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Replay: Best of the Week on Patriots.com Radio Fri Oct 04 - 10:00 AM | Sun Oct 06 - 10:40 AM

New England Patriots Postgame Quotes 9/15

New England Patriots Head Coach Jerod Mayo and select players comment on their game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, September 15, 2024.

HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO

Postgame press conference
Sunday, September 15, 2024

JM: This is NFL football. It's one play here, one play there. You just never know which play it is. It's easy to try to pick out some plays here and there, but it's all of us. We have to get better as a team and look forward to getting back on the practice field and getting better.

Q: Jerod, how much do you learn from this one? You had the blocked field goal which certainly cost you some points and then they came and got a field goal and at the end the 47-yard run set you up nicely. How much do you learn from a game like this?

JM: That's a great question. That's part of my message. It's all about the details. If we get the little things right, the big things will take care of themselves. We just didn't take care of the little things, and we weren't as detailed or on top of our P's and Q's like we should have been. Which is my responsibility. I take 100 percent responsibility. These guys -- I will say this: This is a tough football team. No matter what's said outside this building, and I told these guys that, as well. We're a tough football game, not only physically but mentally. I appreciate their effort. It just wasn't enough today.

Q: Jerod, you've mentioned that this is clearly a tough football team, but in today's game the limited passing attack, only three completions to receivers, do you think at all today's game showed the limitations you guys have on offense?

JM: I'm not sure. Each team to going to try to attack us different ways. We definitely have to start to get the ball down the field. We've got to start pushing the ball down the field to get that shell defense, and we've got to be able to run. We've got to be able to pass. We've got to be able to ping-pong between the two. It's something that we need to work on. That's what I would say.

Q: On the 3rd and 1 there, Tyquan is in the backfield, unbalanced line, you talk about being a tough, physical football team --

JM: That's all on us. That's on us as coaches. I don't put anything on the player. Look, he was in there at times. He had to report. Then he played some tackle and there was some confusion. Once again, there was no receiver outside of him. That's our fault 100 percent.

Q: From a mentality standpoint, trying to drive the ball down people's throat and in that case it felt like you tried to do something -- fancy might be the wrong word --

JM: I don't think we tried to do anything fancy. I think we tried to run the plays that we felt pretty comfortable with going into the game, and then at halftime made some adjustments. Look, this isn't a fancy football team. This is one of those teams whether we throw it or run it that we just have to be a tough football team, but at the same time, have to be smart. We have to be able to go out there and line up and be mentally tough on a down-after-down basis.

Q: Jerod, how much consideration did you guys have for going for it on 4th and 1 in overtime?

JM: I would say there's some consideration. There's always consideration in those weird spots, especially when you get on the plus side of the field. I did what I thought was best.

Q: Then with Okorafor for leaving the team, did that surprise you at all? How would you describe your conversations with him?

JM: I had a conversation with Chuks and it had nothing to do with football and had everything to do with just checking on him as a man. It was a good conversation. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Q: What worked very well for you guys in Cincinnati was not giving up the big play, and today Metcalf had that catch in the first, then obviously the blocked field goal. Was that the difference in the game?

JM: Those were two huge plays. That's on us. At times we want to be aggressive, and they called a good play, and they hit it down the sideline.

Q: Your final nine plays offensively, just 11 yards. What happened with the execution there late in the game?

JM: Just wasn't good enough. Execution just wasn't good enough. I wish I had an excuse. We just have to be better.

Q: Jacoby did a great job most of the day of avoiding sacks, getting away from the rush. Before that blocked field goal, though, where he took a sack and you guys lost nine yards there, what did you see on that play and is there any specific instruction to him in the headset for whatever you do here, make sure you don't take a sack?

JM: We always try to talk about situational football. I'll go back and watch the film and have a better answer for you going forward. What I would say in the first half he made some plays by extending drives with his legs, which is encouraging to see. We just need to be more of a balanced offense, which that will be the goal this week.

Q: You mentioned situational football. There were two end-of-half situations where you guys weren't able to capitalize. What from your perspective was the reason you weren't able to score on those possessions?

JM: Just lack of execution. That's what it comes down to. I'm not trying to sound like a broken record. It just comes down to lack of execution. I felt like we were in shape, but as the game wore on, there were these little mental errors that ended up being plays, and just got to do better.

