Houston Texans 38 - Indianapolis Colts 30
Q. So how do you put it in perspective. What are your takeaways, good, bad, in between?
RILEY LEONARD: Yeah. I try to be optimistic, but at the end of the day take kind of full ownership of that loss. Didn't play well enough when I needed to. I did a lot of good, but too much bad. Too much bad by me. A couple plays can change a game, and those plays -- I didn't perform.
So just didn't put the defense in a good spot. But I guess that's the NFL, and that's what I'm learning. But it was fun. It was fun. I mean, what an opportunity. Something you dream of your entire life and every snap that I was out there, I had goose bumps just thinking, man, I made it, right?
But that all gets wiped away whenever you make mistakes, and gotta take care of those.
Q. Shane said last night, what did he learn about you today. And he said I learned that he can play in this league for a long time. Did you prove something to yourself today?
RILEY LEONARD: Yeah. Yeah. You know, I don't know, I have to go rewatch the film and everything, but I definitely felt when I was out there that I can play. And I felt like I was a little bit in control of my destiny, and I think the mistakes that I made were self-errors, lack of awareness or urgency or, you know, whatever it was, I felt like it was internal. And things that I can definitely fix. I don't think that there's necessarily a lack of physical or physical strength there. I think I can play for a long time. Hopefully we'll be around for a long, because I think it's the greatest job in the world, try not to take it for granted.
Q. What did you think the experience like today will help you and how different did it feel getting a full week of practice and playing versus a few weeks ago getting thrown in there?
RILEY LEONARD: Yeah. Having a full week of practice is the biggest thing ever for a young quarterback and really for any quarterback. I think the biggest thing is just you go into the locker room and be able to have conversation with guys and them not look at you like you're crazy. I can just go up to them and have conversations, and that helped me out a lot.
Yeah, it's good to get those reps under my belt. I got a lot more to learn, but thank goodness I got the best coaches, the best people around me, Philip being a guy that I've always looked up to, lives a mile from my house and both from fair hope, Alabama and here he is coaching on the sidelines. And you have no idea how important it is for a quarterback to go to the sideline and you got Daniel Jones and all these coaches and everybody just pouring into you knowledge and different signals they're in or what their tendencies are or how to fix certain things. I mean, it's incredible. Every single touchdown I had was due to preparation beforehand from those around me.
Q. Let's start with that first touchdown. It's your third snap on offense and 66 yards, a touchdown throw. What did you see? What kind of confidence does that give you for the rest of the game, like, oh, wow, we got it all the way?
RILEY LEONARD: Yeah. That's a great question. I think we had a double move and I was pretty much throwing that thing no matter what. I was just hoping for the best. Thank goodness it popped.
I was like, all right, we're just going to let this thing fly. Alec is a great receiver, obviously, and made me look good. But, yeah, that was fun. I mean, you run down the sidelines in shock, able to give the ball to my dad. So it was a cool start to the game for sure.
Q. What was it like having your family here?
RILEY LEONARD: Yeah. It meant everything. I mean, they come to a lot of games, actually. We thought we were going to have, oh, I was going to play earlier. But they come to a lot of games, and for them to -- all that money and travel that they spend, finally pay off, it's really cool. I'm very happy that I was able to just look up there, they were just a few rows deep, and just kind of feel them all game, you know, look at them when things are going good; don't look at them when things are going bad, because they're going to stress me out even more. Their faces, they're more worried than everybody. But when things go good, I give them a head nod.
Q. Did you plan that with your dad or was it just sort of like in the moment you saw him and said, hey, I want to give it to him?
RILEY LEONARD: Yeah. Yeah. I figured -- it's hard to keep these footballs because they want to keep them always. So I figured like, might as well just throw him the ball. That way they can't take it back.
Q. The fumble there in the first half, were you trying to like fake or take us through.
RILEY LEONARD: Yeah, yeah. They -- just gotta get the ball out of my hands earlier. I was trying to work Tyler. And I don't even remember. I tried to throw to Tyler. Wasn't too confident with Tyler. So it's one of those things, the ball, you know, trying to go to him, but, I don't know. Didn't turn out.
Q. And did that help Alec get over 1000 yards? I don't know if you knew that. He finished three yards above it?
RILEY LEONARD: Did he?
Q. Yeah. A couple throws to him. I don't know. What does that mean to be able to help him?
RILEY LEONARD: Yeah. That was cool. I mean, he wouldn't shut up all week. (Laughs). It was good. Not that we were trying to do that or I was making decisions to do that, but it was definitely good to not have to hear that all offseason, like, he was like really, really close, but didn't make it.
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