Coach Mike Tomlin’s Post-Game Comments After The Jagaurs Game

Coach Mike Tomlin: That is the appropriate response to present circumstance, to go out and get a winning performance. I liked the way we finished, especially when you consider that we didn’t do a good job of it last week and it cost us the game. The defense went out and had a necessary stop in the latter part and created a turnover and put points on the board. It’s good to see we get the ball there with a little more than four minutes left to go in the game and we are able to maintain possession of the football to end the game. That’s appropriate. Pleased about the performance and hopefully we learned some lessons out there so we can be better the next time out. On the injury front not a lot, Shamarko Thomas had a hamstring, don’t know a lot. We’ll evaluate him and obviously I’ll give you guys a proper update on Tuesday.

Can you talk about the interception by Brice McCain was he in the right place at the right time or was that the result of a rookie quarterback?
I am not going to evaluate their quarterback play. The thing that I like about Brice is he capitalized on the opportunity. That’s the type of week he had in practice. He probably had four picks this week in practice. It just reinforces the concept of the things you do in practice have an opportunity to turn up in a game. He had a really good week of practice and it’s just good football justice to see him have an opportunity like that and cash in on it.

Did McCain win the job last week, or this week in practice?
I really think that just with his work and level of focus, intensity and attention to detail on the practice field made us all comfortable. He’s played more defense than those other guys. Couple that with the practice performance, we gave him the first opportunity and obviously he hadn’t disappointed with how he played, not only today but I thought he did some good things last week as well.

Re: The importance of the four-minute offense:
If they don’t get the ball, we can’t lose. It was important to maintain possession of it. I thought the critical play in that sequence we had second-and-10 and we threw a little swing to Le’Veon (Bell) and he gets down there close. It’s just good. I thought the utilization of the backs was important to that. We hit Heath (Miller) there on a little play action. We didn’t get too conservative, but we played and played to win. It was good for us. It was just good for the team. We turn the ball over and then the defense backs up the offense by getting a pick six. The offense returns the favor by keeping them off the field in the last possession. Hopefully good lessons to be learned by all of us there.

Penalties were down this week. Were you pleased by what you saw?
I am pleased that they were down. We had a couple of things I didn’t like and we addressed. I am not looking for perfection in that area. None of us are perfect. We are not going to play a perfect game. But I do want to see basic, fundamental things and I thought I did today. That was a step in the right direction.

The Jaguars statistically have one of the worst defenses in the NFL. What were you trying to do coming into this game?
We were trying to win. Seriously. We want to maintain possession of the ball, we want to run it, we want to pass it, we want to win possession downs. That really has nothing to do with them, or their defense or the quality of. That’s what we try to do week-in and week-out with our offensive unit. We have to maintain possession of the ball. We have to win possession downs. Situational football is big, red zone, short yardage, goal line. We had some goal line issues there, tight red issues there early on. We had to kick a field goal. That’s not what we’re looking for. But largely I just liked the fight of the group, not only offensively, but defensively and special teams.

Did they take away the deep ball?
They did a really job of it in this football game. That’s why the inclusion of the backs, tight ends in the passing game some was critical to stay on course. They did a nice job of keeping it in front of them

Did you like the way the offensive line rebounded this week?
I like the way they played. I am not going to reference it in relation to last week. I like the way they played.