Said safety Julian Love, “We’re leaving frustrated, but we know what’s ahead of us. That was a message coach Carroll shared.”
The afternoon was particularly tough on quarterback Geno Smith, who placed the blame squarely on his shoulders, even if there were plenty of factors beyond his play that contributed to the loss. Smith made plenty of great throws on his way to 323 passing yards, but he was also intercepted twice, including once in the red zone, and was part of the offense’s struggles to convert in the red zone throughout the second half.
“Overall, I just should have been better,” Smith said. “I feel like the defense played a tremendous game, I feel like the offensive line played a tremendous game. You felt Charles Cross out there, he did a tremendous job. I’m so proud of Jaxon (Smith-Njigba) the way he played, so proud of DK (Metcalf) the way he fought and battled, as well as Tyler (Lockett). I feel like the guys deserve to win today, obviously I didn’t do my best job today to get that done. Those are things I put on myself, I lay right at my feet, right on my shoulders, and I look forward to the next opportunity.”
And while Smith was upset with himself for the way Sunday’s game went, he doesn’t plan on letting the sting of this loss linger for very long.
“You’ve got to flush it,” he said. “You play long enough in this game, it’ll to happen. But you’ve got to flush it, you’ve got to move on to the next one. We’ve got a lot of football left to play. I believe in the type of player that I am. I know that today isn’t indicative of who I am as a player. A few mistakes that I’d love to have back, but sometimes that happens in this game. So you’ve just got to flush it and move on.”
“I feel like the guys played a tremendous game, and if I made a few less mistakes and a few more plays, then we’re in here talking about a win. Really, it falls at my feet, on my shoulders, and that next one, that next one is what it’s all about.”