On if he was confident after getting off to a good start…
I think it was a good start. Obviously, I didn't expect to go one drive and for Josh (McCown) to get knocked out like that. That's the way the game goes. You never know what can happen. I felt like we responded nice early. It was good to have that drive and get a score out of that, for sure. It was a great route by Travis (Benjamin) and it was a good job to keep on running.
On why he thinks the game unraveled…
I think Coach Pettine nailed it a little but there. First and foremost you can't turn the ball over. That one throw on the pick, that's got to be outside. That's got to be our ball or nobody's. That kind of slowed our momentum a little bit. Little things, like he said, a couple of third downs where we get the conversions and then we have the penalty or something like that. Just the little things that hindered us and nagged us throughout the day that I think finally in the second half caught up to us a little bit.
On if he had a lot of adrenaline entering the game…
Absolutely.
On how he felt entering the game after not practicing much this week…
Obviously, I haven't gotten a lot of practice reps, I had been sitting a little bit. That's the nature of the game. I was exactly where I wanted to be and got a chance to get in the game. I did some good things but not enough to really get the job done. The elbow, the majority of the time, felt pretty good today.
On how he felt entering the game…
There was obviously a lot of energy from the crowd. It's the first game of the NFL season. There was a lot of hype in the stadium and I think we kind of built off of that and quieted the crowd a little bit. It definitely took me a little bit to settle down, that's for sure.
On getting hit…
It was one of those things that catches you kind of clean and you're able to pop right back up. It wasn't one that caught me bad, that's for sure.
On if McCown's injury made him more cautious while running the ball…
It was echoed down the line. Definitely on that one I could have gotten down a second sooner but that's a chance where we were two scores down and were trying to bring it back. We're just trying to make something happen. Like Coach said a minute ago, it's hard to be competitive and try and squeeze every bit out of it and then give up five yards just trying to get down. In that situation, obviously, the smarter thing is to take the yards and move the ball and get down.
On how he assessed today…
Obviously, the second half leaves a bitter taste in our mouth but we'll see what happens throughout this next week. We'll see what Josh's status is. For me, going into this week right now, as far as I know, (I have to) be ready to go, get in with those guys and get a chance to mesh with them a little bit. Obviously, I haven't been with the ones a lot since training camp and this week. I'm a little disappointed in the second half but there still were some good things despite the turnovers.
On what he gained from today…
Just jumping in and getting another chance to get out there against a defense that has a lot of talent on that side of the ball. Like I said, I felt like we did some good things but in the end there were too many mistakes and turnovers that really just killed us.
On what he needs to do differently…
I can't turn it over.
On if the touchdown pass to Benjamin was an audible
No. It was just a go ball, a little outside leverage by the corner and he just ran right by him. That's just Travis using his speed and trusting seeing a single safety meant that we were going to get the ball up to him. He did a heck of a job catching that and taking it to the house.
On if his elbow bothered him…
A few times, there was just a couple bites here and there. Just a little bit of tightness. Other than that, for the majority of the game it really didn't bother me that much.
On if that's how his elbow was in college…
For the most part. It's pretty normal.
On how ready he feels if he has to start the next few games…
Good. Having a week of practice, getting in with those guys, going over all our protections, going over everything and having a solid week of practice. I feel pretty good about it.
On how much he practiced last week…
None. This past week before the game? Very little. (I had) some scout team reps. Pretty much (I) just watched film and tried to shadow Josh as much (as possible), getting the game plan ready and making sure if something like today I happened, I would be ready.
On why he did not practice much last week…
The backup is not going to get a lot of reps.
On if he thinks today would have went differently if he came in knowing he was going to start…
It's kind of a little bit of a 'what if' (scenario). For the most part, we had a good game plan we just needed to come out and execute it. That's what it comes down to, eliminating the little things, not turning the ball over, ball security and just making sure we do what we need to do. I don't think when it came down to it we did enough today and I think that showed.
On what he saw from the offense today…
The thing that I liked to see was those guys not giving up, they were still trying to drive down the field with five minutes left in the game. That's the one thing about that group of guys on the offensive side of the ball, they continue to fight. Whether it's our receivers continuing to block or continuing to run, running great routes. The guys up front continuing to fight, that's encouraging for me to see. At the same time, I feel like there were a few balls there that if I just cut loose and trusted what I was seeing, I would probably get a couple more completions. All around, I think it was a good building block and we'll see what goes on this week.
On if he has talked to McCown…
I saw him at halftime but not a lot to report back. I guess we'll see in the next coming days.
On if he saw what happened to Laurenzo Mauldin…
No I didn't see anything or him go down. I just got off the field after I turned the ball over. I just saw someone laying on the ground and didn't see what was going on.
On him and McCown being the leading rushers for the Browns…
I think as we continue to pound out the zone running game, I think we'll have days where we will come out and run the ball really well. That's a big front that the Jets have. It was tough for us to pound in there today. For the most part, I have a lot of faith in our running backs and our offensive line and that those guys will be the leading rushers.
