Chris Grier – November 3, 2021
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
General Manager Chris Grier
(Why did the team pursue QB Deshaun Watson, which obviously was widely reported? Why did Steve Ross ask for permission to speak with him and why ultimately did you not make the trade?) – “I would say it’s my job as general manager to always investigate every avenue of players that potentially may or may not be available. First of all, it’s no different. We’ve done that from Day 1. That is no mandate from anyone. It’s just how we operate and I think that’s how every team in the NFL operates. In terms of what discussions were had and what people asked for permission and all of that stuff, at the end of the day, no trade was made. As an organization, we decided not to make a deal. Basically at the end of the day, you go through these processes and you talk through things, no decision was made and we’re moving forward with the team that we have.”
(What does that interest say about how you feel about QB Tua Tagovailoa?) – “I don’t think it’s any different than any player on the roster, honestly. Because if a player is available around the league that is viewed as being one of the top players in the league at any position, I think you look at it and go for it or try to go for it. Investigating a player at any position, whether it’s wide receiver, d-line, o-line, linebacker – if it’s a good player, we’re going to investigate it and look at it and do it. We’re very happy with Tua. We think he’s developing well. Brian (Flores) has been very consistent in his message and we have been as well. He’s working hard, he’s showing a lot of improvement and we think he’ll continue to develop and be the player we think he can be.”
(Why did you think it was a plausible path to pursue a guy who has 22 pending civil lawsuits and an ongoing criminal investigation?) – “Again, we’re doing background work and investigating everything. Just because you do that doesn’t mean we’re going to do a deal. Again, we’re investigating good players and again, every situation is unique. This was a unique situation. We did our due diligence and decided not to pursue a trade.”
(Did the team or representatives of the team request for the women to sign non-disclosure agreements?) – “I think any suggestion that this organization would be dealing behind the scenes and try to influence decisions is absolutely ridiculous and categorically false. To say that we would be involved in that is just flat wrong. It pisses me off. I’m sorry.”
(QB Deshaun Watson is still available. He’s going to be available after the season and there will be other quarterbacks available after the season. Do the rules apply after the season as well? Are you going to be looking for quarterbacks after the season?) – “I think again, you always evaluate the roster. You go through it once the season is done. Right now our focus is trying to win as many games as we can in the second half of the season, and we’ll evaluate it and go through it and then we’ll deal with free agency and the draft once the season is over.”
(If you could, this whole situation, have dealt with it differently – if you could go back given all the cloud that’s been hanging over QB Tua Tagovailoa and the team for the last six months or so with these rumors, would you do this differently? Would you handle some of the things differently?) – “I think the one thing, as Brian (Flores) and Tua have mentioned, that has been very consistent, is communication with Tua as well. I’ve had talks with his agent behind the scenes. Again, a lot of the stories that came out about how all of this stuff has gone are false. I would say 90 percent of the stuff. We spent time. We believe in Tua. Brian has been consistent in the messaging. At the end of the day, we feel good about the communication and where it’s been. But again, how all of this stuff has transpired, a lot of it has been false.”
(How often were you in contact with Houston?) – “Again, I’m not going to get into how often, who and when. But a lot of the stories that have come out about it, about as many times as people have reported we’ve been talking to it, are false.”
(Why would you let another team use you guys as maybe leverage or put out other statements that may not be true?) – “Because I can’t come out here every week and start denying and saying this is false, false, false. It doesn’t do any good to keep coming out. So for us, I’ve never commented on anything. I don’t deal publicly in the media with stuff. You guys know that. This is rare for me to speak during the season because I always like to talk to you guys after the season when we have the total picture of everything. But at the end of the day, for us to keep making statements every time someone makes a comment or stuff, because we’ve been involved in a lot of trades, talking with people and looking at stuff. I’ve had agents say every trade that’s involved, they seem to say, ‘are you guys involved in it?’ Our name is involved and some of it is true and some of it is not true. You can’t just come out every week and just keep denying and denying because people won’t believe you anyway.”
(How can you say you believe in QB Tua Tagovailoa but you spent time looking to potentially replace Tua with somebody else?) – “Because as I told you, if there was a player there that is considered a top player in the National Football League, I think you always have to do your homework. It has nothing to do with not believing in Tua.”
(Are you worried about your relationship with QB Tua Tagovailoa because of this pursuit?) – “No. Tua is a great kid, strong-minded. He understands. I’ve been in communication, as I’ve told you, with his agent. We’ve been clear. We’re investigating and looking at all avenues and players. It was just kind of a unique situation.”
(QB Deshaun Watson isn’t just another player. We all know the allegations that are surrounding him. How concerned were you and the organization over pursuing a player with those kind of allegations? How concerned are you with how that looked to the community and your fan base?) – “Again, I respect the question. We did our due diligence behind the scenes, trying to figure out – to gather as much information as we can. At the end of the day, we decided not to pursue a trade. We’re just investigating and going through our process like we do. We decided as an organization not to pursue a trade.”
(There’s no concern that he would get charged criminally?) – “There’s a lot of unknowns with it and that’s all a part of it. But at the end of the day again, we decided not to pursue a trade.”
(Do you expect in the offseason to revisit this whole thing?) – “I would say you get through the season, like we do. We’ve got to finish up here and we’ll keep evaluating the entire roster. It’s not just Tua (Tagovailoa). We want to see improvement from everybody across the roster and keep developing. Then once the offseason comes, we’ll approach it and make decisions then.”
(You made a very important decision on your starting quarterback last year with the fifth pick. With the sixth pick, the Chargers picked QB Justin Herbert, who seems to be a better player. Did you miss on that pick?) – “I would leave that for you to judge. At the end of the day, we went through our process with everyone and it was a process and we felt good about Tua (Tagovailoa). There were a lot of things we liked about Tua. We liked Justin too. He was a good player. We spent time with both players and at the end of the day, we chose Tua and we feel he’ll be a good player in the league. He’s developing and we’re happy with where he’s at right now.”
(How much of a factor was what the inevitable outcry would have been, particularly from women, who like this team, in not pursuing this trade?) – “There were a lot of factors as you go through all of that. We talked through all of those things as an organization. Like I said, we came to a conclusion as we got to it that we ultimately decided not to pursue a trade.”
(Amid the allegations, did you ever address the rumors of the trade with the women in this building, just to make sure that they knew that work was always going to be a safe place for them?) – “No because we never got to a point where anything was going to be realistic in terms of happening. It was still us just doing our due diligence, just talking through things. Again, we never got to a point where anything was that close to happening and of course, if that was happening, we definitely would have thought about that and done something.”
(How much influence does Head Coach Brian Flores have on the roster with you in decisions like this?) – “It’s important that you have communication and that we talk through things and make sure there’s alignment on things. In this case, as we’re just doing due diligence, Brian is focused on coaching the team and working through it. He was aware, but limited. We would update him as things were going on. But his focus was coaching the football team as we were doing our background work and trying to decide where we were on any potential deal that may or may not have been done.”
(The move from three to 12 to six, did you ever ask Philadelphia to take the 49ers first-round pick next year instead of your own? Was that something that you asked them to do or were you confident that your pick would end up lower than San Francisco’s?) – “The conversations we have with other teams on stuff, I’ll keep private because I don’t know if they’re comfortable with me sharing information. We had conversations about it when we did it. I would say those conversations were good conversations. Howie (Roseman) was good as we worked through it. But those conversations I will keep internal between he and I.”
(Why not just stay at three, pick the best player and keep your own first-rounder next year? Is that a regret you have right now? It looks like right now it might end up being hurtful.) – “For us, when we made the decision at the time, we thought it was the best decision for us as we went through it and talked through it. At the time when we made the decision, we felt good about it and doing it. I’m not going to sit here and – it’s easy to go hindsight and second-guess right now. But we made the decision at the time, felt good about it, and Jaylen (Waddle) has been a good player for us. We’re happy with him and we think he’ll continue to be a very good player. We’re happy with where he is so we’re excited for his future.”
(How would you assess how the team has done in the draft in recent years?) – “We’ve added some good young players. I think last year we won 10 games and this year has been not where we’re happy. Being 1-7, no one’s happy. We’re all frustrated. We’re trying to turn this thing around in the second half of the season. But we’ve added good young players. We’re happy with where they are and we think they’ll keep developing and look forward to them all being good contributors in the future.”
(There was a report from CBS a few weeks ago that said that when the Dolphins made a decision on their quarterback at No. 5, that Head Coach Brian Flores wanted QB Justin Herbert and you picked QB Tua Tagovailoa. Is that accurate?) – “That is not accurate. I’m just saying all of our decisions we make as a team, but I’m not going into who wanted what. That’s speculation that people are just trying to give. When I see things come out that are basically wrong, that is one of them.”
Nik Needham – November 1, 2021
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Monday, November 1, 2021
CB Nik Needham
(Obviously you’ve been down this road before with the seven-game losing streak. There’s the stay the course mantra, which we’ve heard week after week, but how do you get this thing headed in the right direction?) – “At this point I know, like you said, I’m tired of hearing that but that’s all we can tell each other to do. We went out there and competed hard with that team. That’s a real good team on that side. I feel like everybody saw like a couple more plays and things would turn around in that game and we could win. But yeah, we got to just stick together and just keep working and working and hoping and knowing that it’s about to pay off sooner than later.”
(It’s a lot of room to work with the slot receiver but how difficult was that matchup last Sunday?) – “I played him pretty well in the first half going into the third quarter. He kind of got hot a little bit. I gave him too much space on one play on third down. I should have just trusted my technique rather than backing up, so I kind of feel like I just gave him that one. I think we were battling hard. It wasn’t just domination. That’s a good receiver but we got some good DBs, so we just need to go out there and execute. It don’t matter who it is.”
(What’s it been like playing with S Jevon Holland? He’s played every snap at safety the last couple weeks. What have you seen from him?) – “You can definitely see the growth in Jevon. He’s becoming a more vocal leader trying to keep guys, really getting on guys, taking that role. Even though he’s young, we listen to him and we know he’ll go out there and execute. He wants to win just like us. It doesn’t really matter how old he is now, he’s out there starting like you said. He’s one of the leaders of the defense back there because he sees everything and has to make the calls. I think he’s been playing well. For a rookie I mean yeah, that’s all you can do. Just keep growing week by week and learning new stuff and new situations that you learn in the league.”
Duke Riley – November 1, 2021
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Monday, November 1, 2021
LB Duke Riley
(I imagine it’s not easy to play as many snaps as you did yesterday after not playing for weeks, even though obviously you’re in great condition. Was there a little bit of an adjustment to doing that yesterday and how did it go? It seemed like you were around the ball a lot.) – “I’m always prepared, regardless of if it’s 100 snaps or it’s five. I feel like I do a good job with my conditioning. I always make sure that I am ready. I stay ready so I don’t have to get ready, that’s kind of like a saying that I use.”
(What’s it been like to have this special teams reputation and try to work your way out of it?) – “I was in Philadelphia and I went there as a special teams guy and worked my way in to being a guy who was involved in the defense. I kind of knew what to expect coming into this role. I knew I was going to come and be the same guy every day. I was just controlling what I can control and letting the coaches do their job and put me in the best position regardless of if it’s special teams or on defense.”
(I wanted to ask you about the run defense. You guys seemed to be making progress the past couple of weeks. What do you attribute that to in terms of the execution of the run defense excluding the one run from Bills QB Josh Allen?) – “The way we practice. I think we practice at it and we have a good understanding of where guys are going to fit in on the defense. With timing, you build trust and you know guys are going to be where they’re supposed to be at. I think that’s what’s happening and being better and stuff like that.”
Liam Eichenberg – November 1, 2021
Monday, November 1, 2021
T Liam Eichenberg
(You always give us such substantive and thoughtful answers, which we appreciate. I know you mentioned several days before you moved to left tackle that when I asked if you’d be better at left or right long termed, you said ‘right’ at that point. Now that you’ve played left tackle for a month, as you did at college, how would you answer that question now? Do you feel like your future would be better at NFL left tackle or do you still think right is the better spot for you?) – “It’s wherever the team wants me. Obviously I bounced around a bunch, played a bunch of different positions, but I honestly couldn’t tell you. I’m focusing on this week and hopefully I’m at left tackle this week. I‘m just taking it week by week, day by day. Just trying to improve, trying to help this team get better and win.”
(Has your play at left tackle met your own expectations?) – “No, I think I can play a lot better. I think that it goes to my fundamentals and technique, and moving a lot more efficient in regards to pass pro and run game.”
(How difficult has this season been? I’m assuming you didn’t have a seven-game losing streak at Notre Dame and what are the challenges to getting prepared each week?) – “I would say for me it’s one week at a time, one game at a time. I don’t look to the future. I just try to take it day-by-day, work to get better, work to improve. I go out there every single day at practice trying to work on my technique and my fundamentals to improve and become the best player I possibly can. Obviously this season hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to, but there is still time to turn it around. It’s one game at a time and we’re attacking it every single day. I think guys believe too. That’s the biggest point.”
(What about the NFL have you learned that maybe caught you by surprise?) – “I would say that at the most important moment, you need your fundamentals and technique to be at it’s best. In college you can kind of get away with certain things, but in the NFL, you have to be at your best every single play.”
(In terms of studying on tape the plays where maybe you’ve been beaten for a sack or a pressure, has there been a theme of whether you’ve been beaten by power moves, spin moves elusiveness? Obviously this didn’t happen to you much at all at Notre Dame. No sacks the last two-and-a-half years. What’s been the theme to what has beaten you to this point that you want to correct?) – “I think it’s a handful of everything, I guess you could say. My hands being in the wrong spots, my feet not being underneath me. It’s just kind of a mixture of everything. It’s not one specific thing. At practice, you’ve got to review the film, break down what you need to focus on and work on that every single day.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores said today that he thinks that guard is G/T Austin’s Jackson best position. Where are you in terms of chemistry on the left side. Obviously it can’t be totally where you want it because you’ve been together less than a month at those two positions. Where is it now in terms of the growth of that chemistry with you two?) – “Austin is a great player and a great guy as well. I think the biggest thing for us that’s improved since we first started playing next to each other is communication. On my part, communicating to him and then him communicating to me, and then the other guys on the offensive line. I think he’s done a great job with that and then also it’s awesome playing next to him. He plays hard, he plays physical and he cares about this team and this offensive line. It’s been great”
(Are you personally excited about what the duo of you and him can do, because it’s obvious from Head Coach Brian Flores’ comments that you guys are going to get a extended look at those two spots?) – “Yeah, I’m excited. I want to help this team win. So wherever they need me and wherever they need Austin, he is the same way. It just comes to us doing our job.”
Jaylen Waddle – November 1, 2021
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Monday, November 1, 2021
WR Jaylen Waddle
(Have plays been called for you, just deep routes, deep vertical throws like we saw you and QB Tua Tagovailoa connect with at Alabama, that just haven’t happened because the play was changed because of the defense, pass protection issues? Have there been a number of those types of plays called that just simply did not happen because of change of plays?) – “We got a little bit of everything in our playbook. Them type of plays, we don’t try to force them and go in the game saying we are going to have to do this. It’s kind of like if it happens, they are going to happen. We aren’t going to try to force them to be there.”
(Are you eager or antsy to complete those types of deep throws? Obviously we see Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill do it all the time. We know you’re capable of it. Are you eager for the first one – a 70-yard deep ball for a touchdown?) – “I wouldn’t say eager. I‘m just eager to go out there and play, do my job, do it at a high level and try to help us win, honestly.”
(There were a lot of plays on offensive snaps where guys were being redirected, you included. What was going on there in terms of people being able to know their assignments and maybe the communication?) – “Yeah, I just think honestly just our communication has got to get better. It’s something that we are going to work on throughout the week. I just think we just got to get better with communication and it all starts with practice, to be honest.”
(You talking pre-snap communication or is that a knowing the plays thing?) – “All of it. All of it helps. Pre-snap, post-snap, coming back to the huddle faster. All of that will help honestly.”
(I know it’s kind of old news but just to clarify on the play that everyone was talking about, the ball that hit TE Mike Gesicki. It appeared as though he was trying to relay a message to you as far as where to line up. Did you misunderstand something as far as where you should be lined up on that particular play?) – “The communication was just all messed up from the jump.”
(You had a significant amount of targets yesterday and not that many receptions. Does it surprise you how much teams are paying attention to you? Obviously you played in an offense that was pretty good but you had a lot of talent around you.) – “Yeah, kind of because we got a lot of great players just around here. If it makes my job harder, it makes someone’s job easier then I’m all for it.”
Brian Flores – November 1, 2021
Monday, November 1, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I know you’re tired of the topic and you’ve said QB Tua Tagovailoa is our quarterback. But with that being said, I just have one simple question. You know what’s going on talking to General Manager Chris Grier and Chairman of the Board/Managing General Partner Stephen Ross. The question is this: is there any possibility that you guys will acquire a starting-caliber quarterback within the next 26 hours before the trade deadline tomorrow?) – “I understand the question. I basically answer it every day the same way. Tua (Tagovailoa) is our quarterback. Any conversations that I have with Chris, I have with Steve, I will keep them internal and it will remain that way.”
