Bills 27, Jaguars 24
Q. Can you just sum up today and sort of how that -- does that color the way this season went for you personally and for this team?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, it was a tough way to end this year. It's been a fun year. It's hard to kind of describe it, I guess, put the right words to it just because there's so much work that's put into any season. Then you look at the year we've had and some of the adversity and just the way we finished the year and the confidence we were playing with, and then for it to end, it just ends so suddenly when you have a game like that. Obviously you think you're going to keep rolling and you're planning on playing next week, and it's playoff football, and you've got to close out those games.
We weren't able to do it today. They made a few more plays than us. So that part is disappointing.
But just the group, the feelings towards this team and the coaching staff, it's been a lot of fun. It's been awesome working with everyone. So much time and work has been put into it, and I'm proud of that. There's a lot of plays today that I'd love to have back and I wish would have gone a little differently. But there's no question the work put in and the preparation and all the stuff that goes into it, we were ready to go, and we just didn't make quite enough plays.
Q. Outside of the 34-yarder to Parker end of first half, not a lot of things downfield. What were they doing to take that away from you?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: That's kind of their MO on that defense. They want to play shell top-down defense and not give up big plays. We just weren't good enough taking some underneath throws early, keeping us in manageable, and got behind the chains a couple times. It's no secret what they want to do defensively.
You look at what we did in the second half and some answers we had. We did some great things.
It's a playoff game. It's going to be a back and forth. There's going to be possessions that aren't perfect. We kept battling, and it's a shame the way it ended, and like I said, just not to be able to finish it. But to put ourselves in position -- we made some adjustments that were necessary, and I did feel like offensively we made the right changes as we went throughout the game.
Q. Big picture, what does 13 wins and a home playoff do for you guys moving forward? Does it raise the bar, I assume, for everything else?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, you know, I'm not even there yet in my mind. It's hard to get here. It's hard to win as many games as we did and win the division and then have this opportunity, and like I said, for it -- it's still fresh, losing that game today.
Like I said, we feel like we can beat anyone on any day and felt like that today, and Buffalo, like I said, made a few more plays. So that's still fresh. Not even thinking about next year. I have so much confidence in this group and the staff and the direction we're heading, but that doesn't make you feel better about the season ending today when we feel like there was more out there for us. So it's still really, really disappointing. Guys care a lot about it, and that's why we're all feeling this way.
Q. On the interception in the first half, what did you see?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, it was just cover two, and the Mike opened up the field, and I was just a little late on the throw to Parker, so he read my eyes back and made a play on it. Felt like I saw the coverage and knew where I was going with the ball, just a little bit late and didn't do a good enough job of holding him, and he got back in on the play.
Q. What was Liam's message to you guys afterwards, all the accomplishment but obviously the disappointment of today?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, I think that, and just he talked about how proud he was to coach this group and how much fun it was and rewarding it was to coach us. We feel the same way as players. Just the -- we're all in this together, and just the camaraderie between the players but also between players and staff.
It was a really cool team, a special year. It sucks because you're never going to have the exact same group again, so I think that's the worst part is it's over. There's going to be a lot of things that stay the same, but it's never the exact same group.
I wish we could have made a couple more plays to keep this thing going and be playing next week, but that's not the reality. Yeah, it was tough, and he had a good message for us, and we appreciate him. He's a hell of a coach, and I can't think of one better. I appreciate him.
Q. I know it's still fresh, but just in terms of what you guys were able to accomplish this season, what kind of gives you confidence moving forward that this team -- I know it's not going to all stay together, but this team can continue to have positive outcomes?
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, you've got to earn it every year, so I'm not going to say that -- there's no guaranteed success in this business or in this league. You've got to earn it every week. I'll have to take some time. We're going to have to have a great off-season and get back into it in a few months and prepare the right way, and it's going to be a new team and a new journey that we've got to go on, and we've got to earn it every week.
There's no guaranteed success, but I do feel like this is sustainable, the things that we're doing. I know offensively and defensively, both sides of the ball had a hell of a year when it got down to the end, where we finished, and the growth that we had. I know what we're doing offensively. I feel like I've got a complete ownership of it and mastered it as the year went on, have a lot of confidence in that. The players, coaches, like I said. So I do feel like it's sustainable.
But you have to earn it every year. It's not just going to happen. I guess that's the best way to put it.
Q. I'm curious if looking back to the playoff loss in Kansas City, if there's anything that you took away from that loss, whether it was a lesson or just a moment of growth that stuck with you, whether it was short or long-term, and then if it's possible, if it's not too soon from today's loss, if you can carry that lesson into today, and I'm curious if there's anything you can take from today.
TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, there's a lot of things. I'll have to think about today a little bit more just because it is fresh and there's a lot of stuff that -- I want to watch the tape and kind of see what happened.
But I think in any playoff game, mistakes are always magnified just because it always comes down to the end. You don't see a lot of blowouts in the playoffs. Everything is on the line. Everyone is fighting to keep playing.
So whether it's turnovers or turnover on downs, we had three of those, I guess, today total, those add up and those take points off the board. Like I talked about the one I had in the first half, and I've got to be better, cleaner there. Some things just happen. You've got to be able to overcome them.
The reality is you take points off the board, these games are going to be one-score games and you're going to need them at the end. I wish we played cleaner in certain areas. I wish I made one or two decisions a little bit differently, threw a better ball here or there. You've got to live with it. It's life. You don't get do-overs. That's a bummer, but I know that we left everything out there. I know I put everything into this this year, and it sucks that we don't get to keep playing because it's a special group, and people don't get to keep watching us, and our fans have been awesome all year.
I guess to answer your question, playoffs, there's these plays here and there you think about, and everyone is trying their best to make every play, but the attention to detail is so important and taking care of the ball is magnified, all those things.
Thank you all. Appreciate it.
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