MINNEAPOLIS (WISH) — The Colts lost to the Vikings, 16-10, on Sunday. It was the Colts’ third straight loss.
Here are eight standout quotes following the “frustrating” loss.
1. Colts head coach Shane Steichen on the team’s determination
“The fight was there. There’s no lack of fight and effort. I was just talking with those guys and they feel it in there too. It’s football. It’s the NFL and we got to find ways to win at the end of the day, but it ain’t for a lack of trying or effort. Because our guys in there, great character guys that battle like crazy. They prepare the right way. And we keep going.”
2. Colts quarterback Daniel Jones on the passing game
“I think we expected it to be this kind of game. Kind of an ugly game, and credit to them on defense, they have a good system, do a lot of good stuff. I think go back and still look where there could have been some opportunities in the pass game, but we were running it well, controlling it and I think we largely expected it to be a game like that.”
Jones was 13-for-22 passing for just 108 yards and an interception. He was also sacked four times, losing 44 yards.
3. Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner on the frustration level
“I’m frustrated. Same thing. We lost.”
Buckner said he’s “sick and tired of the same song and dance every year” following the loss to the Titans last week.
4. Colts running back Jonathan Taylor on the loss
“It just sucks. You come out, you play hard, you fight. It always comes down to a couple plays. Very good team over there, But at the end of the day, I know we have the guys, You just got to think about how to find ways to just make one more play than your opponent.”
Jonathan Taylor had 95 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Taylor broke free on a 38-yard touchdown on the Colts’ opening drive, their lone touchdown of the game.
5. Colts kicker Spencer Shrader on his missed field goals
“It’s really frustrating. It’s embarrassing. It’s disappointing. Let your team down, especially when the guys trust in you and believe in you so much. It’s hard right now to know exactly what went wrong on those two kicks. I know on the first one, I just didn’t hit it clean. Just didn’t do a good enough job of following my process. The second one I felt like I hit a better ball, but obviously didn’t finish through straight to my target. The thing I’ll have to evaluate is how to get back on track to how I was performing. How to reset. How to not let those misses affect the mentality and then go back to continuing to do what worked to put me in a successful position, and then figuring out what I have to fix to be better going forward because I got a team that relies on me and I want to be a guy that they can count on at the end of the day.”
Shrader missed a 56-yard field goal that would have put the Colts up 13-6 in the third quarter and a 48-yard field goal that would have tied the game at 13 in the 4th quarter. They were his first two missed field goals of the season.
6. Colts offensive guard Quenton Nelson on the mentality moving forward
“Everyone needs to believe that we can do it. That we can get a win. All it takes is one to go on a run. So, just keep believing, keep putting the work in and doing your absolute best. That’s what we need every guy to do.”
7. Steichen on his message to the team
“I told them we ain’t quitting. We’re all professionals. We go back to work and we work. The secret to success is hard work and you got to keep doing it over and over again and sometimes in life it’s going to knock you down, and you got to climb out of it as much as you possibly can and you got to keep your head down and work. That’s all you can do. We’re all pros here.”
8. Colts running back Seth McGowan what was working for him in his career-high day
“Just the guys around me. The O-line and the gameplan we had drawn up and just trusting in it. I think we had a great week of preparation. We had the right mentality this week and I feel like between me and JT (Jonathan Taylor) it definitely showed in the run game.”
McGowan had the most carries (11) and yards (46) in a game in his young NFL career against the Vikings.
The Colts will look to bounce back next week on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
