Q. 20 straight losses. How do you even get your head wrapped around that?
SHAQUILL GRIFFIN: It's tough. It's a feeling that I don't think no one wants. There's a lot of things that we really, really need to figure out.
Offense played really well. I feel like the defense could have done a lot more. I feel like the mistakes that we had just shouldn't happen, and that's the happen we've got to do better, we have to fix ASAP.
So far, man, it's a tough feeling. It's something that you don't want. It's something that you've got to change. We've got to do it. One thing about it, you've got to continue to believe, you've got to continue to have faith, and that's the hardest part. That's the hardest part for everybody, continuing to get everybody to believe.
It's not just me. It can't be just one person believing in something. That's the part continue to express, continue to talk about, get everybody to believe that we can win these games. Man, it's a tough one.
Q. Shaq, when the losses start stacking up like this, you keep talking about that belief. For some of these young players that have been here in Jacksonville and this is their second year and they haven't seen a win in a while, how do you keep that belief in the locker room? Are you still picking up heads? Are you just trying to band together?
SHAQUILL GRIFFIN: We're definitely still picking up heads, and it's no problem because there's some people who are not used to this. My main thing is I don't know if I need to do more one-on-one talks to see how people feel in general because it's easy to continue to say it and walk away and it goes in one ear and out the other and people not really listening.
Maybe I can do a little more one-on-ones seeing how people feel up to now. But they need to continue to have faith, continue to believe, because it's got to turn around. When it does, I don't need anyone delaying us from anything in the future when it comes to winning. So I need everybody to continue to believe and have faith because it's bigger than any individual on this team, and it's changing this whole organization, that's getting this city back to where we need to be.
I'm not going to stop that. I'm not going to change that. I'm going to continue to give my whole body to this game and do whatever it takes to make sure it gets turned around.
Q. How frustrating was it, the opportunity you had early in the game, seemed like you had two hands on the ball for whatever reason --
SHAQUILL GRIFFIN: Yeah, very, very, very frustrating. On that play, I was trying to imagine myself catching it up, and when the ball came, I had both hands on it. Those are the ones I've got to pull in. It's very frustrating because you talk about the ones that I did drop. If I catch the ones that I'm supposed to catch, that's three interceptions this year.
So, yeah, it's very frustrating. Now for the rest of the game, I'm looking for the opportunity to get another ball in my hands, and it got very quiet after that. I lost a lot of opportunities after that play because I was trying to keep the game quiet. So the chances I do get, I have to make the best of it.
That's something on me. I don't know if it's me thinking too much on the play. Whatever it is, I have to figure it out. I have to get those footballs and take it in because it's a game changer. That's the reason they got me here, I'm a game changer. So I've got to continue to focus and work on that.
I've got to do more for the team. Whatever it takes, I've got to do more.
Q. A.J. Brown was pretty much held in check. I'm pretty sure the assignment was to stop Derrick Henry, but in doing so, tight ends were just roaming free in the secondary. Was it fatigue? Was it just stick to the game plan? What do you think went wrong in the second half?
SHAQUILL GRIFFIN: As far as my job, my job was to follow wherever 11 goes. My job was to keep him as low as possible and as quiet as possible throughout the whole game, and stop the run. I feel like, when it comes to the tight ends breaking open or making some plays, I felt like it was really on us.
I couldn't say the tight end really just got off the line and was beating people. I think it was literally a lot of miscommunication, and that's the part that's frustrating. I hate to be the guy because I used to hate listening to it, but a coach could tell you, oh, guys, we beat ourselves again. That's the only reason we lost. I used to hate hearing that. But seeing this literally self-inflicted wounds we continue to give each other.
We'll be out there talking, and then there's a miscommunication and someone is open by himself. Those are things that just can't happen in football. It just can't. After a while, it has to stop. Miscommunication has to stop.
Ain't no reason, first-year guys, second-year guys, it doesn't matter. It has to stop. You've been doing it long enough, you're not young anymore. You played enough ball, whatever you got to do to figure it out, whoever you got to talk to, whatever you feel like you don't trust or believe in, you've got to trust your players. That's the part we have to get better at. Our chemistry has to get better because we need to believe in one another. Whatever our play call is, whatever our assignment, we have to do our assignment.
So I don't think the tight ends really got the best of us. I just think we really had a lot of self-inflicted wounds when it comes to that. Maybe I just got to do a little bit more, like I said. My game plan was to take out 11, and we stop the run. Go back to the drawing board. We'll figure it out.
Q. As a captain, can you talk a little bit about the defense on the sideline kind of urging for Coach Meyer to throw the challenge flag? Did you see it as him throwing his support behind the players a little bit?
SHAQUILL GRIFFIN: For sure. I wouldn't tell him to change a thing. It's not something I would come back and say I wish Meyer hadn't thrown that flag. I would tell him to throw it again. I got so much respect for Urban because he trusted us. 9 out of 10, I feel like we get that ball back.
There's going to come a time again when he has to trust us and go with his gut and throw that flag again. That shows a lot from Urban to trust us to make that call because me and the defense didn't get mad or nothing like that. We went back and tried to make a play and keep it moving.
But that's trust, and we need that. Because there's going to be opportunities in the game where he throws that flag and we get that ball. I love that.
Q. How deflating was it to have the touchdown called back and then not get it down there where you had a chance to cut the lead down to a single score? How deflating was that on the sideline?
SHAQUILL GRIFFIN: It's tough. I think we do a good job of not focusing on what's going on with the offense. They've been doing so well. The main thing is the referee's got to make a tough call. That's your job. The main thing is we're going to make it tough. 9 out of 10, I think Trevor gets in.
So we're going to continue to stay aggressive. Ain't going to change much, but you've got to do better. Defensive-wise, we've got to communicate better, got to do better. If the offense is putting up points, we've got to stop them from getting points.
Q. At what point did you know Tyson Campbell wouldn't be able to go today? Could you evaluate the rest of the defensive backs? Claybrooks', Herndon's performance today?
SHAQUILL GRIFFIN: They stepped up in a big way, something that we need. I don't look at young guys, I don't look at weak links, I don't look at nobody like that. When your number is called, you've got to be ready. I don't care who it is, what's your name, what's your number, you've got to be ready.
They stepped up in a big way. They still have a lot to learn. The main thing is, when you have a situation like that, you're playing with a new guy or playing with a new group, that chemistry still has to be there. If I see something, I feel something, I tell you, trust me and vice versa. That's what we're getting back to.
Maybe I need to get more time with the DBs outside of this building. So much with the COVID restrictions and so much, but I have to figure out something to get this chemistry, this brotherhood, where people are trusting each other. Because sometimes playing this game, there's some things that's not going in the game plan. If I feel something from the experience I have, or you talk about Rayshawn or any guys who have been playing in the league for a minute, they might feel something or see something they saw so many times.
If I feel something, if I feel like it's true, I'm going to say it. If not, I won't say anything. But most of the time, it will be correct. So I need guys to trust that and vice versa. If they see something, say something. We had to play with me and Trey Herndon today. He felt something and changed the call completely, and it worked out. But I trusted him. We need more of that. We need everybody on that.
Q. In years past, five games in to not have that chemistry, is this concerning that you guys don't have the chemistry you were hoping to have five games in?
SHAQUILL GRIFFIN: At one point, yeah. Like I said, maybe I have to do more. That's the reason I have this captain's badge. I have to figure out a way to do more. Me doing it on the field is just not enough. I'm going to put it up on myself and make the changes, get the guys to believe a little bit more, have more faith in us, in each other, and we'll get this turned around.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports