JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE
Opening Statement:
“I just got done with the players (and) I told them, ‘Hey, we got handled out there.’ Hats off to Indy, they got after us pretty good. I told the team that – we don’t practice well, prepare well, we didn’t perform well and that’s on me. I’m responsible for the penalties, I’m responsible for the way the team plays, I’m responsible for how they get ready to play on Sunday and I’ve got to do a better job at getting this team ready to go. We tried to stop the run a couple different ways and weren’t able to do it. So we’ve got to take a good look at ourselves and figure that out and then we’ve got to figure out this third down where we can keep those fellas on the field and make some plays.”
You prided yourselves a little bit on being able to run the ball and yet Leonard Fournette had only eight carries today. He carried the ball 10 yards on the very first carry. Why did you get away from the run so early on the game?
“I think we were trying to make plays and we felt good on the second possession. We went down there and scored and felt good about it. We had some negative stuff in there and were just throwing the football and felt good about it, but obviously it wasn’t good enough. I think that at the end of the day – again that’s on me, the play calling and all that stuff. So we probably did. When you look back and you lose a game like we did, it always comes back to the decisions that were made.”
Moving forward, how concerned are you about this team’s ability to bounce back after such really bad loses?
“Yeah, two bad loses – I’m not worried about the team. I told them – I said I’m not worried. I told them you’ll get a lot of questions about where you’re going and all that stuff – I’m really not. What I’m really focused on is how do I get this team to perform better on Sunday? That’s what’s getting me because obviously I’m responsible for that and I’m not getting that right now.”
What was it specifically that you saw with the run defense – was it tackling or gaps, what stood out?
“We tried everything, but all those things came into play. I mean if you look at it whether it was missed tackles, out of gaps, whether we’re not spilling things. Pretty much when a team rushes for that many yards it’s not going to be one thing, I can tell you that. It’s going to be multiple things and it seems like we could never get it stopped.”
Nick Foles got off to a good start and then what did you see when it started to go down?
“Yeah, I mean it’s’ my first game with him playing a full game. I’ll just take a good look at it, talk to him about it to see where he is. I think I’ll just look at the overall thing of the game. I thought they did a nice job. They got their hands on some balls under these guys. The play the defensive end made stopping that ball was a great play but we’ve got to find ways that we can pick up those third downs.”
Why did you decide to challenge the pass interference?
“It was right in front of me. I think that I’ve got to do a better job obviously between what in my mind is clear and obvious and what is egregious. I thought it was clear and obvious to me, but I think the way that it’s going is it has to be egregious. But obviously there wasn’t enough for them to put the flag down. I just felt like it was a foul but I was wrong.”
Was the game plan going in to throw it as much as you did in the first half?
“I’m not going to sit here and make excuses. I mean we had an injury and that took out some of the things we wanted to do run-wise, but at the end of the day we just felt good and comfortable throwing the football and it didn’t work.”
Did Nick Foles appear in any way rusty at all or off to you?
“I haven’t been with him for a full game so that’s the first time we’ve experienced a game. That’s why I said before, I’ll just get together with him to see how he feels and to see what he’s thinking. I think like any other player when you come back you’re going to play and then I think you’re going to get better each week. That’s what we expect from Nick (Foles).”
What happened on the third-and-19 when they hit the screen? How do you explain what happened there defensively?
“They get the ball out there on the perimeter and we’re not pressuring so they wound up blocking us, getting the lanes and we couldn’t get enough people to it to make a play.”
Losing Seth DeValve, is that significant for you guys in the end zone?
“No, I don’t want to say that – like I said, I’m not trying to sit here and make excuses. We felt – I felt it too, I think we could’ve gone back looking back and ran it more. I’m not saying that we couldn’t of, but I felt like we needed to score and I wanted to get up on this team. Obviously it backfired.”
How concerned are you right now just about your physical play upfront?
“Yeah I mean we’re not getting that. We got outplayed upfront physically on both sides. We’ve got to do a better job and see if we can put our guys in better position and get better at it. Like I said, it’s performance so it goes back to me. I’ve got to do a better job at getting these guys ready to play on Sunday.”
Just to be clear, you’re sticking with Nick Foles the rest of the way?
“Yes.”
