Jakeem Grant – November 17, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 17, 2019
Postgame – Buffalo
WR Jakeem Grant (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(The special teams seem to turn thing around and grab momentum in this game, and you were clearly a big part of that. Can you talk about how that was able to flip the game back around in your favor at moments?) – “Like (Head) Coach (Brian Flores) said, when one side is struggling or both sides are struggling, we have to make something happen and I feel like, collectively, as a special teams unit, that’s what we did. So we got the momentum in our favor and next time we do, we have to be able to keep it.”
(The big returns hadn’t been there this season. How good did it feel to bust out today?) – “It felt great. It would have felt even better if we came out with the win, but that just shows other teams that we can be very dangerous on special teams.”
(When did you know you were gone on that kickoff return?) – “Once I broke through the second level, and it was just me and the kicker, I was like ‘no way is he going to tackle me,’ because if he tackles me my teammates will never let me live that down and then I have to pay a fine. (laughter)”
Brian Flores – November 17, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 17, 2019
Postgame – Buffalo
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Obviously, seven sacks or six sacks.) – “Yeah, it’s disappointing.”
(Not what you wanted?) – “No. We’ve got to do a better job protecting the quarterback, getting the ball out quicker. We just didn’t play well; but it wasn’t just them. We didn’t play well collectively as a team all the way across the board. It starts with me. We’ve got to coach it better, got to play better – fundamentals, technique, communication, all the way across the board – we’ve got to do it all better.”
(The inability to run the ball – 7 yards rushing the first quarter, 23 yards throughout the game – it must really been tough to get going much offensively.) – “Yeah, I mean we couldn’t get it going. I mean, it’s something that we’ve – it’s been a little bit of an issue the last few weeks. Look, we’re just going to keep practicing, keep trying to get it better; but yeah, it’s definitely something where we’re struggling. It’s tough to win in this league if you can’t run the football. We’ve got to get better in that area.
(On the other side, seven sacks. You didn’t really protect and really didn’t put any pressure on them on the defensive side. Again, another one of those where you can’t do much when you’re in that spot.) – “Right, we didn’t play well, really. We didn’t play well enough today as a total team. We didn’t coach well enough, we didn’t play well enough, and we didn’t get the result we want. We’ll come back to wrok tomorrow, make the corrections, get back to practice this week and try to play better next week.”
(Did the week of preparation give any hint that something wasn’t right?) – “No. I felt like we had a good plan going in, we just didn’t execute. We had some opportunities there. I would say in the second quarter, we got some momentum going and it turned the other way. We had a few plays there where had some good plays and there was a penalty or we just couldn’t string plays together, and you need to do that against a good team. We weren’t able to do that today. But I thought we were ready to play, but we didn’t – they outplayed us.”
(Can you talk about WR Jakeem Grant, especially on special teams?) – “I thought he played well. Obviously the kickoff return was a bright spot for us. I thought he played well offensively. Again, we’ve talked about his explosiveness and his ability to make plays, so hopefully we can continue with that.”
(The deficit was a little bit too much to overcome, but what did you like about your team after being down and being able to come back?) – “Like I said, we put a drive together, (had a) big play by DeVante (Parker) and ended up punching it in with Kalen (Ballage). We got the onside (kick), we were moving it again, so we had some momentum there, and then couldn’t get a stop defensively after we turned it over. They punched it in and then we got the kickoff return, so look, there was an ebb and flow there. We had some momentum, and then we just couldn’t get it going in the second half and they outplayed us. But we’ve got to do a better job.”
(What were some things that QB Josh Allen was doing to get the best of you guys today?) – “I think he’s a good player. I know he had a zone read for a big gain and made some good throws. They blocked it pretty well and they ran it well. They played well. They played better than we did. Yeah, they played better than we did.”
(What do you hope your players learn from this loss moving forward?) – “I mean, we’ve got to play better. I would say from tackling to missed tackles to penalties, not protecting inside out from a protection standpoint in the pass game, dropped balls, you’re not going to win in this league playing that way. It’s something we’ve talked about really the entire year. I think they understand that. They know that. We had some opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of them. They did. This is the result we get.”
(All of those things you mentioned, you were managing those things pretty well coming into this week, all of a sudden this team comes in and they obviously have playoff aspirations and they came out playing that way. Did that affect part of that, your football team getting back to those mistakes?) – “I mean, they played well; but some of those things, they’re on us. An unsportsmanlike penalty early that negates a holding call, dropped passes, missed assignments from a protection standpoint, penalties. I think a lot of those things we can control. They made us miss on a couple of tackles, but we talked about tackling and tackling technique, fundamentals. We’ve got to do a good job, obviously. That’s always number one defensively. We just didn’t do a good enough job. I think we overcame some of those mistakes early and had some opportunities, specifically in the second quarter, and then we – they made more plays than we did.”
(The frustration of you get the onside kick, you get a little momentum, you’re still in the ballgame, and then you get the fumble and kind of leave that onside kick – there’s got to be some frustration level there?) – “Yeah, it’s basically a long foul ball. That’s really what it boils down to. We have to take advantage of those opportunities. Good teams take advantage of them and today we weren’t that. We’ve got to be better. I’ve got to coach it better and we’ve got to do a better job.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick – November 17, 2019 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 17, 2019
Postgame – Buffalo
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
(How are you feeling?) – “I feel good. I mean, obviously not happy about the loss, but physically I feel fine.”
(Six sacks today – was their defensive line doing something schematically that was just giving the offensive line so much trouble or what?) – “Every sack has its own little story. Some are on me not getting the ball out. Others, they’ve got good players over there, so there’s a myriad of reasons why things were happening and breaking down today; but at the end of the day, as a quarterback, I take that upon myself. I have to get the ball out better in some of those situations. Some of them were unavoidable and they did a nice job with some of their stuff, but there were some that I thought I could have got the ball out a little bit better today.”
(Is it disappointing for you, maybe it was a step back today after the positive of the two wins the last two weeks? Do you feel like maybe you took a step back today?) – “Yeah, I think – I think we did. We came into this game thinking the outcome was going to be better. I thought we’d come in and be more competitive, but credit to Buffalo. They did a great job. Their fans came out and were loud for them and they played tough. Hats off to them.”
(Some movement on the offensive line today. I think you’ve used seven different combinations on the line. How much of a factor can that be in the pressure?) – “Well, I think we have to – those five really have to work together, especially the guys that are standing next to each other, whether it’s the guards and the tackles or guards and center. Continuity is a big thing. Just communication is a big thing. Those guys work tirelessly every single day in practice to get all that stuff ironed out and we’ll watch the film and kind of review a lot of it; but I can promise you the work is being put in and we’re seeing improvement every day. I like being out there with those guys.”
(Why does it seem difficult to find much running room for your running backs?) – “(Buffalo) did a good job early. We had some negative runs that really – negative runs on first down and second-and-longs and you get into difficult spots. That’s what the Bills’ defense thrives on, and they did a great job early with that, putting us behind a little bit. Then as the score got to where it did, we ended up being a little more pass-happy; but yeah, we’ve got to be able to find ways to run the ball better.”
(It looked like that was their game plan, stack the line of scrimmage. They had a lot of big bodies up there that forced you to throw one-on-one, kind of one-on-one coverage out there, then the pressure got to you. It seemed very, very difficult to get anything going, certainly in the first half, just based on what they were doing against you.) – “Yeah and I think the first thing we’ve got to do is give them credit. I thought they came in and did a nice job with their scheme and the things that they were doing to get after us. The biggest thing I think before we review the film and everything for me is I’ve got to find a way to limit those negative plays, whether it was a run or taking a sack or maybe not getting the ball out quicker or checking it down. We’ve got to figure out ways just to get in a little bit better rhythm early in the game because we didn’t have a whole lot of possessions. We had a hard time getting into a rhythm because we weren’t getting first downs in the first half.”
(WR DeVante Parker had seven receptions for 135 yards. How would you assess how he did and the chemistry that you guys built today?) – “He just continues to show up every day, works hard. I was real proud of him and some of those big plays he made today. He’s a tough competitor. He’s the most consistent guy that we have on our offense and has been all year long. He’s a guy that I know I can count on every Sunday. It’s nice. Statistics – whatever, at the end of the day we lost – but for DeVante and some of the injury stuff in the past and whatever else has been talked about with him here, he has been such a consistent, great player for me to have in the huddle out there.”
