Skylar Thompson – January 1, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, January 1, 2023
Postgame – New England
QB Skylar Thompson (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
(What was it like for you today having to come in for QB Teddy Bridgewater?) – “Yeah, well, I feel like it’s kind of déjà-vu of the conversation we had at the beginning of the year. It’s never a situation that you want to have happen to get into the game. It’s tough to see Tua (Tagovailoa) go down with an injury last week and Teddy (Bridgewater) experience one this week, because those guys mean a lot to me. But I’ve got to be ready when my number is called. It’s frustrating because I want to win, and I think – I know everybody in this organization and in that locker room wants to win, and it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating whenever you just can’t get over the hump in some situations. There’s plays that I left out there that I wish I could have back, but one thing that I will always hang my hat on, every time I step in between the lines, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got and I’m going to fight my butt off to win. I’m going to keep grinding. I’m going to stick to what I’ve been doing and just trust the process, and that’s what this team has to do. I know it’s frustrating, it’s hard, but we’ve just got to have a short memory from this and come back and be ready to finish the season off next week at home.”
(The stakes are pretty clear next week. You guys have to win, obviously, to get into the playoffs. What’s your mindset going into next week?) – “I mean, the same mindset that I’ve had this whole year. It’s obviously – the situation for me has changed from week to week throughout the whole year, depending on the situation. But if it is me, I’m just going to approach it the way that I’ve approached it this whole season, and fortunately for me, I got a preparation versus the Minnesota Vikings as a starter. So if that is the case, then I’m going to know what that’s going to look like. I’m going to be able to even better prepare myself even more for what that week of preparation is going to look like for me. It’s still too early to say what that’s going to look like. But speaking for our whole team, like I just said, we have to have a short memory, and we’ve just got to – our backs are against the wall. There’s a lot of guys in that locker room, that’s where we’re at our best. Talking to the guys and hearing the guys’ stories of what they’ve faced in life, what they’ve gotten through to get to this point, what’s their ‘why’ for playing this game, we have those guys in the locker room. This is when you’re tested the most, when your backs are against the wall, this is when you’ve got to be at your best. That starts with me, that starts with everybody looking themselves in the mirror and putting their pride aside and being able to focus on doing their job, doing my job. We do that, we play for each other, you fight your butt off for the guy next to you, good things happen. That’s what we’ve just got to focus on doing.”
(Did you have a chance to warm up?) – “I got like two throws. It was quick, but it’s part of the job and part of the game. It’s here nor there, it’s part of it. But I did feel like, obviously, I wish I could have that pick back. It was very frustrating – it hurts. But I did feel like I settled in a little bit there late in the game and was seeing things clearly and distributing the football. Obviously it wasn’t perfect, but there’s obviously a lot of things that I’m going to be probably frustrated at watching. But a lot of – some good things to take away from it, as well.”
(What did you see on that interception?) – “Just missed the throw. Was trying to anticipate Tyreek (Hill) on an out cut and missed it inside. 100 percent my fault and just missed. Those are the worst ones because they’re in your control, in my control. But I’m going to own it, and I’m going to come back to work tomorrow and be ready to go. Just got to have a short-term memory playing this position, and that’s something that I’ve got to do with that. “
(With QB Teddy Bridgewater, it seems like every chance he gets unfortunately some sort of injury happens. Do you know how he took it and was he trying to fight to get back in the game?) – “I don’t know the details of what happened. Obviously, whatever happened prevented him from coming back in the game. But talking about Teddy (Bridgewater), man, I appreciate that guy a lot. Everything that – he’s helped me a ton since I’ve gotten here, and I don’t even know if he’s realized it. But he’s helped me a ton in all aspects, as a football player and in life with just perspective of what it takes to be a pro. I wanted him to go out there and do his thing today and come out with a win. It hurts. It hurts to see both times he’s gotten an opportunity this year, unfortunate things have happened to take him out of the game. One thing I do know is Teddy is going to bounce back, whatever that is, and he’s going to continue to be Teddy Bridgewater. I’m very, very grateful for him and hope everything is OK with that.”
(They were down three of their top corners today; were you trying to take advantage of that?) – “Yeah, we were definitely aware of that. It’s still fresh on my mind of kind of what took place there. Just my initial feelings coming off the field, it felt like they were there at the end were playing a lot of two-high shell soft and forcing me to throw underneath. I’ve got to go back and watch the film to see if there was some intermediate stuff that I possibly missed or whatever the case may be, but that’s what it felt like on the field is they were trying to keep everything underneath there. That could be a reasoning for them having some depth issues there at corner and playing umbrella type coverage and making us drive the football. But yeah, we were aware of that.”
(What did you take away from Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s postgame comments?) – “Like I said, everybody in the locker room wants to win, and it hurts when you lose. Just kind of what you guys were saying earlier; our backs are against the wall here. We’ve got to go win next week to get ourselves in the dance. That’s been our goal this whole year is to get to the playoffs. It’s come down to a situation where we have one game at home versus a divisional opponent and have a chance to do that. We’ve just got to continue to fight and continue to get better and have a short-term memory. I feel like sometimes just it’s human nature – when you are struggling, when you can’t get over the hump, it feels like you’ve got a monkey on your back a little bit. That’s just something that we have to continue to work through, keep fighting through and get over the hump. That starts with me, and I take a lot of responsibility for this one. I’m going to think about that interception quite a bit today. It hurts because when I get an opportunity, I want to help this team win and to do everything I can to do that, and that’s what this week comes down to is just keep fighting.”
(Not to overstate the obvious – you guys were 8-3, now lost five in a row. What have you noticed inside the team that’s happened now that you’ve lost five straight?) – “I know our mindset hasn’t changed. I feel like our preparation throughout the week is good and guys are locked in. I thought this past week was one of our best weeks of practices that we’ve had (with) guys bringing energy and staying positive and doing those things. I think it just comes down to, like I was saying, just having that fight, that dog in you – you’ve got to step up and make a play in times like this and trust the guys around you, trust the coaches, trust everybody that we’re all in this together and that we’re going to make a play. Don’t look to your right and don’t look to your left looking for somebody else to make the play. We’ve got to have that responsibility of, ‘I’m going to do my job. I’m going to do this.’ When we do that, good things will happen. It’s a process. It’s a process to work through. It’s tough when you lose five straight. I have all the confidence in the world that this locker room is going to do that because we’ve got the right guys in there and led by great coaches, too.”
