Head Coach Hue Jackson. AP Photo
Head Coach Hue Jackson
ON THE GAME
Well, obviously to say I'm disappointed is an understatement. The team just went 98 yards and found a way to win. We had a chance to win the game; we didn't make the play down the right sideline late in the game and they found a way to make it. Obviously, the disappointing part is their best player; obviously, he won the game for them. Between the quarterback and Calvin Johnson, 214 yards and two touchdowns, I mean, that's how you lose. So it's very frustrating. I thought the guys came out and played hard, thought they were focused, but obviously we didn't play well enough. At the end of the day, that's my charge and again, we did not get done what we needed to get done to win this game. Obviously, we had our opportunities. We fumbled the ball going in, had a chance to just put that game away and when you don't capitalize on those opportunities, you leave the door open for a team like that because they have explosive players, they can make some plays to still stay in the game and win the game. And they came in here and they snuck one away from us. Very unfortunate, but I'm not going to get down. I think you guys know my personality and know me; I'm not going to let this team get down. We have two more games to play and we're going to go play them. We go to Kansas City this week and we have a big game in Kansas City right before Christmas and we need to go play well. We can and we will and that's what I expect our team to do so, again, I'm very frustrated, very disappointed in the ability to finish games, but this is something, to me, that's been kind of nipping at us all year. We get up, whether we don't finish it when we have opportunities on offense or whether we can't keep them out of the end zone late in the game on defense. There's been a couple games where we have, but lately, that hasn't been what we've been so we have work to do and we'll keep going.
ON RECOVERING EMOTIONALLY
You recover. You have to. That's life in the National Football League. You guys asked me two weeks ago how we were going to recover. In Miami, how are we going to recover? How were we going to recover from last week? We're going to recover. I'm not going to let this team continue to slide like this. There's no way. That's not who I am and that's not who they're going to be. I mean, a lot of people didn't even think we'd show up today and we did. And we're going to get better and I keep telling you that. There's a process to all of this. I know people don't like that; I mean, I hate it too. My goal is to win every football game I coach. Right now I'm a .500 football coach; I'm 7-7. That's not who I am and I'm very disappointed by it. I'm disappointed for our fans, for this organization and our players. I need to get better, this team needs to get better, and we need to play better and we will.
QB Carson Palmer
ON THE LOSS
Very demoralizing. We had chances to close them out and a chance to put them away there, and just didn't make enough plays when it came down to it.
ON STILL BEING IN THE HUNT
We were so focused on this win even though you see the scoreboard pop up with what happened in the Patriot-Bronco game and you see that the Jets lost, and we were focused on this game. There was one focus and it was the Lions, and we had a chance to get them. That's what's so demoralizing or frustrating is we had the opportunity and we didn't take advantage of it.
ON RECOVERING EMOTIONALLY
There is no choice but to move on. It'd be easy to go in the tank and just say, 'Well, we blew our opportunity,' but we have a good group of leadership. We understand where we are and obviously, we desperately needed this win. It didn't work out, but we've got two big games left and who knows what happens with other teams. We need help obviously, but we've got a short week too and having a short week is a good thing being in this situation. You've got to be ready to play. You've got guys banged up, we've got to get healthy, you've got to get healthy quick and it's a big game. It's a rivalry game; it's at a tough place to play. I think they're coming off a big win so there is no other opportunity, there is no other option. We've got to get back on track and find a way to get a win.
WR Darrius Heyward-Bey
ON BEING TARGETED A LOT
It's just the way it went down, plays were called, caught the ball, we tried to make as many plays as we could to try and win the game.
ON THE FANS
Yeah, the fans, they always come out, support us. I think we had a sellout, and I am glad they are sticking with us.
ON TAKING SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE GAME
We lost, learn from our mistakes, and try to get ready for Saturday against Kansas City.
LB Kamerion Wimbley
ON THE GAME
It was a tough loss. We're disappointed. We felt like we had the game in our hands; they came back in the end and they won the game. We felt confident, I think we played with great effort this game but we just didn't do enough to get it done. They executed; they had big plays when they needed them and we didn't get the big plays when we needed them.
DT Richard Seymour
ON THE GAME
Obviously it's very disappointing. There's nothing that I can say personally or to my teammates that'll make us feel better. It's a tough one to swallow for sure but we still have two games left and you just have to approach each game new. We took this one on the chin and we didn't make the plays in crucial situations that we needed to, especially defensively, at the end of the game and that'll get you beat. For us it was just situational football and we didn't play well in the moments, not that all plays don't matter, but in the critical moments in the game we didn't make the plays that we needed to. That's really where the game lies but we make no excuses about it, Detroit came in here and made the plays at the end of the game they needed to make at the moments when their team really needed it. That's where the game is.
ON LOSING DURING PLAYOFF HUNT
I've heard 'it's a must-win' and things like that but in my book all of them are must-wins. That's just the nature of the business that we're in. It's tough when you let games that you're in slip away, you have to be able to close the door on a team and I thought we had opportunities in that game to really close the door and we just never had that instinct to get it done. Collectively, as a group we're all disappointed.
