'Tough side of the NFL'
With the loss against the Houston Texans on Sunday, the Bolts fell to 8-7 on the year but still remain in the playoff hunt with two games left in the regular season.
A big point of emphasis after the game was execution, especially when it comes to scoring touchdowns. Head coach Brandon Staley explained that Sunday's loss showed the Bolts the "tough side of the NFL," though there's still a lot to play for in the 2021 season.
"This was a challenging week," Staley said. "I loved the way that our guys prepared this week. We didn't play well enough today but that doesn't change the way that I feel about them. This is the tough side of the NFL, it didn't go down today and that's what I told them…it's been a fight this entire season for us and it's going to continue to be that way."
Quarterback Justin Herbert, who passed 8,500 career passing yards on Sunday, talked about what he's going to take away from Sunday's game as the Bolts face two AFC West opponents in the final two games on the regular-season schedule.
"We're going to have to watch the film and look at it," Herbert said. "Obviously, a tough game we would've loved to have put up more points. I thought we moved the ball well, it's all about ending those drives with touchdowns and not field goals and being able to get the defense off the field and go score and put-up points."
The Bolts return home next weekend to host the Denver Broncos at 1:05 PM PST.
Odds & Ends
Staley on Derwin James Jr. not playing despite being active: "He was just there in an emergency only. He was there in case we got cleaned out…he was only going to go out there if we didn't have anyone else to put out there."
Rashawn Slater on finishing the season strong: "We've just got to lock-in on next week, it's all we can do. You can only dwell on the past for so long because next week's coming and we've got to be ready. Now it's even more important that we finish these last two [games] strong."
Chris Harris Jr. on bouncing back next week: "This is a tough loss, this is one game that's going to sting…it's just something that we've got to bounce back next week. We've got two meaningful games to solidify our spot in the playoffs. These next two big game Just got to have tunnel vision."
Staley explained that cornerback Michael Davis tested positive for COVID-19 before the Chargers game against the Texans causing him to not play in Sunday's game.
