Jaguars - 17, Texans - 37
Q. Can you start with the kickoff return, how the fullback was able to do that on you guys?
DOUG PEDERSON: Did you watch the play?
Q. Yeah.
DOUG PEDERSON: Yeah, I mean --
Q. It looked like guys quit.
DOUG PEDERSON: Missed tackles. I mean, just those type of things are unacceptable. I mean, you know, it was a great kick, whatever we wanted it to be. The ball was on the ground. Just poor execution. You know, we couldn't get them on the ground. Great play by them. You know, just failed execution.
Q. Was the effort on that play and, in general, lacking today for you guys?
DOUG PEDERSON: I mean, at times, I think. But, you know, I thought our -- you know, I thought these guys were actually in a good place going into this football game. You know, standing here right now, obviously, that might have been -- might be a little different. But, you know, we talked all week about this team that we're playing is a good football team. It's the National Football League. Divisional opponent. All those things.
DeMeco has those guys playing extremely well. A lot of energy. And we were going to have to come into this game with that same type of energy. And I give credit to Houston. They got after us today.
Q. Doug, what is your biggest reason for why the offense isn't functioning at the high level that, I guess, we all expected it to?
DOUG PEDERSON: Well, you're seeing, you know, the drops. You're seeing the turnovers. You're seeing penalties, untimely penalties. You're seeing flashes of, you know, excellence and brilliance and then a set back. And it's just the consistency that we need -- needs to improve. And it's not there right now. And we got to continue to work and continue to get better and, you know, figure some things out.
Q. Doug, do you think there's any sense that this team maybe read too much of all the offseason hype and is now pressing to try to maybe get to where they thought they might be?
DOUG PEDERSON: You know, I think that's real. I do. I think that's real. And, you know, I've been around this game too long to know that you can't live in the past or you're going to fail in the future. And, you know, we just got to focus one day at a time. We got to get better each day. And can't worry about next week or the week after. Can't worry about the London trip coming up. We can't, you know, we just got to focus in on the week at hand.
And, you know, that part of it starts with me, in making sure that the guys are, you know, hearing that message, you know, loud and clear from me. And we'll make sure that they get that message.
Q. Doug, in the locker room Wednesday after practice, they seemed really focused and really ready to go as if the Kansas City loss had already been put behind them. You said it was a great week of practice. Do you have any understanding as to why the slow start once again?
DOUG PEDERSON: You know what, I wish I had a crystal ball, honestly. That would probably answer a lot of questions. But, you know, I thought the guys were more focused this week. I thought that, you know, the Kansas City game, whether we pressed a little bit in that game and made too many, you know, errors in that game to bounce back, have the type of week that we did.
But, again, you know, the guys are -- gosh, I mean, they're doing and saying and all the right things. And it's just really hard to put a finger on it. You know, it's -- coaches need to coach, players need to play. Leaders need to lead. That part of it starts with me. And, you know, we've got to -- we've got ourselves in a little bit of a pickle here and, you know, we got to work it out.
Q. Doug, just what went wrong with the pass rush today? You weren't able to bring down Stroud. They're missing four out of five starters on the offensive line. Why wasn't it able to get home consistently?
DOUG PEDERSON: You know, I -- I mean, you can maybe point to several things. But we have to do better. We have to do better. It starts upfront. It starts with the offensive line on offense, starts with the defensive line on defense. It starts right there. Again -- I'm going to say this again: We need to coach better. We need to play better. We need to execute better.
Whether we are reading our press clippings, we need to get out of our own way right now. We need to evaluate ourselves, beginning with me. And we got to figure out how to win a game.
Q. Offensively, Doug, obviously, you guys come out at half time and moving the ball a lot smoother. What changes were made at half time?
DOUG PEDERSON: I think, you know, grabbing their attention at half time and just letting them know that, you know, the first 30 minutes was unacceptable. It's not up to what our standards are and our expectations, my expectations for this football team. We're -- I say we're too good, right, we've got the pieces, but we're not playing well. And so, they came out, they executed extremely well.
You know, we got it back to that 17-10 mark and then the kickoff return happened. And those are just the moments that, right now, are just keeping us from pushing through this wall, getting over this hump, right? And those are the things, those are the moments that, you know, every man in there takes ownership, accountability. And we just can't let those happen.
Q. I know last year -- sorry -- just one more follow-up. I know last year, obviously, when you took over, you were very considerate of where this team was, where they had been. How much harder have you found yourself coaching them, perhaps, situations like that at half time and really getting after them?
DOUG PEDERSON: I think we're past a lot of that. I think they understand where I'm coming from. Because, listen, I challenge this group quite a bit during the week. And I try to make it as hard as I can during the week so that hopefully on Sunday they can play and all of that. And, you know, we've come a long way as a team, you know, and these guys have really worked hard to put themselves in this position to have -- you know, to be in the conversation around the league and stuff.
But right now, it's not good enough. It's not good enough. And that does start with me. That's a direct flexion on me. And I got to make sure that we're doing -- that we coach better, offensively, defensively, you know, specials. All three phases had a hand in this one today, all three phases. And I'm not taking anything from Houston because they played well.
But for us, personally, we've got to do a better job coaching and making sure that our guys are prepared, I do the right things in practice, we're doing the right things. And, you know, we put together a good week and then, ultimately, finish up with a win on Sunday.
Q. Doug, because most of the guys are back from last year, do you get a sense that there's a feeling in there of, well, you know, we turned it around in the second half last year, we'll eventually get it right, and there's not the urgency to get it right quickly?
DOUG PEDERSON: You know, that might be a question for those guys. I don't feel that. But I feel like -- this is the -- this is the NFL. And if you -- you know, you've got to be ready to play every single Sunday or Monday or Sunday night or Thursday night or whatever's on your schedule.
And, you know, you don't take anybody for granted. I don't care who's playing, who's not playing. This is the NFL. And everybody's good. And you've got to be in the right frame of mind, you know, every Sunday when the ball's teed up and kicked off.
And, you know, today just is not -- it's not a reflection of, really, who we are. But, again, you know, we've got seven days to listen to the criticism, which is -- which is rightfully so. We got to take it. We got to take accountability for it. We've got to block out the noise and figure out how to win.
Q. I believe you said off the top, Doug, that you got in your own way, couldn't get out of your own way today. How difficult is it to get out of your own way? It sounds like it's between the ears for some of these guys. It looked like it was between the ears for some of these guys, in the huddle at the line of scrimmage. So what can you do as a coach off the practice field to get them out of your own way, if you can?
DOUG PEDERSON: It's a, you know -- that's the psychological part of being a head coach sometimes. And, you know, if you figure that out, those are breakthrough moments. I think, too -- and that's why I say coaches have to look at themselves. Because we got to make sure in all three phases are we -- are we doing enough? Are we doing too much? Do we need to cut back? You know, all those type of things just to free these guys up to just, you know, to go play.
And, you know, sometimes if you can just simplify and, you know, you think about training camp, right, you come out of training camp and you run your basic stuff, offensively and defensively, and you have some success in camp and sometimes you have to get back to that sort of mentality, I think.
And, listen, by no means do you panic. You know, again, it's early, there's a lot of ball ahead of us. I think -- I know we've got the right men in that room, in that locker room to figure this out. And, you know, everybody's got to do their part.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports