(Opening Statement) “Obviously not the way we envisioned ending with the game. I mean, I will say the last two weeks when we reset out goals and we said we wanted to finish strong, go to 2-0 and finish 8-8, we didn’t accomplish that. What we did accomplish was the way we went about our business for those two weeks. I thought the way we practiced and prepared was top notch. We just came up short on this end. There are a lot of reasons for that, and like always, we all share in that, coaches and players. We were just not able to get it done. The one thing I said to the team in there is we all take ownership of it and it’s what we do as a team – every one of us. Every one of us take ownership of getting better. We take ownership of the good and the bad and there was a mix of that. I know right now for all of us it feels like a whole lot worse. Certainly, there is a lot that needs to get better. We all need to get better. We all need to do everything better. At the same time, I told the guys I know how this league goes. I have been around this league too far and I just know we are very close. We are very close. That is just the way it goes. We just make a few more plays here and there. We will get a little bit better; we will coach a little bit better; we will play a little bit better and for a handful of plays, it can be a different story. Today was disappointing. We will regroup. I just told the guys, at the end of the day, here is what you need, you need a locker room full of guys that love to play for each other and love to play football because it’s hard. It’s emotionally hard. The ups and downs are hard. Everything about it is hard. It’s a long grinding season and when things doing go perfect, you have to be able to grind it out and love it. We got that so I feel good about that.”
(On the inability to move the football in the second half) “I am really disappointed. In the first half, I felt like on offense we were humming. We were throwing it. We were running it. Everything seemed to be working. We came out in the second half and it felt like we couldn’t make a first down. It is like it always is when something goes like that. Sometimes, we couldn’t execute. Sometimes, it was a bad call. Sometimes, it was a rush. I give them credit because they gave us a little bit of pressure.”
(On Jacoby Brissett’s ball security) “At the end, when we had a couple of turnovers. Jacoby is trying to make a play. We were in a desperate situation and he was trying to make a play. He has made a lot of plays like that for us this year and unfortunately he just had a couple come out.”
(On giving up more yards in the second half on defense) “I am not sure on the yardage. When I walked in, I glanced up at the scoreboard and I think the yardage was pretty close both halves. I thought what they did well was against the run I thought we were fine in the first half. I think they had a little less than 30 yards rushing. But they did a good job because they had a few chunk plays in the first half and that is what hurt us. They had three or four big chunk plays in the passing game. The other thing that Gardner [Minshew II] did well was hitting the check down. (He was) effective hitting the check down. When you can be effective hitting the check down but still make chuck plays, that is what hurt us. In the second half, they started off with a good drive by them and executed well. Obviously towards the end, I thought our defense did a good job of trying to give a chance to get back in it.”
(On Brissett’s tendency to start a game one way and finish another way) “I think it’s a team deal. I understand the question and how it has to focus around the quarterback, but the way I see it is it is a team deal. That is the hardest position in the sport to play. Our second half struggles are team struggles. I don’t think they are on any one player. I don’t see them being on Jacoby. We all need to be better. Does he need to be better? Yeah. He needs to make one or two more plays, but I also need to be better. Our offensive line needs to be better. Our defense needs to be better. Our special teams need to be better in the fourth quarter. That is just the way it is. I have been around here for a long time and I feel that for him. I just know that it’s true.”
(On if he feels Brissett gets some unfair criticism) “Absolutely, I think there is some unfair criticism, but that is just playing the position. You are always going to get some unfair criticism. He knows that. We know that. Anyone who has played the position knows that and you guys know it too. We all have a job to do and he has a job to do. As a quarterback, you take that. He gets too much credit when we were doing great. When we were 5-2, it was like, ‘Andrew who?’ For seven games, he was playing great. He was that good. So yeah, he is going to get unfair criticism, but I get that. It’s just part of the nature of the beast.”
(On why he feels they are close) “If you look at our season, you look all the close games and all the games we are winning. I know you guys know this as well as I do, I know you know this as well as I do. I have been on teams that have been 7-9 before and worse. Every time that happens, you look back at five or six games and you say one play in that game and two plays in this game and three plays in that game. Every team that is 7-9, 6-10 or 5-11, we are all saying the same thing. What I am excited about is, as hard as this is, the wins and losses don’t count. It’s over. So, the wins and losses won’t carry over until next year but what does carry over into next year is the process. It’s the people. It’s the locker room. We will all start next 0-0. You will hear me say again this next year, God willing, we will all start 0-0, but we are all not starting at the same spot. We are all not starting at the same spot because some people have the right people, better locker room and a better process. I believe we have that and that is why I think we are close.”
(On why they finished 2-5) “I don’t know. I need to digest the whole thing. I need go back and watch it game by game. Try to look for the common threads when it was good and when it was bad. Break it down from big picture, break it down from a little picture. As you would expect when you are in a profession at its highest level, you have to be really critical of yourself, and we will do that. We are all year long, but you have to be critical of yourself, stay positive and stay together as well.”
(On how the defense has changed since the Kansas City game) “At times tonight, we played well but this is the story in all three phases. In the first half, on offense, we were humming. Defensively, we had some ups and downs then, in the middle of the third quarter and on, we played pretty good. We will have to go back and look at the big picture. (We will) look at all the tape and evaluate schemes, evaluate players and evaluate how we are coaching it in every phase and figure ways to get better.”
(On how frustrating it is not getting T.Y. Hilton the targets they want to get him) “The way he started I was like T.Y. is going to have a big day. He made a couple of nice runs after catches and I thought we were going to get him going. We called a few other things to him. They double-covered him when we were going to take a shot on a deep over and we ended up hitting Marcus [Johnson] on it. It was a deep end cut for a positive play. We had a couple of other things dialed up to go to him but just give them credit because they just sank back in underneath coverage to force us to check it down. T.Y. is a guy I know when we are winning games, he is a major contributor. So, that is our responsibility to get him involved and get him going.”
