Frank Reich on Matt Ryan's Starting Status with Colts
It was a day to forget for Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan as they lost 19-10 to the Tennessee Titans.
Ryan's early-second quarter interception was returned for a touchdown by the Titans, putting the Colts in a 10-0 hole that they were unable to climb out.
His numbers on the day didn't get a lot better. He finished with just 243-yards passing on 44 attempts with two interceptions and a touchdown.
Head coach Frank Reich was asked after the loss where he stood with his 37-year old signal caller whose 84.7 rating is 20th in the NFL.
Reich was quick to absolve Ryan of some blame on a key interception.
"Matt’s our quarterback," said Reich bluntly. "He had the two interceptions. The first one, the pick six right there, I didn't help him out."
"I didn't help him out. It was a second-and-long call the play before, I was arguing with the official over a facemask. Got the call in a little bit late."
"Normally I get the call in really fast. Got the call in a little bit later than I normally do and that came up in a pressure look. He wanted to check out of it because he knew the blitz was coming and we didn't have time to check out of it."
"That was a tough situation to be in."
"Then the other one, I have to look at the tape on the other one. It's like you said, it's always a collective thing. We'll look at the tape closely. I think Matt’s been making good decisions."
"I thought the O-line, I thought the pocket today was pretty good. I mean, we had a few sacks, but I thought all in all, the pocket was pretty good. And I thought in the run game, I thought we showed some positive signs."
Ryan confirmed the time crunch on the pick-six play, but he knows he should have done better.
"Yeah, it was one of those – we were a little bit down on the clock in that situation and they kind of checked it after our first cadence," said Ryan. "I should have gotten out it and I don't know if I had enough time to."
"Regardless, even in those situations, you’ve got to dirt it or find a way just to not have a negative play. And obviously, that one cost us."
Ryan wasn't sacked last week in 58-pass attempts against the Jaguars, but the Titans weren't as giving. Tennessee sacked Ryan three times and hit him 10 times on the day.
Ryan has nine interceptions through just seven games. He's on pace to break his career high of 17 set with the Atlanta Falcons in 2013.
The Colts are going to live or die on the right arm of their veteran quarterback this season, but to live, they're going to need more consistency from Ryan.
They'll need more games like last week's win against the Jaguars and less games like Sunday's loss to the Titans.
The good news for the Colts is that they still have time to figure it out. They are .500 on the season and in ninth place in the AFC.
Despite the slow start to the season, they're still in the thick of the playoff race.
