Patrick Graham – December 17, 2019
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Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham
(You played a couple of new guys in the secondary. How do you think they held up?) – “They competed. Obviously we didn’t do anything good enough coaching-wise, and playing-wise we could have done better, but they competed. They’ll just continue to keep growing and we’ll get back to it tomorrow.”
(I think one had one week, one had two weeks of time within the system. How much were you able to do with them, and is it a matter of just saying, “okay, go play Cover 2 and we’ll we handle the front end?” How does that work?) – “(laughter) The beauty of the game to me, to me, is it’s pretty simple. If you can tackle, that’s one. It’s not like wherever they were before that, they weren’t asking them to tackle, so that’s one thing. Two, can you cover your guy and play the right leverage? That’s the same thing that others team were preaching to them so that’s what we try to do, and then from there just be tough, be disciplined. That’s really what we’re asking them to do. It’s nothing different than what they’ve been asked to do in different places. The call might have been called something differently. Maybe there’s a few technique things here and there, but to get guys ready, our coaches do a great job of getting guys ready to go within a short period of time. This is still football. It’s still tackling, defeating blocks, covering, using your leverage; so that stuff is stuff that they’ve been doing for a majority of their adult life.”
(From our perspective it seemed like – your defense is obviously multiple and you use guys at a bunch of positions – it seems like it would be harder to pick up than if they…) – “I get that, but I think the beauty of what we try to do is we try to – especially this time of year – we try to keep it focused on the fundamentals. Again, it comes down to tackling, block destruction, playing your leverage; so if we can keep it within that vein right there, that’s what we try to do with the guys. Yeah, it might have a different name and the call might call for something different, and it might seem more complicated, but it really gets down to the reason why we’re going to win games is because we’re going to be good at fundamentals. This week when we’re playing Cincinnati, we’ve got to play our leverage, we’ve got to set the edge in the run game, we’ve got to tackle, we’ve got to get off blocks. It all comes back to the same thing.”
(Last week DE Charles Harris was inactive. What does he have to do to get on the active roster and to improve in terms of creating pressure?) – “I think just in terms of the game plan, that’s how we determine who’s going to play. Charles will just continue to keep working hard and whether it’s pressure – it depends on how you define what that pressure is, but I think that’s a collective thing whether it’s the call, whether it’s the group in terms of making sure the setup is right. Very seldom is it a one-person show. That’s not how we’re set up. He’s just got to keep working hard and keep grinding.”
(With this season you guys have 18 sacks in 14 games. Obviously that’s not a favorable number because you’re last in the league in sack production. Is it talent? Is it play-calling? Is it poor execution? What has been the issue with that?) – “The measure – I’m not a big stat guy in terms of that – but in terms of sacks, we look to see how we’re affecting the quarterback, so there’s different ways to do that whether you drop eight, you rush six, whatever it may be – pressures, hurries, whatever it may be or just having people in coverage. Again, whether we need more sacks or less sacks, I don’t know. I would prefer more wins. That’s the main thing I’m focused on. The thing is, obviously I could coach it better. That’s where I’ll start and that’s where I’ll end it with. Obviously I’ve got to do a better job coaching it.”
(How would you say you’ve done this year?) – “In terms of?”
(Job performance. Coaching the defense. You, how would you say…?) – “We don’t have enough wins right now, so not good enough.”
(What’s one thing this offseason you’re like, “man, this is one thing I really need to focus in on and get better on?”) – “I’m not worried about – the offseason coming up, you’re talking about?”
(Yeah.) – “I can’t – I’m worried about Cincinnati.”
(What’s one thing so far this season – I imagine getting pressure on the quarterback you wish you had more?) – “The thing I’m focused on right now honestly – and I don’t look too far in advance – is how to limit the running game for Cincinnati, how to take away (Tyler) Boyd in the passing game. That’s what I’m focused on. Anything down the road in terms of my personal development and all of that stuff, I’m trying to get better every day. That’s continual, so it doesn’t matter what (season). I’m not even thinking about that. Right now my focus is on Cincinnati and putting our guys in the right spots to be successful against them on Sunday. That’s my focus.”
(Regarding Cincinnati, you’re once again facing a veteran quarterback in Andy Dalton. Are there similarities – Eli Manning one week, Andy Dalton the next, or is it a start-over type thing?) – “Every week is different. He’s a veteran. He’s seen a bunch of stuff, so you obviously take that into consideration whether it be disguise or just what you want to throw at him and what our guys can handle and things of that nature. Every week is so different in the NFL, so the carryover – they both are good. (laughter) I’ll give you that one. They both know how to get the ball to the playmakers. That’s what I look for. They’re doing a good job of that and getting them in the right calls in terms of the run game. You know you see the ‘check with me’ at the line of scrimmage. They’re getting into the right calls. (Joe) Mixon has run for over 125 yards the last two weeks, so obviously he’s doing something right there because when you’re dealing with a veteran quarterback in my opinion, where they really gain the edge is when they’re able to check the run game against favorable looks. When they do that, that’s pretty good by those guys.”
(LB Vince Biegel had the pick against the Giants on Sunday. What have you seen from him in terms of consistency week-in and week-out?) – “I think he comes into work. He’s a diligent worker. I think he works at it. He’s open to coaching. He works hard on the practice field. I don’t know if he takes any reps off, not that any of our guys do, but he understands – I think he’s really bought into that practice is the most important thing we do during the week leading into the game, so he does a good job of maximizing that out there on the practice field because it’s the closest we get to game reality, so the better you do there – if you make your mistakes there and you get them corrected, the more confidence you’ll have going into the game. So I think he’s done a good job with that along the with the other guys on the team.”
(Has LB Vince Biegel’s production surprised you at all or are you pretty much getting…?) – “No. He’s a hard worker. When you put in the work – and it doesn’t always work out, I understand that – but he’s put in the work and you love to see guys get rewarded for their hard work. Am I surprised? There’s very little stuff that surprises me. I’ve seen production from guys nobody thought we were going to get production (from) and guys who were supposed to be productive not get production. It’s just about putting the work in and hopefully everything falls in place.”
(Do you feel like you have a defensive lineman or edge player that can disengage from an offensive tackle and get pressure on the quarterback?) – “Yes. Yep.”
(Who?) – “We’ve got several guys. Starting with (Andrew) Van Ginkel, (Vince) Biegel, Charles (Harris), Taco (Charlton). All these guys have shown the ability to do it – Sam (Eguavoen), he’s been able to do it. (Jerome) Baker’s gotten plays. So yeah, I feel like we’ve got guys that can make plays against the offensive tackles. As long as we play with our hands, play with good pad level, you’ve got a chance against any of these guys. As long as we do that, we’ll have a chance against any of these guys.”
(I guess the question is why don’t we see more of it then?) – “Why haven’t we seen more of it? I don’t know how you want me to answer that. I’ve got to do a better job. I think I’ve made that clear. I’ve got to do a better job. We’ve got to be more consistent with our pad level. We’ve got to be more consistent using our hands, so that starts with me.”
Chad O’Shea – December 17, 2019
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Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea
(With the offensive line, what goes into the decision to rotate those guards in the game?) – “I think there’s a lot of factors that go into having the five guys that are out there. In the particular – like last week for example, the rotation of the offensive line was based off of giving an opportunity to some of those guys to play from our perspective, and the idea of just obviously giving them an opportunity to play. That was the biggest thing. It wasn’t that it was a particular matchup reason defensively. It was just really an opportunity for all those guys to play because they deserve the opportunity to go out there and play.”
(So this is just an evaluation process for you?) – “I think the process for us is always trying to get the best guys out there, and in doing so, one of the things is there is an evaluation process of how those players play when they’re in there. If that requires rotating different guys in to see who are the best five, that’s what the process is for us. It’s always about putting the best guys out there to give us the best chance to win, and if that requires giving each guy an opportunity to go out there and do it and not just be in set with a certain five guys during the game, that’s what we’re going to do.”
(Isn’t there a statement to be made that you’re in Game 14 and you’re still not sure who the best five are?) – “I think it’s ongoing. Certainly in a perfect world, everybody would like to have continuity at different positions; but again, what we’re trying to do is get the best five out there. If it requires us to keep doing that, we’re going to do that.”
(How did G Shaq Calhoun and G Michael Deiter perform in returning to the starting role?) – “I think there were some things – I think the one word at all positions is ‘consistency’ – so there were some things that were real positive, and I think there were some things when we looked at the film that we would’ve liked them to do better. I think that’s probably true of the way we played offensively in general, that there was lack of consistency at all positions and certainly there were some things that they did that were very positive, and there were some things that looking back that we need to improve on from last week and going into this week.”
(We’ve spoken a lot about QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s running ability. We haven’t spoken a lot about his arm strength. The first touchdown pass to WR DeVante Parker, the 20-yarder, looked like everything he had on it. He’s got pretty good arm strength doesn’t he? That’s an important piece in his repertoire, isn’t it?) – “I think there’s a lot that goes into that – the anticipation and the coverage recognition is something that helps Ryan. He had enough arm to get it to DeVante on that play. That’s a play that was repped in practice, and we always stress the importance of our preparation and practice really equals what happens in the game; and that was true of that play. We had repped that play in practice and he had thrown to DeVante and had good anticipation and recognition of what the coverage was, and DeVante ran a good route. There’s a lot that goes into it, but one of the things that’s important is the quarterback’s got to be able to physically make that throw, and he was able to do that.”
(I know there are two weeks left, but how would you evaluate the job you have done this season?) – “I think it’s something that I have certainly learned every week. It’s been a process that each week is different, and when I look back it’s something that there’s always areas to improve, just like we talk about with the players. Certainly my job has been to try to give the offense the best chance to win every week. I’ve certainly tried to do that on a weekly basis. I appreciate the way our players have embraced what we’ve tried to do here. They’ve worked extremely hard, and I just think that the efforts of the players have really helped me do my job this year and certainly there’s areas in hindsight and looking forward that we would all like to be better in. I think that’s true of all players and coaches, but I think that just as the players have done, I’ve tried to give the best effort I can to put the offense in the best position to win.”
(Would you say this offseason that figuring out the run game is one of your highest priorities?) – “I think there’s going to be a lot. We’re going into the game this week and there’s a lot that we need to improve on. The run game is one area, one facet, of a lot of areas that we need to improve on, and I think that all areas will be evaluated. We still have two games left, and we’re going to try to improve in those areas even with two games left, and it’s just not the run game. There are other areas certainly. That’s always the one statistically that’s the most glaring for us right now, but there’s a lot of areas that we can improve on offensively.”
(With the run game, you guys got over 100 rushing yards, and a lot of that production came from backs. What was different about last week?) – “I think the backs did a good job of running well. I thought on those plays that we did have some production the offensive line was good in their assignment, good in their technique, fundamentally they were good. I think that all those things as I’ve said all year, it takes all 11, and on those plays that we were successful, there were 11 guys doing their job correctly. Certainly the disappointment in the game for us was our inability to get one yard when we needed a yard, so obviously we’re going to put a lot of focus and a lot of our energies into that area of being better in situational football; but on the runs that we did have productivity, I think it’s a tribute to all 11 guys doing their job better.”
(There’s been a lot of attention focused on RB Patrick Laird, but RB Myles Gaskin also had himself a pretty nice game on Sunday. What did you like about what he showed?) – “I think that the one thing that’s been good about Myles is he’s continued to learn the offense and know what to do when he’s out there. He’s made the most of his opportunities at practice and certainly I think that’s really kind of transferred into the game. He ran the ball and was decisive with some of his run reads. I think he had some production in the screen game as well. We’ve got to do a better job catching the ball, but that’s as a unit. I just think that he’s continued to develop and grow in his role.”
(What do you see as RB Myles Gaskin’s skillset? More quick than fast maybe?) – “I think we’re still learning a lot about him. He’s certainly done some things that would say that he’s got attributes in both of those areas, so I think it’s still something we’re evaluating and giving him opportunities kind of to show what he can do physically.”
