Xavien Howard – September 19, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Postgame – Buffalo
CB Xavien Howard (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
(Can you talk about going up against Bills WR Stefon Diggs – you got him, he got you, just facing off against a receiver like that?) – “It was good. I look for the matchup every week. Obviously his team did a good job. They won.”
(What’s the mood in the locker room after a loss like this?) – “Like a funeral.”
(What was that little interaction between you and Bills WR Stefon Diggs at the end of the game?) – “It’s football. We respect each other. After the game he was like, good job, stuff like that. But just a lot of respect.”
(What happened on the touchdown catch? It looked like he lost his footing and you lost a shoe?) – “Yeah, I think he had fell. Josh Allen being Josh Allen and scrambling. That’s what he does. We were looking forward to him scrambling and throw the ball, so he did that.”
(It seems like despite Tua going down and the early 46-yard touchdown run you guys were able to get some stops and get some turnovers. What happened in the second half where they were able to drive down and start to really convert the drives into touchdowns?) – “I feel like we didn’t win in all three phases. We just got to get better each day. Take it one game at a time. Learn what we did, what we messed up in this game and move on.”
(Where is this team’s level of confidence in Jacob in term of him being able to lead you to victories?) – “We’re very confident in Jacoby, man. We’re talking trash at practice, me and Jacoby. It’s the next man up mentality. Whatever he leads us through, we’re going to do it.”
(Are you surprised the way you played today?) – “No, not surprised. Just playing against him at practice and seeing that from him. I’m not surprised about what he is doing.”
(No, I mean like you guys as a team.) – “No.”
Jacoby Brissett – September 19, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Postgame – Buffalo
QB Jacoby Brissett (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Q: What are the emotions like for you after you see QB Tua Tagovailoa get hurt and know you have to go in? – “I mean, obviously you never want to see a player go down, especially one of your teammates. I’m thinking about him right now. I don’t want this to sound bad, but it’s part of the game, just being ready to go. My number was called. It wasn’t my first time in this situation, so yeah.”
Q: Have you had a chance to talk to QB Tua Tagovailoa and how he’s doing? – “No, we just got off the field, I showered real fast, got here. I’m sure I’ll talk to him later.”
Q: How are you feeling? You got hit pretty hard too. – “Still standing up here smiling (laughter). Got another game next week.”
Q: Were you able to get any practice time with guys like WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Albert Wilson that you ended up throwing to during the week? – “Yeah, for sure. I mean, in the NFL you don’t throw the ball to everybody. Like I said, it was one week. Get an opportunity to correct it, go out, get better from there.”
Q: What happened with the pick? – “As far as what?” (What went wrong on that play aside from the throw?) – “Well, yeah, that’s what went wrong (laughter). I mean, I can’t tell you right now. I got to go back and watch the film to really be able to assess it. Yeah, can’t do that.”
Q: What was going on offensively that you couldn’t get clicking at all? – “It’s hard to put your thumb on it right now. I mean, like obviously everything didn’t go right. Everything didn’t go wrong. But we just got to find a way to see what we did well, build off of that. Going to be very important we watch the film, be critical of ourselves, try to build off that and build off our good plays.”
Q: What stood out with the way that the Bills were rushing you and applying pressure to you? – “Say that again.” (What stood out to you from the way that the Bills were rushing you?) – “What do you mean by ‘stand out’?” (What stood out to you? What were you seeing on the field with some of the blitzes and the way they were rushing you?) – “That’s hard. They were just coming. I don’t know how to answer that. Sorry.”
Q: Were you expecting that level of aggression from this defense? – “Oh, yeah, of course. It’s the NFL. It’s a Division game. Yeah, I’m sure we’re going to go back and we’re going to see it. We’re going to see the small things we missed up on that we could have did right, myself included. Correct it for next time.”
Q: You see the game differently than we do. What was Buffalo doing at the start of the game, seven, eight men on the line of scrimmage, blitzing. – “I mean, they do that. That’s Buffalo’s defense. You turn on the film and they show that on film. We were prepared for it. Obviously, it didn’t show that we were prepared for it. Like I said on the last question, you go back and look at those small details when we said we had the answers for those plays, just going back and correcting it.”
Q: As a backup when you see a starter go down, is it instinctual that you grab a football and start warming up? What kind of goes through your mind when you see the starter go down like that and you’re standing there? – “Well, I don’t refer to myself as the backup quarterback, for one. Two, I’m always throwing the ball, keeping my arm loose. You never know. Like I said, injuries happen in this league. You always got to be ready. Just on the sideline, I’m throwing constantly, as much as possible, keeping my legs warm. Obviously you guys seen me go the quarterback sneak, so I still got to be ready, yeah.”
Q: We don’t know yet if you’ll be starting next Sunday or multiple games. How would you describe your comfort level at the moment with your teammates, with the offense and operating the Dolphins’ offense? – “I mean, obviously it’s a work in progress. You’re never done until you’re done. I feel good. We build off of good plays from this week, go back to work, go back to the drawing board. We got a good game coming up. It will be interesting.”
Q: Were they blitzing you as much when you process what they did against you at the start of the game? Were they blitzing you as much? – “I pretty much got in at the start of the game. They came out and played what we saw on film, honestly. It was no different. I mean, probably a couple more extra pressures. But for the most part they came out and played what we thought they were going to do.”
Q: How would you approach the week if QB Tua Tagovailoa can’t go? – “Like every week. I’ll prepare as a starter. I know that’s cliché, but that’s how I live my life. You never know. Like I said, I’ve been in these situations before. I think that served me well.”
Q: You said earlier you don’t think of yourself as a backup quarterback, what do you think of yourself? – “I’m a starter.”
Q: You had a lot of dropped passes today, did you say anything to your receivers? You guys haver a conversation about that at all? – “Yeah, we’ll get better next time. It’s not always on the receiver. Sometimes it’s on me, bad ball. Like I said, go back and watch the film, get another week of preparation to get out there, continue to throw and catch balls. I mean, it’s early in the season, second game of the season. It’s not like the house is burning.”
Q:There was a big one in the endzone that went through WR De/Vante Parker’s hands, is that deflating? – “No, that’s not deflating. It’s too early in the game. It’s never deflating. It’s part of the game. Drops are part of the game, bad throws are part of the game. I think he responded well. He came out and made some more plays, so yeah.”
Q: You see yourself as a starter. Why not go to an organization that will give you a chance to compete for the job? – “I think in the NFL nobody gives you anything, right? You have to go out there and compete, be ready whenever your opportunity comes, however it comes. You got to go out there when you get your opportunity and make the most of it.”
Q: What approach have you taken throughout your career in communication with the offensive line? Sometimes things go well, sometimes they don’t. How do you as a quarterback try to help the situation? – “I mean, it’s not just on them, it’s on me, it’s on the receivers, on the running backs. As an offense, that’s what we understand. It’s not just on the O-line. You go out there, the O-line. It’s not them. Sometimes I got to throw the ball, sometimes somebody has to get open. It’s a mixture of everybody. I think in my career when those types of things have happened, it’s always going back, just like, Hey, let’s not finger point and put this on one group or person, let’s see how we can all help the situation.”
Q: It seems like the Dolphins have built this offense around QB Tua Tagovailoa, how do you view your skillset with some of the scheme you run?) – “I mean, like I said, go out there, prepare and make the most of it. I mean, yeah, a starter. No shock. I think they do that around the league. That’s no excuse. You go out there and compete and work hard. Obviously, it could be geared toward me. You just go out there and play football.”
Austin Jackson – September 19, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Postgame – Buffalo
T Austin Jackson (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Q: This was your first game to be back after dealing with your situation. How did you feel physically being back out there?
AUSTIN JACKSON: Physically I feel fine. Felt fine, felt good, felt ready to go.
Q: Was there any catch up period for you when you returned to the team to get your lungs back at all? Or did you just have to get back into shape?
AUSTIN JACKSON: Yeah, you know, I did some extra conditioning. Practice is conditioning in itself, so getting back to that was what I needed to get back on the field.
Q: It seems like the Bills sent a lot of pressure especially on your side. Were you ready for that?
AUSTIN JACKSON: Yeah, I’m always ready for pressure, especially playing offensive line. The thing about the NFL is there’s a lot of disguises, a lot of hidden things. But, you know, I got to look at the film to see what they did. They definitely did some different stuff than they put on tape.
Q: How do you feel the line performed tonight?
AUSTIN JACKSON: You know, you never want to see your quarterback hurt or on the ground. Those are two terrible things that we all kick ourselves over. I think there’s definitely a lot of things we can get better at, things that we will get better about. Let me say that, too. We’re not hoping, going out there and praying. It’s hard work that we put in. We’ll do it.”
Q: You mentioned you never want to see your quarterback hurt, what was the emotions for you when you saw QB Tua Tagovailoa trying to get to the sideline and not be able to make it?
AUSTIN JACKSON: Tough. Sucks. Hurts. But in the moment, next play, next play. Whoever’s next up, do a better job of protecting them, or do everything you can in your power as 11 people. I think as a team we all struggled, clearly. Especially you hate to see stuff like that.”
Q: Did you expect seven and eight men fronts and blitzes like that?
AUSTIN JACKSON: Did we expect seven and eight man fronts? Yes, we did. There’s a lot of variation with the seven and eight man fronts, but yeah.”
Q: Is communication, is that something that is the center and quarterback’s responsibility to let know where the pressure is coming from?
AUSTIN JACKSON: Starts with the whole offense. Receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, quarterbacks. In terms of what the O-line has to do protection-wise, we try to move with each other and communicate. Kind of like all five talking. Center is not just barking orders out to us because he can’t see everything that we all see out on the field.
Brian Flores – September 19, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Postgame – Buffalo
Head Coach Brian Flores (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Q: How is Tua doing?
COACH FLORES: We’re getting some tests run. I just asked. They don’t know the severity of the injury right now. But we’re going to run some tests tonight and tomorrow morning, hopefully have a little bit more information.
Q: How do you explain what happened out there today?
COACH FLORES: I mean, we didn’t play well in any area. We beat ourselves, you know. Penalties, dropped passes, missed tackles. That starts with me. I got to do a better job. I got to do a better job getting us ready to go.
That wasn’t the case today. Give Buffalo credit, they’re a good team. They played well in all three phases. We need to do a much better job from an execution standpoint and give ourselves an opportunity to be in the game, which I thought early we missed a lot of opportunities, so…
Q: You’ve obviously spent a lot of draft capital on the offensive line in recent years. How did the offensive line perform in your view today and where is that rebuilding process?
COACH FLORES: We didn’t do well enough really in any area today. Offensive line, defensive line, coaching. I think we just need to regroup, make the corrections, and do better.
Q: You get the big crowd and the excitement and your quarterback goes down early in the game. What does that do for a team and how do you regroup from that after Tua goes down?
COACH FLORES: I think we have to regroup. We have to regroup. We didn’t do a good enough job of that. I mean, we talk about it, kind of a next man up mentality. Jacoby has to go in the game. It’s a team effort. Really across the board, O-line, running backs, tight ends, receivers. We didn’t get good enough execution across the board.
Including defensively, we didn’t get enough good execution, or in the kicking game. When you don’t execute, you miss opportunities, you don’t have success.
Q: How do you assess Jacoby’s game?
COACH FLORES: Not good enough. That’s across the board. I think as an offense, as a defense, as a special teams, as a coaching staff, we didn’t do anything good enough today.
We’ll go back, we’ll make the corrections. We need to perform better if we want to give ourselves a chance to have success.
