How tough are the penalties on the offensive line?
It just made it tough staying on schedule, that's the biggest thing. For myself, I had a cadence issue that caused him to jump offsides. But that's the things that we have to get over, staying on track, not playing from backed up on first or second down. As soon as we do that, we'll be able to move the ball consistently.
What was the issue about the cadence?
Just on a particular play, not getting to the can. Part of it was on me. But as a whole, we just got to lock in and do more.
Was that issue on more than one occasion? Was it on a few occasions where you had the cadence issue?
Not really. It was just more of us locking in the huddle, knowing what we're going on. And then just everybody being ready to come off the ball at the same time.
Third-and-longs today, seemed like you guys were overcoming them early in the game. You guys had a couple of hiccups, then you kind of took the roof off the last play to Chig (Okonkwo), was that something that you were seeing yourself or was that something that you guys worked on in practice this week?
A little bit of both. We got plays that we run them versus certain looks. Then at times, you get into certain situations, you have to run a play just off of down-and-distance. So, it was a little bit of both. I think Chig (Okonkwo) did a great job of seeing space and he made a great catch.
As a whole, what went right on that drive at the end and maybe went wrong on some of those possessions where you couldn't move the ball?
A lot of stuff went right today. The biggest thing that went wrong was inconsistency on first and second down for myself, from the penalties. The penalties is what's holding us back all year. They held us back this game and that's why we weren't able to do more for the defense.
Jeffrey Simmons was talking about not sugarcoating his message anymore. He's clearly very frustrated and said he talked about frustration with the three-and-outs and so forth. How do you guys take that message and do you understand where his frustration is coming from?
I understand. I'm frustrated with him. That's my teammate, so I'm going to support him the same way he's supported me throughout this whole journey. He's speaking nothing but the truth. That's something that myself as an offense, as a quarterback, we don't want three-and-outs. That's something that we should never settle for. And the biggest thing we shouldn't settle for punting the ball. We have to end every drive with a kick whether it's a field goal or a touchdown, and that's got to be the mindset every day. We have that mindset every day, but we've got to emphasize it and be about it every play.
What happened on the throw where Mason (Kinsey) was wide open and you guys didn't connect there in the third quarter?
That's a bad ball by me. That's his first time actually running the route, just due to the injuries we had at wide out. But I got to be able to see him and put the ball on his chest.
Do you still feel like this team is better than its record or do you feel like this is a 1-9 team to you?
It'll never feel like a 1-9 team to me. We are way better than our record, but our record is what it is because we're inconsistent at times. And that's just something we've got to own. We've just got to continue to play the next play. We got a great opportunity next week. We've got to try to get our second win.
How do you hold onto confidence that it's not just inconsistency?
Because I watch film every day. I know what the defense is doing every play. I know how to see the field and, just as an offense, we just remain confident because the plan's good. We've just got to execute the plan. I think that's the bright side of it is, it's not—we don't have too many plays, we don't overcoach things. It's more of the players just locking in and doing our one of 11.
Did you have any chance on the fourth-and-two to make a case for going for it? And how eager are you for maybe a little more aggressiveness in some of those situations?
Well, I want to go for it every fourth down. At the end of the day, that's not my decision. We were able to get points out of there. So, it was good.
Does it get frustrating though? Being in so many of these fourth-and-short situations and not getting the opportunity to go get it?
Yeah, at times. It really goes back—like my mind set, if we're speaking on a record, we're 1-9. So, I'll go for it every fourth down; we have nothing to lose. So, it's also a situation game. We've got to play our defense. They playing their butts off all day. So we can rely on them at any point in the game. So, Joey (Slye), he came through for us, he got us some points.
Did you talk to Calvin (Ridley)? And how disappointed are you for him?
Just sad, man. Sent prayers his way. He's somebody who's in the building doing his job every day. He's a true pro. He was one of the first people to show me just what it is to be a pro, day in and day out when I got to Tennessee. And for him to go down like that, on the good day I knew he was going to have, it's just a bad feeling for the offense because we lose a dynamic playmaker. Even if he doesn't get the ball, it's Calvin (Ridley) and you've got to really respect him. So, he brings that threat to the defense and it's going to suck that we just didn't have him today.
What developed on the play to Chig (Okonkwo) in the fourth there?
Just a great play call by Bo (Hardegree). We executed it and Chig got open and he made a great catch.
What changes for you, if anything, late in the games? If you go back to Miami, you had success on late drives, the game in Arizona, and then today. What do you think goes into that for you in those moments?
I just think my process level. Watching every situation on film because you never know what situation you're going to be in any game. Whether you've got to comeback or whether you're up the whole game, you got to bleed the clock out at times. So, I just think no matter what happens throughout the game, whether you have a good or bad game, the last drive has got to be the best drive and that's where you've got to be able to switch.
We saw more scrambling today Cam. Was that by focus? Is that the way things just played out? And how helpful was it to do some running and pick up some first downs?
It is helpful to use my legs to help the O-line in a wide us out. And Houston's one of the teams where you're able to have some scramble yards just because of how they rush. They've got two good edge rushers, but when you continue to rush like they do, you give up some lanes for the quarterback to get out and we were able to do that.
It seemed like until the last drive you guys didn't really have any explosives plays. It was mostly short stuff underneath and things like that. Was that by design? Something they were forcing you to do?
That's not by design. We're always going to have shot plays in the every game plan. But Houston (Texans), they don't give up a lot of shot plays. So, you've got to continue to take what they give you. We missed on some key opportunities. I had a couple bad balls to Mason (Kinsey), I had a bad ball to Elic (Ayomanor) right before the end of the half. So, I've got to be able to put them in positions to make catches, and then that'll be our explosive plays.
Cam, there was a play that looks like you made an adjustment to Mason Kinsey on a route, was that something that was built into the play or was that something that you saw on the tape?
It was something that I see on tape. It was a perfect check for that coverage and then Mason made a good catch.
These are divisional games Cam, you're playing teams a second time. Did you see anything that you felt you or the offense was, in general, better at the second time around versus Houston?
Not really. Because every team's going to have a mix up, no matter if you play them, once or twice. It's really us keeping our rules and then just executing the play call.
With this being a one score game all day, how do you process this one in just the way that it ended and losing on a field goal at the end when you guys were in it all day?
It just shows that we didn't do enough on offense. When you score 13 points, you're not going to win a lot of games. So, we've got to help the defense out. They played their butts off today. They do it every week for us, but we've got to come through for these guys the back half of the season.
Cam, as the losing mounts and the talk starts to be more direct, how can you keep the offense and defense, like the locker room itself from splintering?
Be the same person every day, is really it. I show up with the same mindset every day, along with the other guys on the roster. And the outside noise will never be in our locker room because know the real truth. We know what we got to be better at individually. I know what I have to do to put our offense in a better situation to score a lot of points. And, at the end of the day, it's the only people in the locker room that matters.
Well, that's what I'm talking about. In the locker room guys have said that they're tired of sugarcoating and they want to be more direct.
Yeah, and they should be. That's really the only way winning is going to start. And when you establish not BS'ing with your teammate, telling them the truth, that's the way I played growing up, all the way into college to here. That's just something that we've got to emphasize going forward.
