DETROIT LIONS VS. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
FORD FIELD
Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022; 1:00 PM ET
POST-GAME QUOTES
LIONS HEAD COACH DAN CAMPBELL POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
Opening Statement: “Alright, that was a good win, man. Guys played their hearts out. I feel like this is
five weeks in a row we continue to grow and get better. I felt like this was a big win for us. I did. Cause I
just feel like this is a game that can catapult us through December. It was big to win, it was big to come
off a loss, and it was big to win that way against a team that’s a lot like us in trying to turn a corner, get
everything turned back the other way. They do have some youth, they have talent. They were playing
pretty good football. Came off a big win. Our guys played hard. We said going into this game, the bigs
did a good job, but really we felt like our skill guys had to show up. That was the key, our receivers and
our DBs. We knew it was that type of game and, boy, they did. All the way across the board our skill
(players) played top-notch today.”
On the offense’s performance today: “They played well. They played very well. You don’t punt the ball,
you’re able to stay on the field, we scored every possession. Now, I will tell you because now we feel like
man, there’s some of those you wish you could have back. You feel like you could get four more out of it
instead of the three, but man I thought they played well. There again, our skill showed up. Our
quarterback played as good as you can play. I think he played as good as any quarterback can play today.
We knew he needed a big game, it was a completion game. I thought he was on fire. (Lions WR Amon-Ra
St. Brown) Saint showed up. (Lions WR) DJ Chark brought back the deep element for us. He made some
big-time catches. And (Lions WR Kalif Raymond) Leaf and (Lions WR Josh) Reynolds just having those
guys back was big for us. And (Lions RB D’Andre) Swift, you know?”
On the defense’s performance today: “Yeah, absolutely, they played very well. It was kind of one of
those games where early, we felt like we would hold up. We felt like we were going to be alright
upfront. It was validated very early in that game. We felt like our guys were just going to be alright.”
On Lions WR Jameson Williams’ debut and the timing of it: “Yeah, it was honestly, today was just about
getting his legs under him. Go through pre-game, be on the sideline, you got your pads on, run into a
huddle, run out, line up, wrestle with someone one-on-one a little bit. It was really that, just to get him
somewhat acclimated, very much like we did (Lions CB) Jerry Jacobs in Dallas. That’s really what this was. He’s going to get a little bit more next week. This was just primer for him. Let’s just get his legs
under him so he can get a feel. It’s his first NFL game, so we’re good.”
On potentially using Williams as a gunner if a punt was needed today: “Yeah, because we felt like that
was the biggest impact he could have today. That we knew just outright because he can run. And he can
do it, he’s tough, he’s physical, and he was all for it. But we didn’t punt.”
On bouncing back with a win after a loss on Thanksgiving: “Nothing has changed. It’s the same group of
guys that we have talked about. And it’s the same when things didn’t look so good. They put in the same
amount of work and they just have gone in and they have not lost faith. They are unbroken, they are
unshaken, and they just go to work, man. It’s a group of guys that just go to work. They believe in the
game plan and they have a lot of confidence right now. They trust the guy next to them and we’re
clicking right now. We’re clicking at the right time.”
On Lions RB D’Andre Swift’s health and seeing an increased workload: “I would say this is the best he’s
looked in practice. We could tell on Wednesday that he had a spring in his step, he was feeling better.
Just some of the things, the way he moved, everything. And then just every day he looked better, felt
better. And we have said all along, the better he feels and where he feels like he can open it up and go,
then he’s going to get more.”
On the defense creating a fumble on the second play of the game: “Absolutely, set the whole tone for
the game. I mean, that’s how you start. Honestly, when you start a game that way, you go out there on
defense, you get a takeaway, and then we turn it into points like that, seven points. And then you come
out in the third quarter and your offense takes it all the way down for a touchdown. That’s how you got
to start. Defense showed up I thought. They played well. I mean, I got it right here, they were 3-for-12
on third down, that’s good stuff. You get off the field. They really couldn’t get in a rhythm because our
guys played well. There again, this is one of those games where you can give out a game ball to a
number of guys. Because there were a lot of guys who played well today.”
On not having a penalty until the fourth quarter: “Yeah, I mean, look, we have been playing pretty
disciplined football. Now, sometimes you assume you’re going to get a couple, that’s part of playing the
game. But we’ve been good, it really hasn’t hurt us. We’ve been pretty disciplined, so that always helps.
They didn’t really get called for anything either, this crew lets you play a little bit.”
On if this win can be a springboard for the rest of the season: “I just think it was big. For everything I
started this whole speech with, that he (reporter) didn’t like and bored him. I’m just joking. But, no for
all those reasons. For all three of them. There’s a number of things that you just want to make sure that,
man, it’s 100 percent focused and it’s a faceless opponent and we did that. It’s just another competitor
in front of us and you just got to play good football to win. Period. It doesn’t always turn out like this,
but they needed to be prepared that it’s going to come down to the last two minutes of the game to
win. And you know what? We played good enough, so it wasn’t that way.”
On getting healthier down the stretch of the season: “It’s very nice. It’s very nice to have. You know, it
is the healthiest we’ve been. I think there’s a good chance we can get (Lions DL) Romeo (Okwara) back
next week. We’ll see where he goes. That’s just another guy. So, we’re getting healthy at the right time.
We’re playing our best football at the right time. Look man, I like this team.”
On what this win shows about his team: “I think it just simply says that we’re maturing. I think that’s
what it says. I think we’re maturing, we’re growing, and we continue to get a little bit better. That’s
probably the best way to say it. A couple of things. You win that way, but also to come out of halftime,
you’re up and to finish that game out like we did. I think it shows a maturity level of a young team. I
think that’s what it says, which is great.”
On if he believes the team can compete with anyone in the League: “I do. I think we can compete with
anybody. You got to do all the things right, to win, as we all know. It doesn’t matter who we play, it
doesn’t matter what the record is. If you don’t play clean enough football, you turn the ball over, you
don’t get takeaways, you get a ton of penalties, then no you’re not going to win. Doesn’t matter who
you play. But, when we do things right, I like our odds.”
On his confidence in Lions K Michael Badgley: “He’s kicking it well. He’s kicking it well. Once again he
came through big for us. I do, I got a lot of faith in him. He’s earned that.”
LIONS WR DJ CHARK POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On what it means to get the Game ball after battling so many injuries: “Yeah, it feels great, you know.
Like I said then, every game means a lot to me. But to be back on the field, I’m taking it very seriously
and trying to help my team in any way I can. But it does feel good that you know, to play with my
brothers against my old team, to be able to have a good performance, as well as win. That means
everything, but I’m more excited about the way that our offense played as a whole. No punts. That’s
pretty impressive.”
On how fun it was to play in a game when everyone on the team is playing at their best: “It’s very fun,
you know, you can spread the wealth. You know, that’s a good team. We saw them last week and we
see how they play everyone every week, similar to how we play everybody every week. So to come out
and have a dominant performance, you know it sets us up for the rest of this year and the way that we
have to come out and attack every game.”
On if it is too early for people to talk about the Lions as a playoff team: “I mean, it’s never too early for
anyone to talk about whatever, you know. For us, it’s one day at a time. One game at a time, you know.
But it just feels good to even, you know, have that as a whisper because you know what this team has
been through, this city has been through. But at the end of the day, we (are) just coming out and we
fighting to prove to ourselves who we really are. You know, it didn’t start off how we wanted it to, but
we continue to fight every week, and so whatever the results are, you know, in five, six weeks, that’s
what they are, but we’re going to fight until then for sure.”
On how it felt to finally catch the deep shot early in the game after missing it multiple times
throughout the season: “Oh, that was great. That was great. I knew he was coming to me. I was able to
locate the ball, go make the play. That built confidence in me and that built confidence in him. We’ve
been doing a lot in practice, so, to carry that over onto Sunday is great. You know, and it’s time to do it
more. That’s it. Just continue to do it. We got the talent. We got the players, so just continue.”
On the comparisons between the Jaguars and the Lions and how their differences showed today: “I
can’t really speak on the Jags of this year. New coaching staff, bunch of new players. You know, I don’t
know what’s going on in (their) locker room. But one thing I can say about this Lions team is we go to
work every week. We believe in each other. We don’t point the finger, good or bad, we just continue to work, and we kind of keep the outside noise outside and we have a good focus and vision on what we
want to do and what we can do and we come out and we do it. That’s what I can say about this Lions
team.”
LIONS T TAYLOR DECKER POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On the offense’s gameplan today: “Yeah, I mean, you know every single week we try to do different
things. Depending on what they’re doing defensively, like schematically or maybe based on their
personnel, and you know, basically we had a gameplan to give it to our receivers and let them make
plays. And we were in the hold up in protection, and we just kind of execute that gameplan, and
obviously it worked out.”
On how he feels about the team going into the last five games of the season: “I think we’re currently
playing our best ball and then you know at that point we’re just going to take it one week at a time and
see where things end at.”
On how validating it is to be right about this team not being the ‘Same Old Lions’: “Yeah, there’s a lot
of people that owe me an apology, (expletive) Twitter DMs and (expletive). Oh my god. I don’t know, I
just – you know I’ve been here seven years now, and I kind of just know what it feels like when we’re
playing good ball and playing confident, and you know, that sounds fun. It’s felt like we’re playing good
ball. We’re confident and we’re going out there to play to win. And we’re just building. We’re getting
better at things that we are singling out that, ‘We need to improve on this.’ And we’re improving on it,
and it’s no secret to it, other than just to go back to work and continue to just build on all the good
weeks. So, yeah I mean, we’re just trending in the right direction. This was by far our best game. So
yeah, we’re just going to take it one week at a time now and then just see where it ends up.”
LIONS S DeSHON ELLIOTT POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On the forced fumble to start the game: “We talked about that last night in our defensive meeting. We
said that we need to go out there and set the tone early to show what kind of brand football we are. Not
how we play, but our defense as a whole and I think we did that today. Besides one drive they had, I
think we played pretty well.”
On the effort of the defense to keep the Jaguars out of the endzone in the first half: “I think we went
out there and played our brand of football, went out there and hit them in the mouth. You hit anybody
in the mouth, they don’t want to keep playing ball. So, I think with that being said we keep playing like
that, we could be a great team. I think we got out here and make the playoff, we have to keep playing
one game at a time.”
On what it says about the team to win against the Jaguars after losing to the Bills last week: “Yeah,
(Lions Head) Coach Dan (Campbell) said that in the meeting the other day. He said that, ‘We’ve got to
show that we can come back after a loss. We show them that we can win a game after a loss.’ I think we
did that today. I think that down the line, man, I really love this team. I really appreciate everybody on
this team. So, I think that we can be great.”
On how lethal the team can be after their performance today: “We can. We’ve shown it. We’ve played
great teams. We’ve been in every game. We’ve just got to learn how to finish, and I think today we
stepped on this team’s neck. And I think we keep doing that we can go a long way.”
LIONS QB JARED GOFF POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On if it was a little fun today: “Yeah, just a little bit, huh?”
On the offense giving Lions P Jack Fox the day off: “Jack got his holding in. Besides that, yeah, he had
the day off.”
On what went right offensively: “Yeah, those guys up front, first of all, like you said, they kind of set the
tone, run game and pass game. I mean, especially for me in the pass game, it was clean pockets all day
long, and guys were getting open, and we knew what kind of game it was going be with the coverages
they play. They get so much depth typically. It was going to be the underneath passing game, and when
our shots were there, we were going to take them, but for the most part, it was just going to
completions, completions, and that’s what we did.”
On how it feels when the opposing defense cannot stop the offense on any drives: “Yeah, it feels good,
man. It really does. I think the turnover that we had on the first drive, or the defense forced on the first
drive kind of gave us that energy, and we walked right down and scored, and then we did it again on the
next drive. At that point, we’re kind of like, ‘Alright, we can have our way if we just keep doing our job.’
And I think again, the second half, walking down and scoring again to start the half, it’s a mindset, and
it’s all that, but yeah, it feels good. And I can’t speak to how good that offensive line did today.”
On the confidence of the team to play with anybody at this point: “We feel like we can, and we believe
we can. Yeah, certainly. We’ve beaten good teams. We’ve beaten teams with lesser records. We’ve
dominated teams, and we’ve had our times where we’ve struggled, but in the last five games, we’ve
been playing good football and taking care of the ball on offense, causing turnovers on defense, and
clean in the kicking game. It’s a pretty good formula, and we’ve been doing that. It feels good. That was
as a complete team win as I’ve been a part of, and it was really, really well done, and proud of our guys.”
On how different the offense is when Lions RB D’Andre Swift, Lions WRs DJ Chark and Josh Reynolds
are all on the field healthy: “We were joking about it earlier this week, like calling it – we had our horses
back. And you could feel it on Wednesday with Josh and DJ, and obviously Swift with his progression
now, where he’s at now. Those guys make a huge difference. They’re some of our best players and
getting them on the field and getting them the ball typically results in good things and makes my life a
lot easier when they’re on the field.”
On the importance of getting Lions WR Jameson Williams reps today: “Yeah, it was great. Had the one
shot on the go-ball. Wish I could connect it, but it was good to get a rep with him there, but yeah, it’ll
progress from here. It’ll (be) more probably next week. How much, I don’t know, but make sure he’s
dialed in on his packages, and he’ll do a great job. He’s, as you said, a thoroughbred, a guy that, as good
as we are at receiver right now and the health we have, can add to that group and make it even more
explosive.”
On if the play where he attempted a pass to Lions WR Jameson Williams was designed for him: “Yeah,
he’s running the post, but yeah, he’s an option.”
On if he likes the patience the team has had with getting Lions WR Jameson Williams back to full
health and if he likes that Williams is getting time now: “Yeah, again, I would have liked to have him in
April, but no, I mean right now is great. Get to get him back now, and he looks healthy, he feels healthy, he looks great. I think as a rookie, he’s going to want to come out and light the world on fire as we all do
want him to. But he’s going to have his plays that he’s going to know and he’s going to be good at, and
we’re going to roll with him on those, and whatever that may be. I just don’t want you guys to set
expectations so high. He’s a rookie. He hasn’t had any reps, and as time goes, he will be that guy. He
really will be. He’s got everything it takes to be that guy, that premier threat in this league, and I’m
excited to watch him grow into that.”
On how good Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is and his ability to get open: “Yeah, he’s really good, and
he’s just so tough man. He’s so tough, and he’s got great hands. I mean, even though the first one that
could have been picked off, that got tipped up in the air, for him to have come down with that, like just
stuff like that just gives you so much confidence as a quarterback. I throw that ball over the middle to
him, makes the catch and gets blasted, and gets up. He’s a stud, he’s a bulldog, and a guy that I’m
fortunate to play with and hope to play with him for a long time.”
On the importance of having Lions WR DJ Chark on the field and building chemistry with him on the
deep ball: “Huge, huge, and I’m happy we hit the go-ball. Just being able to be on the same page with
him, get him involved a little bit more. You could tell coming into this week, he was ready to go. I’m sure
you guys talked to him earlier, but he was ready to go come Wednesday, coming into this one, and I
think last week, getting his feet underneath him, and then this week, he’s really going now, and he’ll be
one of our vertical threats and premier guys in the offense going forward.”
On how important Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson is to the offense: “Yeah man, he’s the
mastermind. He really is. He’s done a hell of a job every single week, kind of reloading the chamber and
just giving us more bullets to go with every single week. Every single week it seems like we’ve got a good
plan and a bunch of touchdown plays, a bunch of explosive plays, and the run game as well, just what
he’s been able to do and designing that, and again, every week it seems like we come back, and we’ve
got an even better plan and then a better plan, and can’t speak to how great he’s been, and I’m happy
to be with him.”
On if he was impressed by Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown’s first catch that was initially tipped by a
defender: “Yeah, it was great. It was great. I’ve been on the wrong side of enough of those to get one of
them my way, so it was great, and again, catches like that build confidence for me to want to throw him
that ball over the middle when it’s going to be tight again. I can’t speak enough to how confident I feel
throwing him the ball right now, and how important he is to our team.”
On the importance of Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown to the offense: “Wish I could speak German for
you. Yeah, he’s incredible. He’s as good as a guy, a player that I’ve been around, and does everything, in
the run game, the pass game. I’ve spoken to what he’s done in the pass game for us obviously with
making those catches he made throughout this game, but in the run game too. Some of those blocks
he’s making that may not show up in the highlight reel are real deal. Blocking safeties, blocking
linebackers, he’s not the biggest guy in the world, but he sticks his nose in there and makes those blocks
for us, and again, a guy that the sky’s the limit for him.”
LIONS DL AIDAN HUTCHINSON POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On the defense setting the tone today: “Oh yeah, I mean turnover on the first two plays doesn’t happen
very often in this league. That’s a testament to us and consistently having – stripping that ball out and
consistently thinking about those things, and it all comes from conditioning in practice.”
On how this team can compete with anyone when playing their best football: “I mean, I think that’s
very accurate. I think we’re just hitting our stride right now. From the start of that game, it felt like we
were rolling and were on the same page, offense, defense. We came out in the second half and let up a
touchdown, but offense stayed hot, and we got our three-and-outs. So, yeah, I think we’re playing hot
offense right now.”
On the offense scoring every time they touched the ball today: “Yeah, it doesn’t get much better than
that. It was kind of a weird game. It felt like we were in control the whole time, even when they had
scored their touchdown, they had to work for it. It was like a 20-play drive, so burned most of the third
quarter, I think. Man, it’s fun playing in these games.”
On how it felt to have control of the game the entire time: “Yeah, that was our most dominant win of
the season where we essentially have control the whole game. I think that’s just a testament to our
confidence.”
LIONS WR AMON-RA ST. BROWN POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On today’s full-team victory: “I would say since I’ve been here, the best game I’ve been a part of as a
Lion. All three phases like we said defense, offense, special teams. Starting as an offense I don’t think we
punted once. Coach (Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben) Johnson talked about that a few weeks ago, he
said—after every game we put up the drive chart for the most part it’ll say, ‘Touchdown, field goal,
punt.’ Whatever it is throughout the whole game, he said he wants to get to a point where it’s all green
which is all points. I think we did that today and I’m super happy for our whole team as a whole.
Especially for our offense, for him (Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson), the O-line, (Lions QB)
Jared Goff, he played great. (Lions WR) DJ (Chark), I’m super happy for him to play like that against his
former team. I know it means so much to him. It was an awesome game all around.”
On the gameplan being focused mainly on passing: “Right, going into this week, one of the things that
(Lions Head Coach Dan) Campbell harped on was skill players are going to have to make plays. He said
that early on in the week, wideouts, running backs, tight ends, corners, safeties, linebackers, all skill guys
are going to have to step up this week. I think we did that for the most part. Like I said (Lions QB) Jared
(Goff) was playing great, he got us in the right place, looked super confident out there. (Lions WR) DJ
(Chark), (Lions WR) Kalif (Raymond), (Lions WR) Josh (Reynolds), (Lions RB D‘Andre) Swift, (Lions RB)
Jamaal (Williams), whoever it was. DBs did great, I think all around we just played a solid game as a
whole and that’s what happens when you play like that.”
