Jacksonville Jaguars 26, Indianapolis Colts 11
Q. Full of emotions. You guys came a long way in the wrong direction (no microphone.)
CARSON WENTZ: Yeah. It sucks, honestly, you know, walking off kind of in disbelief. Just -- it's hard to fully reflect on everything right now. It all happened so fast.
But just even thinking back just to where we came from, dug ourselves out of a hole. You know, we were in control of our destiny. And then the last two weeks just didn't get it done.
And it hurts right now. A lot of reflection to come over the next handful of days, unfortunately. But, yeah, it's not a good feeling right now.
Q. How would you characterize the performance of your offense? (No microphone.) It never looked like you guys -- when you were at your best this year, it didn't look like that.
CARSON WENTZ: Yeah. Yeah. It's hard to put your finger on it right now. You know, I think, like I said, the next couple of days we'll be able to a little bit more. But, yeah, sluggish. You know, not -- not the dynamic, explosive offense that we always thought we were.
You know, got to give our hats off to the opposing defenses every time. I've got to protect the ball. I've got to do a better job. So there's a lot that could be said and a lot of things to kind of digest right now. But, yeah, it's a frustrating kind of crappy feeling right now.
Q. What was your initial emotions, reaction once you guys were eliminated from the playoffs? Because, I mean, the reality is, you guys were in the driver's seat. You needed to one game in the final two of the season and you guys couldn't get it done.
CARSON WENTZ: Yeah. It's a bad feeling, completely bad feeling knowing that, you know, we were in control, being in control of our destiny last two weeks and, I mean, we just couldn't get it done.
It's definitely left a bad taste in my mouth, a lot of guys' mouth. Not where we want to be. Not what we expected either. You know, we expected to finish stronger than we did. And we didn't get it done. It's a bad, bad, bad feeling.
Q. Carson, when the team is set up like this, seven Pro Bowlers, climbing back -- (no microphone.) -- everything is going to get evaluated. Do you expect this system the way it's set up to be in the same spot next year? Do you think you guys can win with everything as it's set up?
CARSON WENTZ: I think that's a great question. And it's still kind of hard to think forward like that. You know, first and foremost, like I've been saying, a lot of reflection, a lot of kind of looking into I think everybody as a team but also personally. You know, what could I have done better?
I have the utmost confidence in this organization and the players, the way it's built, the way it's wired. It's a great group. It's a great group, and I have a lot of confidence in it. But right now, it's hard to kind of fully think forward like that.
Q. Carson, why do you think you weren't able to get in a groove since the Arizona game, the last five or six weeks?
CARSON WENTZ: That's a great question. And it's one I'm going to look long and hard at personally. You know, where could I have been better? What could I have done?
You know, today, obviously, I know just protect the football. Those two killed us, especially kind of -- we were in a sluggish kind of offense first half. Those opening drives were crucial. I gave it away. Put our defense in a bad position. And that's all I can really think about right now.
And this one today hard to put my finger on why the last couple weeks it's been kind of slow.
Q. I know you're always looking at the next play of the game. (No microphone.) When is the first time you started to think, like, it's over, this is done, there's no playoffs?
CARSON WENTZ: I mean, once they got that 4th and 2. I mean, that's when it's time to take a knee and it was -- it hurt. Obviously, we knew there was little chance there. Came in and figured out what was going on.
It's going to take time. It's going to take a couple days to really let it sink in. This is not how we envisioned the end of the season going, especially the way we fought and dug ourselves out of the hole the way we did. So this one definitely hurts and it's going to take time to kind of figure out what the heck happened.
Q. A lot has happened in your career in this job (no microphone) -- like you said, you're going to have to reflect a little bit. What are your initial thoughts when you look back (no microphone.)
CARSON WENTZ: Yeah. It's been a whirlwind. It's been a whirlwind for my family, a whirlwind for this team. Obviously, an up and down season as well. A lot of good memories made. A lot of great guys in that locker room, great guys in that organization, men and women. It's a cool place. Grateful to be here. Obviously just wasn't the finish that we were looking for.
Q. (No microphone) -- plays in the first half. Weren't able to even attempt to pass to Michael Pittman until the third quarter. Are there things they were doing to take him out of that? Or why was that so hard to get going?
CARSON WENTZ: I'd say partially what they were doing. I don't know how many total number of plays we had the first half, but it was a weird flow of the game the first half, unfortunately, yet again.
Then we had the two-minute drive that we -- I think we went three and out. So that definitely cost us there. So hard to fully say why. But, again, we just had a slow first half, limited opportunities, and we just didn't get it done.
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