Steelers 28, Dolphins 15
Q. Elimination from the Playoffs, thoughts on that, how you get past that and keep on playing.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It is tough. We got to play better ball if we want to win games against good teams. Yeah, I mean, it's disappointing we didn't get the outcome we wanted to and everything that goes on with the Playoffs. When you start the season the way we did, we made it hard on ourselves, so...
We just got to come in on Wednesday and know we got to get back to work. Really at the end of the day it's about pride that you have for yourself, your last name on your back, who you are as a husband, who you are as a father, as a son, as a teammate, all of that.
We'll see come Wednesday.
Q. The offense struggled in the first half. What did you see? What led to that?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: There were just some things offensively that we were messing ourselves up really. Just basically every aspect from my communication to the guys with them getting in the huddle, getting out, guys knowing where to go with their alignments. All of that.
Q. That seems to be something that's happened quite a bit in the latter part of the season. Three more games to try to fix that, look forward to next year. What brought that on?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, I think it's hard to hear for some of the guys in the huddle. I would attest it to that. But I think there's a lot of things that could go into that.
Q. (Question about the interception.)
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, on that I came off of the first read and sort of lost where he was behind the lineman. I only saw J. Rams. Thought he had leverage. With that negative leverage, I was going to flatten him down. Then I ended up seeing him last minute.
Q. Looked like it was a slide (indiscernible)?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I don't know. I would say things happen so fast when you got to make split decisions. It was what it was.
Q. Did you hear from Jalen Ramsay throughout the game, him being a former teammate, especially on the sack?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: No, nah, not from J. Rams. Talked to him a long time after the game. He wanted to talk. That's my dude. Solid, solid player. Solid person. I enjoy competing against him.
Wish the outcome would have been different, though, so I could have talked a little more of my, you know, to him.
Q. What do you personally hope to accomplish in the last three games?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, I think with the way the season's went, the outcome today, it's more about what I said earlier: pride that the guys take.
For everyone it's not just about football, it's about life, right? When things go good, everyone understands how certain people react or how people are more motivated to continue to do things.
You got to take yourself back to whenever it was, that 12-year-old kid, take yourself back to that and tell yourself, Dude, what if you were playing in the NFL?
You'd be excited. That would have been your dream. You get to live it.
With that being said, you also got to come out with a sense of urgency, do you take pride in what you do when things are going good and when things are going bad? It falls into every facet of what you do in your life.
That was sort of my message to the guys after the game.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports