Colts
Colts players including DT DeForest Buckner, G Quenton Nelson, and QB Matt Ryan weighed in on their embarrassing loss against the Vikings on Saturday, as did interim HC Jeff Saturday who now has the displeasure of being on the losing side of the worst comeback in NFL history in his first season.
“Shoot, I’m in disbelief, man,” Buckner said, via Zak Keefer of The Athletic. “We preach the word ‘FINISH’ all the time around here. But we don’t finish. We come out guns blazing and can’t finish, or we start slow and can’t come all the way back. We just gave that ballgame away. To be honest, it’s embarrassing. On national TV like that?”
“I’m shocked,” Nelson added. “I mean, that was insane.”
“I’ve played in this league long enough to know that a lot of different things can happen,” Ryan said. “Anything can happen. We had a chance to put it away, across the board, and we didn’t do it.”
“We didn’t overlook them,” Saturday explained. “We understood how explosive this offense is, how many points they put up. I’m disappointed in how we played in the second half and didn’t find a way to close this thing out, but ultimately, I told the guys in there, ‘We didn’t make enough plays, and that goes around the entire football team. You’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror and understand when there are opportunities to make and close teams like that out, we’ve got to make them.’ And we didn’t make them. Every time we lose, it stings. I look at this as no different than the other ones.”
- Saturday added that he hasn’t thought about making a quarterback change from Ryan and will make a decision this week after talking to staff. (Kevin Bowen)
- Adam Schefter reports RB Jonathan Taylor suffered a sprained ankle Saturday and will undergo additional testing, yet added that it is uncertain if Taylor will play again this season.
Jaguars
Despite struggling with crucial red zone turnovers earlier in the season that cost the Jaguars games, QB Trevor Lawrence has improved leaps and bounds as the season has progressed. He has the NFL’s longest current streak of passes without an interception at 192, and Lawrence’s play is a big part of the reason the Jaguars are still alive in the playoff hunt for the first time since 2017.
“He’s getting to the point where, the guys can see, he wants the ball in his hands,” Jaguars HC Doug Pederson said via NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. “He wants to be able to put the team on his back in those moments. He wants to lead the team that way. That’s what’s encouraging to me. That he’s growing into it.”
Texans
- Texans HC Lovie Smith on losing their lead and eventually the game against the Chiefs on Sunday: “We still haven’t finished the game the way we need to to get a win, but we’re building.” (Aaron Wilson)
- Smith on RB Royce Freeman coming in to make plays on Sunday: “It is about the next guy stepping up. Royce has waited patiently. He took advantage of his opportunity.” (Wilson)
- As for his decision to punt instead of go for it with the lead, Smith noted he would do it over again: Smith on the decision to punt instead of going for it with the lead: “We had the lead, I liked the position we were in. I would do the same thing again in that position.” (Wilson)
- Smith on continuing to use the dual quarterbacks: “Our quarterbacks allowed us to stay right in there with one of the best teams in football. So the quarterback play gave us an opportunity to do that. We just need to finish.” (Mark Berman)
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