Seattle Seahawks 37 - Atlanta Falcons 9
KIRK COUSINS: Difficult to stand here after a loss, disappointing to not have a better second half and be in the game there at the end. And so we find ourselves in a similar spot where we have to go back and talk about it, improve, correct and on a week where we don't have much time, try to put a better product on the field this coming Thursday night. And that's where we find ourselves, and take any questions you have.
Q. Kirk, I asked Coach Morris the same thing. It's a short week. So what did you see today that you can kind of take into Tampa and probably use for the better?
KIRK COUSINS: Yeah. I'll have a better answer for you tomorrow after watching the film. I think you're always reminded of just how it's a four-quarter game and you have to keep playing, and you never know which play is going to be the play that can make the difference. So you just have to play with that sense of urgency at all times. And today it got away from us.
Q. Raheem thought the second half kickoff return for a touchdown was kind of a back breaker. Did it feel that way on the field to you all?
KIRK COUSINS: You know, what I'll say is pro football for me has always been a test of kind of withstanding those types of moments, whether they're your own mistakes or a different phase of football you may not have as much control over. So I've always kind of taken pride in saying who cares, like we gotta find our way back. And that's how you have comebacks and that's how you have rallies.
I hear what he's saying, and certainly in a team sport, you know, there are moments where you say, ah, that wasn't ideal, but you also feel like you gotta play your way back from that and you take pride in that, too, as a quarterback of how do we respond.
Q. Was it discouraging in that sense that you all couldn't do that on sort of any of the three phases?
KIRK COUSINS: Well, I think the disappointment standing before you now is not delivering, not coming through, you know, whether it's winning 9 to 6 or, you know, 50 to 51 or whatever it may be. You want to deliver, one way or another. So knowing that standing here we didn't is what hurts.
Q. Interceptions, do you feel like those were overaggressive throws that maybe couldn't fit into the spots you thought you could and the ball gets tipped up or was there a theme there?
KIRK COUSINS: Yeah. I think the first one, you know, Kyle did a good job of kind of trying to get me a quick surface to throw, and I tried to plug it on him, and the DB drove on it, and the ball got tipped up in the air, and it goes right to the other DB. So in hindsight, if I could do it over again, knowing what I know now, I'd probably try to feel that corner driving it and progress back side.
And then the second one, you know, checked to the screen. They kind of read out into the screen, and it was a bang-bang play there that, again, gets tipped up in the air, and they come away with it.
Q. Kirk, when you guys are having a season like this is there anything that you can say or anybody on the team can say to kind of keep people motivated the rest of the way?
KIRK COUSINS: I think saying things has merit. I think doing things is probably more merit. And so it's more about how you practice, how you prepare, how you play on Thursday night is really what it comes down to. If words need to be said or you feel it might make a difference or move the needle, certainly we try to do that. But I think also just your habits, your actions, your attitude, your approach also is very important.
Q. From an outsider's point of view, it seems like you guys have kind of a mellow team, so to speak. I guess that could be a positive. But do you think that at this point that you need somebody that, for want of a better term, to pick up a chair and throw it across the room, kind of wake everybody up?
KIRK COUSINS: Could be. Could be. You know, we were doing -- yeah. You never -- could be. It's hard to say.
Q. Kirk, you were talking about how pro football, about withstanding those things like that kickoff return in the second half. Does it feel like you guys have kind of struggled this season withstanding those things? It seems like every game you can kind of point to one or two turning points where they punched y'all in the mouth and you were not able to punch back.
KIRK COUSINS: In the games where that's happened, you certainly, you would say, hey, it's happened a couple of times. I can also probably point to some games that came down to final drives and answers. I think of Berlin where we kind of have this drive that we go down and think that may have won the game and then it doesn't. So you kind of punch, counterpunch punch, punch, counterpunch; that's pro football, and it kind of comes down to who's able to throw the last punch with the clock. But some games we've been able to do that and some games we've fought hard and counterpunched hard and it just didn't come down at the end to the final punch being the one that was able to be the knockout.
Q. One of the punches you appeared to throw was at the end of the first half when Mooney looked like he was shoved out, came back to establish himself. Was that deflating when it appeared to go one way and the league ruled the other way?
KIRK COUSINS: You try not to let anything deflate you. You try not to let anything get you too up either. You just try to keep playing, play steady. Knowing there was so much football left in the second half, you just try to keep playing and believe that if you do that, that you can be there at the end.
But you look back at the end of the game and you certainly say, yeah, that would have been a nice one to have there and just didn't go our way.
Q. Would you be the guy to throw the chair across the room if need be?
KIRK COUSINS: You know, I don't know about chair throwing, but he's got me thinking a little bit. (Laughs). He's got me thinking a little bit. I've given some speeches in my day and done some pregame chants and that kind of a thing, and did it last year. It has its place. It has its place. It can also be forced and it can be really cringe, and so you gotta have emotional intelligence to know when it works and when it doesn't, and you gotta read the room a little bit. But I understand what he's saying; he has a point, and there's moments where it matters.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports