CHARGERS HEAD COACH BRANDON STALEY
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 2023
Q. Can you talk about what happened?
BRANDON STALEY: We just didn’t play clean enough football in the second half in all three phases. We
didn’t score the ball or possess it well enough on defense. We had far too many penalties in the second
half that really hurt us and didn’t play well enough in the red area, didn’t perform well there in the two
minute at the end of the game. Just didn’t play a good second half of football as a team.
Q. Anything you can put your finger on?
BRANDON STALEY: We have a PI. We had an offsides when it would have been a sack. We have a
penalty that allows ’em to go for two. An unsportsmanlike penalty, it goes for two. So I thought
penalties hurt us in the second half on defense.
On offense we just didn’t sustain drives in the second half, and didn’t run the football effectively
enough, and then didn’t do well enough on third down in the second half. We had some killer third and
shorts that we didn’t make today. And then obviously we missed a kick down the stretch that really hurt
us.
Q. Was it just a loss of composure on Bosa’s part?
BRANDON STALEY: I think he was frustrated. I think he felt like there were a bunch of things that kind of
accumulated throughout the game and tried to talk through it with the officials. But we can’t lose our
composure like that. We need to make sure that we stay on the high side of things and we can’t hurt the
team that way.
Q. The two unsportsmanlike, did you get any word about why he wasn’t ejected from the game?
BRANDON STALEY: No.
Q. Offensively, running the ball has been a struggle for you guys all season. How frustrating was it
when you had that lead to not be able to possess it and take time off the clock.
BRANDON STALEY: Yeah, it was frustrating. Just didn’t have enough success at the line of scrimmage and
not enough yards after contact. Just didn’t play a good second half of football in any phase.
Certainly, when you have that type of lead, if you can possess the ball effectively enough, then there
won’t be enough time, and we just didn’t do that, and then didn’t score the ball either.
Q. How disappointed are you? How surprised I guess maybe is a better word?
BRANDON STALEY: Anytime you’re up 27-7 at halftime and you’ve got four takeaways and you end up
winning the takeaway margin 4-0, it’s going to be a killer. I’m hurting for everybody in that locker room.
It’s a special group of guys. This is the toughest way that you can lose in the playoffs.
Certainly with the way we started the game, that’s the team that I know that we’re capable of being and
in the second half, we just didn’t finish the game. We’re going to learn a lot from this and, unfortunately,
this is the tough side of things. Our season’s over. But I love everyone in that locker room. This was a
step for us and we’re going to grow a lot from it.
Q. Is there anything that you think they did on offense that made the picture look a little bit cloudy for
Lawrence in the second half?
BRANDON STALEY: No. They didn’t do anything different than they did in the first half. We gave up a big
explosion for a touchdown, which hurt us. I don’t think we tackled as well in the second half. Like I said,
there were a couple penalties that I think really hurt us.
Q. Do you think or do you worry that when they start coming back, your players might feel the weight
of what’s happened with this franchise in the past in the playoffs?
BRANDON STALEY: No, not at all.
Q. You talked all season about creating mentality to close to finish games. Why didn’t that mentality
materialize in this particular game?
BRANDON STALEY: I don’t think we played clean enough football. I don’t think we made enough winning
plays in the second half where everyone’s performing their assignment, doing it with the right
technique, with the right type of energy. I just think there were a lot of little things in the second half
that added up to a big result there. We got to learn how to come together and close a team out like that
in the playoffs. Because it wasn’t just one phase of the game it was all three phases that didn’t play well
enough in the second half and we had our opportunities. We had our opportunities all three phases to
do it and we just fell short.
CHARGERS QB JUSTIN HERBERT
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 2023
Q. (No microphone.)
JUSTIN HERBERT: Obviously a tough go for us. As an offense, we need to do more in the second half.
That falls on us, offensively, and as a quarterback, I need to perform better. You got to be able to put up
more than three points in the second half.
So I feel horrible for the defense for the incredible effort they put out there today. But got to be better
as a team.
Q. You were kind of sitting at your locker for a little while. Do you mind sharing just what was going
through your mind while you were sitting there?
JUSTIN HERBERT: Just thinking about the game.
Q. The running game in the second half, obviously when you have a lead like that, you want to be able
to run the football and take time off the clock. How much do you feel like that impacted the offensive
performance in the second half?
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah, I think as an offense, we need to move the ball better, through the air, on the
ground. We just have to be able to move the chains. We didn’t do that enough. We didn’t score in the
red zone enough. Only put up three points in the second half. So as an offense, that’s on us. Not
executing, not converting on third down when we needed to, some penalties. But tough go today.
Q. Did they change what they were showing you in the second half compared to the first?
JUSTIN HERBERT: A little bit. We got a lot of respect for the Jaguars and their defense, and they’re a
really tough defense. It falls on us for not executing in the second half. We were able to put up some
points in the first half, but you got to be able to play four quarters as a NFL team.
Q. For you, this is your first playoff appearance. Kind of how tough is the finality of just it ending like
this, the end the season?
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah, it’s really tough because we think really highly of our team and that’s a special
group of guys in that locker room. They deserve better and it didn’t go our way and that’s the
unfortunate part.
Guys put everything they had into it this year, especially this game, and you hate to see it go that way.
But I know that everyone in that locker room who comes back is going to use this one for fuel for the
next year, and they’re excited to get back to work. Definitely tough to process, but got to keep it going
and use this one as fuel.
Q. I know you guys have been dealing with injuries all year, but when you’re going out there without
Mike Williams, and then DeAndre Carter goes down and you lose your left tackle, at what point do
those things become too tough to overcome?
JUSTIN HERBERT: We still have some pretty good weapons on the offensive side of the ball. To have a
guy like Keenan Allen and Donald Parham, Gerald Everett, you know, they had big days and super
thankful for those guys being out there.
All our guys are battling. Injuries are a part of the game and that’s the unfortunate part. They’re doing
everything they can to be out there. It’s definitely tough when you lose a guy like Mike and DeAndre,
and Jamaree Salyer. But you got to pick up the pieces and keep going.
Q. One of the big plays late in the first half in the red zone, it looked like you had Keenan Allen open in
the end zone. Is that one you just missed or maybe was there a defender in the way and you had to
throw it higher?
JUSTIN HERBERT: Yeah, there was a couple defenders in the way. I could have thrown a better pass to
him. That’s one of those that you got to execute. But looking back, we’ll have to watch the film and
analyze that one.
Q. Another specific play to Bandy’s jet sweep where you guys had a fumble exchange. Can you walk us
through what happened on that play.
JUSTIN HERBERT: That’s a play that we ran all week with DeAndre Carter. He goes down and [Michael]
Bandy has to step up into that role. It’s on me for not communicating that more clearly in the huddle. I
could have done a better job of saying, Hey, this is the play, this is what we’re doing, this is the kill. So
it’s on all of us for miscommunication.
Q. So you checked out of the initial play?
JUSTIN HERBERT: Correct. That was the play. We were going to run it down the middle, depending upon
a certain look. We got it, so we killed to a second play. But I could have done a better job of going to him
and telling him exactly what we needed to do.