On the confidence gained from the win over Jacksonville: “I think as a team it gives us a lot of
confidence. Coming out of that Bills loss on Thanksgiving, we felt like we were super close. We felt like
we could have won that game if it we would have five or six plays done something differently. But we
never lost hope after that game. We were on a three-game win streak and then we lost to the Bills. But
we knew what we were capable of, and we knew if we came out this week – the Jaguars are a great
team, don’t let the record fool you. They’ve got a lot of young guys on their team that are hungry, that
can play. But we were going to come out here and really do what we did, and I think we did that.”
On the excitement for the remainder of the season and wanting to get back on the field: “Definitely, I
would say from the start of the season I was excited. Compared to last year I knew this was a completely
different team. But when you show it and put it on the field for everyone to see, I think definitely for me I’m excited for these next five weeks to see what we can do. We want to go on a run, we want to shake
some things up. Even moving forward, even next year I think Detroit’s in good hands.”
On the confidence gained going into next week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings: “Yeah, next
week’s going to be a big challenge for us. The Vikings are a great team, one of the best teams in the
League. But it’s a division game for us. It means just that much more. It’s going to be at home, our fans
are showing crazy love right now. They’re rocking out which we love as players. But it should be exciting
next week. I’m excited for the matchup and I can’t wait.”
JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On if anything stood out defensively that led to the Lions being able to score on all drives: “Yeah, I
mean – just the fact that they executed better than we did. I felt like we were kind of shocked to start
this game. We just were not – we were not ready, even – we turned the ball over on the second play of
the game which can’t happen. And then defense can’t get off the field the entire game and it’s a
combination of everybody. We’re all included, myself included. So, it’s something we have to really look
hard at the next couple of days.”
On if he will become more involved in the defensive gameplan after today’s performance: “I don’t get
involved with the gameplan or anything. That’s not my expertise. But just – we’ve just got to have
conversations and be open and we’ve all got to be honest with what we’re doing and making sure we’ve
got the right guys in the right spots.”
On how Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence is doing and how he performed after the injury: “Yeah, he
battled, played real tough, second half it was good to see him – we’ll continue to evaluate him. But he
was obviously was fine to play in the game and we’ll make sure he’s good moving forward. But showed a
lot of toughness there to come back and looked like a pretty nasty hit early, but very fortunate.”
On if Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence got hit in the back of the knee or somewhere else: “I don’t know. It
looked like kind of around the knee area – hip, but ended up down and around his lower leg – foot area.
Again, not a lot of details because everything was fast and furious at the time, but took a look at him at
halftime and our doctors did a great job of making sure that there was no risk for further injury. And he
was good, he even – I saw him and he said he was ready to go and did a nice job.”
On if it is a penalty when a quarterback is hit the way Lions LB James Houston sacked Jaguars QB
Trevor Lawrence: “It is. But I guess – I’ve got to look at the tape and make sure first. Unless the
defender’s being blocked – being engaged, usually not. But the explanation was that he was hit up high
which is not illegal.”
On if he was surprised by the drops from the wide receivers today: “I was. I was – I mean, that’s
uncharacteristic of our guys, part of the struggles on offense, on third down. Too many third-and-long
scenarios, and that’s a good pressure team on third-and-long and we just didn’t do enough today to stay
out of those situations.”
On what his plan is moving forward to fix the issues on defense and offense: “I mean, listen we’ve got
to lick our wounds and we’ve got two days to figure it out. We’ve got a division opponent next week and
nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, and so we’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves, we’re going to go to work and we’re going to get things cleaned up. And make – and try to make it right. But it’s
everybody, it’s not one person, one position group, it’s everybody. It’s coaches, players, myself, it’s all of
us. And obviously, it starts there with me.”
