Vikings 10, Bears 12
JOSHUA DOBBS: Good evening, good evening. Obviously a tough loss tonight. I thought the crowd, starting with the fans, man, the environment out there was electric and fun to be out there. Wish we could have came up with the win for the fans, for the guys in the locker room.
Defense did a great job again giving the offense a chance. We got to take care of the football. We said it last week and we'll say it again this week. We didn't make enough plays to win. We had a chance at the end, again, the ball in our hands with a chance to get a first down to really seal the deal at the end of the game despite everything that happened throughout the game.
So, yeah, tough one. Give it up to the Bears for making enough plays to win the ballgame in the end. Obviously bye week where guys can get rested, rejuvenated, and we'll be back. We'll be back. We'll look at the film, I'll be better, especially in situations and making sure that we're not putting the defense on short fields and taking care of the ball on offense, because it starts with me.
We will hit the ground running when we get back from the bye. Open it up for questions.
Q. What did you feel like Chicago's defense did to keep you out the rhythm throughout the night?
JOSHUA DOBBS: Yeah, I thought early in the game their offense did a good job converting on third downs, keeping us off the field. I think we had three plays in the first quarter and our first sustained drive was halfway through the second quarter.
So weren't able to get in a rhythm early like we liked to do. From there, man, we had opportunities; we didn't execute. They did a good job at some catch points in getting the ball in the air and taking advantage of some of those ops.
So for us, it's be clean, catch and throw, despite whatever is going on on the other side of the ball, when you get the ball on the offense, go out, execute, do what we can do.
We do that, like we'll score more than ten points, especially with our defense playing the way that we do. We'll be good to go and put ourselves in better positions to win at the end of the game.
Q. Obviously every play is different, but how to you absorb the totality of four interceptions?
JOSHUA DOBBS: Yeah, it's frustrating. Like I see it, because I know -- as we talked about throughout the week, talked about coming off last week on the road at Denver, that turnovers really control the game. Starts with me and taking care of the football with my decision making, and no matter what happens on the other end, it's giving the receiver a good ball and getting the ball where it needs to go based on the coverage.
I acknowledge it. I'm frustrated with myself because it starts with me, as I said. I'll be better from it. I'll learn from every single one of them tonight and we'll use it to build momentum into the next opportunity.
Q. Josh, how do you try to separate like ball placement versus out of rhythm/timing?
JOSHUA DOBBS: Yeah, you know, based on the coverages that the defense is giving me, you know, it's a fine line between, okay, like that's a window to fit it in or it's not. First one I got deeped out by the corner. He did a good job coming up underneath and then falling under. And then the other ones I just can't put the ball in jeopardy.
I know one was a fourth down, so we're trying to convert by any means necessary. Yeah, there is a fine line. But at the end of the day when the ball is in my hand and guys are open, I'm going to keep shooting, keep throwing the ball where it needs to go, and clean up everything else from there.
Q. What did they try to do to take away your mobility?
JOSHUA DOBBS: Yeah, they did a good job with their rush lanes, being disciplined, keeping me in the pocket. Now, as we say, there were still opportunities to throw the ball to the right place and make plays down the field. I didn't execute. We didn't execute as an offense. So that was that.
But it will be cleaned up and we'll use each one of the opportunities as a learning opportunity, as a building block, so when we come back after the bye we're clicking on all cylinders.
Q. You think the first couple starts you had maybe masked just the complexity of being on rhythm and in time in this offense?
JOSHUA DOBBS: You know, I'm learning each week. No, I think I was able to come out and play, clean efficient football and that's the expectation I set on myself, that's the expectation I have on myself tonight.
As you guys hopefully have seen, I don't make excuses based on my situation just being here a month, man, because having the opportunity to get the reps in practice. Yeah, I hold myself to a higher standard, and no matter what happened on the other end tonight, man, I know I can play better football.
I'm not ashamed to say that. I'm not running from it. I'm excited for the next opportunity to show that.
Q. Just where are you with your grasp is the offense as a whole?
JOSHUA DOBBS: Yeah, it's growing leaps and bounds each and every opportunity. When you look at the stats from tonight it might not show that, but the efficiency getting out of the huddle, not being up against the play clock, being able to be in the right place throughout the night, I think that showed with the opportunities we had to make those plays.
We didn't make the plays, but being able to give ourself a chance, you know, by not being up against the clock, being in the right play, and having chance to execute was huge, especially in this offense as we look to maximize matchups.
Yeah, that's grown leaps and bounds. I know it's an off week and I'll take some time to recharge. The bulk of my time will be to continue to pour into the playbook and get it down so when game day comes I'm able to go out and play clean, efficient football.
Q. Are you worried that the turnovers could impact whether you get that next opportunity?
JOSHUA DOBBS: Honestly, you know, I think that's a coaching decision. But, no, I don't. I just focus on myself, focus on how I can help this team win, how I can be a better team mate, quarterback, and focus on how I can make sure the offense is in the right play based on the scenario to go out and execute and play at a high level.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports