Foster Moreau on critical end zone drop in final moments vs Jaguars: 'Just unacceptable'

New Orleans Saints tight end Foster Moreau quite literally had the game in his hands — until he didn’t.

With the Saints trailing the Jacksonville Jaguars, 31-24, in the Week 7 home tilt on “Thursday Night Football,” quarterback Derek Carr looked Moreau’s way on third-and-6 with 30 seconds left. Moreau was wide open in the corner of the end zone, but couldn’t come down with the pass from Carr. A capacity crowd at Caesars Superdome could only watch in disappointment as the ball tipped off Moreau’s hands and to the ground.

The Saints failed to convert on fourth down, and the Jaguars hung on to secure the victory.

“Yeah, you know, it’s tough,” Moreau said after the game, via ESPN. “In front of every man, woman and child I’ve ever known. It’s a dark place to be. It’s the National Football League. It doesn’t come down to one play, but it comes down to one play. The team fought. The team fought as hard as we did, and it’s just unacceptable. It’s just pathetic.”

As the clocked ticked down, Moreau sat on the bench with his head in his hands. Several teammates consoled him, including running back Alvin Kamara. Kamara reminded him that what happened in the closing moments of the game doesn’t compare to what he had to endure this past offseason. Moreau, the former LSU standout, was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. In July, he announced he was in full remission.

Saints rally around Foster Moreau after costly drop

“There’s going to be bigger plays,” Kamara said. “There’s going to be more plays out there. I just told him, man, he’s blessed for what he’s been through. That ain’t nothing. … I ain’t worried about Fos not making that play. Honestly, I don’t think we should be in that position right there where we’re looking at that like, ‘Oh man, he should’ve caught it.’ Of course he should’ve caught it. He knows he should’ve caught it. Anybody in that position right there should’ve caught it. We’re pros.

“But Fos, man, if there’s anybody out there that cares, that’s uplifting his teammates, that’s doing everything he can to try to get a win and uplift everybody else and get them in the right mind frame to win, it’s him. Man, I’m not worried about that. It is what it is.”

Carr echoed the same sentiment, saying that the game didn’t come down to just one play.

“Our job as brothers and as family, as teammates, is to go really around him,” Carr said. “I’ve been in that moment where you miss a throw and you throw a bad pick and something like that and you feel like everybody hates you. Our job as teammates … is to put your arm around them and keep them pushing. To see our teammates react that way shows we have a good group.

“Because I’ve seen in moments like that where everybody just starts pointing fingers. … I’ve never been a believer, just because it happens in that moment. There’s so many things we could’ve done that wouldn’t even put him in that situation.”