An excuse is just a reason that hired a publicist.

There is nothing wrong with reasons. What turns one into an excuse is the packaging: the framing, the emphasis, the details picked because they land well. The moment you start presenting rather than reporting, you have moved from explaining a situation to managing an impression, and people hear that difference even when they say nothing.

Strip the next one back to what happened, with no adjectives and no build-up. Say it, then say what you are going to do. The plain version buys more patience than the polished one ever will.