On if there is a reason why the team plays differently when they are on the road: “I don’t know, we
should probably fly in on Sunday and play. Those are things that I struggle with sometimes and I don’t
know it’s just something I have to take a look at. But it’s just a matter of each person too. You’ve got to
play so many home games and so many road games, and you’ve just got to understand that we have to
go on the road to play. And it’s got to be a business trip and you’ve got to eliminate distractions, we talk
about that all the time, we’ve got to focus on our jobs and we’ve got to treat it that way.”
JAGUARS QB TREVOR LAWRENCE POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
On what his fears were when he first went down with an injury: “Yeah, I thought it was my knee at
first, and then my foot a little bit was hurting too. Luckily, nothing serious. We’ll have to see how I feel
tomorrow. I told him, he just asked, I’m going to be a little sore but thankful it’s not anything serious. I
was worried it was my knee, but I don’t think it is. I feel better than I thought I would.”
On how disappointing today’s loss is after last week’s emotional win: “Yeah, it’s embarrassing honestly
what we put out there in such a big game for us. I mean, that’s the word to describe it, it’s
embarrassing. Everybody in that locker room feels that way too, just to – I mean, this is a playoff game
for us and we go out there and laid down. Credit to them, those guys, those guys whooped us. I’m not
taking anything away from them, but just the way we came out on both sides of the ball, all three
phases, just didn’t play anywhere close to our best football, weren’t detailed, didn’t execute. It’s just
embarrassing, especially coming off a big win when you come out here and lay an egg. It just can’t
happen. We’ve lost eight games this year, and never have I felt like we got embarrassed like we did
today. That can’t happen. We’ve got more pride and work too hard to do that. We’ve got to make that
decision to get back on track next week, and that’s kind of where we’re at in our season. After a game
like this, you’ve got to make that decision to go the right direction, and not go downhill. I believe in this
team and we’ve done that the whole year, but we’ve really got to have a great week and get back on
track.”
On why they came out flat today: “I think it’s a game of momentum, and I think we lost it early.
Typically, throughout the season, we haven’t won all the games, but we’ve been able to get some back
and we weren’t able to today. We turned the ball over on the first possession and then they scored. I
think we drove the ball down and kicked a field goal and they scored and from there, I just didn’t really
feel like we ever gained the momentum back. It’s huge in this game. You’ve got to be able to play
without it to get yourself back in the game, but at the same time, you’ve got to make some plays, you’ve
got to have some sparks, and we just didn’t do that today. It seemed like, even offensively, it was like
five yards at a time. On that last drive, we needed to go fast. That’s just the way the game is. You can’t
get it back on one play, but I just felt like we didn’t have enough explosives. We weren’t consistently
moving the ball. We weren’t great on third down. I have to look at the numbers, but just – I can really
only speak offensively for us, but all the way around we’ve got to play better.”
On why the team struggles on the road: “I don’t think it has anything to do necessarily with playing on
the road. Today, not really thinking about previous games this season, but today it didn’t really have
anything to do with playing on the road. We just got our (expletive) kicked, so it really doesn’t have anything to do with being on the road. But yeah, we have more road games this year than home games,
so you’ve got to win your road games and we haven’t done that.”
On what treatment he got at halftime to allow him to return in the second half: “Just checking
everything to make sure I don’t have a serious injury, not going to get myself hurt worse by going out
there. My team did a good job just checking everything, not rushing me out there. I wanted to get out
there and play, but they had the ball first, so we had some time. So, we took our time and checked
everything out and everything was good, so nothing serious. Then just got out there and moved around,
they wanted to see me move before I went back in and felt good enough to play.”
On if running on fourth-and-1 was to test how he felt: “I mean, I felt good enough to – I made that
decision to go play, you’ve got to be able to move and run and use your legs, so I felt good enough to do
that. I was fine with that. Obviously, with what I was dealing with you’d rather not. You’d rather get the
ball out of your hands and stay on track, but on fourth down, game on the line and got to make a play, I
saw a lane, so I took it. But felt good. Felt fine. Adrenaline in the game, that helps. But yeah, I’m good.”
