Bengals - 22, Patriots - 18
Q. Mac, with about six minutes in the third quarter the team had about 70 yards total offense. Obviously you finished with 285, which means a lot of offense in the last 18, 20 minutes or so of the game. What clicked? Was it different play calling? Personnel groupings? What clicked in your eyes?
MJ: I think obviously tough loss for us here. Definitely things I want to do better. And just got to keep working, gotta watch the film and keep working together I think.
We didn't quit. We fought hard and at the end of the day we got to score more points. And we got the ball moving a little bit. But just want to capitalize and score more points.
So falls on me as a quarterback. And super disappointed, but also a lot to look back on and realize that we have fighters on this team. And that's tough to say in a loss, but we do, we have fighters on this team. I thought everybody on our offense and defense and special teams fought to the end.
Q. Just your interpretation of what led to the unsportsmanlike penalty on you at the end?
MJ: I think obviously there's a little bit of a pile there and then the ball squirted out actually into another pile. I went over there and tried to grab the ball to save the game.
So at the end of the day, you've got to take your chance and try to get the ball, gotta compete for the ball because it's a live ball until somebody holds it up in the air. You gotta go get it, and that's what I tried to do.
Q. We saw the impact Kendrick had when he was a focal point of the offense. Why do you think those opportunities where he's been getting the ball consistently in big situations like that have come so few and far between, especially when it comes to throwing down field?
MJ: I think KB, he's a great teammate, and he's one of my closest friends. Every time I've seen him he's had a smile on his face, even in a situation like that at the end of the game where we're trying to fight back and there's a lot of pressure, he's in there smiling, like, let's go do that.
When you see that from a guy, and I'm saying the same stuff in the huddle, I want to look for a guy like that, who wants to compete and play and play with effort.
He's one of those guys. And we've got all those guys, the receivers did a great job. Obviously we have some tight end injuries. Hope those guys are okay. And the running backs competed. And Scotty went in there obviously did a great job.
That's a tough situation as a guy who hasn't played all year jumps in there. Thought the O line did good and I'm just super disappointed and you've got to watch the tape and grade yourself as an individual and grade yourself as an offense and as a team. We're going to do that. We've just gotta move on from it.
Q. You've had a lot of crazy finishes this year as a team. When you look at this one, three timeouts, in the red zone, a chance to score, obviously it's frustrating. But when you look back on it must be hard to believe you didn't punch it in there, right?
MJ: Yeah, I think first of all no one probably believed that we would come back from 22 points. But we fought and we're right there. You score and it's a totally different game.
So tough situation. Just gotta execute better. It falls on me, do things better. Then when we get the ball back, just at that point you've got to have better execution. Gotta know where to go, gotta know where to throw it. In that situation there's not a lot of time. So just the same thing, just gotta learn from it and be better at situational stuff. And it starts with me.
Q. How do you feel Marcus Jones has been a spark for you guys on all sides of the ball?
MJ: He's just ridiculous. Great player, great teammate, explosive, lines up, runs full speed on offense, lines up and goes full speed on defense. Same thing on special teams.
Love the guy. Bummed when you have a great performance like that, we can't pull out the win. He's a great person, great player. And got a lot of good dudes like that on our team. It's tough when you lose. But falls on me as the quarterback. And gotta do things better.
Q. I know you're running and rolling out there. Did you actually see the tip on the Jakobi Meyers touchdown?
MJ: Yeah, just a great play. It was good to see, that's an example of competing, right? Scotty jumps up there, tries to make a play. Then Jakobi is right there waiting for it. And the offensive line, on that play, when we watch it, did a great job of just competing. I roll this way, I roll that way.
They were throwing blocks left and right. Love that for those guys. At the end of the day just came up short in other situations and gotta get off to a faster start and maybe the game's a little bit different. So definitely disappointing.
Q. Looked like you guys were rolling with a lot of 12 personnel. Initially Hunter obviously goes down. Did his injury put you in a pickle there knowing that might be a big part of the game plan?
MJ: I think Hunter is one of our best players. Same with Jonnu, when they're on the field together it puts matchup issues on the defense. Once again Scotty steps in there, hasn't played all year, probably didn't expect to be in that situation but he planned for it and did the best he could.
Just proud of those guys. It shows you that that group is really well-coached and all of our guys are. So we've just got to do better and execute the plays better and all that stuff.
Q. On the 48-yard touchdown pass, how much pride do you put in yourself to be able to make a throw like that in cold conditions?
MJ: I mean, it's like third and 29, right, or whatever. So at that point I did a lot of things to put us in that situation, which isn't good. And gotta watch the tape to see what I could do better to not be in that situation. But at some point you've just got to let it rip. He just made a good play.
Q. After the game we saw you have a big wrap around your shoulder. Maybe like an ice pack. Is that something that happened today and how are you feeling health-wise overall?
MJ: I always do that. It's precautionary. Try and keep everything and stick to my routine. Like everybody else, just get your treatment and carry on. Gotta put this one to bed and it just wasn't our day. Super disappointed, but feel like there's a lot of things we can build off of.
Q. Jakobi Meyers was asked about you. And there were some chance for Zappe early in the game and he said I'll roll with Mac at any time; he's tough, he gets up, mentally tough. What does it mean to have the support of some of those guys, Kendrick in the locker room as well, talking about you and your toughness?
MJ: I think we've got a lot of tough players on this team. I look up to a lot of guys like Jakobi and KB and Slater and Devin. I've been able to watch my first two years here. And the best players on our team are the toughest players and there's times when I need to be more tough and stand in there and rip it and all that stuff. We're all out there competing. That's what it's all about. It's just not quitting and keep competing and we'll do that as an offense. We'll do that as a defense. Do it as special teams. I think the guys themselves we're all going to compete. So that will never change.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports