TREVOR LAWRENCE: It was a rough day offensively. Just frustrated obviously. It's frustrating to watch the tape. Like I always say, I like to watch the tape before i say too much. I had a few plays out there that I want back.
Missed a few, that one play in the Red Zone. Obviously, just a bad decision. Put us in a bad spot. Then just didn't capitalize.
As a unit, we didn't take advantage of the opportunities that we had and really played into what they wanted us to do, make those mistakes and get in third and long and get us to punt it or a couple of times turn it over on downs.
Just didn't play our style of football. Didn't play well. This one stings, and everybody feels it in there, as you should. It's a division game. It's a game where we feel confident and thought we had a good plan ask just didn't execute it. We have to be better.
Q. What did you see on the interception in the end zone?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Honestly, I just forced it. The field shrunk down there. We were into the boundary. Didn't have James in the flat.
Then I thought I might have had a shot at the back baseline and just Stingley fell off the corner there. It was just a bad decision.
That's one you just throw away, maybe try to run it in, live to play another down. I think it was first and second and goal. Can't do that.
Our defense held them, what, to 13 points. You have to score more than 13 points if you want to win. For us offensively, that's the standard. We have to play better, help them out.
We didn't finish drives. We got in the Red Zone multiple times. Most of the games, and we had a couple of three and outs, we were driving the ball successfully and had a lot of big plays. We would just stall out.
We have to fix that. We have to all look in the mirror and be accountable. Myself, I have to look at the things that I have to do better. Obviously, the turnover. Can't let that happen.
Then just beyond that, though, a couple of throws that were close. We just have to make the play. It's like we talked about in the locker room. We can't all have an off day on the same day. You can have one guy, and you can pick them up and go make a play for them, and that's fine, but we all just have to be better collectively.
Q. Trevor, did you know it was a bad decision as soon as you released it? Stingley was like front of day when released the ball. That's why it seemed --
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Just bad. Just forced it and tried to do too much there. Just a bad decision, like I said.
Q. Seven turnovers in the last seven quarters. How do you keep from pressing, and how do you not lose a little confidence moving forward?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: I mean, I haven't lost any confidence. Like I said, it's that one really the last play of the game it wasn't a good throw. Trying to scramble around, buy some time, let them get down there. Obviously, that's a turnover. The one, like I said, early is the one that's just -- you can't let that happen. Especially in the Red Zone. The type of game it was, points are really valuable, and you have to get something out of there.
We needed to score, but you know we got a field goal. We're down there inside the 10. We should score on that possession.
Yeah, I haven't lost any confidence. You look at some of the stuff we did. We moved the ball great. Guys made plays down field. I thought I was confident, ripped a few in there, had some good plays, but it doesn't matter if you don't win.
At the end of the day we have to finish games. We're going to learn from it. It hurts. This is a division game. It's a big game. It's frustrating, but we're going to get better. That's the thing. We can't panic.
We're a good football team, and we believe that, and we just have to play like it. We didn't play like one today. We played bad.
Q. Trevor, not a great day today for you guys offensively on third down and in the Red Zone. Did the Texans present anything different to you than what you saw all week in your film study that gave you particular difficulty in those situations?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Not necessarily. I think just they played a lot of two-shell, a lot of two-Tampa. That's what they did to us last year. So, it's not necessarily a surprise.
They did it more to us this game than they have in the four games prior to this season. I guess, yeah, they played a little bit more shell, but at the end of the day we have plays that we feel great about that put us in position to succeed against that. Just missed too many opportunities.
Early in the game I think I was forcing a few down field instead of just taking the underneath throws that they were giving us. Then I think I settled in late in that first quarter. Especially late in the second -- or in the second quarter, but like I said, we just didn't finish drives.
We kept stalling out. We had a couple -- we didn't convert on a fourth down early in the game, and then we didn't convert on a fourth and half a yard later in the game right at midfield. Those are huge plays. We have to convert some of those.
There's a lot of stuff that we have to do better, but that's definitely one.
Q. Coming into the game did you guys feel like there were particular personnel matchups that you would be able to take advantage of against that team? Then on the flip side of it, during the game did you find that there were any particular personnel matchups that you guys had difficulty dealing with?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Not necessarily. I don't want to get into necessarily the whole game plan, but just we had some things that we thought we had schemed up and really from their side of the ball they just played a lot of Tampa. They played cover-two most of the snaps. They mixed it up towards the end when we started to move the ball more and more and hit some plays.
They adjusted a little bit, but that was really I think their game plan, and they stuck to that. Like I said, we kind of played right into it. We put ourselves in second and third and long, and then when you get in that situation, that defense, that's kind of what it's built for. Keep everything in front of you, rally, make the tackle, get you in fourth down. They did that and did a good job of that.
Really I think we shot ourselves in the foot too much all the way around. That's the thing, you have to play well to win, obviously. I just didn't think that we definitely didn't play well, but just weren't consistent enough throughout the game.
Obviously, we had some plays here and there, but you have to play a complete game to win in this league no matter who you are playing, and didn't do that.
Q. Doug mentioned the staff needing to deal with something trying to get settled into the games a little quicker. Why do you think maybe some of the starts have been slower this year?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: I really can't answer that question right now. I don't want to just try to think of something right now to say to you guys.
I think there's been times where we've started well. We're only five games in, so I'm not going to blanket we're not starting well this year. I would have to go back and look at all of that.
There's definitely been some games where we haven't, so I would agree with that. I think it's always a combination of multiple things. Yes, of course, it's a little coaches, but it's us players too.
I think our team does a good job of looking in the mirror. You have to hold yourself accountable. You can't point fingers. We're all in it together.
Coaches aren't always going to call a perfect play. We have to make them right. They do a really good job of putting us in good positions and getting us in the right play a lot of the time.
When that doesn't happen, you're never going to go 100%, but we have to make them right. We have to make the play or don't make a bad play worse, like for instance, on the goal line, you know, my play, the turnover.
There's a lot of things. Like I said, we all have to look in the mirror and hold ourselves accountable and get better. It's the fifth game of the year. We got, what, 12 games left. No panic, but we have to get better for sure. Can't play like that and expect to win.
Q. Did you get a sense after five games that there's still kind of a sense of urgency to fix whatever?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Definitely. Definitely. There should be now for sure. You know, last two weeks games that we feel we should have won and we didn't, so that definitely stings. Yeah, there definitely is a sense of urgency.
We have to have a great week of prep. Another division game this week in Indy. They're going to be fired up to play us after the first game here a few weeks ago, so they're going to be ready, and we're going to get everything they have.
We'll be prepared, and we just have to have a great Wednesday. That's our main focus. Come in here tomorrow, clean it up, and start the week off great on Wednesday and get ready for them.
Q. Trevor, the Tampa-two, compared to where you were a year ago to now, how do you feel you are in going up against that, you personally in terms of reading that defense and then exploiting it?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: I think just specifically on that we did some good things today. We had some plays down the field. Like I said, they did the same thing to us last year, says, and I thought we settled in earlier this year. I know the first game of the season we played there. Really just being a young player, I think I forced a lot down field. Just kept making the same mistake, played into what they wanted us to do.
I thought this year -- or today we settled in and had a couple of those early, but then settled in and started taking what they were giving us, finding our matchups, finding our holes in the zone.
Just didn't put those together consistently enough. Then we would hit those, and then we would stall out. So, at the end of the day it's want good enough to win, but I think we handled it better than we had in the past.
Q. One more. How do you maybe lean on Doug? Is it Press? Is it Mike? Is there someone that you lean on when the going is getting tough and there is the inconsistency out there?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Coach McCoy is, obviously, our quarterback coach, so we're always talking. We're on the sideline together. He does a really good job of not panicking.
No matter how good or bad it's going, he is kind of always the same. He is a guy I trust, and that's helped a lot just as far as the confidence and the mindset of myself and the offense and everything.
He does a really good job. Coaches are the same way. After that play, like I said in the Red Zone, really bad decision by me, Coach Pearson came up to me and said, hey, you're better than that, but let's move on, next play.
Everybody does a good job of that, but like I said, it's -- we just have to be better.
Q. Doug was in here earlier and said you're seeing it on the field. That's not the issue. It's just from that point on sometimes here and there can you kind of talk us through maybe some of why there's maybe a little bit of, I guess just being off there?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Do you mean -- what exactly off? In which way?
Q. You're seeing where you are supposed to go and coverages and stuff.
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Obviously, there's always a few plays that you go back and look, and you wish you would have gone somewhere else with the ball, taken a throw here or there. I think really I think I missed a few throws today more so than anything.
Early, like I said, I forced a couple down field that I could have just kept us on schedule and got settled into the game. I could have done a better job there.
Really seeing the defense, I thought I did a good job. I think I just missed a few throws. Like I said, we just didn't make the plays that were there all the way around. There's a lot out there. When you watch the tape, it's going to be frustrating because you leave a lot out there.
Like you said, I'm seeing it. I feel good about that. I work hard during the week to be prepared and to see the looks and to be able to react whenever I see certain coverages. I thought for the most part I saw them, but I've got to be quicker in some of my progressions and just be more accurate overall.
Q. On the fourth and ten, not on the last possession, but next to last possession, it looked like you looked at Travis very briefly. It was kind of a check-down in the right flat. Then you decided to go to Evan deeper. Did you feel like Travis was too far back in the sticks to be able to get that?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: That was a play. He is kind of the flat control guy there, and it's fourth and ten. The one thing you can't do is throw it short and get tackled short and not give yourself a chance.
In my mind I wanted try to give us a shot down field. Derek Stingley played it pretty well on Evan. I didn't throw necessarily a catchable ball there, which is a mistake, again. Got to give him a chance to go make the play.
Yeah, I mean, I just didn't -- Travis -- I'll have to go back and watch it. I saw it on the tablet, obviously, on the sideline. If I get it to him, maybe he makes the play, but in my mind that's a risky decision there on fourth and ten. If he gets tackled short, that's kind of -- that's the one rule is you want to try to give yourself a chance.
That's not really necessarily one that I'm kicking myself over, but definitely wish I would have gave Evan a better shot to make the play down field.
Q. Trevor, if felt like all week long the story was this was a statement game for you guys, a chance to show you had taken a step forward. Did you feel that? What statement? Because people will tend to make a statement of their own after this. What statement do you think it does say, if anything, about where this team is?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: We have a lot of room for improvement. Like I said, we've played some really good football this season. We've played some bad football too.
The only thing it says is we've got to get better, and that's the message whether we win or lose, but especially when you lose a game like this and you don't play well, especially offensively.
Like I said, we've got to hold each other accountable, hold ourselves accountable and get better, and we all just have to do our part.
Our team does a good job of staying together. No one is going to point fingers, but we do have to step up and make the plays that are there and really just be more consistent all the way around.
That's the message is just it's early. We have plenty of time, but we have to make improvements.
Thanks.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports