Vikings - 12, Jaguars - 7
SAM DARNOLD: Obviously great job by, first and foremost, our whole team just getting a win. Jags are a tough team. Our defense, special teams, man, they stepped up today.
I've got to do a lot better job of taking care of the football. I think that's obvious. And just being situationally aware of kind of where we're at on the field and first and second down, like just being able to put the ball in play and let our guys go run with it.
I thought I could have done a lot better job of that today, but we'll just look at the tape and learn from it that way.
Q. Kevin talked a lot about shell coverage early on. How did you feel like that affected you guys maybe early?
SAM DARNOLD: Just got to continue to stay patient in those moments when they're playing shell coverage or they're playing whatever type of shell man they want to play. Just got to continue to be patient and take what they give me.
Q. On those interceptions were there -- I don't know if you looked back at them or just in your mind -- were there places you shouldn't have thrown it or just run it or thrown it away?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, I think in some of those instances just being able to -- like the first one was a tough play. Ball gets tipped up and then picked off by the linebacker. Then the last two, just like to have better ball location.
I think the one to Jets in the right corner, kind of giving him -- if I am going to throw it, give him a chance. If he doesn't get the ball, have the ball hit the ground. We can't put the ball at risk, especially on second down like that. So I've got to continue to manage those situations and be better that way.
Q. On that one, was it the decision-making, or did the ball come off differently than how you wanted to put it? How did you feel about the accuracy on that one?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, it was not the place I wanted to put the ball. On that, just got to continue to be better and work on stuff like that.
Q. You talked a lot about next play, keeping the mindset that you want to keep consistent. What goes through your mind after throws occur like that? What is your kind of process?
SAM DARNOLD: I think whenever you turn the ball over, especially during the course of a game, you have to have a next play mentality. Being able to understand what happened and just moving on. It's as simple as that.
When those things do happen in the course of a game, I know -- I have full faith that our defense is going to go out there and get a stop and we'll get the ball right back and go down and get a score. So that's kind of my mindset when things like that happen.
Q. How do you balance that aggression with the other side of maybe throwing? How do you balance that in real time?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, you've got to -- I think like I said, on first and second down, play smart football. Give our guys, if I am going to try to thread the needle and make a tough throw, put it in the place where just our guy can catch it. Then on third down, just being able to understand that in the red zone we do have points. So just continue to understand situations during the flow of a game.
We'll just continue to look at the tape and get better through those things.
Q. What was it like to have T.J. on some of those third down opportunities on that one drive?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, T.J. was great today. Just his presence out there, being able to run the routes that he's able to run, find kind of those zones in there if they do want to play zone coverage on third down.
T.J.'s a great football player, and I'm happy to have him back.
Q. On the interception, you came off trying to make a tackle there. Looks like you came off kind of squeezing your hand. How did your hand feel after that to be able to finish up the play?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, hand felt good, good enough to be able to finish it. It feels pretty good right now.
Q. Nothing you're worried about going forward?
SAM DARNOLD: No, I'm not worried about it.
Q. Sam, you mentioned the defense. What is it like to have that side of the ball that you can rely on if you don't have your best game?
SAM DARNOLD: Yeah, hopefully we don't have to do that every single game, but it's awesome to be able to have a defense like that, to be able to go out there and play the way that they do.
I've said it ever since April, ever since the spring. I understand the kind of players that we have over there, and it's a special group. I'm very fortunate to have them as teammates.
Q. You were trying to get the ball to Justin. What were your conversations like with him during the game?
SAM DARNOLD: I think the biggest thing is some games are going to be different than others. I think it's just about keeping the energy and keeping -- throughout the course of a game, all the ebbs and the flows, you just got to continue to have a consistent mindset.
I feel like as an entire offense, as a team, I feel like we do a really good job with that of just being able to stay the course of a game and finish until the last whistle.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports