Nobody was more upset about the Jaguars loss than the Browns' starting quarterback. Completing 16-of-41 passes for 215 yards and turning the ball over two times didn't sit well for Hoyer, or his entire household.
"I'm just angry," Hoyer described his emotions over the last several days. "Even my wife said she doesn't even want to be around me. She said sometimes she doesn't want to be around me after we win, too, just because I'm so critical. She's like, 'You guys won.' I'm like, 'I know, but I could have done this better. Especially after a loss, it just lingers with you until you get a chance to come back out here and do something about it."
This is exactly the kind of leadership Mike Pettine and the Browns want in their locker room: people that hate losing more than they even enjoy winning. Hoyer fits that bill.
"I think his confidence, his preparation, his ability to compartmentalize and put something behind him, then also just confidence in the guys around him," Pettine said about why he thinks Hoyer will rebound against the Raiders. "I think all the guys know on offense that they didn't play well enough for the offense to be successful, which was a big part in making his performance look the way that it did starts up front."
Hoyer said now that practice and the game plan preparations for Oakland have started, his irritation has subsided. And it should. Even the greats have lackluster performances.
"Three weeks ago everyone was saying Tom Brady was done with," said Hoyer about the criticism quarterbacks take. "He's the greatest quarterback of all time. He had one bad game, and people are throwing him under the bus. I think when you see that even the great ones have bad games you know you're going to have a few. Yeah, it sucks. You don't want to go out there and not perform well. Obviously, we prepare our butts off all week to go out there and execute and play the best of our ability, but sometimes you have a situation where you don't play great, and the other team plays well."
Nobody likes losing in the NFL. One extra loss on the slate could be the reason for why a team misses the playoffs. But Hoyer is a player who can sense the heartbeat of the Browns. The loss to Jacksonville might have a wakeup call effect
"I don't think that we underestimated anyone," said Hoyer of losing to previously winless Jacksonville and now facing the same situation with the Raiders. "But now I think we see that no matter who we're playing we have to be at our best and there are no excuses and we have to go out there and execute."
