Rams 35, Jaguars 7
Q. Did this game sort of feel like a continuation in terms of the self-inflicted penalties?
LIAM COEN: Sure did. Yep, sure did. It was everything we said we didn't want to do did occur. So starts with me. Got to figure it out. Got a long flight home and some days off to do that.
Q. How tough was it to get anything going in the passing game and to get into a rhythm? What was the challenge there?
LIAM COEN: Precisely when it's talked about what it took to win this game and did a whole film -- you know, my meeting yesterday was everything about staying on schedule, being able to get multiple runs off back-to-back so that we can run it, run it, stay on schedule, stay balanced, and we didn't do any of that again.
Q. (Regarding being distressing.)
LIAM COEN: It's frustrating, but just like everybody else in there, you got to look inward first. Like, what am I doing as the head football coach that's not clear right now? How am I communicating these things? How am I and how are we practicing these things? That's what I've got to look at, right?
I've got to look at the whole thing, ultimately, but not going to stand up here er and blame these players. It starts with me.
Q. You talked about earlier you kind of knew what this team's identity was early in the season, physical.
LIAM COEN: Yeah.
Q. Maybe you lost a little bit of that?
LIAM COHEN: I definitely think that some of the over -- some of those things have hurt us. Like being over-aggressive and being amped up in the last couple of weeks has actually been a negative in some ways in terms of the penalties and some of the mistakes we've made.
You wouldn't have guessed that we were here for a week prepared, ready to go play in this atmosphere by looking at it in terms of the way we started the game. I'm very proud of our defense, specifically in the second half of the game. Like, played their tails off.
Obviously had a couple of moments where -- you know, we got the one obviously thrown over our heads again in a short-yardage situation, but they gave us some stops and some opportunities in the second half. We drove it and did some things with it. It's just ultimately didn't execute once we crossed the 50 typically. We weren't being able to execute.
So, yeah, definitely frustrating.
Q. (Regarding concern over Cam this week, second week in a row.)
LIAM COEN: Yeah, you feel for the guy in terms of wanting to put him in a position to be successful. I thought about that decision a little bit, because it was 21-0 at that point. You know, you just kind of wanted to get some points on the board to see a little positivity when you looked up at the scoreboard, and we ended up missing it.
I just got to go talk to him before I comment on it.
Q. What about the concern with Brian Thomas, two more drops today?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, we obviously need to make sure we're in a position with our hands, with our violent to the tuck, with the way we're looking the ball in. And also ball plays, making sure the ball is in the right spots. You know, all that stuff. I think there's a combination of things.
Still, we got to keep throwing it, though. I mean, we can't go running it, running it, running it. It's just the way it goes.
Q. Tough time after a loss to reflect positively offensively, but Travis (regarding over 100 yards)for his first touchdown. Was that part of the plan or was it more result of lack of productivity?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, early on it was hard to get anybody into a rhythm offensively. Then in the second half there definitely was a plan going into the game that we wanted to utilize him more on the offensive side of the ball, specifically trying to get the ball into his hands, and then the first half was just kind of funky the way we couldn't get anybody the ball consistently and get into a rhythm.
Then he was able to make some plays in the second half. Trevor was able to find him on some things that were obviously designed to go to him in some ways. Happy that he got his first touchdown; tough to see it come in that moment.
Q. When you guys have big plays taken off the board, penalties like the punt return, how much does that rob momentum?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, it definitely kills it, for sure. Got to go watch the tape and see how we can coach our guy, Jarrian differently on the punt return. How we can coach him differently to communicate how to play that play differently in order to not have a penalty there.
Then we had the punt return where they obviously -- you know, they knock into him, or whatever it was, and nothing ended up occurring. We're trying to figure out how to coach them and communicate that stuff to our players, but clearly we've got to be more disciplined.
Q. How important during this bye week will it be to get that process going moving forward?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, I mean, that will start on the flight home, that opportunity to watch the tape, flush the feeling in some ways, which won't go away for a little while, I'm sure, especially on a bye here.
We've got to look at the self-scout in all three phases. We've got to look at personnel in all three phases, how we're utilizing it, how we aren't utilizing it, and where do we need to use guys more, use guys less. It's all going to get evaluated.
Q. You said you spent seven days out here. (Regarding seeing a different side to young people away from home.)
LIAM COEN: Like you are saying, the opportunity to see the world throughout the game of football, obviously it's frustrating to lose a game, right? That's the result that we're not hunting up, but I still think it's a cool experience to be able to have the opportunity that this game of football has maybe brought some of these guys opportunities that maybe they wouldn't have ever had.
I definitely hadn't traveled much personally in my life, and football has definitely given me the opportunities to do so.
Q. In your first season as a head coach what has been the biggest challenge?
LIAM COEN: I think making sure the relationship -- not the relationship, but the communication overall just in making sure you're present and communicating with not just the offense, but the defense, the special teams, the players, the coaches, the staff making sure that the standard is continuously being communicated at a high level and that those standards are being upheld every single day in terms of the details, the fundamentals, the schedule, all that stuff that goes into it.
You're used to living in a little bubble on one side of the ball, and now that's definitely expanded.
Q. You played a lot of soft zone defense in the first half. Is that part of the game plan?
LIAM COEN: Yeah, we tried playing a little bit more man, and it seemed like when we did that, we were getting a penalty called us on some way, shape, or form. We were trying to find the balance between going zone and man, the balance between sending pressures and playing with four-man rush. That's a balance.
When you play a guy like Matthew, you have to mix up the looks, give him different looks pre-snap and post-snap, and Matthew was on one today.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports