EARTH CITY, Mo. — It was bad enough that the St. Louis Rams lost a hard-fought 12-6 game to the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night. But the day after the game, coach Jeff Fisher had to respond to questions about things said by Rams tight end Jared Cook and Cardinals coach Bruce Arians.

Cook, of course, was one of five Rams players that did the Hands Up, Don’t Shoot gesture as they were introduced before the Week 13 home game against the Oakland Raiders. That generated headlines and controversy for several days after the game, with Cook speaking to the media the Wednesday afterward, tying to explain how the action were misinterpreted.

That was the case again after Thursday’s game when a frustrated Cook said, “We got outplayed, we got out-coached, and we just put a bad display out there.”

Asked to expound on the comment about being “out-coached,” Cook said, “It’s pretty self-explanatory. We got outplayed and out-coached. All we put up was six points and didn’t get in the (end zone) not once tonight. That’s a pretty unsuccessful night if you ask me.”

On Friday, Fisher was asked about those comments and said, “I know exactly what he was talking about. We discussed it, and I think if he had to do it all over again, he wouldn’t have gone there from the ‘out-coached’ standpoint. It’s not really what he meant as far as our discussion, communication this morning. It was kind of a one fell swoop, ‘Hey, we just got beat’ and included it all. He wasn’t being critical of coaching.”

When Fisher was asked if it made him upset, Fisher said little, only concluding, “We discussed it and we’re fine.”

Fisher was also asked about postgame comments made by Arians after the victory. The Rams opened the week as three-point favorites and the line moved as high as six points on the day of the game.

“I love it when nobody says you have a chance to win,” Arians said. “There is an 11-3 team and a team that is always 8-8. You figure it out.”

That was tame compared with his veiled shot at the Rams’ defense, which entered the game second in the NFL in offensive points allowed.

“Everybody wanted to talk all that stuff about how great their defense is,” Arians said. “I think they saw a good defense tonight; it was in red and white. We blocked them. I think they had been reading their press clippings way too much.”

Strange words in a game where the Cardinals failed to score an offensive touchdown, something they have done only twice in the last four games.

Asked if he knew what Arians said, Fisher said, “Yeah, I was aware of them. When the game was over, I went over and congratulated him on the win. I told him that I hoped his quarterback was going to be OK. The last thing I said to him was, ‘Why don’t you go win a couple playoff games for the division; good luck.’ That’s all I said to him. I have no comment on his comments.”