(One unrelated thing. Several readers reached out to writers yesterday it appeared as though you were calling the defensive plays and not Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer based on the papers you had in your hands. Were you calling the defensive signals yesterday or was Josh?) – “No. Josh called the game.”
(With the deadline coming up in a day, you’re obviously focused on the next game trying to end this losing streak. But do you talk to the team telling them to avoid it or is it just something that is natural within a locker room? How do they deal or how do you tell them to deal with the next 24 hours?) – “Really, today’s conversation was about the game yesterday and really the focus was there. Corrections from the game yesterday, obviously mistakes we made, things we did well, things we can build on. We didn’t really get into any deadlines or anything like that. My job is to be focused on the guys in our room and that’s the approach I take.”
(I wanted to ask you about the offense’s passing game. You guys attempt more passes than everybody but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and you’re second to last in yards per attempt. Is this a byproduct of the situations you are in in terms of you guys trailing so often or do you view yourself as a pass-first team?) – “You always want balance. That’s something that we’ve talked about. We haven’t been able to create the balance that we want for a variety of reasons. It’s certainly, something we put an emphasis on, something we talk about. Some of the games, score has dictated some of that. As we’ve talked about, you always want balance. I thought there were some instances, especially early, where we got some positive runs and we just weren’t able to sustain it or stay with it is probably a better term. It’s definitely something that we talked about as a staff today. It’s something that we’ve talked about in recent – really every week and we need to do a better job of that in the second half of this season.”
(You mentioned after the game that you kind of just sat there for a while. I’m curious how you thought and compartmentalized the last seven games, losing and not going the way you want it to go?) – “It’s disappointing. Our guys work hard. Our coaches work hard. I think about the people around the building. I think about our fan base. I want to do better for all of those people. I know the team does. Those are the thoughts that go through my mind and I just think about what I can do to get us over the hump, turn the tide. Is it a scheduling thing? Is it play calling? Do we have to switch a guy’s position? What do we got to do? That’s kind of where my thoughts are. But yeah, disappointing. But at the same time, I’m motivated to get back out there and make the improvements, make the corrections and turn it around.”
(I know you’re a one day at a time guy. Do you allow yourself to ever think big picture, look backwards on what’s going on this year or the first two-and-a-half years of your tenure and try to use any of that to move forward?) – “Yeah, I try to look back and reflect on some other experiences that are similar. But every year is so different, every team is so different. The players are different, the year is different, the time and everything is so different. To reflect on maybe an instance where there was this type of adversity, you think back on it but you think about some of the people I was around and those people, those players, some of them are different, some of them are the same and then you just try to think about the group you have now and what’s the best way to motivate the group we have now to turn the tide.”
(Can you confirm whether WR Preston Williams and S Sheldrick Redwine will be back at practice this week?) – “Yeah, they’ll be at practice on Wednesday.”
(You mentioned that you pull from some of the adversity that you guys faced, you faced particularly previously. Are you going back to the 2019 season or are you going back to maybe Boston College and your Patriots tenure?) – “I think adversity comes in a lot of different ways. It’s not necessarily just football. As you know, I could be pulling from a lot of things that I’ve dealt with personally. That’s normally what I do. From a football standpoint, obviously yes, probably the 2019 season. But as far as just getting knocked down and picking yourself back up, there’s definitely been some other instances that we all pull from when we’re dealing with adversity. This isn’t as hard as this, I picked myself up from this situation, that situation. I know the players have dealt with that. I know each one of you has dealt with that in some form or fashion. I don’t think it’s just a specific season.”
(I wanted to ask, you guys keep talking about the tide needs to start rolling from a positive standpoint and cleaning up a lot of mistakes. How close do you feel that you guys are based on your last performance?) – “I think we did some good things yesterday. It’s a good team. I thought we played them tough. I thought we played hard for 60 minutes. I thought there were certainly some missed opportunities on our part to score some points that we would have liked to have later in the game obviously. There were some opportunities to make some plays and we didn’t make them. From that standpoint, I do see some things we can build on. But every week is different. Every opponent is different, every week is different. So we have to start over this week with our preparation for Houston and try to have a good week.”
