You got the early touchdown with Chim Dike and the early defensive touchdown. How disappointed you guys weren't able to put up a lot of points yourself?
I'm really disappointed, especially because we know that's the biggest problem. We have to execute on drives and we didn't. So, special teams, defense, they did their jobs today and put us in a situation to win. Offensively, we didn't do enough to win.
How big a problem is third down?
I don't think it's a big problem. We've just got to execute being on third down. We were good in some situations, in some spots. Also, in some spots we were bad, I was bad at times, especially early on. But it just continues to get better every day.
A lot of those third downs, it was third-and-eight, third-and-10, something like that. How much difficulty does that add when it's not manageable?
It really doesn't add that much difficulty, especially versus a team like the Chargers, who don't do a lot front-wise. We kind of know what they're going to do. But I think that's kind of an advantage that we can have because we know what we're going do. At the end of the day, we just have to execute. We didn't execute enough and that's why we got the result.
Teamwise, how do you navigate when you work on the Wildcat all week, you're confident it's going to work, but you get in the game and discover it's not working. How do you now navigate sticking with it and maybe bailing and changing to something else?
We've just got to continue to have the same process level that we got to that point. I think getting back to plays that, while we're in the range of the game, we can benefit from those, and we do it at times. Also, it comes down to the players making the plays. All 11 of us on the field on offense, we've got to continue to do our job each and every play. It's something just, whether myself or someone else, is not doing their job on one specific play and it hurts us. So, we've got to continue to get better. We also have to hold everybody accountable and hope everybody accountable and try to win when we come back.
Was the defense showing anything unexpected on those Wildcat looks or was it what you guys thought?
Not really. It was kind of what we thought. We just didn't execute as a whole 11.
How frustrating was that sequence there, so close to the end zone, and turning it over on downs?
That's really frustrating, especially the base plays that we run into those looks. We just didn't capitalize, and didn't get in the end zone. But that's a lesson that we're going to learn and we can't have it relapse up in the bottom. We've got to find a way to put some wins together and try to go on a run.
As you go through the bye week, are you going to think a little bit more about how you can influence the game running? You had a scramble today and then you ran to pass on the other gain on third down.
Even on the scramble, I should have ran it. I just got to buy time to throw it to Elic (Ayomanor) on the over-the-ball in the middle, he was wide open. So, I've got to continue to critique myself and get the ball in my playmaker's hands and let them make plays for us. I think that will have the offense just flowing.
But do you think that you can scramble a more at time?
Yeah, I think I can. It also depends on the rush, if I need to get outside the pocket or not. I just think at times, I've got to continue to do both. Run when I need to and then throw to my open guys.
In those critical situations like the goal line sequence, would you want the ball a little bit more often than not rather than turning around and handing it off three times?
I want the ball in my hand every play. But, we scored on that same play versus Arizona. So, I have all the confidence in those other guys. Tony (Pollard) will get in there next time, so I'm not really tripping about that. We've just got to execute that specific play that gives us the lead.
On the third and long pass, the one that kind of hit the ground, was that just a breakdown of mechanics or were you trying to rush that pass? What was happening there?
It was just a bad ball. I didn't think I needed to throw it how I wanted to, but also, I just need to have subtle movement in the pocket. Continue to get better at that and then give Van (Jefferson) a catchable ball.
How can this team use the bye week as a reset and what do you hope the mindset is when you guys come back?
I think it will be used for us as a reset to think about the situation we are in with wins and losses, and we've got to have the right mindset to go for it from there. We've got to try to get on the run after the bye week. I'm excited for it. We got a great group of guys on both sides of the ball. But the biggest thing for us on the bye week is for the offense, we have to be better. We haven't shown anything these first couple games, half the games we played this year. So, we've got to do better for the defense and special teams.
Do you feel like you need this bye week personally? We've heard so much about the rookie wall. How much do you need the reset mentally?
I don't need the reset. I can play every week if I'm able to, if I'm healthy to because I'm getting better every week. The game is the same for all of us rookies. It's just about us executing the game plan and not putting ourselves in a negative situations. There's too many times where I have a bad play, or a bad couple of plays, and it just derails the offense and I've got to do better at my job and help lead these guys and try to win when we get back from the bye week.
Is there any communication that you're planning to have with your teammates over the bye week or is it just going to be like everybody kind of do what they need to do when they come back the following week?
It's both. Check in on them once or twice. I can't bother them on their bye week. A lot of people got family, they got kids, they need that time. So, I'm going to continue to work out, get better, and try to put us in situation to win games.
Are you going away? I know the coaches encourage you, despite your lack of willingness to oftentimes get your head out of it. Have you found a balance between what they want and what you want?
It's not really a balance. My mind isn't going to leave the building. My mind isn't going to leave the football just because how much I have to continue to improve on. So, I just think it's a free week for me to get better at every little thing I need to do to stack some wins when we get back from it.
