The outcome of my first game in the NFL Europe League didn't go as we planned, since we lost 21-14 to the Barcelona Dragons. I thought it was a game that we should have won, but hopefully we can learn from it and do better this weekend against Frankfurt. I was very anxious, because it was my first start in more than two years and especially with it being a night game. I had to wait all day. I was definitely anxious, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I was OK with my play. I completed 15 passes for 235 yards and had a seven-yard touchdown pass to Scot Osborne, who was allocated from the Seattle Seahawks. I just wish we could have been able to come back at the end of the game.
It was very cold and really windy with the game being played at night. We did have more than 8,000 fans in the stadium who did a great job of supporting us. I wish we could have won for them so we could have a larger turnout for our next home game in two weeks.
We had some problems converting on third and fourth downs, some of which we should have converted into first downs. We missed some big opportunities to make some big plays. We need to start capitalizing on our drives so that the outcome of the next game will be better. We rushed the ball well as a team, but when we got close to the end zone we struggled. Barcelona had some good goal-line stops in situations where we should have put the ball in for touchdowns.
A positive note for us was wide receiver Ahmad Merritt, who was allocated from the Chicago Bears. He had a big game with six receptions for 137 yards, but I'm not so sure if he is our go-to guy yet. I think all of our receivers have the ability to be impact players. Merritt got a lot of yards after the catch, which really helped out, and he was our receiver that came to play this weekend. I hope he continues that trend this weekend and for the rest of the season.
I am excited about our first road game. We head out for Frankfurt Friday morning. It will be interesting lining up against my Jaguars teammate and Frankfurt defense end Paul Spicer. Hopefully, he won't touch me a lick, but we will have to wait and see what happens. He is a good player and should make it a lot of fun to compete against him.
I hear the Galaxy's fans are some of the wildest fans in Europe. They blow whistles and noisemakers the whole game. I'm looking forward to seeing that, and the game should be a lot of fun. Hopefully the next time I talk to you, we will be coming off a win against Frankfurt.