(We’ve asked about G Michael Deiter and G Shaq Calhoun. What about C/G Evan Brown? What did you see from him on Sunday?) – “He had a chance to go in there. I think he had 37 plays in the game, so it was a good start for him to get in there and again, there’s a lot of moving parts inside and a lot of communication that’s required of different guys at different positions, so it’s a work in progress. But there was enough positives that he’ll continue to have opportunities and we’ll continue to try to put the best five out there.”
(What do you want from your guards? What do you want your guards to look like?) – “I think it’s something that is based on a lot of what you’re doing offensively and what you’re facing obviously, but ideally you want to have some guards with some size and some athleticism. I think the athleticism is something that’s very important for that position because we do pull our guards quite a bit in this offense and we do utilize them in the screen game and some of those (things). So I think athleticism and mobility (are) something that come to mind first for us as far as our guards, but there’s obviously a lot of physical characteristics that you would like also. You just can’t have them all. But that’s one that comes to mind, is just the athletic (trait). I think there’s also – you need to be big and stout enough to stand up to have a firm pocket inside also.”
(Joe Burrow won the Heisman last week. I know your focus isn’t on the college game, but you as an observer of sports have to have seen some of what he’s done this year. Were you kind of surprised, encouraged?) – “I’ll be honest, out of all respect to the Heisman Trophy and college football, so much of our energy here has been on us and the focus on our team and what we need to do the next two weeks to improve. Certainly we have a great challenge this week in Cincinnati, so yeah, I am a sports fan and I respect the Heisman Trophy and am aware of who won it; just all of the focus for us truly has been on us.”
Brian Flores – December 16, 2019
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Monday, December 16, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Obviously you addressed yesterday that you think QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will start on Sunday and you’ve always said you want to start the guy who you think gives you the best chance to win. One thing with regards to QB Josh Rosen, is there any more critical information that you and General Manager Chris Grier and Vice President of Football Administration Brandon Shore think you need to know from seeing him in a game this year or do you already know everything that you feel like you need to know about the player at this point?) – “You can always get more information and gather more information; but we have what we have, which is the practice reps and the game reps that he’s had along with his play from a year ago. I think the most important thing we get is what we see in practice on a weekly basis. That’s kind of my thoughts on that.”
(So how much temptation, if any, is there to get a look at QB Josh Rosen in the last two games?) – “We’re always going to do what we feel is in the best interest of this team. We’re going to play the guys who give us the best chance to win. I think we feel that’s Ryan (Fitzpatrick). It’s been that way for the last – I don’t know – eight to 10 weeks. We’ll continue to go that way.”
(With S Walt Aikens, is the issue that left him home Sunday resolved in terms of will he be available to you next Sunday?) – “Yeah, it’s been resolved.”
(We saw LB Raekwon McMillan leave yesterday. Was that anything that you determined was serious or was there anybody else out of yesterday that you think might be in jeopardy the rest of the season?) – “It’s early in the week. Guys are – everyone is a little bit sore from the game. It was a tough game so we’re still evaluating a few guys. I think if you feel a little bit better tomorrow and see what Wednesday looks like – those guys, it’s a tough group. They’ll try to battle back and get out there and play Raekwon is definitely part of that.”
(What is your message this week?) – “The same as it always is. Let’s get better in practice, let’s improve in practice, meetings, walkthrough, and try to go out and play a good, solid football game next week. But that starts with our process on Tuesday, preparing for our next opponent – Cincinnati in this case – and building throughout the course of the week. Getting your rest, getting your hydration, doing all of the things you have to do from a preparation standpoint to give yourself the best chance to play at an optimum level next Sunday.”
(The narrative around this team is the team that loses the game Sunday is better off. Have you ever gone into a game feeling that way and if not, as a competitor and seeing that and hearing that and probably the way they feel in the front office, how do you deal with all of that and handle all of that?) – “I mean I don’t know whose narrative that is. I’ve said this all year: we’re going to try to win every game. That’s kind of my thought process.”
(You guys are favored for the first time this week. Where does that equate in your mind? Obviously I know you don’t pay attention to lines but they believe you are the superior team to the Bengals.) – “I think every week is hard in this league. I think the Bengals have played well the last few weeks. It’ll be a tough game, just like every game in this league. We’ve got to do a good job with our preparation, going through our process – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – and try to build over the course of the week. We’re going to play a tough, competitive team, and we’re going to have to play well if we want to win, just like any other week.”