Q: They came out with seven or eight-man front blitzes, right from the first play. What went wrong schematically with you? Or was it individuals?
COACH FLORES: I got to go back and watch the film. We got a lot of protection issues. I know they were up on the line of scrimmage. When they weren’t, we still had some issues. I have to go back and watch the film to have a lot more understanding of what happened from that standpoint after I watch it.
Q: Is there anything prep-wise this week that would give you an indication that you guys would play like this?
COACH FLORES: I thought the preparation was good. We didn’t execute. I mean, that’s really what it boils down to in any phase. When you have drops, when you have missed assignments, mental errors, when you have fumbles, when you lack ball security. We didn’t play well.
I thought the preparation, I thought we had a good week of prep. Obviously not good enough. I got to do a better job of getting us prepared. But we didn’t execute. That was what it was more than anything.
I think — yeah, we got to do a better job executing. I got to do a better job of getting us to a point where we can execute better.
Q: What can you tell us about Jesse Davis and Jakeem Grant that were hurt as well?
COACH FLORES: Yeah, I mean, we’ll have more information tomorrow. Both tough guys, I know they’ll do everything they can to get back out there.
Q: Do you think a lot of dropped passes today had something to do maybe with wide receivers not knowing Jacoby’s rhythm or anything like that?
COACH FLORES: I mean, there’s a lot that plays into it. But throwing and catching, that’s kind of a fundamental that we talk about. If the ball is there, I think we should have an opportunity or give ourselves – if we’re given an opportunity to catch it, we got to catch it. Whoever is throwing the ball. We get enough reps with Jacoby and the other receivers. I don’t want to use with that as an excuse.
Q: You have a veteran backup in Jacoby. Where is the team’s confidence if you need him next week against the Raiders?
COACH FLORES: I mean, we’ll see where we’re at with Tua. Like any position, if he’s not able to go, I think we’ve dealt with this with COVID, injuries, it’s something that’s not new to anyone. The next guy’s got to play. That’s the case with me as well.
Q: What is the mood like in the locker room when you talked to the guys after the game?
COACH FLORES: Look, I mean, guys are disappointed. As you know, I mean, any conversation I have with the players I try to keep private. But guys are disappointed. I’m disappointed.
I think we need to just regroup, come in tomorrow, make the corrections, and start fresh Wednesday and get ready for our next opponent, which is going to be another tough game on the road.
Q: Considering how the last few years have gone, is there any sort of mental hurdle this team needs to get over playing the Bills?
COACH FLORES: I think we need to just do a better job of executing. I think if we do that, things take care of themselves. It’s hard. Every week is hard in this league.
But give them credit. They did a great job today. They played well in all three phases. We’ve got to be better.
Q: Was there any chance, I guess, today for Tua to come back once he got hurt?
COACH FLORES: No.
Q: If Jacoby were to have gone down, do you have an emergency quarterback?
COACH FLORES: We’ll talk through that this week. I’m hopeful that Tua is back and we don’t have to go into that. But we’ll talk about that this week.
Yeah, I mean, right now on the roster we don’t have anyone. We have Reid Sinnett on the practice squad. We would have to make a move to do that. Hopefully we don’t have to.
Q: But today – it’s looking back but if Jacoby would have gone down, who would have…
COACH FLORES: Yeah, we had a plan. We have a third quarterback.
Emmanuel Ogbah – September 19, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Postgame – Buffalo
DE Emmanuel Ogbah (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
(What went wrong today?) – “I don’t know. We will see when we watch film.”
(What’s the mood in the locker room? Obviously you don’t ever want to lose a game like. What’s the mood in the locker room after that loss?) – “It was a tough loss. We just got to get back to film and study and be better next game.”
(Did you get an explanation for your penalty call there late in the game?) – “I don’t know. The ref called a penalty and I don’t know. Guess we will have to see.”
(Were you surprised at how you all played today?) – “Yeah, we could have definitely done some things better, but like I said we got to go back to film study and fix what we did wrong.”
