Postgame quotes from the following:
(On the apparent injury to Chase Daniel…) "He had a little bit of tingling in his elbow on that fumble, and he was just regaining some feeling. So we were just managing that so he could go out there and be safe."
(On if he's OK…) "He is."
(On if it affected his play…) "It affected it a little bit, but I thought he was outstanding in the first half seeing the game. On the fumble, he picked up the wolf free safety, miked it properly when the running back missed the protection. He was seeing the field extremely well tonight. They had a lot of pressures up in the run game and the pass game, and I felt he really operated well, and I thought Easton did too. So I was pleased with how both those guys played and I was also pleased with Chase showing his toughness tonight, to come through that and kind of come back, got back out there, and just really appreciate him."
(On if this factors into his decision on a backup quarterback…) "No. I thought they both operated like they have the whole time. I really felt they gave us a chance. It was tough sledding with what was happening in front of them, but they were getting us into the right play, the right protection, and I thought they were accurate tonight. We just didn't get a lot of shots down the field because the protection wasn't holding up. But we had a couple of opportunities early and we just weren't able to stay on schedule because of penalties."
(On how he can evaluate offensive protection while playing second- and third stringers…) "We knew exactly what we were doing tonight, and we knew how it was going to be. We wanted to make sure we gave our guys a plan that they could compete with. I think we were able to evaluate a couple of things in the running game. I thought Larry had a couple of really nice runs. And I felt like we designed enough for the receivers who were in the game; you know we had four wideouts in the game and weren't leaning on a lot of tight ends, so I thought we able to get to a good evaluation or team ability. Bandy had, Josh had a couple of good catches, so I just appreciate those guys because of the numbers. That's what this game was about, was to get those guys all the looks that they could get, offense, defense and the kicking game. It will be good for those guys to see this film and truly assess where they're at."
(On not being able to see many kicks and how that affects that competition…) "These guys had a lot of kicks in the preseason, so there's enough to evaluate. There's enough there were more tonight in that environment and not just have one. I would have liked to have seen more in the second half. But we've got plenty of a body of work with both players over the course of this spring and this training camp. It's going to be a difficult decision, you know, because it's been a very fair competition, even competition, and we'll be really pouring over that the next 48 hours."
(On if he sees a scenario of keeping three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster…) "Yeah, I think so. I think that that can happen. I think we're going to see over the next couple of days. But I definitely think that's a possibility. We'll dive into those specifics here, you know, in the next couple of days. I think both of those guys are assets for our football team."
(On how worrisome is offensive line depth…) "As we've discussed, I think there are players who are capable. I was concerned tonight about how we played. I thought we lost physically up front, and I didn't feel like we gave ourselves a good enough chance for our skill players and our quarterbacks to operate. That's why I was proud of our quarterbacks. They did a really good job all night giving us a chance to operate. But we've got to show more toughness, more resilience, more physicality up front, and more consistency. For all those guys who are competing for spots, that's so much of the game—that consistency, that resiliency, and I felt like tonight it was an uneven performance up front for those guys."
(On defensive play…) "We didn't tackle well tonight as a team. I thought we defended well tonight as a team. We put a roof over the coverages. I felt like we forced them to earn a lot for what they got. I thought there were some penalties that played a big part in them staying alive in drives, which was unfortunate. Our tackling as a whole, on defense and on the kicking game, wasn't good enough tonight to win. I think had we tackled better, we would have had a better chance to force some takeaways that would have maybe flipped the momentum. But I didn't think in the secondary we tackled very well."
(On how excited he is to have all of his players on the field for meaningful football…) "I'll say this. We jut had a great moment in there. I'm so appreciative of all 90 guys that played for us in this preseason and helped us get this off the ground, and so this is the last time we're going to be together as a group, and it means a lot to me, it means a lot to our coaching staff, how we've been able to conduct this camp, the competition, them accepting us, and pouring into the way we want to play. I think that over the next couple of days, talking to these guys that may not be there, we're going to have a lot of honest conversations, and we're going to be doing it with care, thanking them, and making sure they know where they need to go with their game. To answer your question about the team who will be here, it's an exciting opportunity for us, to really dive into the specifics of our team, the personnel and how we think we're going to play, to really design our offense, defense and kicking game around those 53 guys. And that's going to be, I think, exciting for us coaches. I think we're going to get some rest this weekend, and then we're going to be ready to pour into those guys next weekend, and I know there's a lot of guys in that locker room who are excited."
(On how valuable playing preseason is) "Yeah, incredibly valuable. There is just no other way to replicate full speed, atmosphere, adjustments in a game all that stuff. You just can't do it in practice no matter how many reps you take. So, yeah, it was really important."
(On the possibility of keeping 3 QBs) "I know we have a great room. I've really enjoyed being a part of it. I've learned a lot from Justin (Herbert), learned a lot from Chase (Daniel). I've really enjoyed going to work with those guys every single day. This is a great organization, I would love to be here. We'll see."
(On offensive frustrations) "Oh yeah, certainly I'm frustrated. We didn't score any points, and that's a reflection on me for sure. I have to play a lot better. So yeah that's frustrating. I'm trying to understand that it's all part of the process, and we're just trying to improve and get better. Hopefully this experience makes us a better team, so when we go to Washington here in a few weeks we're ready to roll."
(On how his arm and hand feel after his injury…) "I feel good. I feel a lot better. I just sort of got hit on the funny bone area and had some numbness and tingling in my two fingers. That's why I sat out a drive and then it started to come back and I finished it off."
(On what value there would be to keeping three quarterbacks on the roster…) "There's a lot of value in having three quarterbacks. If I was ever a head coach in the league, I know some teams are two quarterbacks, some teams are three. I would definitely keep three quarterbacks and there's a lot of reasons for it. The first one is injuries. Especially in a COVID year, like last year and this year, with all the close contacts and the contact tracing, high risk close contacts, all of that comes into play as well. We're just out there trying to win some games. Obviously I never want to say that preseason doesn't matter because it's what got me on a squad 13 years ago, but we're glad to be closing this sort of door and moving on to the games that really matter."
(On if he feels frustrated with how the offense and offensive line has performed the past few weeks…) "Not necessarily. I think that those guys up front are giving it their all. There's been a little bit of communication error and that can cause a play to go haywire and go bad. There's definitely not frustration from me. Those guys are playing their butts off. We just have to do a better job as a quarterback room eliminating those mistakes, eliminating those sacks. Even if a guy gets beat, we have to find a way to get rid of the football. We put that on us. We're some of our biggest critics in that room and that's how it will always be, including Justin [Herbert]. If anything, put it on us."
(On how Easton Stick has progressed this preseason…) "He just wants to be coached. That's what's really cool about a veteran like me coming into the room. They're a lot younger than me and they like to remind me of that every so often. It's cool because he's always asking. Even when we're out of the game, he's like what are you seeing, how are we doing this. I think it's just so beneficial as a young quarterback to get those snaps. And Easton said this I think last time he talked to you guys, practice is awesome, training camp is great, but it is nothing like true game experience. And although it's preseason, it's still true game experience so you're sort of on your own out there and I think he's learned a lot. I think he's come a far way and I think he's had a really good camp to be honest with you. We all three get along really well so they have some tough decisions to make in the next couple of days and we're ready for anything. Three [quarterbacks], two [quarterbacks], whatever it is, we both put our best foot forward and whatever comes of it, comes of it."
