that option to do a play like that that comes up a ton. With our players, we’re able to do some pretty cool stuff that is just kind of like abstract creative thought with a lot of guys. But with him in particular, he can find his way through traffic, and then the key is that him and Tua (Tagovailoa) are on the same page, which they were, and it was a very big play in the second quarter.”
QB Tua Tagovailoa (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
(We saw the offense score four touchdowns on the first five drives, obviously you have the missed field goal at the end of the first half. What happened late with some of those missed fourth-down attempts and not taking advantage of the short field?) – “There were a lot of things – getting the play call to guys on my end, guys kind of figuring out where to line up, the environment at that particular time was giving us some problems with the crowd noise. So just better execution on my end and for us offensively.”
(Do you feel like you were kind of in a shootout with QB Justin Fields but for different reasons – his legs and your arm? You just had to go back and forth, and you knew you couldn’t give them a break.) – “I would say the way we looked at it offensively, we don’t have to press, we don’t have to do anything outside of whatever that play entails. Just do your job, do your assignment and the points will take care of itself. We weren’t necessarily looking at the scoreboard. We were just trying our best every time that we were given the ball to go out and score.”
(Can talk a little bit about your receiving corps. It seems like if they take WR Jaylen Waddle away from you, you’d find WR Tyreek Hill and vice versa the whole game?) – “Yeah, that’s exactly what it is. If one gets doubled, we’re looking for the other, and if that one is doubled, as well, if they double both of them, then we’ve got to find the next guy. They both complement each other, but they also both complement everyone else on our offense.”
(What did you learn about this team in tough road victories at Baltimore, at Detroit and now here?) – “I’ve learned a lot – the resiliency of our team, the resiliency of our guys to continue to fight, to continue to not give up on the game. Regardless of how close the game is or how out of hand it may be, we continue to fight. So that’s what I’m proud of with our team up to this point.”
(What was going on that you were able to exploit what was going on in the secondary and had wide open receivers?) – “Yeah, I think the offense, the complexity of what they’re seeing, guys motioning, guys moving, shifting, things like that. I think their defense did a really good job with the second half adjusting. I wouldn’t say our guys are necessarily just wide open. We’re playing the game within the game, as the Bears are playing the game within the game. That’s not to discredit anything that they’ve done, as well.”
(What did RB Jeff Wilson Jr. give you today on the ground as a receiver? I thought I saw a pretty good block by him at one point, also.) – “Yeah, wow – that’s what I’ve got to say. Wow. (laughter) His first game with us, and he almost takes one to score. Then that same drive, he basically Reggie Bush-ed and dove for the touchdown. (laughter) You don’t see that often. So, for someone like him to come from the 49ers and fit right into our offense like that, that tells you a lot about his work ethic, it tells you a lot about who he is as a player and who he is as a professional. So, wow.”
(Did you guys feel like you were in control of this game even though they kept kind of coming back at you, but it was your game to win?) – “Well, we were just playing 60 minutes. Offensively, not looking at the scoreboard and really just, like I said, every opportunity that we got, having the ball, we were just trying to score every time.”
(I know you slipped a couple times when you were trying to make cuts, and this field doesn’t always have the best reputation. How were the conditions today out there?) – “I mean, I think the conditions were actually pretty good out there. There were some slips, but when I went out to go check the field pregame, it looked like they like put some new grass there or they cut the grass. It felt good.”
(How do you feel about the team overall right now? Obviously, you just added LB Bradley Chubb and RB Jeff Wilson Jr., but do you feel you’re hitting your stride, playing complementary football and doing the things you want to do?) – “Yeah, there are at points in the game where we are doing what we said we wanted to do, and then there’s also a fair amount of plays and times that we don’t. It’s a continuation of us working together and coming in tomorrow and working on those things and talking about those. I think it’ll be good that we can hold each other accountable for some of the things that were going on that we didn’t execute.”
(I’m guessing there’s one throw you’d like to have back, the fourth down with TE Durham Smythe being wide open. What happened on that?) – “Well, I saw him, and I was getting ready to throw to him, and I think he took a look up. So it kind of threw off the way I was going to throw it to him, because I didn’t know if he was going to turn up or not. He looked up, and I was getting ready to throw, then the ball came out and he looked back. That’s something that I’ll need to work on to get better with.”
(We see your numbers and they’re very impressive. How do you feel you’re playing right now?) – “It can always get better. It can always be better. That’s what we’re looking forward to. We’ll enjoy this win tonight and then we’ll move onto … the Browns next.”
(Did you get a chance to see QB Justin Fields playing? Obviously, you’re looking at the film a lot, but how much did he impress you today?) – “He impressed me a lot. How much rushing yards did he have? He had like 200?”
(173, something like that.) – “Geez. I mean, dude is a baller. (laughter) Dude is a baller. He was making some plays in the pass game, as well. I’m happy for him. I’m happy for the success that he’s finding. He’s finding himself in this league, and I think people are starting to recognize more, the more he gets out and has those opportunities to play.”
(How are you feeling with your game right now? I look at you and you’re going through your progressions, if it’s not there, you’re dumping off, throwing the ball away when you can throw it away. Are you feeling that growth and the confidence that comes along with that in your game?) – “Yeah, I would say whatever the play entails for us, that’s what I always revert to. If this play doesn’t entail you to force the ball here, then don’t do it, which none of the plays do. So just continue to progress, progress, progress, and then just know where to go with the ball on every play.”
(How many times can you throw the ball to WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle in one game?) – “However many times they can get open. (laughter)”
Matt Eberflus
Postgame Press Conference
Miami 35, Chicago 32
MATT EBERFLUS: Good afternoon.
Hard-fought battle. Disappointed with the loss, and didn’t come out the way we wanted to at the very end but certainly excited about the way the guys fought and battled at the very at the end of the game to get those stops on defense. I thought that was really good. Then we end up having the punt and pin and we end up getting a stop on the defense again and we had 304, we had three timeouts and forced them to a three-and-out and we were 238, we had one time out, 28-yard line and we just couldn’t convert
on the fourth down to that point. But a lot of good things to take way from this contest today.
Obviously on offense, you know, quarterback was really amazing today. You could see that. He had 15 rushes for 178, 11.9 average, I think that’s the most in the NFL, I believe, in the history of the NFL. So that’s saying something. Had a 106 rating, passer rating. Rush for a TD, had passing TD. So obviously a huge step for Justin Fields and the franchise today, so that was really good. A lot of good aspects to look at for the football team. This is our fourth consecutive time rushing the ball over 225, so that’s obviously a very big positive. We were 50 percent — 63 percent on third down, which is really good, too. Obviously we brought in, Mooney had a really good day. Had his first TD for the year. Cole Kmet did a nice job. Claypool had a couple receptions, getting his feet wet. Good to see him in there, so that was really good. Obviously defensively, positive takeaways are the run defense. The run defense was better. Wasn’t perfect. We had some runs come through there a couple times but overall I thought it was better. I thought Sanborn did a nice job where he was and where he needed to be in the run game and same thing we moved obviously Nick over to will, so that was an adjustment for him, so I thought they did a nice job with that. We were facing obviously two really good receivers today with two of the Top-5 receivers, and we need to do better job against those guys of jamming and disrupting at the line of scrimmage, I didn’t think we did a very good job oft hat, and also getting guys up underneath him the way we had planned during the course of the week. We needed to execute better on those items. But like I said, a good, hard-fought battle. We came up short today, and I’ll open to questions from there.
Q. Three straight games where your offense has put up scores — what’s the significance —
MATT EBERFLUS: I think we are just really maximizing our strengths and minimizes our weaknesses right now, and going into a bye week, we wanted to focus on that and look at our roster and making sure that we did that. I think we are doing a lot of good things in protection to help ourselves moving the pocket and giving sight lines and nvision lines for the quarterback that he likes. That is really good for him, and he’s doing a great job with that. He still obviously has the ability to use his feet when things break down. We saw that today on a few third downs, just from me being a defensive guy, you know, in the pass, that’s very difficult. You have to send five guys. You have to have a guy for him that limits your coverages. It creates a lot of situations, and sometimes you’ll send more than that just to fill up the gaps. So it’s a problem. So he’s been really good at executing. I think we’ve been really got last three weeks in third down. We have really been going a good job of executing there to keep the drives alive. The time of possession has been really good for our football team where we are right now. That’s been good. I think in the first half, we had it for 20 minutes I think. Just doing a really good job of progressing the offense.
Q. He’s always been fast and a good runner, Justin.
MATT EBERFLUS: Right.
Q. Why do you think he’s been so much more effective lately? What it working for him right now?
MATT EBERFLUS: I think that when you have the design runs the way we have them, I think it sets them — we have the sweeps and the powers and the counters and the misdirections, and then you have the ability to — our runners didn’t have the numbers they usually have today but they have had great numbers and having that one-two, punch, with really the third punch with the quarterback being able to run the ball that way, I think it’s very difficult for the defenses.
Q. Passing the last few weeks, his production has not been really high but the efficiency, what are you seeing in that element of his game that looks right to you?
MATT EBERFLUS: Yeah, just like we talked about before. Just his pocket presence. He feels more comfortable back there, his platform, he’s in balance. He’s looking down the field to throw the ball, which is a dangerous thing for the defense. He’s progressing that way.
Q. What was your vantage point on the touchdown run?
MATT EBERFLUS: Speed. Yeah, I saw speed and his elusiveness and once he gets into the open field, he runs away from pretty much most people and he did it right there. I think it was, I want to say Mooney — am I right on that? Had a really nice, smart shield block on that particular play, and that was good to see.
Q. Having the ball twice in the fourth quarter with a chance to go down with a drive, what was your advantage point on the positive breakdown?
MATT EBERFLUS: It’s great to put them in the moment to win the game. You know, like I told the guys in the locker room, I said, “Guys, just keep working, keep having determination, get tighter as a group. We’re building the football team.”
They understand that. I know everybody was disappointed but we were right in it at the end and those experiences are invaluable for our football team to be able to be in those moments.
Q. This may be a better question for tomorrow, but did you notice any difference in how you were defended having a guy like Chase Claypool in the mix? Did they do anything differently with his presence?
MATT EBERFLUS: Yeah, I think you’re going to have to. Again, I have to look at the tape so I don’t really know that right now. But I think when you have big-type receivers like Harry and Claypool and St. Brown, you have different types, and you have Mooney inside, I think it creates issues for the defense for sure.
Q. One of the plays that hurt you guys was the pass interference call against Eddie Jackson.
MATT EBERFLUS: Okay.
Q. After you guys cut it to 35-32, what did you see on that play?
MATT EBERFLUS: Again, you know, it’s like everything. You can agree to disagree. From my vantage point, it looked like it was a clean play. But again, I was not all the way over there on the other side. I know the side judge or the back judge in that particular case, they thought it was and that was their opinion and they threw the flag.
Q. Defensively, did you feel like it was smart to — inaudible — hit you —
MATT EBERFLUS: Just what I said before, I thought we needed to do a better job of jamming and disrupting and getting guys underneath. When you single up guys and you play single-high, it’s a hard transition for those DBs, if you put them in that situation all the time. So we obviously have got to do a better job executing our plan.
Q. You’ve been in the NFL for a long time. How special is this run that Justin Fields is on now?
MATT EBERFLUS: I think it’s special. I think we are building our football team. Like I said, we have a young football team. We are building upon that. And the centerpiece of that is the quarterback. That’s the way it is in the NFL. Talk about toughness and grit and the ability to persevere through a lot of different things. Obviously start of the season is feeling his way, and now the last three games he’s really taken off. And we are excited about that as a group and we are excited about that for the Chicago Bears and the franchise.
Q. With his success as a runner, improving his confidence as a passer, are those related?
MATT EBERFLUS: Yeah, I do. I think it opens up a lot of things. The way we are using him now with the different quarterback runs and the different designs that we are doing, I think it’s really good and really smart.