(Very early in the game there was the lone run for a touchdown. I know you have to study the film but in general, do you have an idea about what needs to be better in that spot?) – Like I said we have to go back and watch film. I didn’t really see what exactly happened but just got to do a better job of executing the game plan.”
(Did you notice anything in the week to game preparation that went wrong?) – “No, we had a great week of practice.”
(When you lose a quarterback early, how does the team regroup from that? What was said on the sideline?) – “This team has a next man up philosophy. But yeah, it hurt losing Tua, but hopefully he’s back next week.”
Christian Wilkins – September 19, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Postgame – Buffalo
DT Christian Wilkins (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Q: What can you tell us about the touchdown run?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: We just got to start faster. I mean, they did a good job of doing what they do. They broke one. But we just got to do a better job starting faster, making the necessary plays to win.
Q: Any loss obviously isn’t … but how surprised are you the way you lost this game?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: Well, they just really came ready to play. They started fast. We didn’t. We work really hard every day at practice. We’ll just make the corrections. 24-hour rule in the NFL. Win or lose, 24 hours, flush it, got to get better and make the corrections for next week.
Q: We hear that that 24-hour rule exists, but is it more difficult when the loss is like this…?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: 24-hour rule regardless, win or lose. Doesn’t matter.
Q: I don’t think you’ve beaten the Bills in your career. What is it about this team that gives you guys such trouble?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: Like I said, we’re just going to regroup. 24-hour rule, get better, prepare for next week.
Q: What can you take away from this game to help you guys improve going forward?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: Really biggest thing is just going in, watching the tape and being intentional. Not just watching it, not just going through the motions or anything like that. I’m not saying that we were or anything like that, but you got to be intentional. That’s the only way you can improve. You can always learn from a loss. It’s never a failure. It’s always something you can learn from.
Q: As a pass-rusher, do you feel you got the type of pressure on Josh Allen that you wanted to at the end of the game?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: I feel like we did a solid job, but we can always do better. We’re just going to have to keep improving in all areas every day, one day at a time.
Brian Flores – September 17, 2021
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Friday, September 17, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Is WR Will Fuller back today and will he play Sunday) – “Will will not practice today. He will not play on Sunday. He’s dealing with a personal issue. I’ve had multiple conversations with him the last couple of days. He’s definitely dealing with a personal issue. I respect his privacy and I ask that everyone respects his privacy. We support Will and we’ll take it one day at a time.”
(Do you have a sense that this could stretch on multiple weeks, without obviously…) – “We’ll take it one day at a time.”
(How does this impact the Dolphins offense?) – “I mean he didn’t play last week. The next guy will step in and get reps, which we got yesterday and we’ll get some more today.”
(Are you confident that he’ll return to the team this season?) – “One day at a time.”
(As much as you can reveal, did this come as surprise, whatever the situation is that he’s dealing with?) – “Look, things arise in our lives. That’s kind of what he’s dealing with right now. He has our support. He has my support. Is it a surprise? Things happen. When they happen, they’re not part of the normal – your normal every day – then yeah, it’s a surprise from that standpoint. But you deal with it and he’s dealing with it and we’ll support him. We’ll just make our adjustments as a team, play without him and move forward.”
(Will WR Will Fuller remain on the roster at this time?) – “Yes.”
(The game last year not only showed how far you guys have come but also how much further you could go. I guess from the offseason and in past weeks, how do you like where your team is at this point going into the game?) – “We’ve still got a long way to go. I think it’s early in the season. I think every team is trying to find different roles for the players on their team – things you do well, things you don’t do well, things you need to improve on; which there are many things we need to improve on. It’s early and I think every club is having these same conversations. I thought we did a lot of good things in training camp and we’re trying to build on those things. I think it’s important to our guys, so we’ll continue to work in all areas – offense, defense, special teams, situations, our overall awareness, and just try to get better every day.”
(Do you anticipate WR Preston Williams being able to make his regular-season debut on Sunday?) – “We’ve still got practice today. We’ll work through practice. He’s definitely improving, I would say, just from a health standpoint. We’ll see how today’s practice goes before we make any determination of who is up and who is down.”
(The need perhaps for another defensive lineman with DT Raekwon Davis out, do you think either DT Benito Jones or DE Jabaal Sheard could be elevated Sunday?) – “Both guys we feel good about. They’ve practiced well. We’ll see how today’s practice goes before we make any kind of final determinations of who is up, who is down, flexes and things of that nature.”
(When you look at the Buffalo Bills, QB Josh Allen and Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll have made a really good pairing … and when you look to your side and you look at the growth of QB Tua Tagovailoa with Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey and Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Eric Studesville, what would you like to see from that relationship continuing to grow and what sticks out to you from maybe some past coordinator/quarterback pairings that have been really successful?) – “I know Brian well. We coached together. He’s a fantastic coach. He’s done a nice job all of the places he’s been. He’s a great teacher – fundamentals, techniques. Schematically, he’s hard to prepare for. He makes you defend every inch of the field horizontally, vertically. He’s done a great job with Josh Allen, who has really grown under Daboll. They’ve got a lot of good skill players too. This is going to be a tall task for us. We’re going to have to play well on really all three sides of the ball. The communication has to be good. We have to tackle well. We have to play well as a team. All 11 guys have to play well and communicate well and have good fundamentals and techniques. It’s a good team.”
(With Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll, I know he was up for the Chargers job last year and he didn’t get it because the Bills were in the playoffs. Is there a part of you that felt sorry for your friend, that he couldn’t get an opportunity? And also, were you like ‘Damn, he’s still in our division. We’re going to have to see him again?) – “I don’t really think like that. ‘Dabes’ (Daboll) is a friend. I don’t really – I guess I don’t really understand the question. Is there a part of me that feels…?”
(You want to see your friend get a coaching job in the NFL?) – “Yeah, I want my friends to have success. I think that’s what we all want for our friends, for the people in our lives who we have good relationships with.”
(Given I guess your relationship with Bills Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll, how do you go about game planning against him? Obviously you and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer will have to know your…) – “The same way we do with every other – we go through our process. ‘Dabes’ (Daboll) goes through his process. It’s a collaborative effort for our staff to try to put our players in the best positions to have success. The same thing that they’re doing. But this isn’t like ‘we don’t play.’ I think we all know that. If we played, it wouldn’t be good. So it’s the players who go out there and either execute or don’t execute. We just do our best to try to put them in good situations. ‘Dabes’ is doing the same thing. Sean McDermott is another fantastic coach they have over there. He’s doing the same thing. Leslie Frazier, Heath Farwell. They’ve got a good staff. They’ve got good players and the players are the ones that are on the field executing. We just do our best to put them in good situations. That’s that conversation.”
(I noticed last week that the team was on the sideline during the national anthem. I was just curious if there’s a policy change or was that just a one-week thing?) – “We decided to go out for the national anthem and we’ll do that moving forward.”
(The other day LB Jerome Baker said that fast starts were a big emphasis of the offseason for you guys and over the course of your tenure here, fast starts has correlated to winning football games. I’m just curious if there’s a specific that thing starting faster – this particular team – what that does to help you guys win the game in the end?) – “I think starting fast is important. I think every team is saying that. You put a lot of work into the week. You want to see that preparation executed. If you can do it early it’ll help you. We just think it’s important to take every play, make every play count, take every play seriously. That’s obviously at the start of the game, but really all the way through.”
(The NFL is having a new activity for Hispanic Heritage Month with Ozuna and Victor Cruz. Are you participating in that and if you could talk related about your Garifuna culture because the NFL is trying to bring that more to the forefront this month.) – “No, this is the first I’m hearing of this. Obviously I’ve been bogged down with trying to get ready for getting our team ready and getting ready for the season. I think the Garifuna culture is something a lot of people don’t know much about. Basically it’s an African dialect that my parents speak. I don’t speak it. My parents speak Spanish, Garifuna and English. There’s a lot to the culture. I could stand here for hours talking about it. I’m not going to do that, but obviously it’s something that’s important to me and I have a lot of admiration for the culture, the history…”
(Sometimes like Victor Cruz used to dance Punta…) – “No Punta for me. (laughter) Not going to happen.”
(I guess you’ve seen Bills QB Josh Allen the last three years here. How would you describe his maybe development on the other side as you’ve defended him?) – “He’s got I think the big thing is confidence. I think he’s got more of a presence, more command of the offense which comes from spending time in the offense. He’s obviously gotten a lot of reps, he’s seen a lot of different looks and has a better understanding of defense, knows where he wants to go with the ball. He knows the skillset of the guys on his offense, really across the board – receivers, tight ends, backs, offensive line. Knows his own skillset. Knows that if things break down, he can make a positive play with his legs. So yeah, a lot of growth there.”
Jaylen Waddle – September 16, 2021
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Thursday, September 16, 2021
WR Jaylen Waddle
(I know you’re thinking about this Sunday; but what feelings did you emerge with last Sunday about how you played? Obviously you were happy with the win. Were you pleased with how you played? You obviously had a touchdown and some good moments. Did it meet your expectation personally?) – “I think anytime you have a win, it’s going to be fun. It was a cool experience with it being game one. Sharing that moment with the team after the game was special.”
(As far as how you were covered, was it about what you expected as far as the type of attention you expected from the Patriots defense?) – “Kind of. Not really. I was just doing what I was told, just doing my job and trying to do it well.”
(Had you been aware that WR Devonta Smith had a TD catch and so had WR Ja’Marr Chase. All three of you got one in your first game? Is that something you were aware of going into the game?) – “Nah. No, sir.”
(Is it that kind of neat that all three of you did?) – “Yeah, it is. It is pretty cool.”
(Head Coach Nick Saban said that there is so many Alabama players in the NFL that he sends a group message to 70 guys. Do you enjoy those text messages that come from the Alabama program?) – “Yeah, definitely. Just playing there in the program and having words from Coach Saban, it’s always special just to hear him and cheer us on from afar now.”
(Any guys from the Bills that you know right off the bat, that you know personally from high school or college?) – “I trained with Greg (Rousseau), the d-end, I trained with him in Pensacola pre-draft. That’s about it.”
(Did any Patriots players say anything nice to you on the field – complimenting you or saying you have a bright future?) – “No. I just talked to the guys that I knew, just Mac (Jones) and Damien (Harris). Guys that I played with.”
(What did QB Mac Jones say? Did he say anything funny to you leaving the field?) – “Nah. Not really.”
(I know you guys haven’t practiced much together in terms of you and WR Will Fuller; but what do you think the potential of having that much speed on the field will do for this offense?) – “I think it’s good just to have weapons all the way around the offense. Will is a great player. We have a lot of good players around. We’re just going to try to do our job and execute.”
(What stood out to you about QB Tua Tagovailoa as a professional quarterback? Obviously you guys played together in college. What jumped out to you about how he handled himself as a pro?) – “I think he’s much more vocal. He always took it personal, but he’s just got a little bit more bass in his voice I would say.”
(Do you since from your teammates that this is a game that they want because of how last season ended?) – “I think since I’ve been here, every week we go about it the same, honestly. We try to take it one game at a time and just try to prepare the best we can.”
(How do you think that approach is helping you guys before this game?) – “I think it’s going real good. I think we’ve have good practices and we’re going to try to keep building days.”
(This will be your first game in a full house of home fans. You played in a lot of packed houses in the SEC and at Alabama but any excitement going into your first home game in front of a full house?) – “It’s always exciting just to get in front of the fans. You’re at home. It’s a home game, the first home game of the season. Of course it’s going to be exciting. We’re going to try to come out and perform well.”
