Everything Matt Rhule Said Following the Loss to San Francisco

Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule met with the media following the loss to San Francisco.

RE: Opening Statement

Obviously, a disappointing end to that game. I thought that pick-6 right before the half really was a gut punch. I thought the guys came out and answered in the 2nd half with the kick return leading to a touchdown. But in the end, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Credit to them. I thought they played well.

RE: The guys came out early in the 3rd quarter with the Christian [McCaffrey] touchdown. What and who was behind the decision to go for two that early in the quarter?

Yeah, you know, down 14 with the ball on the one. Had the ball had not been on the one, we wouldn’t have done it. I think we have talked a couple times, down 14 now, there is kind of the whole analytics movement to go for two and make it a one-score game. The time was pretty close to the vest. We held them to really 10 points on defense. So, had it been on the two, we wouldn’t have done it but with the ball on the one, feeling like with Christian [McCaffrey] we could hopefully punch it in from a yard out.

RE: Baker [Mayfield] was limping a little bit coming into halftime and then we also saw PJ [Walker] go in there at the end. Is there any update on Baker and if he has any injuries?

They checked his ankle. He got hurt right before the half. Checked his ankle at halftime. We had PJ get warmed up. They said Baker was good to go. We kind of said, ‘hey, let’s go out there and see if you can move around.” He took us right down the field. We scored. So, played him. Then at the end just kind of pulled him. Didn’t want him to take any more abuse to that ankle. He is one of two guys. Jaycee [Horn] left the field and (Mayfield) left the field that we will probably have some updated testing on (them).

RE: What did you see from Baker on that pick-6? Obviously, like you said, it was a gut punch.

Yeah, you know, it was just a little option route to Christian [McCaffrey], you know, just trying to get a completion. I don’t know, from what I could see I didn’t see him get hit or anything. Just looked like it sailed on him and went over Christian’s head and led to points. It just looked like it just didn’t connect.

RE: You mentioned the pick 6 and Baker did get replaced late in the game. It seemed that was for mop-up duty. Any thoughts now moving forward on considering a change at quarterback?

I think right now, you know, just focusing on the game. As we go through the week, I’ll have updated thoughts after but I don’t want to comment on anybody, how they played or didn’t play until I’ve watched the tape. It really wasn’t mop-up duty at the end. Just giving PJ [walker] some reps. Just get him in there.

RE: What was the thinking there at the end on kicking the field goal instead of going for it on 4th and 2?

Just it’s a three-score game. You have to score three times anyways. To me, I don’t even think there is a debate about it. You kick the field goal to make it a two-score game with I think it was 7-minutes left. You guys would know better than me. You have two timeouts. Get the stop. Get the ball. Unfortunately, they made a play and then wasted a little bit of time. We did get the ball down two scores with I think it was 3- or 4-minutes left. You needed three scores. We are going to take the score, extend the game. There was no debate about that with the analytics guy or anything.

RE: You seemed somewhat optimistic on Friday that Frankie [Luvu] and Xavier [Woods] would be alright for this game. Was there something late? And how difficult was it to lose two guys of that caliber an hour and a half before the game?

This morning, I woke up thinking they would probably play. Thinking they had a chance to. But we worked them out, they weren’t good to go. It’s a long season. We don’t want guys hurting themselves. Laviska [Shenault Jr.] went last week and got banged up. The decision was made that they couldn’t go. You guys asked me all week. We had kind of hoped that Xavier would be able to play but it looked like Juston Burris did some good things. I think really in the first half, the tale was we brought some pressures, some man pressures, and they made a couple of great catches. They just kind of went up over top of guys and made a couple of great plays. It looked like Myles [Hartsfield] and those guys filled in admirably. Obviously, losing [Jeremy] Chin and Woods is a big deal but hopefully, our guys played really well when you watch the tape.

RE: You said this week your guy’s offense just needs to get a little bit better. You felt like you were close. After this game and the totality of the last 12 games, do you feel like just getting a little bit better isn’t doing it justice to what you guys do need to do? Do you feel like it needs to be more of a complete overhaul of how you are doing things entirely?

Again, and hopefully, you can respect this, it’s hard for me to talk about last year because Ben [McAdoo] wasn’t here. Baker [Mayfield] wasn’t here. I just try to focus on right now. A lot of credit to them. This is the number 1 defense in the league. They are holding people to 9, 10, 11. I thought we drove the first one down there. We wanted to play it. We thought our defense would hold us in it. We wanted to take points when we had the chance, especially early on. Unfortunately, we missed the field goal. Got in the endzone. We are not going to win unless we score more points. I think we all know that. I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. In terms of a complete and total overhaul, I don’t know that that is the answer. Like I said, these guys last week got after the Rams. They had seven sacks. We knew it was going to be a challenge. I thought we held up in protection early. Late, kind of got after us. I think everything is just about improve each player. I think this was a tough game for a couple guys up front, probably on the o-line. I think that a young guy like Ickey [Elwonu] can learn from it. I thought it was good to see a guy like Shi [Smith] make a play down the field. A couple guys stepped up that we haven’t necessarily seen make a ton of plays. It’s hard for me to say much more other than until I watch the tape but I respect the question and completely understand the question. But it’s hard for me to say anything without watching it.

RE: Sitting at 1-4, especially with all the home games, what frustrates you the most? What’s most disappointing to you right now?

Just to talk about this game, you know, I believe that we had a chance to be closer than it was. You know I think the pick-6 and then I think our defense kind of hung in there. Just a couple plays late in that third quarter. I thought that 4th and four was really, really a big deal. We knocked the ball down. Unfortunately, it was a penalty. If we win that 4th down, it is a whole different game to me. I just feel like we are better than we’ve shown. It’s how I feel but you are what your record says you are. We are 1-4. It’s not where any of us intended to be. We got to get that turned around.

RE: How much or how little do you notice the crowd and things like the disparity with fans and things of that nature from your vantage point?

I don’t pay attention to that. We kind of came into the game knowing San Francisco travels well. We knew that. But we didn’t have to use silent count or anything like that. I know some teams that have played them had to. I was just focused on the game and what was on the field. I don’t think it had an impact.

RE: The locker room seemed to be solid, seemed to be on the same page. What do you say to them after a loss like this?

That it’s not good enough and has to get better. But you always stick together in life. Who you are in these moments is who you are. But they shouldn’t be a happy-go-lucky locker room. It should be a ‘hey, this has to change’ type of deal. I would never confuse them sticking together with them also wanting to improve and win. There are a lot of guys there that are proud and want to win. They work hard at it. I trust the leadership. The guys like Shaq [Thompson] and Christian [McCaffrey] and so many more, that they will continue to battle. But there is no debating everyone in that locker room knows that that score isn’t good enough. Even at the end, on 4th and 10, we are never going to quit. I hate to put the defense out there with the ball at the 10-yard line or whatever it was, the 2-yard line. But we are never going to not try and win. So, we played to the very end. But I think the guys will always stick together I hope.

RE: You have mentioned about this being a separate year but this is now 11 losses in 12 games. Have you gotten any assurances from David Tepper about your future?

I hope you guys can understand. I’m here to talk about the game. I’ve always been very forthright with you guys. You know, I have nothing to say about that now. Really just here to talk about the game today. I would never would want to make this about me.

RE: I think it's 27 losses when the team scores 17 points on you guys. How do you keep guys from dwelling on that too much and continuing to feel like there is a chance to win games like this today?

Come in and watch the tape tomorrow and see what happened. See what we can improve on. You know those guys all want to win. They also want to play well at their own position. So, to me, it’s about having really good assistant coaches that coach them and help them be better at their craft, each guy, and what they can do better. Show them the stakes. Show them the opportunities. Just try to get through this hurt of this game and get to next week and try to go win one next week. To your point, the question was asked earlier, we need to score more points to have a chance to win. But, I think each guy has to make sure they are handling themselves, and hey, what am I doing, what can I do better?

RE: Your thoughts on Raheem Blackshear’s performance, first time as a Panther.

You know, he has been really good in practice and it’s always fun to see a young guy who looks better in the game than he looks in practice. I thought there was elite confidence. I can’t remember who asked me, I think you (reporter) did, thinking about his role. I think he is a guy you will continue to see his role amplified because, obviously, in a start to the season that we don’t like in terms of the record and all that, I think Laviska has been a bright spot. Unfortunately, wasn’t out there today. Blackshear has been a bright spot. I think once you kind of get all those guys mixed in, with the guys that we already have, the established playmakers that we have on offense, seeing Shi make that play, I think you’ll see a lot of good things. That was a total change of pace. That really helped kind of ignite things in the second half. Maybe he can do some more things to help us. 

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