Bengals 37, Texans 31
Q. Your thoughts on the overall defensive performance today and some of the issues you had with their skill players?
J.J. WATT: Yeah, it was horrendous. I mean, we gave up 540 total yards, 29 of 38 passing. I mean, screens, quick passes, balls out to open guys. We cannot -- you can't do that. It's very frustrating, obviously. You can win on a game; you can win a pass rusher on the edge and you're not going to get there; the ball is gone. We didn't stop the run. We played horrendously. It's harsh, but that is the fact of what we did today, and it is extremely frustrating.
Q. Before the game Eric Murray goes on the COVID list, then some other guys couldn't warm up, they had to do contact tracing under NFL rules. How tough did that make it? Obviously the performance was what it was but to deal with that before the game, that kind of disruption?
J.J. WATT: Everybody is dealing with things. They had a backup quarterback, a backup running back, a backup receiver. So every single team in the league -- Cleveland played with no receivers today. Every single team in the league is dealing with things. So we can sit here and make excuses and say why we're not playing a certain way and why we're not doing this and why we're not doing that. The fact of the matter is every single team is dealing with that. You've got to find a way, and we didn't. We haven't.
Q. I know it's an obvious question, but it's the third time in recent weeks that you guys regardless of how the defense played had a late game fumble that cost you win, or could have cost you the win. How tough is that to see from your point of view?
J.J. WATT: It's never one play. It's like I said before, it's never one play that loses you a football game. It doesn't matter what type of play it is. There's 60 full minutes of a game. To say any one play, even if it comes down to the last play of a game, there's a whole 60 minutes that lead up to that, so it's never one play.
Q. What did you think about Brandon Allen and the way he played today?
J.J. WATT: I mean, he obviously played incredibly well, 29 of 38. I don't -- I mean, he's 29 of 38. We cannot allow that. Like I said, we don't make him uncomfortable because the ball is out of his hand so quick that you -- like it's very, very frustrating, obviously. And then when you do have time, we don't get there. There's all sorts of -- it's very frustrating. I thought he played a great game. He did a very good job.
Q. I know you've been through a lot in your career, but is this the most difficult season you've been through as a football player?
J.J. WATT: Yes.
Q. Will you all be able to kind of regroup and hope to finish the season on a positive note next week?
J.J. WATT: We're professional athletes getting paid a whole lot of money. If you can't come in and put work in in the building, go out to the practice field and work hard and do your lifts and do what you're supposed to do, you should not be here. This is a job. We are getting paid a whole lot of money. There are a lot of people that watch us and invest their time and their money into buying our jerseys and buying a whole bunch of shit and they care about it. They care every single week. We're in week 16 and we're 4-11 and there's fans that watched this game, that show up to the stadium, that put in time and energy and effort and care about this. So if you can't go out there and you can't work out, you can't show up on time, you can't practice, you can't want to go out there and win, you shouldn't be here because this is a privilege. It's the greatest job in the world. You get to go out and play a game. And if you can't care enough, even in week 17, even when you're trash, even when you're 4-11, if you can't care enough to go give everything you've got and try your hardest, that's bullshit. So that's how. I think it's -- there are people every week that still tweet you, that still come up to you and say, hey, we're still rooting for you, we're still behind you. They have no reason whatsoever to. We stink. But they care, and they still want to win and they still want you to be great. That's why.
Those people aren't getting paid. We're getting paid handsomely. That's why. And that's -- that's who I feel the most bad for is our fans and the people who care so deeply and the city and the people who love it and who truly want it to be great. And it's not. And that sucks as a player, to know that we're not giving them what they deserve.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports