Head Coach Gus Bradley
Opening statement:
"That was a great game. Coming into this environment as a playoff team that plays as physical as they do, I thought our defense played extremely well. We played extremely physical. Good running game by [the Ravens]. The number of points that they average, and to come into their house and play like we did, hats off to them – to our defense. Our special teams gave up the blocked punt. That was discouraging, but the team bounced back from it. We felt like we needed to steal a couple of possessions. In this game, we executed the onside, the fake punt and did a great job with that. We took some chances there to be bold. We wanted to take advantage of it, and we did. I think, one, we missed a field goal; and the other one, we didn't even score off of. When you have opportunities like that, you have to put it in the end zone. No touchdowns, even if we get one touchdown, gives us a great opportunity in this game."
On whether the special teams' plays were part of the gameplan:"Yes. We were just waiting for the situation. We were waiting for a certain situation that presented itself, and it did. The onside kick, we felt we had momentum on our side. We saw the first one and how they were going after it, and we felt like that was really a credit to [Special Teams Coordinator] Mike Mallory and [Assistant Special Teams Coach] Matt Smiley and their staff presented it to me. We took a look at it on film and felt confident in it."
On the sacks on Blake Bortles:
"That's discouraging because I don't know what it is the last three weeks. A four-plus average or whatever it is, we need to slow this down. I know right away, it's quick to blame the offensive line. I don't know."
On the Jacksonville defense handling the Ravens' running game:
"I thought we did a nice job. Defensively, sometimes, early in the year, we had some issues giving up explosive plays because of trust. But when you play really well, defensively and do something like that, then you have to come back and say why. Well, it's trust. That trust has been improved, and you're seeing it with some guys."
QB Blake Bortles
On the pressure provided by the Ravens defense:
"We knew they were good up front coming into the game. Some of those sacks were on me. Either I held the ball too long or didn't try and get away. There are easy ways to avoid being sacked, and I just didn't do it today."
On his health [he had a boot on right foot]:
"I don't think it's anything big. I feel fine. I hope it is all precautionary, and I will be ready to go Thursday night."
S Johnathan Cyprien
On the run defense:
"It started with the D-line, they were really disciplined on what they had to do. We understood what kind of run game they [Baltimore Ravens] had and the D-line did as well, they took ownership of it, and then our linebackers did a great job filling in the gaps that they needed to. And in the back end we made more tackles. It was a team effort and we got it done as far as the run game."
On the onside kick, was he surprised at the call:
"I was happy that we ran it. You know we practiced it, so I was kind of surprised, but then again I was ready. The coaches called it at the right time."
On the run defense and what worked:"We just had an attitude. We understood what we were getting ourselves into. We're playing Baltimore, we understand their scheme and how they want to run the ball, and the whole team took ownership of that and got it done."
WR Cecil Shorts III
On the Jacksonville Jaguars scoring opportunities:
"We had a lot of chances in the first half. We even had two extra possessions with the onside kick and the fake punt. But we need to figure out a way to score after taking those possessions. We'll go back to work on everything, obviously we have a lot to do."
On whether this is a moral victory:
"I don't believe in moral victories in the National Football League. You either win or you don't. We didn't win, but we will keep fighting. We have a real quick turnaround before our next game, but we'll be ready."
LB J.T. Thomas III
On how the game could've easily turned on any play:
"It was that kind of game, back and forth, like a 12-round fight and in all phases. They came out and hit us in the mouth with the blocked punt. We came back and caught them with the onside kick. It was a good game. That's the level of play we want to play at all times."
FB Will Ta'ufo'ou
On the fake punt:
"It was just something we worked on during the week. The opportunity presented itself, and we did a good job. [Punter Bryan] Anger did a good job. I think it took the whole 11. The front line did a great job blocking. I didn't get touched until I got tackled."
On the Ravens' blocked punt:
"It was something we can't do. It's something where we should be able to protect him. It's not acceptable and not something we can have happen early in the game like that. When people are rushing, we've got to be able to react. We didn't react quickly enough."
RB Toby Gerhart
On not scoring a touchdown and just getting field goals:
"It was frustrating. We moved the ball well in the first half and crossed the 50, but then had to settle for field goals. Against a good team like that, if you score a couple touchdowns there, you put them in a bind. It's frustrating, but we've got to score touchdowns. That's a good defense and a good team. Playing them at home, we battled and came up short."
