What Matt Rhule Said Following the Loss to Baltimore
Playing offensive starters just one series
"We were going to play them maybe five to ten plays. They played that one drive and obviously, it didn't end the way we wanted it to. We got some live reps for them but I wanted to get [Will] in there and the rest of the guys."
How much you wanted to show at the goal line vs trying to score
"Yeah, we were just going to run our base stuff. We didn't have the goal line packages out there and all of those different things. We're trying to save our tight ends a little bit because we knew we were going to play them the whole game and we only have six of them. So, we just ran plays. We wanted our guys to get their pads down to try to run through some contact, and go score. It's not something that we're game-planning it and trying to be tricky. We were trying to run good, old-fashioned football plays and get in."
Thoughts on Will Grier's performance
"I thought Will did a nice job, pushed the ball down the field. He did a nice job making some big throws. Unfortunately, he had some checks in the protection game that hurt him and he had to get rid of the ball. I'll have to go back and watch it but I thought he had good poise out there. There was some signs of good football."
What the cause was for the 2nd half struggles offensively
"Couldn't get a first down. Couldn't protect. Couldn't really get open in man coverage. It really spiraled towards the defense and then the defense was out there for 6, 7, 8 plays. We were able to convert some plays early in the first half and probably should have scored 14 or 17 or 13 points at least. The second half, we just couldn't get the ball moving."
Thoughts on Sam Darnold's brief appearance
"Good. He hung onto one that wasn't open right away but he trusted Robby and found a way to get the ball to him. He made all of the right checks. [Joe] Brady called a play-action pass down there and it wasn't open, he threw the ball away. So, some of the things we're looking for him to do -- live to play another play. It was a chance for him to get out there and get his feet wet. I liked our operation, it was quick. We'll get them out there a little more next week."
Has the team improved
"Yeah, I think we've gotten a lot better but at the end of the day, it comes down to results. That's two games in a row where we haven't been great in the red zone or on 3rd down. We'll just have to continue to see where we are with it."
Thoughts on Chuba Hubbard
"Chuba is like all rookies. He's had a couple of good plays. He made a nice play on the scene, made some nice runs but also put the ball on the ground. Rookies can be up and down but we want to build on the positives and we want to try to eliminate the negatives. He has shown some explosiveness and is a hard worker, so I think he'll just only continue to get better."
Confidence in Joey Slye
"It's like everything else, you have to produce and so far, Joey has not produced at the level that we need him to and I think he'd be the first guy to say that. So, we have to find a way to get over that hump with him."
Frankie Luvu's performance
"He didn't play much in the first preseason game. He had the one pressure off the edge and it looked like he made some contact plays today. The biggest thing is he punches the ball out a lot and plays with tremendous intensity. It seems like he's a difference-maker so far in these first two games in terms of some key plays, so we'll continue to try to find ways to get him on the field."
Plan for starters vs Steelers
"Yeah, we probably won't say it yet but we're hoping it's up to around a half depending on how everything is. If it's less than that or more than that then so be it."
John Miller update
"He should be back next week."
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