Q. Do you compartmentalize the two? You talk about losing and talking about Justin Fields taking big steps forward. Do you separate those two things as, yeah, you’re taking losses but big steps being taken for the future?
MATT EBERFLUS: That’s a good question, and obviously we are focus on here and now, and the loss hurts very much, but after the performance, it is what it is. We lost by three, so now what are you going to take away from it? What was the positive things we did? What are the things we need to correct? Let’s correct those and take the positives and build upon those. That’s how you get better as a football team, and we are going to continue to do that. So we have to do it offense, defense, kicking. To win football games you have to play complementary football in all phases and we didn’t do a good job of that today. But there are certainly aspects of the game that we like, certain parts of the game that we like and certain parts of our team and we just have to build upon those and correct the things that we need to correct.
Q. Velus Jones — inactive today, your decisionmaking on that?
MATT EBERFLUS: It was about special teams. We looked at our roster, our cover teams and we thought we needed to have other guys up for our cover teams. With Dante Pettis doing a good job with the punt returns, we thought this week that that was the right thing for us to do, and also based on the receiver position, we thought it was the best thing to do.
Q. What are your opinions on Jack Sanborn?
MATT EBERFLUS: Like I said, I thought in the run game, I thought he was really good. I know in the run game when the ball is right there in front of you, he’s right where he’s supposed to be. He’s an instinctual player and he’s physical, and I thought he was around the ball in the run game for sure.
Justin Fields
Q. Justin, how do you feel about your individual performance today?
JUSTIN FIELDS: Yeah, it felt good. You know, credit to God, of course. Without Him, I wouldn’t be here. I felt like we played well today as an offense. You know, O-Line blocked great. Receivers, you know, did what they needed to do in the passing fame, downfield blocking, so I think everybody did their part today.
Q. On the touchdown run, Darnell said you were looking for him initially. Can you take us through your vision of that whole play?
JUSTIN FIELDS: We were expecting man on that play. They went with motion to man and on the snap they went to zone. I was looking for Moon, stepping up in the pocket looking for Moon and right when I was about to throw it to him he turned around so I kind of had to pull the ball back and at that point, instincts took over, and of course the long run and of course he made a great block downfield.
Q. When did you find out it was the record?
JUSTIN FIELDS: When did I find out? Actually I saw it on the score board. The Bears rushing record. Yeah that’s when I found out.
Q. What does it mean to you?
JUSTIN FIELDS: That means a lot. The amount of Bears quarterbacks that came — that’s been here. You know, this franchise has been around for a long time. So I’m definitely honored for sure.
Q. Set the single game record — to Michael Vick’s record.
JUSTIN FIELDS: Yeah, just credit God. Like I said before, I’m just — it’s all because of Him, not really because of me. He’s blessed me with these gifts and I’m just happy to use them.
Q. How does it feel for you after the way your rookie season went and a lot of the hard times during that that you went to and feeling it’s starting to click?
JUSTIN FIELDS: Yeah, I think I’m just growing and gettingbetter each and every week. My main goal right now is just to continue to do that. Continue to trend up, and each and every day I practice, just keep getting better and better, and I mean, that’s really all you can do.
Q. The Kmet touchdown, what was the secret to that —
JUSTIN FIELDS: It’s just part of the play. We’ve had that play in since camp. We’re just working on that ball handling, and of course, you know, just selling the fake. The running back has to sell it, too. Khalil did a great job on that. Something we talked about earlier in the week. Just great execution all the way around.
Q. On the last drive, you took a deep shot to Chase.
Did you have a view of what you saw on that play?
JUSTIN FIELDS: I wasn’t sure during the play but after I saw it on the billboard, it was definitely PI for sure. Just missed it. Can’t do anything about it. Just have to move on to the next play.
Q. Having the ball twice with a chance to go down and tie it or win it, what is your view of that and the value of having those moments?
JUSTIN FIELDS: We all use situations in practice. Each and every week, we go through a two-minute situation and we practice that. Of course, we like to capitalize on that situation when we do have a chance to go down and score and go down and tie the game. Just have to execute on those big plays and make big plays.
Q. What was it like having Chase out there?
JUSTIN FIELDS: Yeah, I think he did a great job this week, studying and preparing for the game. For the plays that he was in, he did the right thing. I think the more reps he gets, the more comfortable he’s going to get with the offense, and of course the more details he’ll be with each and every route.
Q. The play calling felt deliberate, trying to spread the ball around. For Cole Kmet to get involved that early in the red zone, what —
JUSTIN FIELDS: Cole is a weapon for sure. Every time he gets the ball, he runs hard. He puts his pads down and tries to run through guys, so he’s a big guy. He’s like 6-5, 260, something like that, 265. We love getting him the ball. He’s a great player and great teammate for sure.
Q. You’ve run the ball successfully in a ton of games in the past. Did it feel different today? Looked like you couldn’t be stopped.
JUSTIN FIELDS: Yeah, I kind of just evaluate the players during the week, their lateral movement, especially the d-ends and stuff like that, so the guys I’m reading, evaluate that, their speed and stuff like that. I just try to just run and not take that many hits.
Q. Was there a throw off Mooney, left to right?
JUSTIN FIELDS: Yeah, that’s supposed to be a little trick play but of course he didn’t have time. I was definitely looking for the ball. I was hoping I would see the ball come
up from behind the line of scrimmage. Of course he did the smart thing on that play and just ran the ball.
Q. The touchdown pass to Darnell and the look you guys got, when did you know that was the score?
JUSTIN FIELDS: When did I know that was the score?
That’s just man-on-man matchup. The guy over him, he was already inside leverage, so Dante did a great job protecting the safety from the ball and of course we had great protection up front. Really couldn’t ask for a better play call in that situation and kudos to the guys up front protecting their butts off all day.
Q. What’s in your mind the significance of three straight games where you got north of 28 points and moved the ball consistently?
JUSTIN FIELDS: Yeah, the biggest thing is just keep doing it. Just keep doing it, and like I said, each and every day I practice, just keep getting better and focus on the little things and focus on the details and continue to grow.
Q. How do you feel about taking losses but at the same time taking steps forward individually and as an offense?
JUSTIN FIELDS: I feel like this loss, you just have to take the positives out of it, even though you’ve also got to go back to the film room and look at what you can improve on, what plays you can improve on and stuff like that. Just keep working and keep going.
Q. You’ve been very efficient as a passer the last two games. Are you looking for more production out of that?
JUSTIN FIELDS: More production as in, like?
Q. More yards?
JUSTIN FIELDS: Yeah, for sure. I’m definitely looking for more yards every time I’m passing the ball. Just trying to put the team in the best position I can put them in. Of course, just trying to stay on track, first and second down, tried to make it third-and-manageable for my team. We have been great on third down in the past few weeks so if we can keep doing that, web keep having success.
Q. May be early for this but did you notice any difference in how they defended you guys with Claypool?
JUSTIN FIELDS: No, I don’t think they did too much different. I’ve seen him in the past where they have had two guys, guys like Ja’Marr Chase; they sometimes have Xavier Howard follow a receiver. But I think they pretty much played their base defense out there. They mixed up the coverages a little bit on us but all in all just pretty regular.
Q. What do you feel like you’ve proven here the last several games?
JUSTIN FIELDS: I think as a team, we have proven that we can put up points on the board. We are great at running the ball. In the red zone, I think we have definitely improved on that after that Thursday night game where we couldn’t score in the red zone. So just like I said, just consistent improvement, consistent and just getting better in executing in search situations.
Q. What about individually?
JUSTIN FIELDS: What was your question?
Q. What do you feel like you’re improving individually?
JUSTIN FIELDS: Just everything. My comfortability in the pocket. Just trying to stay calm when a bunch of chaos is going on around me and just trying to lead the guys to touchdown drives each and every drive.