(What have you seen in the red zone the last two weeks?) – “From us? Not enough. Not enough production. We’ve got to punch it in. We’ve gotten stalled out too often, and you’re not going to win games if – I think we moved the ball efficiently at times, and we just haven’t been able to finish off those drives. It’s hard to win with field goals in this league.”
(I wanted to ask you about the run game. Obviously you had a pretty much resurgent game – one of the three times you’ve run for over 100 yards. What was the difference this week against the Giants?) – “I thought we could’ve ran the ball better, to be honest with you. There’s still a lot of things we need to improve on. I’d say the first thing that comes to mind is we need to be able to pick up one yard when we need one yard. I know there were some good runs in there, but I think we need to do it more consistently really at the start of a game and really throughout. We’ve still got a lot of work to do there.”
(And how would you assess the way G Michael Deiter and G Shaq Calhoun performed?) – “Good plays, bad plays. I think it was a good front. They’ve got some good players, so I think we again, had some good plays, had some not-so-good plays; but I thought those guys battled every week. The competitiveness, the effort, the toughness – that was never in question, but they had some good players, and it was tough to block them one-on-one at times. We’ve got to do a better job of just playing with fundamentals and technique and giving ourselves the best chance to get those guys blocked, especially when you’re playing against good players.”
(Do those comments about the guards also apply to C/G Evan Brown? I guess he was the third guard.) – “Yeah. Evan went in there and played a little bit yesterday. He got some live action for the first time with us this year. Again, this is no different. (Evan) had some good plays, had some bad plays, showed some quickness and some change of direction. Again, (there were) some instances where he didn’t play as well. He lost a couple one-on-one matchups, I would say; but we had that at some other positions, as well. It was good to get him out there, him to get his feet wet and hopefully we can build on that over the last couple games this season.”
(How has T Julién Davenport played the last couple weeks?) – “Better. You’re seeing some steady improvement. We’ve just got to build on that week-to-week, practice-to-practice and try to string some good play together.”
(Do you notice anything that’s correlating to that improvement for T Julién Davenport?) – “I think he’s just playing – we’ve harped on him about just consistency with his technique. The kid’s athletic, but he’s got to play with good footwork, hand placement, tight hands, a low base in the run game. He’s starting to do those things a little bit more consistently. Again, this is someone who was out for a good chunk of the year early and then came back. It takes a little while to kind of get back into the groove of things as far as fundamentals and techniques from that standpoint. We just need him to continue to play consistently and improve over these next couple weeks. Hopefully that’ll lead into a good offseason and so-on and so-forth, but right now the focus is on getting better this week.”
(We’ve seen I think 10 players signed over the last two weeks. One of the 10 – RB Zach Zenner – is no longer here. A couple were inactive yesterday. Among those who played yesterday – DT Zach Sieler, DB Nate Brooks, CB Linden Stephens – did anyone flash to you?) – “I thought they all flashed. Some good plays; some plays they could’ve been better on. Sieler plays with great effort, had some good technique plays and I thought he played strong inside. Brooks had a couple good tackles, same with Linden. Again, they’ve got to get in the game. It’s good to get them in the game, see them run, see them move around. Then we had some plays we could be better on, and we’ll coach them up and make those corrections. Hopefully we’ll learn from them. We’ll have a quick turnaround – not this week from a playing standpoint, but for them individually, playing their first games of the season and then turning around and playing another game next week will be good for them.”
(How surprised were you to see so many dropped passes?) – “It’s disappointing. It’s something we work on really a daily basis and something we haven’t had as many issues with over the last – let’s call it five to six weeks – but you play in a little bit different environment. There’s wind – not to make excuses, but – they’re not excuses, they can’t be excuses, is really what I’m getting at. We had too many, really at all positions – receivers, backs, tight ends. We had them everywhere. It wasn’t just one guy. It was a collective problem, I would say, and it cost us some big plays. It really did. Those plays would have helped us, specifically in the first half. Maybe we put up a couple more points, maybe we break a tackle, maybe this, maybe that, if, if, if. But we have to make those plays.”
