Lions 30, Vikings 24
NICK MULLENS: Merry Christmas. Close game. Obviously we didn't do enough to get the win. Can have an explosive offense but crucial makes will hold you back. We're excited to put our head down and just keep working, just keep going.
Q. Nick, what did you see on the last play?
NICK MULLENS: Yeah, tried to step up. I could either have put it like further out or right on him, and tried to put it right on him and the ball didn't come out exactly how I wanted it to.
That's unfortunate the way it ended like that. Had a chance to win it at the end and we didn't get it done, but that's what I saw.
Q. In the bigger picture, how do you view a 400-yard with four picks and the touchdowns all mixed in?
NICK MULLENS: Personally I think I just have to take the next step. I believe that I'm a very good quarterback, but what's it going to take to take the next step. So that's something that always -- the NFL is the mental game. It's you versus you. That's what I just keep striving for.
It's hard work, execution, trust the guys around me, yeah.
Q. What do you have to do or what is the next step?
NICK MULLENS: Just keep playing ball. Keep your head down, keep working one step at a time, focus on your responsibility each play, and just keep striving.
Q. On the turnovers, did you view those as decision making things or ball placement things?
NICK MULLENS: Yeah, a lot of ball placement. I believe I'm very accurate quarterback. I did make a lot of good throws today, but those -- the pylon to the left, got to drive it more and bring it over to the left.
So, yeah, just a couple of those and the diagonal to Jordan Addison, if he beats him across and you put it on him, if he gets undercut then you loft it over the top, and there was space out there. There was space.
I didn't make an accurate enough throw.
So decisions, accuracy. You have to be elite at all times. I've done a good job making plays and moving the offense. We've worked really hard collectively to move the offense.
Just you have to you avoid those mistakes.
Q. How would you describe what Justin did today?
NICK MULLENS: Justin is a beast, plain and simple. He's a great teammate, works hard. He's a beast. I mean, you just have so much trust in him. Put the ball up, making plays, that's who and what he does. He's an awesome teammate and awesome player.
Q. On the third and 27, take us through what you saw.
NICK MULLENS: Oh, yeah, so we had pretty similar route to the previous interception, like the first half. We had basically the pylon with stuff coming to it, and the corner was hear, safety was here. There was space, so I just drive it, tried to give him a chance, and he made a great play, it was a great catch, and it gave the two-minute drive life.
Q. In terms of aggressiveness there, how much is that sort of your I guess natural way of playing quarterback and how much is that coach's encouraging you to chase big plays down the field when you have them?
NICK MULLENS: I think the coaches do a great job of putting us in the right situations, and part of playing quarterback is going through progressions, accurate balls, being decisive.
That's what I have to do to be efficient. That's kind of how I've always played, just be accurate, make good decisions. Obviously it's not perfect, but you strive to do that to the best of your ability as consistently as you can.
Q. There was a lot of open receivers and down field plays that you had opportunities to create a lot of explosive. What was working specifically from the game plan that was able to create some of those explosive plays?
NICK MULLENS: Yeah, there was space in the zones, and with some the concepts we had and just finding zones and placing the balls and trusting receivers will get to that spot.
And then when we got man coverage, we have really good skill guys that can separate and win. Whether it was man or zone we had really good concepts to put our receivers in the situations to make the plays, and we did hit a lot of them.
We had a lot of big plays. Obviously those have to outweigh the mistakes, but we did move the ball. We were explosive, and the O-line did a great job up front. They battled all day. I say I love those guys all the time, but I really do. They're a great group. They're great teammates. They battled their butts off. That's all we can ask for.
Q. What's the level of confidence in the locker room knowing you guys are probably going to...
NICK MULLENS: Yeah, we got two more. See where the chips fall where they may. Ready to get back to work, head down, just smooth football, stay efficient like I said. Got to play collective team football. We know we can do it. Now we just got to go back to work and put our head down and keep working, and we're cited for it.
The guys we have in the locker room on offense, defense, special teams, we love football, we love work, we love being around each other. That's what it's all about. So we're going to keep working for sure.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports