G Justin Pugh
January 9, 2017
Q: How do you fix the offense?
A: Score more points. We have to go back and break everything down. We have to score in the red zone. I was just watching some of the film, and if we get touchdowns where we got three points; it would have been a totally different game. We were up 6-0 and it should have been at least 13-0, and they come down and get two touchdowns in the last five minutes and that ended up being, not really the difference in the game, but it had a major impact on the game.
Q: Would missed opportunities be the narrative from yesterday?
A: Yeah, I mean I think they just beat us on every side of the ball. They beat us on special teams, their defense was better than our offense, and their offense made plays against our defense. I don’t know. I guess I didn’t realize that we hit them for a Hail Mary the last time we played, so I guess it was a little poetic justice and they got us back.
Q: Is that sometimes the hardest thing to deal with? Sometimes you look at it as a learning experience, but the flipside is that this team is not going to be the same.
A: Yeah, that is the saddest part, but I am going to be smiling. I have gotten so much better this year, I have come a long way in my career and it is crazy to think that I will be going into my 5th season the next time we talk again. We have done some really good things this year. 11 wins, 11-5 is the best season that I have ever had in the NFL. There are some things to be proud of and there are some guys in here that deserve a lot of praise and have done a lot of good things. Our coaches have been unbelievable. I say it every time I talk to you, this is the most fun I have had playing football. So that is what I am sad about today, but I am going to be happy tomorrow, I will be happy to go talk about these guys and the things that we went through and how much fun we had playing this year.
Q: You mentioned the feeling of watching their fans at the end of the game. Is that the most important thing you can take away from this game; not letting go of that feeling?
A: Yeah, that last hour after the game, just in the locker room how everyone was. Obviously, everyone is blaming themselves and everyone thinks they could have done more, and everyone could have done more. Obviously we would have won if that would have happened, so I think that everyone takes that little feeling and realizes what needs to be done. Sully and I were talking and he said that in ‘05 and ‘06 they lost in the playoffs and it takes some setbacks and some learning experiences to come back and learn from it and go win a championship.