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Brian Flores – December 15, 2019 (Postgame)

Sunday, December 15, 2019
Postgame – N.Y. Giants

Head Coach Brian Flores (transcribed by New York Giants)

(It was a much more competitive second half here last week. What happened today? Why did the game get away from you?) – “We didn’t play well. Dropped passes, penalties, we kind of beat ourselves in a lot of areas. They played well, they made a lot of plays. (Saquon) Barkley, (Sterling) Shepard, those guys, Eli (Manning) played well. But, we just didn’t do enough to win.”

(It seemed like the momentum changed a little bit in that third quarter when you guys came out. Field position, the safety that turns into a short field, they get a couple of quick scores, how did you see the momentum in that second half change?) – “Yeah, they made a few plays. They got us backed up with the punt, we got a penalty on that, got another penalty, so we’re on the one-yard line, can’t get back to the line of scrimmage, that turned into a safety. Then, they got a good return and punched it in again. So, we didn’t play well in the second half.”

(The way the game started, it seemed like Ryan (Fitzpatrick) was getting the ball to a lot of different people, getting guys involved, and it seemed like the run was there too. So, I think in the first half you ran 40 offensive plays, in the second half couldn’t stay on the field. What was the difference there?) – “Well, I mean, we did a good job with time of possession in the first half, we moved the ball efficiently. But, at the end of the day, we didn’t finish those drives. We got stopped on a fourth and one in the red zone, we missed a field goal. It’s those types of plays that come back to haunt you in this league. So, we played okay in the first half, come out there with a lead, then they played a lot better than us in the second half.”

(Can you talk about what your feelings were about their pass rush and your pass protection?) – “I felt in the first half we did a good job from the protection standpoint. They brought a few more blitzes in the second half, we struggled to pick them up, and same, conversely for us, I thought we had a little bit better rush in the first half than we did in the second half.”

(Do you anticipate Ryan Fitzpatrick being your quarterback next week?)  – “Yes.”

(Despite today’s result, people have been surprised by the way you guys have been competitive more or less since the beginning of the season. In the offseason, a lot of the coaches that were hired were offensive minds. You came from the other side, a defensive mind–do you find that kind of trend will continue, or do you think it matters, or do you have any opinion on it?) – “I mean, I can’t speak for other teams and what they’re going to do. There’s no way for me to know that. I know this is a leadership position. I think you’ve got to lead a team of players, coaches. That’s what this is. That’s kind of my thought process.”

(On the fumble by Fitz (QB Ryan Fitzpatrick), he took a pretty good hit. Did he get shook up there?) –  “I think, you know, he’s a tough guy. I’m sure he got dinged a little bit, but like any other play, he hopped right back up and was ready to go.”

(This team today set an NFL record for most players used in one season. How much more of a challenge does that present to this team from a continuity standpoint, from a standpoint of being competitive today, for example?) – “This team, we’ve dealt with adversity the entire year. So, it’s nothing that’s very new, we’ve had a lot of guys in and out of the lineup and I think they’ve worked hard to try to get to a point where we could play at a competitive level. Today we just didn’t play well enough as a total team. That’s for a myriad of reasons—penalties, dropping passes—but, it starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job of getting us ready. Whoever we have, we’re going to play with, and I’ve got to do a better job of getting us ready to go.”

(What did you learn about your team over the last two weeks?) – “The same thing I’ve learned about this team over the course of the entire season–they’re tough, they compete, it’s important to them, they don’t make excuses, they don’t point fingers. We just try to play hard and play the game the right way.”

(What was the reason for Charles Harris being inactive?) – “Game plan.”

(And (Walt) Aikens?) – “That was a violation of team rules.”

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