Rams 37, Jaguars 7
Q. Talk about the frustrations of the day, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Looked like you had a window, a small window in that second quarter to get back in it and then the zone read fumble just kind of seemed to sabotage it.
URBAN MEYER: Yeah, kind of felt like our guys were -- obviously we've got a lot of talent we're playing against there, and on the road, and all of a sudden we drive the ball. It's 10-7, our defense is playing excellent pass defense. We're playing excellent field position, complementary football there. I'll find out what it was, but the average starting field position, we had them pinned down there most of the first half, and you felt pretty good about it. Hold them to a field goal, and what's it, 13 or whatever it was, 16-7, 13-7 at halftime, and we're getting the ball. That's kind of where you want to be on the road against a good team, let's go move the ball, and we didn't do it.
Q. How stunned are you just by the lack of production? You've got to feel good about your game plan going in, but it's like six weeks in a row where the production hasn't been there.
URBAN MEYER: Yeah, I'm not going to give you guys a lot because I wish I had all the answers, and I'd give them to you. I don't know the answers other than I know this, that you're going to keep swinging and keep working together.
Is there a confidence issue? Any time you're not successful, that's something we've got to fight through. Confidence is a result of success, and right now we're struggling with that.
Q. James' fumble again, and I think he was out for 20 plays. Did you bench him after the second fumble?
URBAN MEYER: He's still not 100 percent. He's not practicing during the week. James is as good a guy, a tough a guy, team player as you've got, that I've ever been around. Your heart bleeds for the guy just because he's not able to do what he does well. He hasn't been that way since Seattle.
He's not able to practice, but he wants to play, and he's still a very good player. You've just got to take care of the ball.
Q. Do you think you're better off sitting him --
URBAN MEYER: We had that conversation as a staff, and everybody felt that he was the best option right now, even not 100 percent.
Q. So he wasn't hurt after the fumble, he'd still be back in?
URBAN MEYER: Oh, sure.
Q. He came right back in afterwards? It was three possessions before he got back on the field.
URBAN MEYER: Yeah, we were just giving Carlos an opportunity, and then obviously we failed there, as well, or the ball went on the ground.
Q. Carlos also had the fumble late in the game, too, back on the field the next drive. I'm just wondering if there was -- if it wasn't a benching, it was just all help with Robinson?
URBAN MEYER: You'd have to ask Coach Parmalee. I don't get too involved. I don't micromanage that. I know he's been dinged up, so I don't know if he's back with the tent or what's going on, but I know there's injury involved.
Q. Is that Parmalee's call or Bev's call, putting him back in based on injury?
URBAN MEYER: Well, James is unique because he is fighting injury. If someone is not producing and you sit him down, that's a whole different conversation, but this is really injury based.
Q. At the end of the first half, you guys were in a good spot, 13-7, you get the ball four minutes midfield. I can't imagine you could draw it up any better, down on the road by less than a score. I don't want to use frustrated. I know it's frustrating but you've got to right where you want it, get the ball coming out. Is it baffling that you can't seem to execute?
URBAN MEYER: You know, I don't want to go on a baffle. Yeah, we're searching for answers right now. How do you find answers? You go to work, and we're going to go back to work. I don't mean to be redundant and coach-speak, but there's nothing else I can tell you. Is it frustrating for everybody involved? Absolutely. Are we better than that? Absolutely are better than that. Do we have better players than that? Yes. Do we have better coaches than that? Yes.
Now it's time to go produce, and like you said, we're right there, so 13-7, I believe you're right, and then we have the ball, and then we get it also in the second half. That's when a team that knows how to win right there, you take a lead and you play field position football with them.
Q. Are you concerned at all about the growth of Trevor and the development of him given your lack of production and confidence as a unit?
URBAN MEYER: I'm always concerned about young players growing. He's a 22 year old player, first year in the NFL. He got hit too many times tonight, a couple times that I want them to look at what happened, too. I saw a couple videos. But I'm anxious to hear the results on that.
The question was am I concerned about his development. I'd like to see everyone else around him and everyone else just play a little better. I wish I could give you something more than that.
Q. You've seen the video of the Jalen Ramsey play?
URBAN MEYER: Yeah, I just saw it real quickly in the locker room. I saw that one and I saw another one.
Q. As a coach in all your years, you've coached many, many excellent quarterbacks and many of them were very young. How do you keep him on track or prevent him from --
URBAN MEYER: Losing confidence?
Q. That kind of thing.
URBAN MEYER: That's part of the position of being a coach, quarterback coach with Coach Schott, Bev, myself, to make sure that all of us -- once again, if it was a simple answer we'd do it. Simple answer is getting confidence. Okay, how do you get confidence? Have some success. We're putting together game plans, and a lot of it is through the lens of the quarterback, how do we get this guy some success early on.
After that nice drive -- he did a heck of a job on that drive. He scrambled, he made some nice plays, and we go down and score, and you're feeling pretty good about life, and then all of a sudden it goes in reverse again.
1st down was the biggest problem today, 1st down and 2nd and 10, 2nd and 11, 2nd and 9 against that defense, that's not what you want to be in, and that's where I felt like that was -- especially in the second half because that's when things went in a different direction for us.
Q. You've had some pretty nice highs this season and then you have a stretch like this you're going through. For you as a coach what's it been like?
URBAN MEYER: I told the players just after the game, when you lose it plays with your mind. You start searching for what's the answers, what can you do better, what can we do better, and I think that's where my mindset is right now. What can we do better. We've got five more opportunities, and some opportunities I think to win some games. There's no simple answer or everybody would do it.
Q. The up tempo run pass option was a big emphasis this week. What did you see from that in this game?
URBAN MEYER: I know we did some of it. I'm sorry, I can't remember exactly how it went. I'll have more for you tomorrow, I guess, or Monday when we meet.
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