Head Coach Bill Belichick

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 5, 2023

BB: A game where we had our chances. You know, had a chance there at the end, couldn't make enough plays. Obviously had plenty of opportunities along the way that we needed to make more out of. Just disappointing result. Just got to do a better job of making the plays when we have the opportunities to make 'em. It's as simple as that, so that's really about it. It's all the way across the board, all three units.

Q: I was wondering if you could go over the decision to not play Kayshon Boutte today?

BB: We activated the players that we felt were the best players to put in the game.

Q: At the end of the game, the fourth and two punt play, what did you see from Mack Wilson on that play? We saw you in a verbal exchange with the officials. What did you hear from them in terms of what they saw on that place?

BB: Yeah, you should talk to them about it.

Q: Were J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones benched to start the game?

BB: No.

Q: Why did Shaun Wade start and then not play after the first two series?

BB: Everybody played. They all played.

Q: Why didn't Shaun Wade play after the first two series?

BB: They all played.

Q: Back to the decision to not play Kayshon Boutte. I know you chose who you wanted to out there and activated who you wanted to but earlier this week you said it was probably one of his best practices of the year in terms of the week. Why did you make those comments then, what did you see during practice?

BB: Because it was.

Q: In what areas?

BB: Because I thought it was. I thought he had a good week of practice. That's why I said that.

Q: Just not good enough to activate him?

BB: We activated the other four receivers and Mike [Gesicki]. I mean, really Mike is our fifth receiver.

Q: On the Mack Wilson penalty, are you anticipating the officials might say something to a player in that situation like, 'you're over the line'? Is that standard as far as you're concerned?

BB: No.

Q: Jack Jones not playing for the first quarter, that was not disciplinary in nature?

BB: We played all the corners. I think we played all the safeties. I think we played everybody on defense.

Q: How much on the dressing four receivers was it tied to the plan to go in and play a lot of the two tight end stuff?

BB: Yeah, Mike [Gesicki] is like our fifth receiver. He played a lot.

Q: On the fourth down on the first drive, that ball 39-yard line, how much discussion is there when you went for it, to either kick a field goal if that's within range or punt? How were you navigating that?

BB: We went for it. We thought we had a good play.

Q: Did you consider kicking?

BB: We thought we had a good play.

Q: I saw you were wearing a pin during the game. I was wondering if you could you explain what that meant.

BB: Yeah, it's a recognition of the TAPS Program. The Maloney family, he was in in the Navy and passed away.

Q: Several times you had Sam Howell on the run, but he kept his eyes downfield and made plays. How frustrating and difficult is it to go against a quarterback like that that can scramble and make plays?

BB: Well, we know when the quarterback is out of the pocket, then that's what they're going to do. We kept him in the pocket a lot but there were times when he got out. It's not a good thing.

Q: What was the issue with the offense sustaining drives and piecing them together, especially late in the game today?

BB: Yeah, I mean, we moved the ball, but weren't able to finish as many as we needed to. Had our chances, as I said. Need to make more of those opportunities. We had plays that we just couldn't obviously quite make. You saw them.

Q: Up 14-10 at the half, how do you think the defense played in the second half specifically?

BB: I think defensively we had our moments, but overall there were a lot of things we need to do better.

Q: On the Mac Jones pass play at the end of the game to JuJu Smith-Schuster, are you comfortable with that decision or would you rather see him make a different read in that spot?

BB: I don't think it was really the read. Don't want to lose the ball there. We're in field goal range – it's a long kick. But the ball gets tipped up in the air, made an interception.

Q: Can you talk about the third down defense? Washington converted a couple third and longs.

BB: Yeah, we didn't tackle well. It was obvious.

Quarterback Mac Jones

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 5, 2023

Q: Mac, big picture, what are your thoughts on the game today?

MJ: Yeah, I mean, tough game. Tried to get it down to the end there, but just didn't come up with it.

We've got to find ways to do better and come up with the win in those situations. No excuses. Just have to work and figure out how we can do it.

Q: On the fourth down on the first drive, can you take us back to the play with Tyquan Thornton.

MJ: Yeah, he was like my third or fourth read and I just missed him, so… I had time in the pocket. I stepped up. I had good feet. I just missed the throw. Maybe put a little bit more air on it. Yeah, that's a big, big play early in the game.

Q: Through the first nine weeks of the season we've seen a lot of changes on the offensive side of the ball, receivers coming in and out, guys coming in from injury, other guys leaving. How do you feel about your chemistry right now with your receivers and your ability for the offense to make plays with the weapons you have available?

MJ: Yeah, I think that's a great point. It's just a lot of different guys each week, but at the same time we have a great standard that we set. It's just trying to go do it every play. I think there's guys out there who can make the plays and it's my job to get the ball to them. I have a lot of confidence in Jalen [Reagor], Tyquan [Thornton], Pop [Demario Douglas], Hunter [Henry], Mike [Gesicki], JuJu [Smith-Schuster], all those guys. Obviously DP [DeVante Parker] wasn't there today. The whole group is very much so close together and they work really hard. It's not like we're not on the same page. We're really close. We're right there. We're just a little bit short.

Q: You said before that you'll always remain confident in yourself and that never wavers.

MJ: Yeah.

Q: But has it been difficult to remain confident in the system here just given the lack of results?

MJ: Yeah, it's tough. I think the biggest thing, like you said, is remaining confident in yourself. When you do everything you can every day, you should have no regrets. I have no regrets. I do need to do things better, but I'm always going to work hard and put in the hours. That's all I can do, right? Motivate people around me to do it, as well. I'm always going to be the same person. Obviously, like you said, the results aren't there right now. It stinks. There's no excuses.

Q: What did you see on the final play? Seemed like that was probably the most frustrated you've been visually with what resulted there.

MJ: I think JuJu [Smith-Schuster] made a great play the play before or we wouldn't even be in that situation. I just went through my reads and fired it in there. It was just a bang-bang play. Obviously when you lose the game, it's frustrating. It's not on one person or one player at all. Like I said, JuJu made some great plays. We're all in it together. I can throw a better ball, protect him a little bit more, all that stuff. I'll watch the film, like I said, see what I can do to fix my part.

Q: Watching other teams' offenses during the course of the nine weeks, seems like their quarterbacks have bigger windows to throw into, a chance for more shot plays, more explosive plays. Do you feel like you have to be so fine in this offense, it's almost too fine because of the windows you're throwing into?

MJ: I think, like I talked about, there is no excuses. It's hard to compare to other people, other teams. We have a standard here. At the end of the day, we need to meet that standard and execute as best we can for me as a quarterback and all that stuff. That's a great point but at the same time we're always going to focus on us and what we can do better and the things we need to improve, what I need to improve and all that stuff. But, yeah, that's a good question.

Q: When you lose, you take a lot of the blame. You've been doing that a lot this season. You take it head on. But it comes a time during a game when you're putting the ball right in their hands and your receivers are dropping the football. When do you become more demanding when the ball's right there and it's a catchable ball? I know it's a fine line, but when do you have to get on them a little bit?

MJ: Yeah, I think like we talked about, some new guys in there. I think just for me, just keep communicating, right? Keep instilling confidence in everybody, let them know that I trust them, because I do, right? I wouldn't throw it in there, fire it in there if I didn't think they were going to catch it or get open. That's part of the game. Sometimes it's days like that, it's weeks like that where it's bang-bang plays all around the board. But at the end of the day my focus is, like I said, try to motivate everybody, keep them motivated. There's still a lot of room to grow. I know the record is no good right now, but we're growing together. We got a lot of young guys working hard and trying to grow.

Q: You were in 12 personnel a lot in the second half. Was that the game plan or just sort of due to some personnel you were missing like DeVante Parker?

MJ: We just went on the ball for a lot of the game, which is good. I like to be on the ball. I actually think that's something we can expand on. We kind of did that with the 12 personnel, like you said. Hunter [Henry] and Mike [Gesicki] are two great football players. We want to have great football players on the field. For me, just how can I get them the ball, how can we have more explosive plays, skip some third downs. I felt like a lot of third downs. Got to be better there.

Q: On the near interception to Emmanuel Forbes, was that a decision you'd like to have back or was a miscommunication with the route conversion?

MJ: Which one was that?

Q: The near interception to Forbes.

MJ: I'll have to look at it. I got stuck on my read. I was working that side. I can probably throw a deeper ball.

But, yeah, whenever he was in the game, we were going to try and throw at him. But he had a good game, so he showed up and played really well. Shout-out to him.

Center David Andrews

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 5, 2023

(On his thoughts on the game)

"Look, I sit up here and say it, and I believe it. That's why I say it. It's on us. We had opportunities; not just in the two-minute, but opportunities to make a play, make an impact, whatever, and we just didn't really do that. You've got to look in the mirror and go back to work. It's not going to break my spirit. It's not going to break our spirit. We're going to come back, take tonight, come back to work tomorrow, see what we can do to correct it and get ready to go to Germany to play Indy [Indianapolis]."

(On what needs to change about the team's process)

"I don't know. Look, it takes 11 guys, as people say it. It takes 11 guys each play to be successful, and if you don't have that, it's hard to be successful. So, I don't know. I don't know. We'll try to figure that out. Keep trying, keep working. Like I said, that's all I know to do. We'll keep trying, we'll keep working, keep trying different things, figuring it out. We've just got to try to get better. Raise each week."

(On the advantages of going no-huddle)

"I think just trying to get in a rhythm, get the first, first down, keep it moving. You can keep guys on the field who do different things, but if you're going fast and not having positive plays, it really doesn't matter. So, it all starts with positive plays, just trying to get in a rhythm, get moving. We had some success, moved the ball a few times there. We've really just got to finish drives, work to finish drives and have positive plays each play."

(On Rhamondre Stevenson's 64-yard touchdown)

"They were in an even-wide front. Really, when teams do that, really not all pass-rush down, you can kind of expect something coming inside. They kind of brought a blitz, we did a good job picking it up. Give these backs space, they can do a really good job. Rhamondre did a great job reading it. It was a good play. You've just got to build on it. There were other good plays, you've just got to try to build on that each week, and that's what we'll do this week."

Tight End Hunter Henry

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 5, 2023

(On emotions after the game)

"Very frustrated. Everybody is in the locker room. I feel like I've been saying every week, we put a lot of work in, so it's frustrating. It hurts. Yeah, it's tough."

(On the current attitude in the locker room)

"Yeah, I mean, obviously after a game like that, it's tough. You're a competitor. You want to win that football game. You pour a lot into it, so it hurts immediately. It's going to take some time, and you move on. You learn from it, and we're going to have to continue to do that. We've had too many of those this year, unfortunately, and another one today, but we've just got to keep grinding and keep going."

(On time of possession differential)

"Early, most of the game, we were going pretty fast, so that could be skewed in a way, a little bit. But we just weren't efficient enough, especially at midfield. We just weren't efficient enough in a lot of areas. We've got to definitely look at the film, but time of possession, we definitely need to hold on to the ball a little bit more. But I think going no-huddle, getting on the ball and going a little bit faster, I think that stat can probably be skewed a little bit."

(On lack of efficiency)

"It's hard for me to say, immediately off the field, until I watch the film. But obviously, turnovers are the biggest issue we keep running into every game, especially in crucial situations. Just not great in situational football, on third down, certain areas we need to be better at."

Defensive Lineman Deatrich Wise

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 5, 2023

(On maintaining positivity despite the seventh loss in nine games)

"Because we know where we're messing up, and we know that we're beating ourselves. In most of the games that we play, there's a lot of things that we're doing wrong. We're not capitalizing on opportunities that we have. Our goal is to not beat ourselves, and that's what pushes us."

(On if it's frustrating when the same problems reoccur)

"It's a learning process. What's mostly frustrating is us losing. That's really the main thing. But, at the same time, we have a glimmer of motivation because we know that if we just eliminate certain plays, we'll be able to turn games around."

(On which areas they are beating themselves)

"I'll only speak for me and my game. I feel like I can continue to, I guess, keep the quarterback in the pocket. There were a few times in this game when he got out, and I put that on myself. In other games like that, just kind of be able to, I guess, I would probably say be a little bit more productive, in a sense. Like this game right here, I take ownership of that quarterback running out. Whatever it was, I put that on me, and I'll continue to be a better leader for this team."

(On the current state of the locker room, the players in it and keeping spirits up…)

"Like I told the gentleman here, I told him, we know where we're messing up at, and we have the capability to change it. A lot of guys on this team are hungry. Our spirits aren't broken all because we have a loss. These guys are always trying to prove themselves week after week. We know it's us versus us, which means we always want to be better than who we were yesterday. So, we continue to say the same things, but it's different things that we're seeing on the inside."

(On the defensive breakdowns on third down)

"I don't know, honestly. I don't know the whole play situation, but if any team completes a third down, then that's on us to get them off the field. So, I don't really know what play that was. If there's a first down on a third down, our goal is the stop the quarterback from scrambling, sack him, make him throw the ball out of bounds and that's it."

PLAYERS IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Demario Douglas, WR

(On how he stepped up amidst all the injuries in the locker room)

"Playing my role, just coming in and doing what I have to do. Whatever that is, I'm going to do it to my full potential."

(On losing yardage on the punt return)

"On that play, I just need to go forwards, get the little five yards. I was just trying to make a big play. Every play can't be a big play. That's all I've got to get."

(On having the support of his teammates as a young player after tough moments)

"Definitely. Like I said, the support from the teammates is great because we've still got an offensive drive to go. I believe with that support, you just rise up and play the next play."

Jabrill Peppers, DB

(On Deatrich Wise Jr. calling the results of the game 'self-inflicted wounds' and if that's the outlook of the team right now)

"Like I said man, it's hard to win in this league. But it's definitely hard to win when you're shooting yourselves in the foot and you don't go out there and execute, things that we went over all week. Tip our hat to Washington, you know they came and executed. We didn't do a good job of doing that."

(On how the team moves forward after this game)

"It's the same thing, you know. Like I said, it's hard to win in this league but it's definitely harder to win when you're shooting yourselves in the foot. We just got to go out there and execute. We trust the game plan, trust within the scheme and go out and execute. Simple as that."

JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR

(On the team's final offensive play that resulted an interception)

"It's all on me. [Mac Jones] put the ball in a good position. I just have to make the catch, secure it, and now we're in field goal range. Obviously, I didn't do that, and we fell short."

(On offensive struggles)

"It takes all 11 of us to make a play happen. We just have to fix those things, here and there. But, you know, we're moving the ball very well, and we just have to finish our drives."

(On mentally processing the loss)

"Yeah, that's tough, that's tough. I think the biggest thing in that is to just keep believing, keep having faith. You know, don't lose that. The hard part is we know what we're capable of doing, and not be able to go out there and do it."

(On postgame message)

"Slate [Matthew Slater] always has great words to say in moments like this. You know, just keep believing, have faith, stay positive."

Matthew Slater, WR

(On the time remaining in the season)

"Well, if you live life without faith, in my opinion, you lost. If our football team wants to be lost for the rest of the year, then we leave our faith outside. But if we bring our faith in, then we have a chance to play for the things that matter. Your pride, the way you respect the game, the way you respect your teammates, the way you respect the process – all of that matters, regardless of the circumstances, so I hope our group will continue to do that."

(On the penalties and miscues on special teams)

"It's disappointing. Some tough calls out there, obviously, but that's the way the game goes. It's just too sloppy today, with penalties and things like that. We have to take a look at it and hopefully get it right."

(On traveling to Germany next week)

"It's a great opportunity for a lot of us. Again, nobody should be feeling sorry for us. We're blessed to be playing this game. We're blessed to have an opportunity to go there. We should enjoy it, and we should go out there and play to win."