Q. Gardner, can you just kind of sum up that game? I mean, the ups, the downs, what was that like?
GARDNER MINSHEW: Yeah, it was definitely a roller coaster of a game. A lot of good, I feel like we did on the offensive side and then once again, turnovers really bit us there. You know, I think we just got to do a better job of taking care of the ball, playing complimentary football when our defense is playing well. It hurts, man.
Q. I mean, I don't think you've been a guy with a reputation of putting the ball on the ground, but, like, you get those adverse situations, what is it? Is there a key to kind of preventing those?
GARDNER MINSHEW: I don't know, but I'm about to try to figure it out, you know what I'm saying? That's, like, we're already having conversations in the looker room just about trying to drill that and work that more, because that's not something I want to be a part of us and something that can't be a part of our game.
Q. Myles Garrett, everything that we say he is seems like he is just watching the game.
GARDNER MINSHEW: As advertised, for sure. Really good, man. Dude plays and he plays really hard. I thought our guys did a good job fighting with him most of the game, but it got like that, a couple of plays can really change and that's where I got to do a better job of just taking care of the ball when he does make those plays.
Q. Can you take us through the touchdown of Pitt and I guess seeing your guy make a play after the play.
GARDNER MINSHEW: Yeah, it was awesome, man. Had a play, ran a decent amount. He did a good job versus his guy. Had to get it over backer and he did the rest, man. Really happy for him. He's great with the ball in his hands, great with the ball in the air. So just continuing to find ways to, you know, getting him going.
Q. Is there some bittersweet nature to this because you can see the production that you're capable of as an offense if you guys mitigate the turnovers. Did you see it that way?
GARDNER MINSHEW: Yeah, absolutely. A lot of good to work off of, too. That was a really good defense we played, you know, one of the best. So I think that should give us a lot of confidence there, that and understanding that we have everything we need and everything that we're messing up right now is in our control. So I think, you know, just go back, learn from it, and I'll continue to get better.
Q. What happened on the Josh Downs touchdown? He got a free play and looked even freer obviously on the back-end where they kind of just -- he was open obviously.
GARDNER MINSHEW: Yeah, free play, they were running like an invert cover two, the corner's going deep, he kind of got over the bender and had the whole shot there with Downs. He did a good job kind of feeling that space and being in the right spot.
Q. How does he make things easier for everyone else, not only just you as the quarterback but just other receivers, just opening things up for his teammates?
GARDNER MINSHEW: Yeah, he's doing a great job right now. Had some big, big plays. That one, obviously, the third down he ended up wide open, um, scramble drove, the catch he made, he's doing some great things, so I think he really elevates our offense with explosive plays, with consistency, catching the ball under beneath, over the middle, so really, you know, proud of him and everything he's done so far.
Q. Can you take us through the emotional roller coaster? I mean (Indiscernible) knocks the ball out, you think the game's over and it's not.
GARDNER MINSHEW: Yeah, no, exactly, we thought that was game. Strip sack, turns out there was a flag. It just kept going on like that, felt like that whole two-minute drive was pretty weird, but, you know, definitely disappointing, especially in a game you feel like you did a good job.
Q. How impressed were you that Alec Pierce was able to get back out and make an impact with the shoulder injury he's dealing with?
GARDNER MINSHEW: Yeah, really impressed, man. AP's playing really tough for us, you know, so I think he's grown in his confidence, grown in this game, so just continuing to find ways to get him involved and, yeah, just definitely happy to have him out there.
Q. Darrell Baker's gonna take a lot of grief for what happened on that final drive. How do you, as a teammate, you know, keep him where he needs to be?
GARDNER MINSHEW: Yeah, no, we just have to support each other, man. We're all out there doing our best. That's the thing. Like nobody wants to mess up, nobody wants to fumble. Nobody wants to throw interceptions, I promise you that. We're all working really, really hard at this, so we know he is, too, and he's going to be out there again and we're going to have a lot of confidence in him. All right.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports