What they said: Quotes after the Jaguars loss to Dallas

After the Jaguars 40-7 loss to the Cowboys in Dallas, here's what was said: (Transcripts provided by Cowboys and Jaguars PR staffs.)

Head Coach Doug Marrone

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"Obviously a poor performance, starting with me.  I've got to do a better job. I told the players, 'We’ve got to coach better, we've got to play better.' I don't think there's anything you can say, 'Well, hey, we’ve got to build on this or build on that.” Right now we've got to get back, we’ve got to get to work. It's my responsibility.  I take full responsibility for it and I will get this team right, so, a lot of work ahead of us and we're going to have to grind this thing out.

Q: How do you explain the defense playing as poorly? 
"Early on, a lot of miscommunication. We also have miscommunication at all three levels.  When you have miscommunication at all three levels, obviously, you’ve got to take a good look at yourself. I've got to take a good look at what we're doing, making sure we're not doing too much and then we've got to coach it better and we’ve got to go out there and perform better.  It's not just one group with all three levels that we’ve had an issue with."

Q: Is it surprising that you've had so many miscommunication breakdowns with a unit that’s mostly back – the same coordinator, a lot of the same pieces?

"Yeah, I think that you got to give credit to Dallas at some point.  They did a good job with some route schemes.  There's no excuses. We’ve just got to do a better job. I wish I could just sit up here and say, “that was a great play, that was a great catch.” There were good plays.  I don't want to take away from them but we've got to take a good look at ourselves.  We've got to look at ourselves and we've got to put the responsibility on all of us, starting with me, and pull your bootstraps up and let's go."

Q: On the opponents’ offense getting going early in the last two weeks.  Is there anything you can attribute that to as far as getting out-schemed early? 

"No, I don't think it's something I can attribute anything to because if I could, I would have corrected it.  We’ll take a good look, go back and again, we’ll work on stuff during the week. We’ll work on stuff, we’ll put a point of emphasis on it, and it's not just the start for either side of the football. All three units, it’s we've got to play well for 60 minutes and we have not done that. When you don't do that in this league, that's why you wind up losing two games in a row and that's what we've done."

Q: Was there an effort issue at all defensively?

"No, miscommunication." 

Q: Do you consider making any change at all offensively to spark the quarterback?

"I mean everyone’s going to say the quarterback but I thought the tackles did a nice job early on outside. I thought we got beat inside early on.  I think it's hard to say it's the quarterback when it's everybody, including the coaches, including myself, so that's how I feel when I was watching the game.  I wish it was that easy I wish you could say there it is, get him out, let's go, but that wasn't the case. It's everybody."

Q: On Andrew Norwell getting beat early.  Did you expect more out of him?
"I think he expects more of himself.  I think when you go in ask him on the sideline, talking to him, he expects more of himself.  We all do.  We all have to. We have to expect more of ourselves to be able to – like I said – we’ve got to fight our way out of it.  No one’s going to let up.  No one’s going to feel sorry for you. Just go out there and go to work and that's what we're going to have to do."

Q: T.J. Yeldon didn’t play late.  Was he ruled out?
(Turns to PR Director) “I don’t know. Was he ruled out?”  (PR Director says he wasn’t.)  “No.”

Q: How do you explain being shut out in the first half in back to back games?
"I've got to do a better job. I mean you’ve got to ask those guys in that room (locker room) but I don't know the answer to that. I'm responsible for it.  I'm going to figure it out but it's my job to make sure that our team comes out and they’re ready to play, so that's me.  I mean, there’s nobody else but me.  That’s my job."

Q: Even if the offense would have produced today, it may not have been enough without the defense executing?  What’s the disappointment level?  
"It's hard to deal with ifs, you know what I'm saying, when you're talking about it, especially, like I said before, poor performance all the way around, all the way around. There's not one spot I can honestly say that we performed well enough to win today. We didn't, and at the same time, I’m concentrating on my team but at the same time I just want to make sure that I'm giving Dallas credit, too."

#5 Blake Bortles
The level of disappointment in this one Blake, pretty high?

"Yeah. Tough to describe. I mean, just, pretty much a waste of a day and a trip. You know, not by any means were we expected to do (what) we were planning on doing. Give them credit. They played well. And we played, once again, pretty bad. So, we’ve got to find a way to fix it and we will. There’s ten games left, there’s a long way to go. So, 3 and 3 and (we’ve) got a lot of football left to play. We’ll figure it out and get right whatever it takes. But, another one you’ve got to kind of put past you and move on. Turn the page."

When you said there’s a long way to play. Would it make a difference if the other two teams that are 3 and 3 are just like everybody else in the division?

"Right, Yep,  definitely. I mean, you’re right there. Obviously, Tennessee’s got the edge beating us. But we get a chance to go play Houston next week; or have them come to us. And you know, go put together a good week of preparation, a good game plan, a good week of practice and we’re right back in the mix of things. I mean we’re not in a bad place at all. We’re obviously not where we want to be or expected to be. But I think we’ve got to continue to find ways to move on from games like this and turn it around and go play the way we know we can play."

Is it too easy to look at injuries?
"Yeah. It’s part of it. Every team deals with it every year. You know, obviously some are a little more luck or unlucky than others. And we’re no different than anybody else. We’re pretty banged up but we’ve got guys that can play at any position and the guys that are on the field are held to a high standard, and we expect a lot out of them. We expect a lot out of everybody out there. It’s like you said John: disappointing."

This is two week in a row you’ve been down twenty, twenty four to nothing at halftime and try to fight back in the second half?

"Yeah. It’s tough to play that way. We’ve got to do a better job offensively of getting started early. The games we’ve played well as an offense we got started early. So, with that being said, that’s how we need to start, and find a way to start, but we’ve also got to find a way if we don’t start like that, to overcome that and get rolling. I think we went three, three and outs to start the game. Not what you’re looking for but you’ve got to find a way score points. You can’t score seven points. You’ve got to find a way to move the ball. We’ve got to continue to try and do a better job taking care of it; turning it over too much. It was just kind of bad all around."
 

#10 Donte Moncrief (WR)
On the last two weeks: “We know what we have to do, we just keep starting slow. Putting the defense behind the ball, making mistakes and not making plays. We have to go into practice and fix it.”

On whether the new guys and injuries are impacting the flow of the game: “It is a little bit of everything. But mostly it is on us. No matter if it is a new guy, you have to know the game plan, make plays and execute. So that is on us. That is what we have to do. We have to come back this week and focus on offense, make plays and keep the defense off the field.” 

On whether the last two games have been a surprise after a fast start: “It’s part of the game. You have those games like that, then you have games like this. You have to find ways to bounce back, find ways to get better, attack the week, learn from mistakes that you made this week, and don’t make the same mistakes.”

On the game next week: “It’s huge. Home game. Next game, Houston at home. Division game. They are coming off a win, and they are going to come in and play hard. We have to come in and play harder than they do.”

#97 Malik Jackson (97)
On the defense: “We got our ass kicked today. I don’t know what else to tell you. We got our ass kicked today. We will bounce back.”

#93 Calais Campbell (DL)
On the game: “This wasn’t us. This wasn’t our kind of ball. We run out here and we played like somebody else. Like imposters. This wasn’t us. At the same time, we have to wear it. Because it is us. That’s who we are right now. The only way its going to change is the work we put in this week.”

On whether he is surprised by the defense’s miscommunications: “I didn’t expect to come in here and give up 40-something points. So, yes, you can say surprising. I know my guys. I know what we are capable of doing. We just have to do it. We have to execute. We didn’t execute at all. And they took advantage of every opportunity they could. And they beat us. We have to wear it. As bad as it gets, we have to wear it. Take your hat off to them, they came to play today. They played like they wanted to win from the first play. They did what they had to do. We have to just wear it, and come back this week with everything we have to figure out how to win this next ball game. We can’t talk about the future and all that. We have to cash in on this next ballgame and make sure we win this one.” 

On the defense: “We just have to play ball. Talking has never won a ballgame. Executing wins ballgames. We just have to make sure we play ball. Figure out how to win this next game.”

#42 Barry Church (S)
On the miscommunications on the defense: “Definitely a lot of miscommunications. It is something that once we watch the film, we will be able to shore up, but we have to get that down first. We can have all the talent in the world, but if you are not playing as one unit, the proof is in the pudding out there. We have to come together to play as one. We will get the job done.”

On Cole Beasley: “That guy was all over the place. He played great today. He had 10 catches or something like that. We will have to watch the film on him too. … He is very quick. He has a good understanding of where the quarterback wants him to be. Once you get that connection going down, it is hard to stop it. We have the players to stop it on our side of the ball, we just have to do it.”

On miscommunications and the secondary: “Very frustrated, especially when it comes on third down.  Right now it is hard to pinpoint what happened. We just have to look at the film and see how we get better.”

#44 Myles Jack (LB)
On the game: “We will definitely go back and learn from this. We are 3-3, so we are 0.500. We feel like we will definitely get better. The confidence is always going to be there. We have talented guys, we have ballers. I’m not worried about that. We will definitely learn from this, come back and collaborate, get back the right way.”

On the defense: “There were just mistakes made. And when those mistakes got made, they got exploited. We just have to go back, tighten up.”