Skylar Thompson – January 15, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, January 15, 2023
Postgame – Buffalo
QB Skylar Thompson
(Can you walk us through the challenge you guys had with the system and getting it off on time? What was wrong there?) – “I feel like our operation in general today struggled at times, and I take full responsibility for it. Yeah, it was a loud environment, but we knew that going into it. I feel like there were things that I could have done better to help that be smoother. Those experiences are great learning experiences for me. I take full responsibility for those miscues and just not being clean in all aspects at times. So it’s something to learn from and take from and get better next time.”
(What did you think of the playoff atmosphere on the road in a hostile environment and how you handled it?) – “Yeah, it was really fun. It was really fun. Never try to take for granted getting an opportunity to play this game, especially in an atmosphere like this. This is – as a little kid, this is every kid’s dream to play in an atmosphere like this and have this opportunity. I did take some time to soak that in today and try to cherish it, and it was awesome. It was awesome. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t come up with the win, because I felt like our team fought really, really hard today. You could tell there was no quit in us. Walking into this game, nobody gave us a chance at all, and we had a chance to win it. That’s what you want, and it just speaks volumes about the fight in this team, the guys that we have in this locker room, the people that we have in this organization from top to bottom. I do feel like we are moving in the right direction in this organization and guys are hungry. It’ll be important to remember this feeling that we have right now in this offseason and get to work.”
(Is there maybe one passing play that you think could have been made to maybe change the score?) – “Yeah. Yeah, that last interception there on the third-and-19. It was a bad decision on my part. I just have to know the situation we’re in there. I felt it go to Tampa 2, I was trying to two-on-one the safety. The corner did a good job of just falling off. We did have a quick slant coming underneath it and I had a checkdown, too, looking at the pictures after the play. I just have to understand the situation there and just take yards and play field position there and not force something. That’s not – that one hurts. That one hurts, but I just got to learn from it.”
(What did Head Coach Mike McDaniel say to – what was kind of his final message to you guys in the postgame locker room?) – “He was – obviously, we’re all hurt right now. Nobody in that locker room wanted to lose, and we have a lot of competitive people with a lot of fire in them that wanted to win today. He just said he was proud of us, the way we fought, the resiliency we showed and we just have to keep trending in the right direction and learn from the mistakes, learn from every opportunity that we’ve gotten this year, that I’ve gotten. I have all the confidence in the world that we have the right guys in the locker room – they’re going to do that. I feel like we got a taste today of what we can do and what we can accomplish. We just have to build on that in the offseason and get to work.”
(A lot of seventh-round picks don’t even make an NFL roster. You did and you started a playoff game. Obviously, there’s room for growth, but what do you need to do this offseason to take the next step?) – “Yeah, I think it’s going to be – this year, man, just looking back at all the things that I’ve experienced, I’m super grateful. Because like you said, Brock Purdy is doing an exceptional job right now, but I’m very fortunate to be in the shoes that I am and get the opportunities that I’ve gotten. I think every opportunity that I’ve gotten is a great learning experience for me – the highs, the lows. It’s just having faith in the process, and that’s something I’ve done my whole life. It hasn’t always been clear and perfect and sunshine and rainbows, but one thing about me is I’m going to take some time here to decompress, it’s been a crazy long year from going from draft prep to this – it’s been a year full of football. I think it’s important for me to take some time away and decompress and just be me for a second and let the game kind of just rest for a second and then get back into it. I think the biggest thing for me is just understanding the ins and outs of the offense. Right now, I do everything I can to be prepared. I prepare so hard, and I hope my teammates feel that in me and see that and know that I give it everything that I’ve got. Just the ins and outs of the offense, understanding situational football, understanding the way that the game works in the NFL and being able to put us in great situations to win, I feel like there’s glimpses of times where I’m doing that and then there’s glimpses where it’s like, ‘Man,’ like the interception. Just things to learn from and understanding defenses even more, there’s so much work to be done – that’s what’s exciting. That’s what’s exciting about this position is as soon as you feel like you’ve got it figured out, you should be done playing the game, because there’s always stuff to learn, there’s always stuff to grow from. That’s one thing I take pride in, making growth and getting better, and I will do that this offseason.”
(Can you describe what the stretch in the game felt like when you guys were down 17 and ended up taking the lead, just that end of the first half to the start of the second half?) – “Yeah, well – man, our defense played so good today. I’ve – that’s tough, because those guys gave us every chance to win; got a touchdown, got us turnovers, helped me out a ton. For us (to) not come out with the win hurts me a lot. But we go down 17-0, kind of struggled to get into a rhythm there. I throw an interception, just had trouble seeing the ball go through the hoop a little bit, and then once we did that, it was like, ‘OK, we’re getting in a rhythm.’ That was the biggest thing for us that everybody kept preaching was, ‘Hey, you just got to see the ball go through the net and get in a rhythm here. We did there before halftime, and our defense started that. I’ve got to be better to help out this team, because I feel like that’s a game, we definitely had an opportunity to win. I will take the credit for the loss and shoulder that and move forward.”
