Overall thoughts
"That was a difficult loss. (I) Congratulate Carolina for fighting back. I was real proud of our players today though. I thought we played with great passion, great energy and did the things necessary to win a football game, just came up short in the end. I was pleased with how we played, especially the conditions during that second half. We just kind of hung in there, kept fighting. We didn't get the win, but we play like we're going get plenty of them. It was a tough loss."
On similarities between this game and Patriots game
"Well, different type of game. Losing late is always difficult, but just the way this game unfolded was..field position, we were kind of pinned back there for a while. They did a good job getting a couple of punts down and then we were able to hit Jimmy (Graham) on a play, kind of get out of that area, ended up with a score. So it was a field position game. Shoot, defensively we played lights out. We gave up the big drive at the end, but it's disappointing, it's not discouraging. I was proud, as I have been all season, with the effort and the way we played. We'll be just fine [if] we keep doing that."
What changed in final drive regarding defensive coverage on Cam Newton?
"Let me back you up with a question. The same looks we played in the series before. We were getting good pressure with our four-man front, mixing the coverages a little bit. Same thing, they hit a big play on and end cut, but nothing different."
What's the message in the locker room?
"Listen, the message is positive. Last play like that, it's tough, it's disappointing, but the message is putting it out there the way they did and we were in a position. It didn't happen. We'll bounce back. These guys are resilient. I was pleased with how they approached this game."
Did you answer critics about play on the road today?
"I think we did what we needed to do. Running the football. We did what we needed to do defensively and look, this year we haven't been as successful on the road. I'll leave it at that before I say something dumb."
On division opponent play
"Yeah, this game was different. Both defenses were battling hard. We had that little stretch after the half where it was coming down pretty heavy. As best you could, it was really field position. I thought our guys up front on both sides of the ball battled and played real well. I thought we did a good job blocking them. I haven't looked at the numbers yet, but I thought we put ourselves in a position to win and we weren't able to finish it, but I was pleased with our effort."
On Terron Armstead's effort.
"I thought very good. He had a good week in practice. I thought with the matchup he had I thought very good. We knew going in there were going to be some challenges, there always is at the position though, but very good."
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