JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Frank Reich called it "pathetic." Nyheim Hines described it as "embarrassing."
Whatever adjective you want to use for the Colts' Week 2 24-0 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field, it was not what the team expected would happen on Sunday, nor was it an acceptable result for the players and coaches who participated in it.
"We got out-played, out-coached, out-executed from top to bottom," defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said.
"We'll evaluate everything," Reich said. "Plays, schemes, everything top to bottom."
One word Reich did push back on, though was the suggestion that the Colts were unmotivated heading into Sunday's trip to north Florida.
"If you would feel what it feels like during the week, unmotivated is not a word you would characterize what this last week was like," Reich said. "Coming off our performance last week, the intensity of practice was at an all-time high. The intensity in meetings last night, the ferocity of the players all week long, coaches wanting to get back on track.
"I don't feel it was a lack of motivation. I just feel like it's a lack of — we got outcoached and we got outplayed."
That's a sentiment players echoed – Sunday's shutout was not the product of missing intensity or focus during practice, or in the effort with which players played in Jacksonville.
"We gotta look back on the film," Hines said. "I don't understand. We had a great week of practice, I thought we were ready to play but obviously they punched us in the mouth and we ain't punch them back. We got punched the whole game. I mean, we didn't score."
One issue Reich identified after the game on why the Colts were shut out was how the offense performed on first and second down. The Colts ran 20 plays on first down and gained 70 yards, good for 3.5 yards per play. Things were better statistically on second down – the Colts averaged 5.8 yards per play on 17 second downs – but too often were left with third-and-longs.
On average, the Colts needed to gain 8.7 yards on their 10 third down tries; they converted two of three when needing four or fewer yards and none of seven when needing six or more.
"Usually when we're humming we're effective on first and second down," Reich said. "And we just ended up in a lot of third and longs today and put a lot of pressure on or offensive line."
On defense, the Colts weren't able to generate a sack or a takeaway – the kind of play that Buckner felt could've been a spark to the entire team. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence completed 25 of 30 passes for 235 yards with two touchdowns, while running back James Robinson had a 37-yard rushing score.
And the Jaguars were able to sustain three drives with double-digit plays (15, 10, 12) that resulted in 17 of their 24 points going on the board.
"We just gotta get better up front," Buckner said. "For me, I know personally I gotta get better taking advantage of the opportunities that I get in applying pressure on the quarterback. The past two games I haven't done a really good job at that and I need to go back to the drawing board and figure things out."
There was plenty of personal accountability taken publicly by Reich and his players after the game, and certainly more of it taken privately by the Colts. And the Colts felt like taking that accountability is step one toward making sure a result like this doesn't happen again.
"I gotta play better, there's no doubt about that," Ryan said. "As a group we all have to play better too. It's disappointing when you put in the work during the week and you come out and you don't play the way that you're capable of playing.
"Credit to Jacksonville, I thought they did a good job, played well. But we have to set a certain standard for ourselves. Every week, we've gotta show up and be ready to go. The first two weeks, we haven't done that. It's a long season and we've got to get back to work but today wasn't good enough."
Reich's message to his team, while acknowledging the reality facing the 0-1-1 Colts, was not one of despair or panic, though.
"It doesn't make anybody feel any better but I've been around long enough to know that as pathetic as that was today, where that is and where we need to be, the distance is not that far," Reich said. "It's not that far because we got the guys, the players, the coaches to do it. I know that does't play in the outside world and I'm find with that. We'll take our medicine, I'll take my medicine and we'll just keep doing what we do."
And that's a message that hit home with players – guys who have the confidence in themselves, their teammates and coaches to correct their mistakes on Sunday.
"I just know our team – in my short time being here, I know the fight we have," cornerback Brandon Facyson said. "We got a real close group. This is going to do nothing but bring us closer together. We just gotta figure out a way to just get over the hump. We got full confidence in all of us.
"Everyone get over it, it's not the end of the world, we just gotta go in and make our corrections and continue to be locked in. It just wasn't our day today but we're going to have our days and I don't think we need to panic at all. It just wasn't our day today. But I have full confidence in this group. I've lost zero confidence in anybody. I know the kind of group we have and the kind of people we have. And that's me saying that from just my short time here. I know what we have. We're gonna be fine."
And while emphasizing the sense of urgency needed to fix the issues that led to their Week 2 loss, Reich and his players also made sure to note where the Colts are in the NFL calendar.
"Thankfully we have 15 more games," Hines said. "This sucks right now but we go on a win streak and win our next seven games, nobody will talk about this. Really, the ball's in our court and what choices we make as an offense, as a staff, as a complete team to move forward and get ready to play against the Chiefs."
