MINNEAPOLIS -- Here’s what the players had to say after the 42-21 loss to the Vikings in the dejected locker room on Sunday:
JESSIE BATES, safety
On the loss: “That’s how it is in this league in games in December. The margin of error is just so slim when you are playing against good teams. Playing these critical games like this, it’s tough.”
On what happened after it got tied up 21-21: “Ya’ll watch the game, right? You watched the game, right? We fumbled the ball. Turnovers. All of that good stuff.”
On regrouping after a showing like that: “That’s why we got all 17 games. Ain’t nobody coming to save us. We’ve got to play better. The margin of error is so small once you start playing these games. Just try to learn from it and move on.”
On how they look at the race after falling out of first place: “The same way we did before. You go to work and you try to go 1-0. You can’t really worry about the other team right now. You just have to worry about what we can to do find a way to win a game. That’s the reality of it.”
On the Vikings big plays in the passing game: “Yeah, I think we just have to make some more plays when the ball is in the air. There were a couple of times where he got out of sack and threw the ball up. The other one, Mike lost it in the air. I don’t know if he got tipped or whatever. All that stuff doesn’t matter. There is no excuses to those deep balls. We’ve got to do better.”
On if they were getting away with stuff when they were 6-3 or are they just playing worst now: “Next question.”
KENTAVIOUS STREET, defensive tackle
On the penalty on the field goal: “It was a play that we practiced all week. We had spoke to the referees prior to even installing that play. The way we executed it today, that’s exactly what they said they would not call. For them to call it…. we’re all humans. There was some error there. I accept the fault…. the penalty was called at the end of the day. It’s just something that we have to be better on.”
On the pull and plug play: “We tee off on guys in our field goal block and then that was a good curve ball for them. We really thought we had a good chance (of blocking the kick). We executed it well. We just got a penalty called. Back to the drawing board on that one.”
On the pass rush: “We just want to continue to build on that. We want to be better for our back end. I feel like we truly have a top five back-end. We are getting the pressure. We are getting the hits. We are getting the sacks now. Just have to continue to put it all together. Continue to be consistent. I felt like started off on fire in the first half. Then you know we let a couple of plays get away from us. We have to be better for our back end. Those are special plays where we can’t let the quarterback skirt around and throw a bomb like that. Those guys are back there guarding the best receivers in football. We have to be better for them.”
JUSTIN SIMMONS, safety
On the loss: “They had way too many explosives. You’re not going to win football games like that. I think for us moving forward. We don’t control our destiny. For us, it’s taking it one week at a time. Just focus and locking in on winning. For us that’s Monday night against Vegas. Get back on track and take it one week at a time.”
On the differences between the team that started 6-3 and the team that’s 0-4: “I just think for us, it’s about getting back to doing what we were doing. I think defensively we just have to find ways to generate takeaways. That’s all of us involved. That’s not singling any one person out. We just have to play better on the back end especially, you can’t give up those explosives. When you have the opportunity to get the player down like I did, you’ve got to them down. Those are the things I’m focusing on. We just put our offense is a bad situation.”
JAKE MATTHEWS, left tackle
On the playoff race: “Yeah, definitely frustrated. It’s hard to give an exact answer why things are not going the way we want. But it’s like we are doing good things, but just not enough good things. We had opportunities in most of these games to find a way. Today, we’re tied up a 21-21 and that fourth quarter didn’t go the way we wanted. We got out of that game quick. I’m not frustrated at anybody here. I know we’ve got the guys with the right mindset and attitude to go back to work and fix this. We have to find a way to get it done now.”
On the game tying drive: “I felt it, especially on the offensive line the way we ran the ball and pounded it in. Yeah, unfortunately, they scored twice before we got it back. Just stuff like that. We have to find a way as a team, as an offensive line, to do better. That’s part of being a pro.”
On if the noise was a factor: “It was definitely loud. But I thought we had a good plan… It was a great environment for them. We knew it was going to be loud. I thought we had a really good play. It’s hard to know who all the penalties were on. It’s just those little things that are holding us back.”
MATTHEW BERGERON, left guard
On Kirk Cousins: “He’s a great person. He’s a great leader. He’s a great player. We all believe in him. We’re all behind him. We’re not listening to the outside noise. We’re going to keep backing him. Because he’s doing something for us.”
On the right path: “We talked about the yards and stuff. We just have to convert. We have to do better in critical situations.”
On the noise: “You play in a tough environment like this, the noise is going to be a factor with the cadence and stuff. There was a lot going on. We have to be better. I have to be better with my hand placement and avoid shooting ourselves in the foot in critical situations.”
On tying the game 21-21: “We were going the right way. Everybody had the right energy. We knew it was going to be a tight game. I felt like it was a critical moment in the game. Coach believing in us. Allgeier and Bijan just showed that they are specials (guys.) It was a critical moment. After that, it didn’t go our way. Guys kept fighting. Guys kept picking each other up. It was just positive. We tried to stay positive until the end.”
ARNOLD EBIKETIE, outside linebacker
On the loss: “It was tough. Unfortunately, things didn’t bounce our way late in the game. At the end of the day, we can’t pound ourselves. We just have to get ready to go back to work and try to remain as consistent as we possibly can.”
On coaches’ message to the team: “Just get back to work. We don’t control our destiny no more. It just comes down to us trying to win the remaining games that we have left and see what happens.”
On the play of Sam Darnold: “We knew that was somebody who was going to try to have poise in the pocket. Just tried to contain him and affect him as much as we possibly could. The things overall, we did a pretty good job this week. We just feel short.”
On the pass rush (nine sacks in last two games): “Over the bye week we had time to reset. Do a little bit of a self-scout. Just try to come out and play fast.”
DARNELL MOONEY, wide receiver
On the loss: “All we can do is try to go and win the game…. we just have to win games the rest of the way. We can’t wait for somebody to lose.”
On getting almost 500 yards on the Vikings defense: “I felt like we had a great play. The red zone is the biggest deal. We have to go down and score points. A powerful offense needs to score points as well.”
On getting it turned around: “Team-wise I feel like everybody understands what we can be, what we have shown. It’s just all about clicking it all together at the same time as far as offensively, defensively and special teams. Sometimes the offense is moving and the defense is not moving. Sometimes the defense is doing good, the offense is not doing good. We just have to do the same thing at the same time. Then offensively, I keep going back to the red zone. We have to do better.”
On how close he was to scoring on his 49-yard reception: “I tried to stiff-arm him, but he kind of grabbed my feet. I kind of beat myself about it. If I could have got in the end zone we would have had to worry about all the other stuff. I’ll go watch the film and see what I could have done better… I wish I could have go in there.”
BIJAN ROBINSON, running back
On the big rushing day: “We take a lot of pride in running the ball. It was just us and the (offensive) line being on the same page. Us, (tight end) Charlie Woerner, Ross (Dwelley) and Kyle (Pitts) and our receivers being on the same page in the run game.”
On quarterback Kirk Cousins: “Kirk has been in the league for a long time. Sometimes he goes through some stretches that aren’t as good as he wants them to be. But I have a lot of confidence in him because he’s a veteran in this league. He’s been around this league for a long time. He understands what he needs to do to become great throughout the season. I’m just going to back him up and have his back. All of us on the offense think the same way.”
On the playoffs: “This is the time that we have to really buckle down because we want to do some special things in this season. We have to take it one game at a time obviously. Just continue to keep praying and keeping that faith that we’ll make it. I believe if we do everything the right way and just keep being faithful we’ll get there. But we can’t worry about… we can’t look ahead and we can’t look at somebody else.”
