Washington Commanders 23, Houston Texans 10
Q. (Off microphone)
DAVIS MILLS: Turned the ball over for a pick six second play of the game. Can't do that. Sets you behind to start the game. That's tough.
After that just couldn't really get much going. Tried to start with the run game. Props to their D-line, their front seven. Handled it pretty well. They kind of dominated today.
We were having to play from behind the chains. A lot of third and longs that were just pretty hard to convert. Just couldn't get much going.
Q. How much of the opening of the game is scripted, and of the things that are within your control, what do you think the problems are in that?
DAVIS MILLS: I mean, we have situations and plays that are scripted for pretty much every play in the game, but if you can't win your one-on-one matchups up front, that's tough. We have to execute better, find ways to be creative and just make some plays.
Q. (Indiscernible).
DAVIS MILLS: Good play by the defender. Might have left the ball a hair inside and he had a really good jump on it and ended up getting away and making a good play. Not much emotions after the play. Got to flush it really fast and go back out there because you're about to get the ball right back.
Q. Can you talk about how difficult this game was on the offensive side of the ball because of the fact that you all could not get the run going?
DAVIS MILLS: I mean, when you can't run the ball, if it was vice versa and you couldn't pass the ball, it makes the game really tough. Like I said, props to their defense. They had a good game plan and won a lot of matchups up front on different plays throughout the game.
But, yeah, it's tough when you can't run the ball, and you have to rely on a lot of pass downs and the defense knows you're going to pass the ball. So they can play coverage and cover up your guys. So, I mean, just makes it tough for you.
Q. Do you feel like the guys are struggling to make adjustments over the course of the game, especially during the first half?
DAVIS MILLS: Not necessarily. I think that's what we mentioned before. Especially plays in the first half, we kind of have the first 15, first 20 that are kind of scripted based on what we've seen in game-planning all week, what their defenses has shown. We weren't really caught off guard with what they were doing on defense. We just have to find a way to execute better and win our matchups.
Q. What were they doing today that closed off the run game? Last week in the early parts you were looking to find some things to get going. Was it similar?
DAVIS MILLS: The past two weeks the defensive lines, they have extremely good players. There's a reason they get paid too. They're making plays, and we have to find a way to be creative and find our -- find a way to get the advantage on those guys so we can make plays as well.
Q. We were talking on Thursday about maybe taking some calculated shots early in games, first drive, others. Where did you feel like those were available to you if they weren't and just seeing a little bit more short game at the beginning.
DAVIS MILLS: Not much available. It's tough to run the ball. A lot of those shots will come off of play action and different ways when they start bringing guys down into the box to help with the run game. They were pretty much able to stop the run while still playing coverage behind it, and it's tough to find shots when you are getting that kind of defense.
Q. On a game like this as the leader of this team, how do you go about keeping the positive around this organization?
DAVIS MILLS: Mentality is the same when you come to the building each week. Any team is capable of winning in this league. We have a lot of really talented players that know what to do to win games. We just have to put it all together.
It's right foot before the left one. We're coming in to get to work, and we're going to go find a way to win games.
Q. From the last couple of weeks where can you have the confidence that the offense can rectify this and get it going again?
DAVIS MILLS: Just I think the confidence we've gotten from just all the work we've put in throughout the year. Our guys know what we're capable of. We know how well we can execute when we're doing our jobs right. So we just have to keep doing it, keep pushing forward, and we're going to find a way.
Q. I know that there was a lot of defensive pressure up front today. - is there anything you can do differently to help give yourself more time?
DAVIS MILLS: Yeah, I mean, we want to continue to sit back in the pocket when I can, find as much as I can down the field or check it down, and then if the pocket collapses too much, find scramble lanes to push up in the pocket or escape on the edge and make a play.
I tried to do that a couple of times today. We had a couple of penalty on different situations. Then other times they had everything covered, and they ended up getting to me. So I want to continue to eliminate that and find a way to make plays.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports