HEAD COACH JEFF HAFLEY

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 1, 2026

Jeff Hafley: Well first, just congrats to the Patriots. They are a really good football team, well coached in all phases. I thought they played a really good game and give them a lot of credit.

What didn't translate in coverage in the second half?

Jeff Hafley: Missed opportunities. We had an opportunity to make a bunch of plays and we made them in the first half. They made theirs in the second half. I mean, that's really all that it comes down to. I can't give you a better answer than that. They made some plays in the second half and we made them in the first half, but nothing really different.

You've spoken about how infectious Ollie Gordon II's passionate energy is for the team. After the penalty in the second half, what do you say to him?

Jeff Hafley: Well, I'll keep our conversations private. But Ollie's a young player who has a lot of fire to him. He has a lot of energy to him. I need to do a really good job of teaching him how he has to react in situations. And really, I'll continue to w ork with him on that. I know he cares. I know he loves his team. I know he loves playing football. He's a young player. But I got to obviously keep that conversation between him and I, and I hope that you respect that.

For a team that is by all accounts, still learning how to win games, what kind of lesson can you take from a game like this?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, a really big lead. I thought it was probably the best half that we played all year in the first half in some phases. But we had not had a lead like that going into a half. And there was great energy and we came out and I believe we held them to a three-and-out. And then those are the opportunities where you got to learn to put people away. When you let really good teams that have experience and have been through big games, when you let them hang around, that's what happens. And it's the first time we've been in that situation. So I need to do a really good job of using this as a teaching moment. As hard as it feels, and as much as it hurts, you got to learn from wins and you got to learn from losses, and we have to grow from that.

This team, it feels like has had a few of these single -play forks in the road where a decision or a call is overturned against your favor. Does it feel like the team is maybe still learning how to respond to that when it doesn't go in your way?

Jeff Hafley: I'm not sure. I mean, we had such momentum after that one fourth down stop, and those are the swings of the game. We all have to learn that that's football. Regardless of what the score was at halftime, if you play in this league, it's going t o come down (to the end). It's four quarter (games) in this league. And there's going to be huge momentum shifts in a game. Those are like some – you were running off the field, we just stopped them on a fourth down, and suddenly we didn't stop them on a f ourth down. You got to learn to just play the next play. And you can't get too high and you can't get too low throughout a game. That's why I try to just be like this and sometimes it's hard for me too, so imagine what it's like for 22 and 23 year olds. So we got to learn from it and we got to coach it better.

Can you take us through that final offensive series of the first half and just what went well?

Jeff Hafley: I got to go back and watch it, but (we were) very efficient. We completed the passes that were there. I thought we ran the ball well. We were able to use the clock again, which we've been doing a really good job of. That's really important, especially knowing that they were going to get the ball back (to start the second half). We really wanted to take the clock down so they couldn't double dip and get points before the half and then points coming out. But I got to go back and specifically look at that drive. There's a lot I just saw.

How did the weather kind of affect the game?

Jeff Hafley: It didn't. I mean, I don't want to make any excuses on weather – hot, cold, rainy. That's not going to be our team. Regardless of the situation, regardless of the weather, if you go out there and execute and you focus on what's important and y ou play as hard as you can, the weather is not going to matter. We need to go through things like this. Excuses, if you want to find them, they're easy. But I refuse to make any excuses about any type of weather or temperature. That's not going to happen.

Three sacks, I believe, in the first half. Just went well there, but then why were you unable to replicate that in the second half?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, we had a chance for more. I thought Sean (Duggan) and the defensive guys had a really good game plan. I felt like we had the quarterback holding the ball. He was thinking. I thought we rushed really well. I thought we ran our games reall y well. We had a chance for a sack-fumble or two, if I remember correctly. So we were close. We were even close on the one when they scored that touchdown. Again, I think the second half comes down to just there were opportunities and we didn't capitalize on them. And I say that from a coaching standpoint as much as a playing standpoint. So there's going to be a lot to learn from the tape. But give the Patriots credit. That's a really good team. What I did like was it felt like they had us on the ropes, and then what I liked at the end of the game was despite everything that we just went through and all the momentum shifts that everybody talked about, for a young team, it was cool to see we stopped them. We stopped them in four-minute mode and then we scored . So then we get a chance to have an onside kick. So again, the team does show resiliency. It's just we have to learn how to do it for all four quarters.

What did you think their quarterback, Drake Maye, did well?

Jeff Hafley: He was unfazed. I thought we had him rattled in the first half. I thought some of the things – the disguises, the pressures – I didn't think he was seeing it very clearly in the first half and he just kept trucking along. He kept a lot of plays alive with his feet and then he made a really good throw on the post ball he caught, when Taff (Michael Taaffe) almost knocked the ball out. He's got one-on-one and he's got a great throw and he made it. And then we had a chance to sack him on the one (play) and he broke the sack and he hit the comeback on the sideline that went for 50 (yards). So it was really the explosive pass plays that he was able to extend. I think he's one of the better quarterbacks in this league. He's had a ton of success this year already and he took care of the football. He did a good job of taking care of the football, so give him a lot of credit.

How did Jarrett Kingston perform in for Kadyn Proctor?

Jeff Hafley: Yeah, again, I think that's probably a question for you to ask me again tomorrow. I kind of just don't focus in on him when I watch. So I think anything I tell you right now is not going to be very truthful.

I want to ask you about the effort on the defensive side of the ball, particularly in that first half. Obviously coming off the Peanut Punch from Jacob Rodriguez, then Josh Uche sacks his former teammate, another sack from Chop Robinson, a second from him in the second-half. But how do you balance the individual performance of these guys with the result?

Jeff Hafley: Well, the individual success comes from the other 10 players. That's the beautiful thing about football and that's the beautiful thing about defense. You could feel them celebrating together. When one guy gets a sack, it might have been the ot her guy setting it up. The coverage allows a sack. The sack, the coverage, it all ties in. I'm proud of those guys for the way that they did play, and I don't want to take that away from them, but everything we do has to be about the team.

To get JuJu Brents cleared, was it a close call at all or when did you find out he was cleared?

Jeff Hafley: No, I mean, as we went and developed, he hit all the stages. The medical guys cleared him and he was ready to go.

Malik Willis told us that he had a conversation with Ollie Gordon II on the sideline, going back to that situation, that he had to tell him that he was dead ass wrong in that scenario. I mean, what's your reaction when you hear one of your leaders, specifically the quarterback, grab a young guy aside like that and have that kind of conversation?

Jeff Hafley: Well, I think it's good leadership. I hope you guys have seen in a short period of time with us right now is I think telling people the truth and being able to have honest conversations is really important. And for a player to tell a guy how h e feels in the moment, and for the player to respond in a non -antagonistic way, I think is a really good sign. It shows good leadership. Good leadership is telling people the truth, and I respect and appreciate Malik doing that.

QUARTERBACK MALIK WILLIS

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 1, 2026

How were you feeling about things when you had the 70-yard drive at the end of the first half and went to the locker room with a 13 -3 lead?

Malik Willis: At that time, I thought we did a good job utilizing the clock and being able to go down and get points before the half, obviously with them getting the ball back (to start the second half). We just got to come out with that and utilize that momentum other than get stalled a little bit (in the second half).

When things weren't going well in the second half, what do you think was different?

Malik Willis: I think they did a good job. All credit to the defense, all credit to the Patriots. We just got to continue to figure out what we're going to do as far as adjustments go, as far as how we want to attack different schemes.

I saw there was an interaction between you and Ollie Gordon II on the sideline, if you could kind of take us through kind of what happened, as much as you're willing to share.

Malik Willis: I mean, Ollie is a competitor and he cares about the game a lot and I was just letting him know that in that situation , that he's dead as s wrong. I mean, that's the honest truth . And it would be wrong if I didn't tell him the truth. If I was like, "it's okay, you were just trying to compete. " Like, no, we went from third-and -4 to like third -and -15 or 20, and we did not convert. And that was one of those stalled drives that I'm talking about. That's something that we can control and that is wrong. I finished it by telling him I'm on his side, I'm with him and we're teammates and we're in this together , and he's going to go out and help us win this game and we're going to fight the next play and he's going to go back out there. But at the same time, I got to tell you that you're dead wrong when you're dead wrong.

What are you thinking as you're on the sideline for both the onside kick, hoping to get the ball back, and then hoping the defense gets one stop to get one last shot there?

Malik Willis: Really, just staying loose. I had all the faith in the world in our plan as far as the onside went. It didn't shake that way. You never know how the ball is going to bounce. So like I say, all credit to the Patriots and they finished the game. But we were ready for an opportunity to go and try to score again.

Can you take us through that touchdown pass to Kevin Coleman?

Malik Willis: Yep, we just continue d to run our stuff down the field. Obviously we had to get on the ball and we felt like they were playing a little flat-footed, so we tried to take advantage of that.

Did the weather have any effect on the game plan today?

Malik Willis: I mean, not really. It's just so erratic that you really can't plan for it. It's not like you want to run these plays in the second quarter because it's going to be like 50% scattered showers and we're going to run these plays in the third qu arter when it's going to be like 20 (percent) . It's just kind of playing the game and trying to adjust on the fly.

With the Patriots being the defending AFC champion, do you take some solace or some confidence in the idea that you guys played a close game?

Malik Willis: I mean, after we watch the film, we'll probably find the good and the bad, and that's the truth of it. Obviously, we can't take any moral victories from it. We didn't win today. So obviously we have to do something better. And even last week when we did win, we had to do stuff better. That's the continuous cycle we want to stay on and stay focused on. But at the same time, this hurts when you feel like you did a good job starting off the game and we just didn't finish well enough.

What did you attribute – I mean, the run game had been really well, one of the driving forces of the team for the last five weeks. I think only 70 something yards today. What really attributed to that?

Malik Willis: I just think we got to do a better job watching the film and seeing because it's really hard to tell on the field. We got to watch the tape , see what happened and correct all our mistakes and try to get them corrected throughout the week and get prepared for the next game.

Walk me through after that play when Jacob Rodriguez does the Peanut Punch and you get the ball back. Just how much that motivates the offense when you see your defense having that impact?

Malik Willis: I think it's awesome when we have chances to play complementary football like that. And I think it brings so much juice for either side. When we go out and score a touchdown, when the defense goes and get s a turnover, I think both sides responded very well. We just got to continue to keep that momentum because momentum is a real thing. We had a lot of it and we just didn't keep it up. They found some and they ended up turning it around on us. We got a young team and we got to figure out how to continue to use that momentum and use that energy that we're building by creating chances for each other and learn from it. The interception off the opponent's helmet, that seems to be a pretty rare play.

Did you realize pretty quickly that it hit his helmet and has that ever happened to you?

Malik Willis: My arm got hit. I mean, it's unfortunate. I couldn't control that. Obviously, we want to take care of the football, but I mean, my arm kind of got hit, so it just got messed up. It's unfortunate.