JAGUARS QUARTERBACK NICK FOLES
Seemed like you got off to a good start, then struggled as an offense. Can you just talk about the game?
“Obviously on the second drive, moving down and we’re able to execute a play that DJ (Chark) did a nice job of running his route and getting the ball in the end zone. After that, we just didn’t execute. Obviously, the Indianapolis Colts played a great game today. Their defense did a nice job on us. It’s as simple as we’re going to watch the film, we’re going to critique ourselves, we’re going to improve and we’re going to do all of that in the next 24 hours. Then we’re going to move on because that’s life, that’s football and that’s just how it goes.”
Was there any rust? Could you characterize your performance at all? Do you feel like you were a little rusty?
“I’ve got to play better, absolutely. We lost. That’s ultimately a lot on the quarterback so I have to watch the film and improve on things that I can improve on to obviously put more points on the board. That’s on me. I will do that. I’m going to go watch the film and be critical of it and improve. We’re going to communicate with one another and we’re going to go back to work.”
Did you feel like the timing was completely there with your guys after not getting game reps for two months?
“Obviously, it’s something that we’ll always improve on. I think my big focus will be watching the film and I know that every little detail when you lose will be brought out. I played in Philly for a little while, things are going to be brought up. The key is not to really listen to it, but also to know it’s there and be aware of it. I’m going to be a broken record. We’re going to watch the film, we’re going to improve, we’re going to communicate and we’re going to keep getting to know each other and we’re going to go through this together because this is a tough game. We got our butts beat pretty good. That’s a good team, we’re a good team. We’re not where we want to be but we will get to where we want to be if we keep believing in each other.”
What kind of leadership do you guys need now at 4-6 where the margin of error is so slim now?
“I think the big thing is don’t press. I think it’s easy to press in this situation and think the sky is falling and the world is over. It’s not. We’re blessed to play a game. The big thing for the guys right now is go home. You have a family at home. You have a wife, go love her and go be with her. If you have kids, go be with your kids. That’s part of life. And like I said, leadership will come from everybody because it will be looking at the film being critical of yourself (and) then going out there and improving. There will be some guys who will probably be more vocal than others. I think the big thing is we can’t press. We are 4-6. That is the situation. But, we can’t win six games at once. We’re going to have our opportunity to look at this game, improve on this game next week and then we’re going to prepare for the next game. It’s as simple as that.”
What did you think they took away out there on the second drive? Was it the safeties playing back a little bit more? You took a lot more shots down the field. Did they take something away from that second drive?
“They played man on the touchdown. We checked the concept for that look. It was something that we had seen and I think that they realized we’re just going to play zone and they did a nice job in their zone – staying two high, rotating their safeties. They did a nice job today. Ultimately, we have to execute more and we will.”
Did you feel at all on the deep-ball interception that you forced it because it was in double coverage?
“I think I was just trying to get the ball out there. I think in that situation – I think just chuck it down. The coverage dictated that potential throw. I think maybe taking a little bit more on my drop, take a little more time to get it out there if I don’t have the time to just check it down. Once again, that’s part of football. I don’t regret it. That’s part of the game. You learn from it. That’s on me. Ultimately, we’re trying to get points in that two-minute drill and I’ve got to be better. But I know that we’ll hit that throw and we’ll still be sitting here like, ‘Oh wasn’t that the throw?’ And it’ll be from now learning the situation.”
You kept saying twice the big thing is not to press. How hard is it not to do that especially now?
“It’s extremely hard if you’re outside looking in because you just don’t understand how you can handle it. You lose a game and get beat pretty good and it’s like, ‘How can a team bounce back?’ Well, the guys in (the) locker room, their personalities and who they are is going to dictate that. This next week is a big week for us. We’ll get back, watch some film and do what we’ve got to do to get better.”
Were you surprised you got away from the run a little bit quicker than perhaps you thought? Did you feel as though you guys would run more in this football game?
“(It’s) something that we’ll look back at when we watch film. Ultimately, we didn’t run the ball as much, but their defense was doing a nice job with the looks they gave us. Then we were ultimately down by a lot in the second half and we had to go with the two-minute drill. Those are all things that we’ll at – coaching staff, players and we’ll see what we can do better in those situations, absolutely.”
