On returning to play in a game:
"It felt good. When you don't play a game for three months and come back, you can be a little bit rusty. There are some things, just routine things that I could have hit and done a better job of. When that does happen, you have a decision to make. You can either fold or fight through it. I'm happy with how I fought through it. The guys helped me get through some of that. We just have to find ways to start fast and finish strong. I felt like we did a good job of coming out in the second half and putting points on that board and giving ourselves a chance to win the game. We can't dig ourselves into a hole like that to have to claw out of it."
On what routine things need to improve:
"I felt like I saw the field well. I didn't miss many guys if any. Just a routine check-down throw here and there, I feel like those things are simple – easy, simple things that the rust definitely showed there. You don't want to miss a throw then make a throw, miss a throw then make a throw. I feel like those are the things that I was a little rusty on. I can fix that easily just by continuing to play. I feel like I fought through a lot of that today and still tried to give the team a chance to win."
On taking a hit from Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict and it showing he can take hits after returning from injury:
"Vontaze is a great player. He got me good. I believe that's the one where (Browns RB) Duke (Johnson Jr.) went down the field so it was worth it. That definitely shows me that I can be able to take hits. Obviously, we don't want the quarterback to get hit, but it is football. It is a physical sport. I was able to take some shots today and get back up and continue to play."
On if he was happy with the way that he was able to protect himself:
"There were some streetball elements to some of the things we did today. Running around and protecting myself, I didn't really take any shots down the field running the ball. That is something that I have tried to continue to get better at over the course of my career. I felt like that was good. All of this is a side note. We want to find ways to win the football game. For me, it's not about stats. It's not about how many catches this guy had or that guy had or how many rushing yards that guy had. We just have got to find ways to do things early on in the game and late in the game to win the game, that will be our focus. (Head) Coach (Hue Jackson) is always preaching that to us. Those guys in the locker room want it. They deserve it. It is just about us demanding that out of them every single day."
On needing to build more chemistry with WR Corey Coleman:
"It's not just between me and Corey. It is just about making sure everybody is in the right spot, making sure our timing is on. The Bengals did a good job of disrupting that with some of the looks that they showed and some of the pressure that they did get. We just have got to find ways to be high percentage in the passing game. We did a great job running the ball. The guys did a great job blocking, running and maneuvering. When you rush for that many yards, you definitely expect the outcome to be a little bit different. As an offense, we just need to figure out ways to get our passing game going, even if it is without those big chunk plays."
On how he feels physically:
"I'm fine. Football is physical. It is for the tough man. All of those guys that play out there on that field are tough. You just have got to make sure that you brush it off and that you are ready for the next week."
On the flea-flicker interception:
"On the flea-flicker, one of two things: I have to give him a better ball or just throw it away. The backside safety did a good job of cross-keying across the field. Corey was on the other side of the field with a corner, but the corner was on top of him, too. Really just manage a bad play and either throw it a little farther so T.P. (Terrelle Pryor) can run underneath it or throw it out of bounds."
On if the Bengals did a good job to take away Pryor as an option:
"They just did a good job of playing combo coverages, deep and soft. We just have to come up with ways to get T.P. involved. He is great player so you want to try to get the ball to him. That comes with just our offense flowing better early. Everybody will get their touches if we are flowing a lot better than we were early in the game. We can't put ourselves in a 20-0 hole."
On he should receive a grace for his performance, given his limited game play in the past two seasons:
"No, I don't ever expect anyone to be understanding when it comes to me. That never crosses my mind. The more I play, the better I will get. It is tough to be off for three months during the course of the season and to come back into the game and expect for everything to go perfectly. It did not go perfectly. As a team, we did a good job fighting through the things that did not go perfect. We hurt ourselves too much with penalties and the turnover we can't have. We fought back from all those things and put ourselves in position to have a chance at 20-10 in the fourth."
On the emotional exchange with Pryor and if the two of them are OK:
"Yeah we are fine. It was not anything big. He just wanted to run the play (laughter). We got so low on the game clock that we needed to take a time out. That is what he was talking about. He just wanted to run the play that was called. As a team, we decided in the huddle that we needed to call a timeout so that we could actually execute it. We scored on that drive so it all worked out."
