After the opening drive, why was it so difficult to get things back on track offensively?
The same stuff that's been happening all season, just self-inflicted wounds. Myself on the first three-and-out I need to progress , throw right over the ball. Then the second one, probably just step up and run for it. So everything is just self-inflicted. It's been like that the whole year and it was like that today.
I know there's a million things happening around you, but were you less comfortable today than you have been in previous weeks? You look like you were moving around a little more in the pocket out of necessity.
No, just how I felt the pocket at the time. I just think that's just something that I got to continue to harp on myself, get better at each and every day. And then just distribute the balls to my playmakers.
How frustrating is it, as a team you guys have maybe made some strides in recent weeks been competitive. And then today, which seemed like a step back. How come you think that was?
I mean, I'm big on results. So, win or loss is the only thing I care about. Strides, we haven't made any strides. We've got the same outcome for the last couple of weeks. So, it's more about just winning a football game now. Don't matter how it gets done, whether one side of the ball is playing good and the other side isn't, or special teams wins the game for us, but it comes down to just winning games.
Did you think that team today was as interested as it's been in other weeks? You guys have more personal fouls than points. Seemed like a lot of guys weren't that into it.
You're saying us?
Yeah.
No, we're into it every week. It's just the way football goes. But I mean at the end of the day, the personal fouls we had, the penalties, the bad plays that we had on offense, it all supported the reason why we lost the game. And that's just something that is unacceptable from just us as an organization and that's just something that we've got to improve on.
You guys have talked about some unacceptable stuff and you just said you don't necessarily see the improvement you want in wins or losses. So when does the unacceptable stuff get to be too much?
It's already too much, honestly. Throughout the whole year, from Week 1 all the way to now, it's always been something in every game. Penalty, a self-inflicted wound by myself or someone else. And then it came to the result of us not winning the game, that's what happened today.
Did you sense more frustration on this one from the team than you had before?
I'm frustrated every time I lose a game. At the at the end of the day, I try to do what I can to help put the offense and the team in the best situation to be successful. I didn't do that enough. And just as a whole, we just got to continue to come together in the last parts of the season and try to pull some wins out.
Why do you feel like that does keep happening with the self-inflicted stuff?
That's a good question. I don't know why it keeps happening. But the only thing that we can do is continue to harp on it until it doesn't happen. We've got to continue to emphasize it, and we just got to continue to pour to one another because at the end of the day, it's only going to be us in that locker room. It's the only people who can physically go out there and make plays to win the game and we just got to try to do that for the last couple of weeks.
It seemed like you guys settled for a lot of short passes, short of the sticks and things like that. Did they take the deeper chunk plays away or just didn't have time to get it off? What was behind that?
A lot goes into it. Progression wise, whether if the short throw's the first read or not. Then sometimes, it could be me having to move through the pocket and get off a read. Then it could be just sometimes where a scramble drill, that's where I throw the ball. So really a lot goes into it. I just think we just got to continue to try to be more explosive. We got to find a way to get explosive plays and just try to go from there.
On the first drive, did you try to make a case for going for it there on the fourth-and-three, at the at the goal line there?
Yeah, we need to go for it, I believe. What do we have to lose?
Did you make that point clear to Coach, did you guys talk about it?
I talk about it really all the time. He knows my mindset as a quarterback. I want go for it every chance, especially now with what our record displays. And we just got to continue to be the aggressive team.
What did you say to Xavier Restrepo before he got carted off and how much do you hate seeing him go off that way?
Just God's got him. He has a plan for all of us. And losing him, he's a real key piece, not just him being elevated, but just to the team, the energy he brings every day. And that's sad to see that, one of your homeboys to go out like that. But you see the guys who came over there and helped him up. You see the guys just on a knee on the sideline praying for him. So, we're going to all continue to rally each other, but that's something that you never want to see.
What do you think led into the after-the-play stuff today?
Players been themselves. That's what we want. I support it. If they do it on the field with the late penalties, but we got to be able offensively to back them up and overcome those penalties. So at the end of the day, I'm always supporting my teammates. If that's how they feel in the moment, I'm going to be with them.
In in terms of the self-inflicted wounds continuing that you've mentioned, do you think there's anything the team or you specifically could do that is not being done internally or behind the scenes a different way to address guys or if you speak up or hold some kind of meeting and address the players in a certain way?
No, I think no meeting could address that situation. It has to only be addressed on the field and it's something that starts in practice. It's something that we've got to emphasize in practice. But I mean it's just unacceptable to be in the NFL and continue to have these bad plays from just all of us as a whole. And that's why our record is what it is. But on the bright side, I mean there's really nothing that can get worse. We just got to continue to be better each and every day, and continue to pull each other along try to get wins.
You're the most sacked quarterback in in the league right now. How much is that starting to wear on you physically or mentally?
I live the life of a quarterback. I play the next play. I live the next day. I like to live my life one day at a time. So how I'm feeling, it really doesn't bother me. Someone in the world has it a lot worse than I have. So that's just how I put it in perspective. I'm very blessed. God's bless me with the ability to do what I love for a living. Not a lot of people get to say—get the chance to say that. He's given me the ability to play football. So, every time whether I'm hurt, whether I'm sore, whether I'm healthy, I just try to go play through him, play for my teammates as well.
Do you feel like, all of the things that you're going through, do you feel like it's testing your strength, your faith, your love for football, your ability to keep on?
Oh, for sure. It's for sure testing it. But you know, to win you got to lose. So, at the end of the day just continue to get better, try not to make the same mistakes each and every day. But eventually the storm's going to end and all of us in the locker room we'll remember all this moment, we'll remember the guys who's on the team of this year and we'll be excited for the future.
It's not often that that a team gets four straight home games as you guys did this season. How disappointing is it to go 0-4 during that four game stretch here at home?
It's very disappointing. The fans are a big reason why a lot of us play this game. The excitement they bring, the joy they bring, even the negativity they can bring, that's all part of the job. So I—it's just hard for me to not be able to do all I can do, to put my best performance for the fans and for the city. But that's just something that we all got to go through together. At the end of the day, the storm is going to end and everybody's going to be the bright side of it.
You played seven games with Mike McCoy and five with Brian Callahan before that. What have these experiences with those two taught you about what qualities you want in the next head coach as the team kind of turns toward that search?
I think really just the biggest thing that they both taught me is that you just got to have someone who's just a strong leader, within the locker room, outside of the locker room. And both of those coaches, they did that for us. But they got to continue to connect with the players on all three phases, not just one side of the ball. Then we just want a coach who's going to come in and be himself, hold the team to the standard that he holds himself and we all going to rally behind him.
