On how it looked on tape:
“Probably about as bad as it looked yesterday. We didn’t play well enough to win the game. Like I told you guys yesterday, that’s a good defense we went against. We needed to be on our game, and we just weren’t all around the board, myself included. I think if you asked any one of our guys, they would tell you that we didn’t play well enough to win.”
On if he’s concerned that other teams have seen enough on tape now to copy what Jacksonville did and take away the play-action:
“I don’t think they really took away the play-action. Our keepers were there. We hit some big plays on it. We only had one or two other play-action passes. Like I said, it’s a copy-cat league, but within that mindset, people are going to do what they do. Yeah, they might try to take something here or there, but I don’t think…this isn’t baseball. You don’t get a scouting report on a pitcher who throws a curveball with two strikes. It’s football and there are 11 guys on the field. I think obviously Jacksonville played well yesterday, and we didn’t play well. That’s a bad combination.”
On what bothered him most about his own performance:
“A few missed throws – things like that. There were times where I could have been more patient in the pocket. Things felt like they were flying around a little bit more than usual. Sometimes you’ve just got to hang in there a little bit longer even when you don’t think you can. It’s something that I need to work on.”
On if he had more time on the pass where he missed TE Jordan Cameron in the end zone:
“Yeah, it was quick. That wasn’t a thing with the pass-rush or anything like that. It was just…I’m trying to look off a safety and I came back to throw to his spot. He kind of…it was kind of that he thought one thing and I thought another. We’ve just got to get on the same page with that, especially on a critical play like that.”
On if he considers completion percentage a relevant statistic for a quarterback:
“Yeah, I mean you go 16 of 41, regardless if there are batted balls or throwaways, even with those, you’d like to be in the 60s. I think it’s about being efficient. For me, I wasn’t efficient yesterday regardless of the situation. You’ve got to be able to go out there and complete the passes.”
On if it’s too simplistic to say that the changes on the offensive line were a major factor yesterday:
“No, we’re not going to use that as an excuse. I think we did more than well enough in the second half, even a little bit in the first half, against Pittsburgh with those guys in there. There are no excuses there. We’ve just got to play better. You talk about ‘next man up.’ They did a great job last week, and that’s not going to be an excuse for us after a loss.”
On if he thinks it would be better if they focused on one or two running backs instead of trying to work in three:
“No, I don’t think…because we’ve had success doing it before. Like I said, there’s no excuse other than they played better than we did yesterday. That’s the NFL. Yeah, that was their first win, but we knew going in that that was a tough, tough defense. It wasn’t anything about us underestimating or anything. We just got outplayed, out-toughed. It hurts to stand up here and admit that, but that’s the truth.”
On if this was a bad day or a step back:
“It’s just a bad day. There are 16 games in the NFL. You’re not going to be perfect in every one. The biggest thing for us is we need to take this – we just watched it – learn from our mistakes, bury it and move on. We get two games at home. We’re playing Oakland. As soon as I get done here talking to you guys I’m going to go back and start watching them. That’s the mentality that you have to have in this league. Whether you win or lose, you’ve got to be able to move onto the next one and learn from the game that you just played and take what you’ve learned and apply it the next week.”
On if the Browns’ offense planned to come back onto the field on fourth-and-5 late in the game after sending the punt team on:
“Yeah, we’ve practiced that a few times.”
On what running back onto the field does:
“I don’t if you remember back to New England did it against…It was Kansas City. That’s where we got the idea from, and just really try to force them into a timeout or 12 men on the field or really just see what happens. We just didn’t execute it the way the way that it was supposed to be executed.”
On if everyone thought it was 12 men on the field when one of Jacksonville’s players was running off the field:
“No, I know someone mentioned that after the game. They saw that on the TV copy, but that had nothing to do with why the ball was snapped.”
On what the offense has to do to beat teams that put eight men in the box:
“When we played Pittsburgh there were nine men in the box. It’s not anything other than just going out and executing. (Browns offensive coordinator) Kyle’s (Shanahan) run this system for a long time. He’s been running this system with eight men in the box for a long time. It’s not anything that we should be worried about. It’s something that go out and you watch the film, realize what we did wrong. Give Jacksonville credit, but there were times where we just flat out made mistakes. When that happens and you play a good defense they’re going to make you pay. When you’re in third-and-long a lot of the game it makes it tough.”
On it seeming like the Jacksonville defense knew what was coming at times:
“We knew going in (that) they’re really well-coached, and you can see it on film. When you do play action they zone-drop really well, and they’re looking up your routes. Their defensive linemen are reading your techniques on the offensive line and tight end to see if it’s a run or a keep. We know it’s a very well-coached team, and they played their scheme very well. Like I said, we just got outplayed.”
On if he and WR Miles Austin weren’t on the same page a couple times:
“Yeah, there was one where – like what I talked about before – I rushed a little bit. It’s something I can’t do. One I threw behind him. It’s more me than it was him.”
On if he’s confident the offense can have success in the passing game if a team shuts down the running game:
“Yeah, no doubt. The games where we’ve been behind we’ve had to drop back and throw it, whether it was New Orleans or the last drive of Tennessee. It’s not a concern for me. I think the biggest thing is people know it’s always an overreaction, whether you win or whether you lose. That’s the way this league is because you only get to play one time a week. For us, it’s not to get caught up in the hype. Yeah, we played yesterday. We sucked. It sucks to admit it, but you have to be able to face the facts and just realize what you need to do to get better. The biggest thing is for us to have watched it and move onto Oakland and not let this linger and come out because, I know for me, Sunday can’t come fast enough. You want to get back out there and be able to play.”
On if he thought that it might have gotten into his head a little bit that he had to worry about the center, the snap exchange or the rush:
“No, I don’t think anything like that was involved. You just know you’re going against a good front. You saw it all week. I think they were second in the league in sacks, so I didn’t want to take sacks. I think, for me, you’d rather throw the ball away if you can. At least you’re not losing yardage. For me, maybe I went into the game a little too worried about not taking a sack and trying to get through it a little too quickly.”
On his level of confidence that the offensive line can gel without OL Alex Mack:
“I don’t have any lack of confidence in those guys. There was no lack of effort out there yesterday. I will tell you that. Everyone is playing as hard as they can. Sometimes it’s mental mistakes, and sometimes the guy across (from) you is pretty good too. I think we all just need to learn from this, get better, get back onto the practice field on Wednesday and move onto Oakland. That’s what this league is about. You can’t dwell on a win or a loss.”
On if he’ll have confidence in the offensive line if OL Nick McDonald moves in there and OL John Greco moves back to right guard:
“Yeah, we’ll see. The good thing with Nick is I’ve played with him before. Even when he was coming through his rehab, I would go in there – because he was just trying to figure out if he can snap the ball – and take some snaps with him. I don’t know how that will play out. You’d have to ask me that later on in the week and see how that’s going.”
On if he took a fair amount of snaps with him at New England:
“Yeah.”
