Panthers Live Press Conference
[Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 3.2. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I’m here. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] game today. Unbelievable performance by them uh by James Cook. Um he had a fantastic day and uh made some big runs. You know, they consistently owned the line of scrimmage and and made it challenging for us. We were not able to get our run game going today. Went to the pass game and that’s where the turnovers happened and um pretty clear story right there. We made it really hard on ourselves against a good team and uh you know made it a really challenging situation for us. So would love to see better execution in those things in those areas um and be able to move on from that. When a situation like today happens where it’s kind of hard getting that run established, did you consider at any point from the plan to alternate the series with? Nope. Like the plan um just looking for execution and and we have to be able to be balanced you know with the pass game um in those situations and the turnovers really just got us out of our rhythm and you know put us in a different mode. Dave, at the end of the game with the clearly out of reach, why did you stick with Dalton? Why not go to Hooker at that time? Yeah, I just wanted to give him a chance to get us a successful drive and we were able to move the ball down there and get a touchdown on that one. Um, but you know, it was just a chance to bounce back. I love finish. I preach finish. Talk about the guys trying to give him an opportunity, you know, um, after a really sloppy first half to go back in there and try to get something going. Well, can you tell us about the offensive line injuries? Yeah, unfortunately Brady Christian’s got an Achilles. Um, and so he’s, you know, it’s a it’s a significant one. He’s going to be out. we’re going to miss him a lot and um just gives me a chance to just talk about what he’s meant to this group. Um the flexibility to play all across the line in different spots, been playing great football for us. So, we’re really going to miss Brady. And you know, Jake Kirhan stepped in there and did a good job um at the end. But um I can’t say enough about what he’s the just the stud guy that he is, the preparation that goes into it. You know, he’s sick about it and um we’re we all are, you know, for him and uh and what he’s done for us. I think so. Yeah. Okay. Those offensive line injuries coupled with Andy’s limited mobility, was that just a recipe for disaster? It made it really challenging and and you know, we try to find that balance, you know, but at the same time when guys rolling in there, Austin did a great job stepping in for Cade. That was an ankle. Um, we’ll evaluate him more, so we’ll have more information on on what that looks like. But I thought Austin did a really good job uh going in there and, you know, uh settling it down, being able to get, you know, just get our runs and passes and all that targeted the right way. So, um, guys stepping in again. You know, Yash coming in for Teemo. Um, we’ll evaluate Teemo a little bit more. Right now, it’s a knee. Um, and, uh, he just wasn’t able to finish and, um, you know, saw some pretty good rushes out there and we really felt like, you know, Yash would give us a better chance after that point. What about Derek Brown and his knee injury? Yeah, Dererick Derek seems fine. Uh, they evaluate him on the sideline at this point in the game. You know, we just made the decision to keep him out of there uh, to be able to finish the game with the other guys. How close was how close was Bryce today or being active today? Uh pretty close. He made progress throughout the week. Didn’t feel confident enough to get him out there to be able to do all the things that he needs to do uh to be successful. But we we’ll uh we’ll circle back around early this week and you know the hope is to get him back out there on Wednesday doing something. But we again we got to be smart and do the right thing. Did something anger princely at the end? I did not see that. A lot of frustration along the sideline. My message to the group is this is one game right here. The explosives, how well we’ve been playing the run that didn’t happen today. And then we gave them the ball, gave them some short fields and some different situations. And um just asking the guys, we will look at this film. We will take it and correct the things that need to be corrected and and write the ship based on the things that we’ve been doing. Understanding you’re going to have to look at the film, the challenges defending the run. Was there anything that jumped out to you? Uh just explosive play. I thought James Cook did an excellent job of being patient and uh just really slow playing. They did a great job up front staying on their combinations and uh didn’t feel like we could collapse the backside of some of these runs. There were some cutbacks that got out got out on us um and the toss cracks you know really were effective for them today. So stuff that we got to look at and you know this is a copycat league and teams are going to see that and try to attack us with those things. So we got to go back to the drawing board and make sure we’re fitting all those up correctly. I mean, I think 168 of coach yards were before. Yeah, it’s just it’s about the fits, right? It’s the discipline of playing the run game that it takes. So, we got to get back to that. David, this was a measuring stick type of game. You guys that far behind the elite teams in the league, you know, as this process continues, we really look at it as one game. Um, there’s a lot of good football right in our rearview mirror and we just got to get back to playing that kind of good football. So for us, it’s just one one opportunity to the next, the next opponent, look at them and try to attack our game plans and and fix those things. But we have to keep our focus right here, right now, and be able to get back to work. How do you not let that stump the momentum that you had built from the previous Yeah, just get back to the fundamentals and and the the great part is we have an opportunity to look at the last four games to look at what’s successful for us and and to see where the holes were based on how we’ve been playing and how we’ve been attacking on both sides on offense with the run game and also on defense. So, um we got to be able to look at that and grow and uh get back to the basics. You didn’t roll Bryce out completely until today. What’s his status looking for? Yeah, we’ll take a look early this week. The plan is to try to get him back out there on the field Wednesday and see what he can do. But again, we got to be smart. We got to see where we’re at. How how engaged was he and how involved is he on the sideline throughout the game with feedback, talking to Andy and talking to you maybe about what he saw? He did an excellent job of just going to Andy regardless of the outcome of the drive and just talking to him, staying in his head, encouraging him, leading. That’s what he’s been doing um while he’s been here. Um he was very engaged, very involved in what we were doing. So, um I know Bryce is just as sick as the rest of the guys. Hey, you said it was tough to get the run game going. Rico averaged almost seven yards a carry. How do you keep that balance while still trying to get your best players the ball? Yeah, that’s something to look at too, you know, and we got to look at schemes and we got to look at our personnel and and see who gives us the best chance to win. Dave, the first turnover that Daltton made on the scramble that game was still very much in play at that point. Do you think that was the most critical one because of where it was and what? every turnover that that’s created by the opponent, um it makes the game challenging. Doesn’t make it impossible, but as they start to mount up, you know, those are the things where the score starts to turn lopsided the way that it did, you know, and and that first one, you know, Andy’s back out there playing, we c we count on him to end the play with the ball, end it on our terms, and I know he’ll bounce back and be able to do that if he has to play this week. Will you continue using Andy as Absolutely. on that second Okay. Was that a tunnel screen that they just diagnosed or Yeah, it was. And the end got a beat on it, you know, and and tipped it to himself. So, another thing that we just have to look at with our scheme and answers for different pressure type of of possibilities. You don’t seem too frustrated after this one. What are your emotions right now? Uh, I just have a lot of confidence in this group and the football that we’ve been playing and um knowing that that wasn’t us. What we put out there today was not us. That was not the ball that we’ve been playing that’s allowed us to have success. Um, I have a lot of confidence in this group to be able to turn around, take this as a loss. A loss is a loss. Let’s fix the things that we can fix. Uh, let’s get refocused and get back to work. And then one thing, clarification on Trevan. On Trevan. Yeah, Trevan was evaluated for a concussion. He was cleared. It was a stinger and uh we couldn’t get the strength back in time to get him back on the field, but he was cleared of the concussion. So, that’s being treated as a stinger right now. Was it his right shoulder? Yes. Everybody good? All right. Thank you. [Music] [Music] control. [Music] [Music] Everybody. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Hey, [Music] September. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] Happy [Music] birthday. [Music] [Music] Woody. [Music] What’s happening? [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Here [Music] we go. Here [Music] we go. Heat. Heat. [Music] I mean, [Music] I [Music] [Music] Number n. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in general in your opinion? Well, turnovers didn’t help. Uh, you know, feel like we had a lot of momentum at at times and then, you know, I turned the ball over a couple times that, you know, I didn’t give as much of a chance today and so I’ve got to be better. I think that’s the the moral of it. How frustrating is that for you personally when to have those turnovers, especially that one in the red zone? Yeah, it’s uh you know, it’s tough. Obviously, I’ve got to do a better job of protecting the ball and you know, especially at that point early in the game, we had momentum and we were going down to score and you know, got to hold on to it. At the end of the first half, you guys out. Yeah, I can’t take a sack. I should have found a way to throw it away and uh put us in a tough situation there and we were unable to to get points at the end of the half. Andy, did it kind of just feel like the offensive line, the turnovers that like it just kept piling on and piling on um from a lack of momentum standpoint? Yeah, I mean there’s like I said times early in the game we felt like we were moving the ball well and even I mean throughout the game we were moving the ball well and we just end up shooting ourselves in the foot, got in some tough situations and uh we weren’t able to overcome that. Andy Dave said he went in the locker room and talked about it’s one game. How hard is it to kind of hear that message and live it when one’s like that? Yeah, it’s obviously tough. They all count one. We have been um on the other other end of that the last three weeks. And so it’s been a different feeling in the locker room. And uh you know unfortunately today we didn’t we did not play anywhere near the type of football that we know we’re capable of playing. Yeah, I mean we’ll see how this whole thing shakes out. See um the extent of everything, but I mean we’ve got to find ways to um you know still get the job done. I think that’s why you’ve got the depth. We’ve been fortunate. We’ve had a lot of guys that have played a lot of ball and um well, you know, we’ll see how this thing goes from here, but um yeah, I mean, doesn’t stop for for injuries. You know, we got to keep going. Andy, how hopeful are you for Jaylen Cook? It seemed like he had some good rhythm today with his routes, some good timing with you. Just talk about him being back at full speed at this point. Yeah, I’m happy for him. He’s obviously worked hard to get back and he’s feeling more comfortable out there. uh for him. He’s a guy that tries to do everything the right way and uh be in the right spot. So, I’m happy for him. I’m sure his role is just going to keep increasing. Brown called this a humbling loss. A lot was made before the game. This would be kind of a measuring stick. NFL’s best. Well, I mean, we obviously didn’t play anywhere near the type of football that we know that we can play. So, um I mean, yeah, you can say is a measuring stick, but I think at the end of the day, we we didn’t even give ourselves a chance. And that, you know, for me, I didn’t I didn’t give this team a chance. So, um you know, it wasn’t our dayto-day. They obviously played really good on on on their side of the ball and um for us, we got to just move forward. It’s on to the next. I mean, that’s that’s how this thing goes. Uh they all count one and so we got to be better next week. Does that make a loss like this worse because you guys are on a three game win streak when you haven’t playing decent football. No, it doesn’t make it worse. Obviously, we’ve been in a a good spot the last several weeks and uh we’ve had some momentum, but you know, it’s it counts one back to it this week. I’m sorry. On the broadcast, they made a big deal that saying Shaq Thompson read that tunnel screen or whatever and point everybody that way. I don’t know if you agree with that or just in general, can you describe the play? what happened or what wish you had? Yeah. Uh I mean they they made a good play obviously um you know for the Dean to get up and and make that play. I tried to get the ball out as quick as I could and it made a good play. So Scott’s point was did you hear Shaq like calling it out before the snap at all? Uh, I mean, I I think Shaq was communicating with him. So, um, yeah, I don’t necessarily know if he knew exactly our call and all that kind of stuff, but um, so what could you have killed it or did you not think it was necessary? No, it’s again, it’s the it’s the right call in the situation that got made a good play. Interaction with Bryce throughout the game on the sideline series. Yeah, Bryce and I are in constant communication. um just throughout the game just seeing what he’s seeing and uh and all that kind of stuff. So, it’s uh it’s obviously good to have um you know him in my corner. Andy, you know what Brady Christensen’s been through kind of the last couple of years being shuffled in and out of the lineup. Dave said that he has an Achilles injury. When a guy like that goes down who was really thriving after, you know, having to be a backup for a while, what goes through your mind as a teammate and how do you kind of create a support system around him following something major? Yeah, I mean this this league’s tough. You know, injuries are almost 100%. It’s going to happen. and for him who has been so versatile and meant so much to this team for a long time, ever since he got here to be able to kind of just plug and play wherever we need him and the work that he’s done to be able to get to that point. um after missing a season a couple years ago and and everything and then to have this. I mean, it’s it’s tough, but I know if anybody can handle it, it’s him. You know, he’s got the right support system and u you know, I’m included in that. He’s a guy that I’m going to be checking on and making sure that uh if he ever needs anything because I mean it’s it is tough. I mean, that’s the nature of this business unfortunately. Andy, you seem to be taking this one particularly hard. Why is that? Because I didn’t play like I was capable of playing. You know, I felt like I didn’t give us a chance. And um yeah, it’s it’s tough. So I I know what I’ve been able to do. I know what I can do. And so to not play to the standard that you expect, I mean, that’s why it’s tough. Is it tough for you, Andy, being at this stage in your career, understand you only get so many of these opportunities to go out there and start? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, every time I’m out there, I want to play good ball and um you never know how many more you’re going to get and you know, I was looking forward to being out there today and um yeah, just it’s it’s tough from that standpoint, too, because you never know when when the next one’s going to come. more. You feel like there was some rust? No, I thought we were getting in and out of the huddle great. I felt like um from the tempo of everything, I felt like we were we were doing a good job. We just uh you know, like I said, we got hurt with some turnovers. As a veteran, how do you bounce back if number is called again next week? Yeah, I I’ve been in this league a long time. you know, I’ve um I’ve experienced all the highs and lows of this league. And so for me, it’s on to the next. You know, I have my process and uh I know exactly what it takes to be successful. And so, um just got to keep pushing for that. Thanks, guys. [Music]
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