(How puzzling or perplexing has it been that there hasn’t been more of a pass rush? I know you’ve had pressures, but they haven’t been converted into high sack numbers or obviously as many turnovers as last year. It seems puzzling, just because DL Adam Butler is a four sack a year guy consistently in New England and hasn’t had one here. LB Jaelan Phillips we know the pass rusher he was at Miami. DE Emmanuel Ogbah we know his record. Is it puzzling to you that you haven’t seen bigger sack numbers overall as a defense?) – “I think we’ve had this conversation on the sacks versus the pressures versus the effect on the quarterback. Yesterday we had some of an effect on the quarterback. I thought Josh Allen did a good job of scrambling around and getting the ball off. There were some instances where we were on him and didn’t get him down, but there was an effect on the quarterback. There have been some other games where we haven’t had as much of an effect on the quarterback. We’ve got to do a better job. I think that’s always at the top of the priority list as far as how do we affect the offense. We want to affect the quarterback or really more so the offense and the passing game. We want to affect the quarterback. It’s always a point of emphasis. We need to do a better job there. I thought yesterday (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) did a nice job of calling some pressures and getting Allen off the spot in some instances. He didn’t get him all the way down for sacks but created some quicker throws that in some instances benefited us.”
(WR Will Fuller and C/G Michael Deiter, any update to whether they’ll be able to practice this week?) – “Those guys are still week to week. We won’t see them this week.”
(If I can ask you about the offensive line development, we’ve asked you a few times throughout the year about that. But when you are evaluating some of the young guys and where they are in this season, are you happy? What would describe how you feel about G/T Austin Jackson, G/T Robert Hunt and some of these first or second year guys who you’ve had to play a lot?) – “I think they’ve played well in spurts. They haven’t played so well in some other situations and I think that’s kind of the development of a young player. I think Austin at guard, I think that’s been a good transition for him. I think that’s the right spot for him. The same thing with Rob Hunt. It’s a young group. The experience of playing with crowd noise yesterday, with that type of crowd noise and silent cadence, is something that was definitely a learning experience for them yesterday. I think we could’ve been better as far as our execution on some of those things. But overall, I think they are all improving. I think they all are making progress. I’m looking forward to watching them improve more as the season progresses.”
(I want to ask you about a sequence late in the game. You were out of timeouts and the outcome was pretty much decided. Buffalo, whether than I guess the traditional thing to do there is kneel down, they scored instead and went for two. Did that catch you eye? Did it get the attention of the players that they chose to go that route?) – “No. Their job is to score and our job is to stop them. Regardless of score, regardless of time in the game, that’s my approach. Our job is to go out there and stop them.”
(You’ve said several time that QB Tua Tagovailoa is your quarterback. If that’s the case, why can’t you rule out acquiring another starter?) – “I think when I say Tua is the quarterback, I’m not sure what more I can say. That’s kind of the way I’ve handled this and approached this the last few weeks.”
(For record-keeping purposes, I was remiss without asking you if S Sheldrick Redwine, was that also a disciplinary issue that he wasn’t on the trip?) – “Yes.”
Christian Wilkins – October 31, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 31, 2021
Postgame – Buffalo
DT Christin Wilkins
(What broke down in the second half after you guys battled well in the first?) – “I really don’t know. I’ll have to watch the film to be able to really see it. They just started making plays, started driving. They made adjustments. They did a good job., That’s a good football team over there. We fought hard but just didn’t do enough to win.”
(What happened there at the end between you and Buffalo QB Josh Allen?) – “Football is a tough game. Got a lot of alpha males. It’s competitive. It gets chippy. Stuff happens. I have no hard feelings against Josh (Allen), that’s my guy. Just a competitive game. Things happen.”
(It seemed like you guys squared it away after the game. You guys said hello to each other after. Is that what happened?) – “Yeah, like I said, it’s a competitive game. Things happen all the time throughout the course of the game. It’s just part of what comes with it.”
(Being so close against the Bills after not being so close the previous times you’ve played them, how disappointing is this game still for you guys?) – “There’s no moral victories. Whether we lost by one or lost by 100, there’s no moral victories. Obviously, you get a little disappointed because we all work so hard. We put a lot of time around each other trying to build something. Each week preparing, we barely get to see our family, our friends. We’re locked in during the season. So for those reasons, it’s obviously disappointing a little bit because you always want to win. No matter what you do, you always want to see the fruits of your labor. But I refuse to be miserable. I’m not going to duck my head. I’m sure that’s what a lot of people want us to do and a lot of people are looking for us to do, but I’m not going to do that. I love this game of football. I love this team and I’m just going to keep bringing it each week and that’s what it is. That’s what it is.”
(In that sense, how do you approach the final however many weeks of the season knowing you’ve lost seven straight?) – “Like I said, I refuse to be miserable and I’m going to attack each day like it’s a new day. That’s how I approach life. That’s how I’m going to approach to this game because we can still finish strong. There’s still a lot of football left. Like I said, I just refuse to be miserable because I do enjoy this. I do love playing football, I do love playing with my teammates, I love competing. So I’m just going to come in every day with the right mindset and attack each day like it’s a new day.”
(The first half your defense was playing solid. The second half what got away from you?) – “Like I was saying earlier, I really don’t know exactly. But like I said, they are a really good team. They’ve got good players and we knew it was going to be a 60-minute battle and that at no point we could get comfortable because like I said, they’re a good team. They’re going to make plays.”
(1-7 moving forward what’s the outlook of the locker room as far as your defense?) – “Like I said, just going to keep attacking each and every day. 24-hour rule in the NFL. Tomorrow is a new day and just try to get a win next week.”
(Was it frustrating that holding this team to three points for the offense – even in the third quarter … that it didn’t result in any lead to hold this potent offense to three points even in the third quarter?) – “Like I keep saying, they just made plays and they’re a good football team. We just didn’t make enough plays to win.”
(Some of the defensive tackles were dropping back in coverage more today. Was that a new wrinkle or something you guys are…?) – “We are just doing what the game plan asks for. Just following the script. If a play calls for that, that’s what we got to do.”
(Do you believe in QB Tua Tagovailoa and the offense? Do you think offensively you guys can be competitive with other teams?) – “Absolutely. I know those guys. I know those guys work hard, too. I know what I see every day in practice. I got a lot of confidence in this team, period. A lot of these games could easily have turned in our favor. Yeah, we’re 1-7, but a couple games could have gone this way or that way. That’s just how the league goes.”
(You were giving up three points for so long into the game. What was going well for your defense at that point and what was the feeling on the sideline with all the defensive players knowing you were playing so well?) – “We were just competing, working hard and following the game plan. That’s what we try to do each and every week and each and every day and each and every play. Everybody is just doing their job and like I said, they were able to just make plays. We just weren’t able to make enough plays.”
Austin Reiter – October 31, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 31, 2021
Postgame – Buffalo
C Austin Reiter
(Can you take us though the snap that ended up ricocheting off of TE Mike Gesicki and a fumble lost?) – “I think that was just a miscommunication on the offense. It’s not on one person. It’s just an offensive mistake there and that’s something that can’t happen. Especially down there in the red zone going into score, great field position. Just a mistake that we made.”
(Was the timing of the whole play off by misalignment? Was that sort of G/T Robert Hunt thought he was giving you the correct time to snap it but the timing of the whole thing was off?) – “So, I’ll be honest, I haven’t looked at it yet. It wasn’t really much of a discussion. I kind of moved on from that. I’m not 100 percent sure so it’s going to be tough for me to give you a direct answer for that right now.”
(What was the impact of that play psychologically on the team would you say?) – “I think you and the fans probably felt that. I’ve played a lot of football and when those types of things happen, that’s why it’s important to move on and regroup. There’s always highs and lows in the game. It’s extremely tough when you shoot yourself in the foot like that especially close to the end of the half.”
(There were a few plays people had alignment issues. Any common element …?) – “It’s tough for me to say. As far as alignment goes, I’m the closet one on the ball. Everybody else is offset unless a receiver is on the line. When I’m looking at a defense, it’s almost like him standing here from me so it’s hard for me to see that and we’ve got so much going on in a game pressures-wise, what they’re doing on defense. For an offensive line, we take care of what we do in the game and as far as alignment goes and things like that, I don’t know what happened.”
(Without the benefit of reviewing the film, what is your sort of first-blush feeling about how the offensive line as a group performed in today’s game?) – “Not well enough. We lost so there’s really no moral victories. But I would say that there’s always positive things we do. You got to take some on the chin and this is one of them. I think moving forward, you have to improve on what you do well and you definitely have to correct what you’ve done wrong and things that you’re not doing right. But today’s performance probably, I’m sure there will be some things in film that we’ll see that we liked doing and there’s going to be some things that we didn’t.”
