Phil Murphy did his best to sound upbeat.

Cliches helped.

He talked about history often “being a bumpy road” and admitted that justice has been delayed. But it will not, he vowed, be denied.

All in all, it was an odd press conference with the governor thanking legislative supporters and advocates for marijuana reform, many of whom were in the room.

It may have seemed like a celebration, but it really wasn’t.

The bill failed, but the governor and others took – or at least tried to take – solace from the fact the bill came close to passing.

Craig Coughlin, the Assembly Speaker, used one of those sport cliches Murphy seems to be so fond of when he said the ball was moved down the field but not into the end zone.

That is a pretty small victory.

Through it all, the governor, Coughlin and Senate President Sweeney expressed confidence the bill will get passed – eventually.

There was no firm date as to when that will happen. Sweeney said it will happen when there are 21 votes in the Senate.

The governor again stressed the social justice aspect of the bill, noting that about 600 people will be arrested this week on pot charges, many of whom will be minorities.

And that Murphy said is unacceptable.

“We will stay in the fight and we will ultimately get there,” the governor said.