Head Coach Zac Taylor

Opening statement….

Got out-coached, got out-played today. They were a hungry team. We knew that they were capable of this, we'd seen it on tape. It was not good enough in any phase – coaching, playing, any of our three phases that we had today and that's why the Jets got the win. Credit to them, their coaches, their players, they came out hungry and took it to us.

On if some of the things he spoke of as concerns last week showed up in the game today…

I thought there was some attention to detail that we're not used to seeing happen today. I can speak offensively, when you've got first and goal on the one-yard line and you come away with no points, you lose a bunch of yards on many plays next drive, and then we had a drive down in the red-zone, four-point play, missed opportunity on third down, had to kick a field goal and ended up losing the game by three points. Defensively, the tackling was as bad as it's been in a long time and I think everybody's got to be accountable to that. And in special teams, we gave up the big return right before the half. That put them in a position to go down there score before halftime and get them some momentum. So, just the things that we've been good at, we were not today and that's all comes down to.

On why Jets QB Mike White was so effective today…

He did a great job playing on time. They kept him clean, they did a great job with their protections, he got out quick against the pressure. We'll have to have to see what the issues were in coverage because there were some open guys and he found them. So again, he had a great game. Credit to him, he came out and was ready to play.

On the roughing-the-passer call and the personal foul on CB Mike Hilton towards the end of the game…

It shouldn't have to come down to those plays. We should just play better to not be in a position for that stuff to matter.

On if he received an explanation on those two penalty calls…

Yeah.

On losing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter…

That's where we needed a big stop. They went down and scored the six points – they missed the two-point conversion, but they went down and scored and really a stop right there would have done it for us. There were a lot of missed tackles on the drive, a lot of missed tackles. And then you turn around and on our first play, they get the tipped-ball pick, that's tough. We were throwing a screen to Ja'Marr (Chase), we feel good about the play, it's going to give us a good drive starter, get the clock going, get the ball in our good player's hands and they tipped it and they made a great play and then they finished it off.

On what bothers him most about his defense giving up 511 yards…

Really the tackling. My first question would be how many yards after contact there were. That's the first thing that stood out to me. I'm sure there's other issues, but that's the first thing that stood out.

On what the poor tackling is a symptom of…

We haven't seen it all year, we've been really good in that area. So again, we've just got to turn our focus towards Cleveland and move on.

On what he thought of QB Joe Burrow today…

I thought he handled things pretty well. There were a couple sacks, there weren't guys wide open on those plays and he's trying to extend one of them and then the pocket just collapsed on one. But, I thought he saw the field pretty well and was accurate, I don't remember him missing many throws.

On how pleased he was to see Burrow and WR Tee Higgins connect on some deep balls…

It was good. That's a play we've carried for a long time, and it was a great throw, a great catch. It got us some momentum there because we needed that at that point in the half. So again, we needed that at that moment to put us in a good spot.

On if there was any indication during the week that this result was a possibility…

No, this was always in the back of your mind coming off a win against Baltimore and we spent a lot of time making sure that we were focused because I was looking for any warning signs that this would appear during the week and I didn't see any. And again, there were times in this game we were in a good position, 31-20 should be a position for us to be able to kind of put our foot on the throat there and end the game and we just didn't handle it well enough in either phase.

On if the game-plan defensively was to keep everything in front and let Jets QB Mike White try to go down the field…

When you've got a new quarterback like that, generally the plan is going to be get the ball out of his hands, give him some stuff that makes him uncomfortable. That's what we would typically do. They really just moved the ball down the field, it wasn't big explosive plays, the explosives seemed to come mostly off of some missed tackle opportunities in space. I felt good about the plan going to the game, but I thought during the game we didn't coach well enough starting with me, and we didn't play well enough with the players.

On if this loss undoes all of the work the team has done up to this point…

No, just like we're not going to ride high after we beat Baltimore, we're not going to ride low after we lose a game like this. Everything that we set out to do in training camp is still right in front of us. We have a huge divisional game versus our third opponent that we played. We have a chance to regain momentum coming out of this weekend. And so just as we had to get over that last game, we've got to get over this game very quickly and move forward, because we're still in a great position if we take care of business.

On if he feels like the lack of attention to detail may have come from riding too high after last week's win…

I think what's important is that we don't overreact. We make the corrections, we're accountable for what happened and we don't overreact to any win or any loss.

On if T Jackson Carman checked out okay…

It seemed to be a back issue. I don't have further details on that one yet.

On his spirited conversation with the officials after the personal foul on Hilton…

It might have been trying to call timeout – clock running, trying to get somebody's attention to call timeout after that third-and-one maybe.

On if there is a unique challenge to coming back after a game like this that they haven't experienced before…

I don't think so. I think our guys are mature enough and professional enough to be able to put this one behind us when we need to. We'll clean it up tomorrow, and then Tuesday is the player day off and move forward to Cleveland. It's a long season, you're going to have highs and lows and games you should have won that you didn't, games maybe people didn't think you were going to win that you did and games that come down to the last second. You've just got be able to be consistent throughout with your approach. I'm not going to change who I am, the players don't need to change who they are. It's emotional when you lose a game like this, but that's just part of being a pro and being able to move on.

Joe Burrow

On if anything during practice this week showed that the game may have turned out as it did…

No, we had a good week of practice. They were the better team today, that's all it comes down to. They beat us.

On if he feels like there was a hangover affect from the Baltimore win…

No, I don't think so. Like I said, we had a really good week of practice. We came out intense at practice every single day and just came out flat today.

On what went wrong on the second drive…

We had a lot of opportunities that we didn't capitalize on today, that's one of them.

On how pleased he was to finally get a deep-ball connection with Tee Higgins…

Yeah, played well today. Just didn't do enough.

On what happened on the third down pass to Tyler Boyd in the endzone…

Just miscommunication. That's all I got for you.

(follow up) On if someone went the wrong way on the that play…

Didn't execute the play the way we were supposed to.

On what he'll learn from this game…

We can learn a lot from every loss. We'll go back and watch the film and show where we weren't good enough. If you don't play well enough in this league, you're going to get beat by anybody.

On the interception by Jets DL Shaq Lawson…

Yeah, he made a good play. It was not really anything different for anybody to do there, he just made a good play on the ball.

On if they felt like they were in the game prior to the interception…

Yeah, we answered their blows, they gave us their best shot and we answered it. (We) went up two scores and then you have to give credit to them, they came out and executed really well and went right down the field and then we had the turnover and then they scored on the first play. It is what it is, it stinks, but there's a lot of football left to be played.

On how valuable this loss could be…

I mean, you learn from every loss. I wouldn't say it's a valuable loss, every loss sucks and stinks, but we're going to get better from it.

On if this game shows they need to mature still…

I think we just have to come in focused every single day. Like I said, we come out flat, any team in this league can beat any team. So, we just can't come out flat in any game.

On how he'd evaluate his performance…

I thought I played well, overall. There's maybe one or two throws I'd like to have back, maybe I missed but I think overall I played pretty well.

On Jets QB Mike White's performance in his first start…

Yeah, he was impressive. He played really well, and I told him that after the game. Congrats to him, first start playing that way against our defense who's been really, really good all season so congrats to him. It's exciting for him and his family.

On if the Jets did anything they hadn't seen to take away the run game…

They're really good inside. That's the strength of their team, is their defensive line and they showed it today.

On what the hardest part is of being a team playing with expectations…

I don't think there's anything like that. I think our expectations of ourselves is higher than everybody else's. My expectations were just as high last year as they are this year, of myself and of our team. Losing stings, but we'll be better for it.

Jessie Bates III

On what went wrong defensively…

I think it's just simple, we didn't make enough plays, obviously. We gave up 34 points. I think the most we've given up this year. Lastly, we didn't tackle good enough. Things we've been doing good all year, we didn't do today.

On what it was like on the field when they called the unnecessary roughness call on Mike Hilton…

We were told not to speak on that, but you'll turn on any game in this whole world and you'll see that same exact play. Cover Two happens at least 10 times a game. For them to call that in that situation of the game obviously sucks, but we can't let it get to that point.

On if it's frustrating to have three turnovers, but still give up 511 yards of offense…

It doesn't really matter, because we gave up 34 points. That's what we preach throughout the game is to get turnovers but what we didn't do well was force the offense to kick field goals. We gave up two touchdowns before the half as well. I felt like we were playing soft. (We were) just letting them check it down. We didn't tackle well. That just shows in this league, that's not good enough. If you get turnovers in the first half, that doesn't matter with what the second half has to offer. We didn't get any in the second half, so we have to continue to get better at that.

Tyler Boyd

On what they'll take from this game going into next week's game against the Cleveland Browns…

That's why we came here together. We take full responsibility for how we played. Like Joe (Mixon) said, the message didn't correlate to what we wanted to go out there and do. I'm not worrying. I know these guys are not worrying either. We know what type of a team we are. Personally, I think we came out flat, but I think we turned up after the first quarter offensively. They played a great game, but at the end of the day, we know we're the better team. We just have to showcase it and execute as much as possible, but going forward, this is a divisional game and we have to take this the best we can. We have to treat this like another playoff game. I believe that we can pull through. It's just unfortunate we didn't rally up for this one going into that one. We'll be ready.

On if he thought they were going to win the game after scoring his touchdown…

I thought at that time, we were on the verge of winning regardless of if I made a play or not. Unfortunately, I scored but it wasn't enough. Just because guys have a little bit of success during the game, it's hard to win in the NFL. We still have to come back to the sideline and prepare for the next drive. We have to get over that and we've got to go out there and make more plays than they do.

Joe Mixon

On why they came out flat today…

I don't know. I feel like the approach to the game coming in, we have to do better as a whole. I think the game, at the end, shouldn't have come down to that point. To be honest, I feel like we didn't execute good enough. We knew what type of game it was going to be and they talk about a trap game, this and that, but I felt like those things were just spoken into existence, to be honest. We have got to be better. We have to respond better and we have to know what type of environment and what type of game we know it's going to be. We have to be better. Flat out, we just have to be better.

On what he means by it was spoken into existence…

Just with everything. To me, the message with the team, we have to have better messaging. We have to take initiative as leaders. No matter what, we have to have our team ready to go. Today, we just weren't ready. We came out flat. They wanted it more. That's just what it was.

On if they still need to learn how to have success…

No, we don't have to learn (anything). At the end of the day, we know what we've got in the locker room. We know what we've got as players and as coaches. To be honest, we've got to come out and play better. All of that outside stuff, that's got nothing to do with us. We have to come out and dominate. We didn't do that to. We've got to respond in a way that we come through and send a message. And that message has to be strong. With the team, we just have to do whatever we can to be ready for this game coming up (against the Cleveland Browns) because it's big. No matter what, every game is big and this one just got bigger. It terms of handling success, we like that. I don't care what nobody said. We like that and we're going to show that each and every week. It goes one week at a time and we just have to figure out a way to win and we've got to do that.