(Eighteen sacks in 14 games. Obviously that’s an issue that this team needs to improve on. Is there anything that you guys can do from a coaching standpoint or a scheme standpoint, play-calling standpoint to get the sack production up or pressure production?) – “I think it’s something that, we always want to get pressure on the quarterback. Every team’s trying to do that. We’re trying to do it as well. We’ve got to coach it better. We’ve got to play better. There’s a few different ways you could do it. We could all-out blitz them. We could fire-zone them. We could five-man pressure them. We could bring a corner, bring a star, bring a safety. I think at points in the season we’ve done all those things, and we’ll continue to do the things we feel we need to do to create some pressure and hopefully we play better, coach it better and hopefully we’ll see some improvement there.”
Patrick Laird – December 15, 2019 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Postgame – N.Y. Giants
RB Patrick Laird (transcribed by New York Giants)
(The defense had three interceptions against Eli Manning. Complementary football just wasn’t there today. Is this on the offense?) – “Yeah, we got to take advantage of the opportunities the defense gives us. Ultimately it comes down to that.”
(What happened on the safety?) – “We thought we had a good run call. I think there was just penetration, I’ll have to see on film. At the end of the day, I have to make something happen and get back to the line of scrimmage at least and not let that happen.”
(You bounced outside pretty much immediately. In retrospect do you think that was the right decision?) – “We will see on film. It’s one of those things you have to see after the fact.”
(What was kind of out of character for this team is that you’ve lost games, but it’s been back and forth. Today the second half was pretty one sided, why wasn’t there a push back today?) – “We came in and made our second half adjustments and we told ourselves that we wanted to finish and play hard in the second half. We just didn’t do that and we didn’t execute, and they were able to pull away.”
(How much of a momentum changer do you think that safety was?) – “Anytime the offense turns the ball over or gives up good field position to the other team, it can be a momentum changer. We have to play complimentary football and the offense has to keep drives alive to help the defense.”
Jerome Baker – December 15, 2019 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Postgame – N.Y. Giants
LB Jerome Baker (transcribed by New York Giants)
(You guys didn’t have an answer for a long time. In the beginning it was a lot of back and forth. Can you speak to what happened today?) – “We didn’t come out in the second half and play as a team. That’s really all it is. We didn’t come out an execute. Giants did a great job of coming out in the second half and capitalizing on that. We can’t blame anybody, we can only look at ourselves in the mirror and just say we came up short.”
(Is it hard for players to come out when its been a hard year and its late into the season?) – “No, we’re NFL players – every time you step on that field if you don’t take it serious you’re going to get hurt. I don’t think we’re about that to much, it’s still a pride thing. It’s our job, we still have to come out and execute and play as a team.”
(How much of it was a turning point after the safety and after the punt getting great field position and then scoring right away?) – “Yeah that was tough, as a defense we have to have our offenses back, so we didn’t do that and Giants did a great job at capitalizing on it.”
(You pick off Eli three times and lose. When you pick him off three times do you feel like you should have the upper hand?) – “Yeah. It’s a team game, it is not just one thing. We all have to play better on all three phases. We just have to comeback tomorrow and go back to work.”
(When you guys face a guy like Saquon as a runner how difficult is that?) – “It’s hard, he’s one of the great backs in this league. He gets after it, we respect it and it’s our job to stop that. You can’t stop a guy like that you can only contain him and we didn’t really contain him at all.”
Daniel Kilgore – December 15, 2019 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Postgame – N.Y. Giants
C Daniel Kilgore (transcribed by New York Giants)
(I wanted to ask you about the safety, what happened on that drive?) –“Miscommunication upfront; they [the Giants] brought the house and we weren’t in the right spot.”
(Just in general, how did you feel about the way the offensive line performed today?) – “We have to get better every week; it’s the same story of guys rotating in, they have to come in and do their job and I have to do my job. We just have to be better. It’s the same story every week; we have to look at it [the game film] tomorrow and work at it, fix it and fix our problems.”
