Brian Flores – September 12, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 12, 2021
Postgame – New England
Head Coach Brian Flores (transcribed by the New England Patriots)
(Opening statement) – “Feels good to win. Credit to the players, our coaching staff, offensively, defensively, in the kicking game. Tough game. We knew it was going to be a tough game coming up here in this environment against a good, well-coached team. We just battled, and we knew we were going to have to battle. I think our guys did that and we were able to come out with a win, so it always feels good. A lot of corrections we have to make obviously, but it’s good to get a win.”
(What is it about Xavien Howard that at the most important part of the game he made a play for you guys?) – “I mean, look, he’s a great player, and we needed a play there and he was able to knock it off of him, recovered it. Obviously a huge play in the game and allowed us to get the ball back. But then we turn around and that’s the complementary football that we talked about. Offense goes in there, gets a first down against a good defense, we’re able to run it out and end the game with the ball.”
(What went into the decision to start Liam Eichenberg at left tackle with Austin Jackson?) – “Just playing – trying to play the best five guys. You know, Liam has done a good job throughout camp, played multiple positions. We just wanted to start the best five guys.”
(How would you assess his performance?) – “I mean, without watching the film it’s hard to say whether he played well or didn’t. Look, there’s a lot of corrections to make from the game I’m sure, but I think Liam fought – actually I know that. I didn’t watch the film but I know he fought his butt off, and I’m sure there are some corrections to make really for him and everyone on our team. It’s good to make those corrections with a win.”
(Can you talk about the defense’s resilience today?) – “We tried to take it one play at a time. That’s the mentality our team has. Good play, bad play, just move on to the next play. A lot of corrections to make defensively. They were able to kind of make some plays, keep drives going, pick up third downs. We would have them in some second and longer situations, a penalty or, man, there is one where we get a sack but there was a penalty on it. Felt like every time we got a chance to get off the field they made a play or we had a mistake. That’s what happens in a division game against good teams. They make plays, too. We knew that. We talked about this being a 60-minute ballgame, and that’s exactly what it was. We talked about playing one play at a time, and we were able to do that and find success at the end.”
(You guys tried a lot of pressure up the middle on Mac Jones and he hung in there.) – “I thought he did a really nice job. I thought he did a really nice job. Got the ball out, was able to kind of move their offense, pick up first downs, drive them down field. Yeah, I thought he did a very nice job.”
(What about Tua, how do you assess his play?) – “Again, like everybody, there are some corrections we got to make. Thought he threw the ball well. Made some big throws and was a good run to get us started, and a fast start to start his first series. Ran it in. I thought he made a lot of good plays, a lot of big throws that we needed. That third down to start the second half was a big throw. We needed it. Good throw, good catch by DeVante [Parker]. So like everybody, players, coaches, I know we’ll make corrections and try to improve and get better like we talk about every day.”
(What did you see on the interception Tua threw? He was obviously under a lot of pressure there.) – “Yeah, I mean, look, like everyone on our team, there are corrections to make. There are corrections for me to make as well. But as a team we’re going to stick together. We’re going to support one another. We’re not going to point fingers or do anything like that. Tua has done a lot of good things for us in the preseason and he did a lot of good things today.”
(How did you prepare for Mac Jones in his first pro game? I know you said he said some nice things, but what was it like going against him?) – “Yeah, I mean, he played well. He moved the ball. Made the throws he needed to make. Made good decisions. I thought he played well. I thought we could have done some better things defensively. We’ll make those corrections. But he played well.”
(Hunter Long was in on the first play and the last play. What do you think of him so far as a rookie?) – “Tough, smart, competitive, works hard. It’s important to him. He’s made a lot of improvement over the course of training camp. Good to get in a game and get a feel for a regular season game. Obviously played in the preseason. Good young player, somebody that we’re excited to help develop. Again, like everybody, we just got to try and continue to make improvements on a daily basis and just try to get better.”
(Was the Jacoby Brissett offensive package you ran today something you had in mind when you signed him or something you developed over the course of the last few months?) – “I mean, look, if we want to get one yard we try to put our best players in there. It showed up in the game. You know, when we needed a yard, we put him in there. Got two short-yardage plays, and we just try to put our players in position to have success and our team to have success. He’s done it before in the past, so we used him today and it helped us.”
(What does today’s game mean about your team that you were able to find a way to win?) – “I mean, that’s every team in the league. There is never been a perfect game played. That’s just never happened. So there is always corrections to make, always things you can improve on, especially early in the year trying to find the things you do well. I mean, there is a little bit of trial and error at this point in the year. I think that’s every team. I think every coach is going to get up there and say there is a lot of corrections we need to make. We’re no different. Our guys work hard and have throughout the preseason. It’s important to them to make the corrections, and we’re going to have to do that this week starting tomorrow when we review the game. You know, look, our guys, we got a good group. They work hard. They’ll trying to make the corrections and then next week we’ll play and there will be more corrections to make.”
(But just how the team found a way to win.) – “Take it one play at a time. That’s what we try to do. Pick each other up and support one another, and it feels good to get a win however you get it.”
