Philip Rivers looking for bounce-back outing against Bengals

[Who Dey]

Getty Images

Philip Rivers has had tough losses before where he didn’t perform up to his own expectations. He’s had to pick himself up off the mat and regroup and find a way to lead his team forward after a dud showing.

The most recent dud came on Sunday in a 32-23 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Rivers was intercepted twice on badly forced throws. The first interception was returned by safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. for a touchdown that gave Cleveland a 17-point lead in the third quarter.

“Those are critical mistakes,” Rivers said, via Mike Chappell of Fox 59. “I missed Jack (Doyle) on a corner route that I would argue I’d probably hit 95 out of 100. Couple of other throws here and there that are going to happen in every game.

“When you lose they get a little more magnified, and I’m okay with that and understand that and acknowledge that. I’ll be better this week. Bounce back and go.”

The miss to Doyle came as the tight end beat safety Andrew Sendejo with Rivers missing low and away of target on the play prior to his second interception. After that misfire, Rivers came back and tried to force a throw into Mo Alie-Cox while evading pressure that was picked off safety Sheldrick Redwine.

So now Rivers and the Colts have to regroup ahead of another NFC North opponent in the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday. While Rivers isn’t happy with his performance against the Browns, he doesn’t want to let any lingering disappointment to affect the upcoming contest.

“Shoot, it’s hard when you lose,” Rivers said. “Nobody feels like we did last Wednesday. From an approach standpoint, I don’t so much worry about that. You care most about what the guys in this building think, but you don’t feel like you have to sell that to them to make sure that they know how you feel and how responsible and aggravated you are that you didn’t play very well.

“Less of that and more of, ‘Shoot, let’s go.’ Acknowledge the fact that individually I didn’t play very well and as a team we didn’t play very well, so what are we going to do about it? Mope around and get beat on Sunday or go out and play the way we know how?”