"Looking back, I knew in that moment, and I knew in the press conference after when he owned it, that we had the right guy," Ballard told NFL.com this week prior to his team's wild-card game against the Texans. "He owned it. Like, 'I went for it, and I'd do it again.' He had that conviction. So many times, you see people try to spin it or make excuses. But real leaders don't blame others no matter how hard it is or even if it's not their fault. They just own it and move forward. That's when I knew, that's when the guys in the locker room knew, we had the right guy."