Here’s what Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins had to say after the 17-13 loss to the Chargers on Sunday:
Opening Statement: “Obviously, disappointing outcome, disappointing play. I look to myself and say I’ve got to play better. It hurts when you feel like your defense played winning football, you feel like your special teams made big plays, felt like the run game did a solid job. I’ve got to play better, and so [I] take responsibility, and you go back and kind of have to watch with a really critical eye and talk about, okay how can I make sure this never happens again and that’s the mindset. So disappointed right now. It hurts. Feel like that was a game we had a chance to win if I played at the standard I expect to play at, and I’ll take any questions you have.”
On whether he feels like it was good to get a game like this out of the way heading into Minnesota: “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s ever a good time for it. I think whether it had been -- every game I say this -- a great performance, a bad performance, anything in between, you have to treat it as a standalone event and be able to get back on the horse and get to work the next week, and this week is no different. So that’s how you approach it.”
On what the offense needs to do to finish more drives with touchdowns: “I thought we did fail to get in the end zone at the end of drives and just a couple of those pass plays that we weren’t able to connect on. Each one kind of has its own reason. They did a good job in coverage, and they do a good job of mixing rush and coverage, and made it hard to get points.”
On what he saw on the interception he threw in the end zone: “I just saw Drake [London] matched and as I kind of ran up, I just wanted -- he’s so good at going up and I just thought I’m going to give him a chance to kind of go up. But it was just trying to do too much. I think I can just throw that ball away. I think, in rhythm, may have been able to kick it to Darnell Mooney as well. So, you go back and watch that. But I just kind of misinterpreted where I could put the ball to Drake and tried to give him a jump ball.”
On whether there is something he needs to do to get back on track after not getting results the last three games: “Well, certainly when you haven’t played at the standard you want to a few weeks in a row, you know, you do want to change that, turn it around. I’ve never felt -- whether you’re playing really well for several weeks in a row, I’ve never felt like the games carry over or vice versa. You just have to perform the best you can each week. I think there’s plays in the Saints game you look back, outside of the interception of the end of the game, felt pretty good about the execution, and then the Denver game certainly those first two drives felt like good execution, and we just weren’t able to sustain it and then this game certainly the turnovers. So, it’s not any one thing that’s showing up every game. You just have to go back and try to become better as a player and a tough game like this gives you, certainly, an opportunity to do that.”
On where he thinks the team’s confidence is at this point: “Well, I feel our defense played high-level football today, and that’s the thing is that it’s a team, it’s complementary football. We all have to do it together to create the result we want, and so I think our defense’s confidence should be high coming off of this game. I think there’s a lot of players on offense who played at a high level and fought really hard and executed well. I think there’s no reason to not just get back to work and believe that we can go out and play at a high level moving forward.”
On whether it is a shock to his system to have a four-interception game and whether doubt enters his mind: “No. I think it’s just disappointing. It’s just disappointing. It’s hard to feel good about it. So, you’ve just got to get back on the horse and get back to work and play your best up ahead and look forward. But you don’t gloss over it either. You’re hard on yourself and try to learn a lot from it.”
On how he feels physically at this point in the season: “I feel pretty good. I feel, I think today coming off the bye week I felt really good. I would love to tell you that I’m fighting through something, but that’s not the case. I think I felt as good today as I have all season.”
On whether being a veteran makes it easier to move past a game like this and get back on track: “Potentially. Potentially. I think it always helps to have experience and to draw from that, and so I certainly have that and, potentially, it can help. But you’ve got to go do it.”
On what happened on the pick six: “No. It wasn’t any miscommunication. I think it was just a poor decision. I was trying to be - maybe made too quick of a decision, be a little too decisive, if you will. I should have just let it develop a little longer, feel that, okay, it’s covered and progress, which really is what probably needed to happen. A little too decisive.”
On how the team makes sure this three-game losing streak doesn’t snowball further: “I think it’s every week, whether it’s a good game, a poor game, you have to get back and work hard to prepare and to not let your guard down after a good game, to not press after a poor game. You just have to kind of be steady and go through your process and try to chase that consistency, and that’s what all of us are chasing every week. Regardless of an outcome, you feel like that’s always a challenge that you’re trying to handle.”
On whether there is something tangible he can point to on how the team was able to limit penalties: “No. I don’t have a great answer for you there. It is important to stay out of penalties. I think it did help us today. But nothing specific I can point to.”
On what his message to the team is moving forward: “It’s similar to what I’ve been saying here the last few minutes. [We] just have to get back to work, understand each game is its own entity and just plan on putting together the right preparation all week long to be able to go to your next opponent and play your absolute best.”
On the team still being in first place in the division and whether that softens the loss at all: “Well, I certainly think that some of these questions have been about moving forward, and I think when we’re in a situation like you just articulated, that’s why moving forward is really important, because we have so much football ahead of us that if we can execute at a high level and win, we do have what we want to go get. That’s where the moving forward part is really important.”
On what Raheem Morris backing him means going forward: “I think there’s no entitlement in the NFL. You just have to go earn it, and if it ever was that, I wouldn’t want it. I need to play a level that justifies being out there, and so that’s the way I’ll always view it. I’ve always felt, through my whole 13 years, that it should never be about anything but earning the right to be out there.”
