Left tackle Ikem Ekwonu, who was able to rattle off a number of areas in which he wasn’t, admitted that they might not have been as locked in last week.
“I feel like at the end of the day, the mindset this week, the preparation this week wasn’t good enough, and I feel like it’s showing on Sunday,” Ekwonu said. “I think it’s important to look within, player to player, individually look, and just see that makes sure that you’re focused and make sure you’re locked in to the details. I feel like if you start from the inside out, we’re going to build that culture around the team.”
Asked specifically about last week, Ekwonu said there were moments in practice that pointed to the result.
“I mean, there were too many repeats throughout the week,” he said. “Just, we just weren’t locked into the small details, and a couple of guys spoke about it. Coach spoke about it throughout the week. You can’t get days back. If you have a tough day on Thursday, a tough day on Friday, or whatever, you can always look forward, but you can’t get that day back. So that preparation, or a lack thereof, is going to add up, and unfortunately, it just is cultivated into what we saw today.”
That led to a quiet locker room that thinned out quickly, and few words, and only the reality that tomorrow will not be any more fun than Sunday was.
“No one likes losing, so still in the 24 hours, doesn’t feel great,” Young said. “We’ll flush it tomorrow and get back to work.”