Transcript: Sean McDermott, Nathan Peterman, Tyrod Taylor on Chargers game debacle

The Buffalo Bills made a mid-week change at quarterback last week, replacing incumbent Tyrod Taylor with rookie Nathan Peterman. Peterman threw five interceptions in a disastrous first half before being benched for Taylor. All three characters in this strange drama spoke to the media on Sunday following the game.

Here are the transcripts to the questions regarding the quarterback position:

Head coach Sean McDermott

On the calculated risk of the quarterback move prior to the game:

Our players were focused. They came out, they were moving the ball on offense and then we had a play that went off our hands into somebody else’s hands and got returned for a touchdown. That’s what I’m saying, is, when you look at big picture of this football game and again it’s no where near the result we had hoped for, wanted or prepared for. The game got away from us in a hurry and when you step back and look at it - objectively look at it - that’s part of it. I thought our players were focused, they were ready, they worked hard during the week, coaches worked hard just like we’ve been all season long. Our preparation will not change.

On QB Nathan Peterman’s struggles:

It wasn’t what he had hoped for or we had hoped for. At the same time, you know when you put a young quarterback out there there’s going to be some ups and downs and that’s part of it. The good part about Nate [Peterman] is he’s a tough individual and a good football player. To me, it’s not indicative of who he is as a player, but he’s going to go through some of this. All good players do.

On Taylor’s response coming out in the second half and going in:

He was ready to go. Just like you saw, he came out, moved the offense and did a good job. He embraced it. He did a good job.

QB Nathan Peterman

On the game:

I have had tough games before and coach always says you never lose, you learn. That will be my mindset moving forward. I am going to learn a lot from this and make sure that this never happens again.

On support from teammates:

It meant a lot to have my teammates there the whole game. My teammates were saying all encouraging things. They were saying that I was young and learning. They shared a lot of their stories, too. We have a great team here and a lot of good teammates.

QB Tyrod Taylor

On Head Coach Sean McDermott's decision regarding who will play starting QB:

As a team, we have to learn a lot from this film. As far as him making a decision, I didn't expect one to be made right now. There are a lot of things to watch over the next couple days as far as film, and he'll decide then. That's neither here nor there right now. As a team we sit 5-5 and we haven't played well the past two games. We have to be able to fix that and do whatever it takes to get back on the winning side of the scoreboard moving forward.

On the first half:

I knew the situation going into the game, and I stand by my decision to support Nathan [Peterman]. Of course, I believe in my ability as a starter. As I said on Wednesday, I didn't agree on the decision but it's not my decision to make. Regardless, whether Coach [McDermott] thinks it's Nathan or it's me moving forward, I'm going to continue to prepare the way that I know how to prepare. If the opportunity presents itself again, I'm going to go in there and continue to do the things that I know I can do.

On how he felt going into the second half:

I go in and just play. I'm not a rookie, I'm not a second or third year guy. I've been around, and I've seen different sides of the scoreboard. When I go in, I take it one play at a time. I know it's cliché to say that, but that's all you can do at that point when the score is against you. To make an impact, you have to execute one play at a time. I stepped into the huddle just to tell the guys, 'We have a full second half ahead of us, and we have to go out there and play without worrying about the score.' We were able to put some points on the board. Obviously, it wasn't enough to win, but there are things we can learn from the second half.