On the loss:

“I think the unfortunate part is we had opportunities early on to put some points on the board and we didn’t. If that persists and that happens then something bad is going to happen. That is exactly what occurred. We had the ball down there, a sack/fumble and now all of a sudden momentum changes very quickly. It’s very tough to get it stopped.”

On Cam Newton’s play:

“He delivered a few balls high which is tough. He had some guys open and he overthrew them. We dropped a couple as well. It’s twofold. It’s not just about that. I think we all have to shoulder responsibility on this one.”

On having both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart back:

“We are going to have to continue to find more and more chances to use them, more and more situations where we have to put the ball in their hands. They showed today that they deserve to have the ball in their hands more and we are going to have to work on that and make sure we come to a good solution in terms of getting the ball. There is only one ball out there. With the players that we have, the guys that have the abilities to make plays we have to find a way to get it into everybody’s hands. The guys are starting to get hot and have come back from what they have come back I think it’s time to find ways to get the ball to them.”

“Everybody’s looking for a magic play. Everybody’s looking for somebody to say something, for somebody to do something, and take responsibility for themselves. I know I am. I need to be better. I need to play better. I feel like if I do that, we’re moving in the right direction.”

On his game:

“I knew I missed a lot of throws. I’m not blaming anybody but myself.”

Was he pressing?:

“Obviously I didn’t do enough being that the Panthers lost. My job is to put my team in the best situation to win the football game and when that doesn’t happen, the first person you look to on the offensive side is the quarterback and I didn’t get that job done. I will.”

“Our defense can only hold them for so long so I think our offense has to score points. We definitely need to start capitalizing on turnovers. That’s part of the game that we really have to improve on.”

On missed opportunities: 

“When the defense is playing lights out like that in the first half, we have to put points on the board.  We had some opportunities to make plays and I know I had that one play where I had an opportunity there and didn’t make it.  You have to make those types of plays in those moments where your defense is playing lights out.  If you are not putting points up on the board and you continue to give Drew Brees the opportunities that we gave him, eventually he’s going to do something with it.”

On the offensive struggles:

“We can go down a laundry list of things that we did that are pretty clear if you watched the game that put us from 0-0 to 14-0. We blinked. We can’t do those things. We got two turnovers. Defense plays their tails off in the first half, one at midfield, and we get zero points. It’s just not good. That’s not the formula to win.”

On how the offense can improve:

“This is a group thing. This is not on one guy. We need to do a better job protecting (Newton). We need to do a better job getting open. We need to do a better job catching the ball. Every single aspect of basic football needs to improve. There’s no magic formula. We don’t need magic plays. We need to play better.”

On the offensive struggles:

“Honestly I think we’re not disciplined enough. We’ve just got to be more consistent. We have to make plays when plays are there, and we haven’t done that. We’ve got to figure out a way to do that.”

On the makeshift offensive line:

“It’s easier when you have a more stable group, but it’s not impossible and it’s not the end of the world. Fortunately for us, I think we’ve got some really good depth and we have a lot of really good guys. I’ve been really happy with guys who come in with little time, little experience and have done what we’ve asked them to do – that’s play hard. That’s all you can ask from them. We still have to play better. we still have to be more consistent. I’ve got to do better. I have to get better at some things. I’ve got to help a lot of these guys, especially in crucial situations.”

“It was a play that clearly wasn’t a pass interference. He got his head around and then he knocked the ball away. When the ref goes back and sees the tape he’s going to realize he made a mistake.”

On overall mood in the locker room:

“I just think trying to get that win would be a big sigh of relief for us. We’ve just got to keep fighting and keep our focus. We’ve got a long season still ahead of us. We don’t need to doubt ourselves now or tank it. We’re still a good football team.”

On getting the offense going after a slow start:

“We stopped turning the ball over. Those were the changes. Because we were moving the ball, again. On the road, Thursday night football, they are hyped up… all that stuff. We go right down the field. And then unfortunately get the tip pass that comes back to a D-lineman, of all things, and then we get the ball back deep in our territory and we drive it all the way past the 50 and then all of a sudden the ball comes out. So two mistakes that we try to avoid and a little bit of bad luck but in the end, you still have to press on and find a way to move the ball and you know if you don’t convert it to points, it’s going to be a long day so we have to get rolling here and we did.”

“I’ve never carried the ball 30 times since high school, I think my most at Alabama was maybe 24 or 27, something like that.”

On the defensive effort against Kelvin Benjamin:

“Keenan Lewis pretty much shut down whoever the big kid was for Carolina, minus maybe one catch.”

On stopping the Panthers’ run game:

“DeAngelo (Williams) came in and we were aware of what type of runner he is while at the same time we were aware of the defensive matchup that we were coming up upon with their offensive line.  Normally we go in there looking very hungry towards their offensive line, especially this week, they had a couple guys go down due to injury and when you catch a break you’ve got to go full stride.”