(As a team leader, do you say to these guys ‘”keep fighting and just play hard the rest of the way?) – “Yeah, you have to. You cant’ let guys get down on themselves. We have to keep fighting. It’s a long season; we said this in Week 4 that it was a long season and we still have a job to do and that’s to go out and perform well and try to win ballgames.”
(How much of a frustration is it when your defense gets three takeaways and you guys aren’t able to convert?) – “Yeah, that’s not complementary football where we don’t score points [off of turnovers]. The defense for the most part from what I could see from sitting on the sideline, they did their thing and offensively, the offensive line, we have to come up with plays, man. It’s the same story every week, that’s not just pointing fingers, that’s just me and everyone else involved.”
Vince Biegel – December 15, 2019 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Postgame – N.Y. Giants
LB Vince Biegel (transcribed by New York Giants)
(What was difficult for you guys in the second half?) – “I think the biggest thing for us in the second half was we couldn’t stop the run. We weren’t solid on our edges and that starts with the front, setting the edge, it starts with the secondary. Through and through we weren’t able to accomplish that in the second half and it showed. We didn’t put our offense in the best field position. We didn’t give them enough opportunities so I think there are a lot of things we can do as a defense that we can correct and get better for next week.”
(This is the first time in a while that you guys didn’t fight back. What was different today?) – “I feel like the Giants, credit to them, they got momentum and they made the plays when they needed to make them. Flat out we didn’t make the stops when we had to so it’s a credit to the Giants. They were able to come out and execute at a high level. I think it goes back to us, self-inflicted wounds and those are the things we have to clean up if we want to be a great team and if we want to be a team that can win week in and week out. I believe in all of these guys in the locker room. We want to get better. If you come to practice, we’re grinding. We work hard and the effort is not the question, it’s going out there and being able to execute at a high level.”
(What happened on the play where you made an interception?) – “Slot curl drop and I was able to re-route. I fell right into coverage and PG (Patrick Graham) talked about all week how one of Eli’s (Manning) favorite routes is a slant so I felt the slant behind me and I was able to get one thrown right to me in the bread basket and was thankfully able to make the play and put our offense in good field position. It was my first career interception and it wasn’t up against that bad of a quarterback so I was very, very thankful. And it was a good play call as well on PG’s end.
(How tough has it been when you go into the huddle and you might not know the people in there because things have been changing so much?) – “I think it’s a credit to the coaching staff to be able to get our guys [ready] – I look back sometimes in our secondary and I’m still learning the names. It’s a credit to our coaching, it’s a credit to the guys in our locker room. To be able to go out there and understand our assignments, our techniques and to go out there and be competitive. As we finish the season here, those guys will be able to continue to come into fruition and finish strong with us. Obviously, a lot of work. Most importantly, I think it falls on guys like me, who have been here the whole season. We have to go out there and continue to lead and continue to get this organization in the right direction.”
(You said you intercepted a guy that wasn’t bad, what did you think about the amount of respect that he has here?) – “I’ve got a ton, a ton of respect for Eli Manning. He’s been doing this for a very, very long time. I remember being a kid in middle school watching him so to be able to go out there and line up against him is truly an honor and there is a strong possibility this could be his last game here. Credit to him, but I think most importantly, focusing on us, there were a lot of things that we need to improve on and I think it starts tomorrow on those corrections and moving forward.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick – December 15, 2019 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Postgame – N.Y. Giants
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (transcribed by New York Giants)
(What changed between the first half and the second half?) – “When we came out, we were a different team. We weren’t executing. I don’t know if they made adjustments or that we needed to make many adjustments just in terms of the way the first half went. I thought we moved the ball well. Just frustrating that we couldn’t get things going. That obviously starts with me as the quarterback, just moving the sticks a little bit and finding completions. It got out of hand in a hurry, especially after the safety, which was a big momentum change. Just couldn’t get anything going offensively.”
(What was the difference in the first quarter, basically the first half? You guys were able to spread the football around. You ran it pretty well in the first quarter, but didn’t cash in on points. Is that discouraging?) – “It’s always tough, not getting the fourth-and-one or not getting points out of good drives. So there’s always stuff you leave out there that you’re disappointed about. But we came into halftime feeling pretty good – not necessarily the score, but the way we moved the ball. We felt like we had a good plan and guys were playing well. We had good matchups on the outside. We were able to move the ball really well. It was a matter of not being able to pick up first downs in the second half and stay on the field. It wasn’t a great performance. ”
(What happened on the fumble. It looked like you took a pretty good shot.) – “Yes. I tried to cut back. It was a third-and-long and I was trying to somehow, some way find a way to pick up the first down. He got me pretty good on that one.”
(The safety was an off tackle play and there was no hole and he cut it outside? ) – “Yes, sometimes you have to take your hat off to them too. They obviously played better than us on that play.”
(You seem very comfortable with DeVante Parker as the season progresses. Can you talk about why you guys have been so in sync recently?) – “I just think the type of receiver he is – big, physical, makes the tough catches, really smart, really consistent – the things we’ve said in the past about him, every day he wants to get better, continues to work hard – all that stuff, his size and his catch radius – are all very good things for a quarterback. ”
(What did you think when he got that contract extension?) – “I was excited for him. It’s nice to see guys rewarded when they play well. I was really excited because I know he’s had some ups and downs and he’s worked really hard this year. So it was really good to see him get rewarded for it.”
(There’s been a trend of hiring offensive minds as coaches. Head coach Brian Flores comes from the defensive side of the ball. Does that make a difference to you as far as you’ve seen and what goes into being a good coach?) – “I don’t know. I think offense, defense, special teams coach, young, old – I don’t know that any of that matters. I think what matters is clear vision, everyone headed in the same direction, and coach has the pulse of the team. He knows what’s going on and I don’t think it really matters what age or what side of the ball the coach comes from. There’s just important qualities to have and we have a good one.”
(Ryan, today the Dolphins set an NFL record for using the most players in one season—the most different players.) – “I was wondering what you could possibly say for the record. [Laughs]”
(I know a lot of changes today at least were on defense, but when you look at it from a team perspective, how much of a challenge is that when you’re trying to incorporate so many moving pieces?) – “You know, just speaking offensively for me, we’ve had some, but maybe not as many as the other side of the ball, so continuity is a big thing in this league, just in terms of trying to be consistent and all that. And you know for us, offensively, that was not our problem today because we were at full strength at receiver and just didn’t play well enough, but there’s been a lot of moving pieces this year and you know part of it, I think, guys that come in are getting a chance to play and some have stepped up, some haven’t and the coaches are really showing how well they can coach with bringing guys in and trying to get up to speed as fast as possible.”
(You’ve talked about how the playing, the competition, is fun for you—the starting, the work. A game like today, is that…) – “Uh, yes the second half is brutal. I mean that’s a tough situation to be in when you can’t get anything going and you’re running out on the field and then running right back off with a punt or a fumble or whatever it was. This is, this game is so much fun, but it’s difficult too and today was a tough day and it’s, you know, throughout my whole career. I think when guys come to the NFL I think they learn that it’s a very humbling game. Once you think you’ve got it, you’re going to get knocked down and it doesn’t matter how many wins you have or how many wins the opponent has, you’ve got to come out and play every game and we didn’t show up in the second half today.”
(You shook hands with Eli [Manning] after the game. Was there anything you can tell us about that moment or what you guys might have said to each other?) – “I thought, you know, just that it was a nice moment that he had with the fans there at the end and then a classy gesture to kind of bring him out and get his ovation. I just think he’s meant a lot to this league, obviously he’s been a face of not just the Giants franchise, but of the league for a long time now and he’s been the model of consistency for sixteen years too in terms of staying level-headed and with all the stuff that you have to deal with in this media market. He’s been a class act the whole way and has really handled himself well, so I think there’s a lot of things that I like to just sit back and take from different quarterbacks and our playing styles are a little bit different and he’s had a lot more success than I have, so I’m not even trying to compare our careers, I’m just, the class act that he is and always watching from afar the way that he handles himself, that’s something that all of us NFL quarterbacks can learn from that example and you know he’s had a great career and I was happy to see that for him today.”
