Jacksonville Jaguars 26, Indianapolis Colts 11
FRANK REICH: Okay. Never expect to be sitting here, you know, having this moment right now, not like this. You know, we had a good week of practice. We had good preparation all week long. Felt good energy the whole week, every day, every meeting. Felt like we had three good plans. Felt like the players were dialed in, and we just didn't get it done today. We just didn't get it done, coaching or playing.
I give a lot of credit to Jacksonville, a lot of credit to that football team. We knew. That's not a surprise that we got their A game. That is not a surprise. So credit to them and their coaches and their players. They did a good job. I'll open it up.
Q. (No microphone.)
FRANK REICH: I don't know. That's what I just said in the locker room was, you know, I don't have that answer right now. I don't have that answer right now. Got to reflect on that. What I said in there was, you know, just learn and grow from -- we started the way we started. It was out of our hands. We fought and scratched and clawed to get it back in our hands.
And the last two weeks of the season, we did what we did. Starts with me as the head coach. And we've got to figure out how we can close this season out the right way, how we can coach better, how we can play better.
You know, we had the opportunity by control of our own destiny and just didn't get it done.
Q. Offense didn't do anything until very late. How would you evaluate Carson today?
FRANK REICH: Yeah. I'm not going to evaluate any individual, any one performance individually until I watch the film. And then you guys know how I am there. I mean, I'm not going to give an open critique of every player.
You know, we just got to be better. We got to be better in all three phases, coaching and playing. I credit them. I credit Jacksonville and, you know, we need to be better.
Q. You said you weren't talking about any individual players, but your offensive line, six sacks. I believe that's a season high. Jacksonville had an additional 10 quarterback hits out there. That group just seemed like they couldn't get any type of continuity going against Jacksonville's defense.
FRANK REICH: Yeah. They came out and played hard and played well. And, you know, it just -- started that way the game started, it couldn't have started any worse for us. We couldn't execute on offense. We couldn't convert a third down or a fourth down.
And then it seemed like they converted everything. And it seemed like Trevor was hot. And he was making every play, and we weren't making plays. And it was on both sides of the ball.
So felt like we were trying to climb out of a hole the whole day and just never really got into any rhythm.
Q. Frank, as JT took over late in the season, teams have designed their defenses to stop him, especially the last two weeks. They held him in check for the most part. The passing game wasn't able to do its part, wasn't able to step up. Was that a fair assessment? You take a lot of pride in the passing game. Where does that fall on your shoulders in terms of how disappointing is that?
FRANK REICH: Yeah. I mean, it all falls on my shoulders. I'm the head coach.
But specifically to your question, Jack -- I'm not trying to dodge the question. Yeah, we knew that would happen. And teams have stacked the box. And there were a couple of weeks where that was happening, and JT was still having very productive days. And I would probably argue and say he was even -- when it got harder and we failed to have the -- you know, ripping off, you know, 150, 200 yards, he was still being productive and still helping us, you know, offensively.
And, yeah, in the pass game, we just haven't been good enough. We weren't good enough the second half of the year really it felt like to me. We never really got into a rhythm. So that starts with me.
It's obviously a group effort by all of us. But I know we can be better, have a -- you know, we have a lot of years of being very productive in the pass game. I'm not saying that to minimize how poor it was in the last couple weeks or last half of the season, however, that looks. But I'm confident we can figure that part out.
Q. I know that expression you're not the general manager of the team, all those things, but just generally, very broadly, can you acknowledge when you have a season end like this it causes re-evaluation of pretty much everything? You? Everybody? Right? Is that a fair assessment?
FRANK REICH: Yeah. I mean, it's the NFL. This is the highest level there is. So we're all -- it's all day-to-day stuff. So we love that about this business. I love that about this business. I never back away from that or shy away from that.
As a coach, for the players, you know, you put your best stuff out there. And if it's good enough, they want you back. If it's not good enough, they don't want you back.
But as a player or as a coach, you've got so much confidence in yourself that you feel like I'm good, you know. If something didn't work out the way you quite wanted it one year, you've got confidence that you're going to put it out there the next year, whatever the case may be. I just think that's the way most players and coaches think, to be honest with you.
Yeah. It ends like this with two weeks back to back. And all those things that you're saying, Stephen, are very true and very fair.
Q. Speaking of the passing game, Michael Pittman has been so consistently -- (no microphone) for him to not have a target in the first half -- (no microphone) -- or what did you notice out there?
FRANK REICH: Just felt like we just didn't have a ton of snaps. We weren't converting. We weren't converting. And then, you know, I mean, they just -- they took them away a couple of times and just didn't go his way.
And, you know, we just didn't make enough first downs. When you don't move the ball, when you don't make first downs, nobody's going to get touches or targets, no one is going to get enough. And that was really the story of much of the game but especially the first half. We weren't generating any offense. They were. They were possessing -- felt like they were possessing the ball, making first downs. And then when we got it, we didn't help ourselves. Poor on third down. Missed a couple fourth downs that we never should miss. So that goes back to coaching and playing.
Q. You mentioned the passing game in the second half of the season. You went out and said you wanted Carson as quarterback. If you look at his production as far as getting things done in the passing game, did he do enough to show that he could be a long-term guy?
FRANK REICH: I think Carson did a lot. I mean, I think we're a team. I think he's our quarterback. And, you know, I think we're all going to learn and grow from this year, you know, how to utilize every player that we have to the fullest.
I think there were a lot of bright moments for him, for Carson. So, again, I'm not going to go deep into individual assessment. But I certainly think when you look at the overall year, there was a lot of bright spots on this team in general. There's still a lot of positives that you take from it.
The one thing I will say that I said in the locker room is you got to have the maturity to understand that even though there could be a finality to this season, you can't just let it be in vein. You can't let it be in vein. You've got to learn from it. And you've got to figure out, okay, why did we finish the way we did this year and then not let's that not happen next year. So when you get back up to that spot on the mountain next year, hey, remember we were here last year. Remember what happened? That's not happening this year. That's the kind of stuff I think that we have to do.
Q. (No microphone) -- climbing from 0 and 3 and 1 and 4 to get your spot. After the Cardinals game, you had two games to win and didn't get it done. As the head coach, is this the most disappointing you've felt after a game in your four years here?
FRANK REICH: Probably so. Probably so. I mean, it's pretty disappointing, you know, the last two games.
Last week was pretty hard but just never expected it. Like I said, I thought -- I knew last week wasn't the best of weeks, you know, for a couple different -- I don't really ever feel like that, but last week was a little bit off.
And this week was back to normal. We were humming and great practice, great energy from top to bottom in every way. So was not expecting this.
Q. Are you scoreboard watching now or what's the next couple of hours look like?
FRANK REICH: I mean, I wasn't -- (no microphone) -- fill me in on details. That's out of our control.
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