Q: Last time we spoke to you Friday you said you wanted to see how Seattle would play you. They seemed to win the middle quarters which would indicate some sort of adjustments. What adjustments if any did you see them make?

JM: Yeah, they were matching our big personnel with different groups. They were going base and they were going nickel and kind of just -- they were just matching up personnel, and they did a good job making adjustments faster than we did.

Q: Just curious, end of the first half when you guys had the ball, you ended up running one, then taking some time off the clock, throwing a couple. Is there anything you would have done differently in that scenario to prevent them from trying to drive the other way?

JM: Yeah, I mean, look. Like I said I'm going to go back and watch the game. There were a lot of plays in the game, and I don't want to give you bad information.

Q: Jerod, I think just four targets for Demario Douglas in the first two games. What do you guys need to do to get him more involved on offense?

JM: Yeah, we have to get him going. We have to scheme up some things for him. He's one of our most explosive players, and that's on us as coaches to put it together.

QUARTERBACK JACOBY BRISSETT

Postgame press conference
Sunday, September 15, 2024

Q: How tough of a game was that on you physically, and mentally how much do you learn from this one? You guys had some tight situations, three-and-outs, blocked field goal. What do you take from this and learn from it?

JB: Yeah, it's at that point of the season where everything is a learning experience, obviously. You put yourself in position hopefully to make a couple more plays here and there throughout the game. I know we're going to go back and watch this film and it's going to be a play here, a play there, starting with myself. So it's going to be good for us to go back and watch this film and learn from it. The hits are -- it's part of football, so I'm used to that.

Q: Jacoby, it's been two games now without a lot of production to wide receivers. What do you think the issue is there?

JB: Yeah, I think obviously we would like more in our passing game. I've got to do a better job of getting a lot of those guys involved in the game plan and throughout the game. I take responsibility for that.

Q: Jacoby, the 3rd and 1 in overtime, you got stuffed but it was also the penalty. Can you explain the call there as you understood it and what happened there?

JB: Yeah, so they called us for illegal man. He really didn't explain it to me, so when we go back I'll have to –

Q: He was uncovered, I think. There was no receiver on that side.

JB: Gotcha, yeah. So that's a penalty.

Q: I just wanted to ask you, similar to Doug's question, some of the play action plays today, it seemed like you guys wanted to push the ball down the field. Looked like they were playing a decent amount of two deep. What would you say to that?

JB: Yeah, for sure. Obviously whatever the tail was, they had a good tail on us what we were trying to push the ball down the field. And they did a good job. Had a good game plan as far as not letting us get behind them. We tried to, but we've got to find ways to get on top of that and continue to try to push the ball down the field and find different ways, but I thought they did a good job of playing two deep a lot of the times when we were trying to take our shots.

Q: Jacoby, career day for Hunter Henry; you hit him for over 100 yards. What is that chemistry like with him and how have you guys been getting along the last couple weeks?

JB: Yeah, it's growing. Obviously he wasn't – towards the tail end of training camp he wasn't out there as much, but getting him back into the rhythm and flow of the offense, he's a really good player. Obviously had a bunch of good plays today, and it's a lot of fun having him on my side of the ball. I just look forward to progressing that relationship and chemistry and continuing to make more plays.

Q: Jacoby, going back to Hunter, a lot of those plays seemed like they were pretty late breaking and improvising. How much was your connection to him as you drew it up in the playbook and how much of it was just going out there and making a play?

JB: I don't really remember every play of the game right now that he made, but I would say it's probably split. Obviously he was in the area that he was, I probably scrambled a little bit, he moved a couple times. But for the most part, I think it was pretty spot on.

Q: When Antonio Gibson broke that long run, there was about six minutes to go and you go backwards five yards, miss a field goal; you only had 11 yards offensively the rest of the game. How much of a missed opportunity do you feel like you couldn't close it out?

JB: Yeah, I think you answered it there. It's tough. You get that big play and you get all the momentum and now you're going the opposite way. It's in those critical situations we've got to find a way to -- I think that was the moment in the game where it's like, now we've got to put them away. They gave us the light and we just didn't take it this time, and we've just got to find a better way to capitalize on those, especially when we get down there this late in the game versus a really good team. They don't give you that many opportunities. So you've got to take advantage of those.

Q: Your ninth year in the league. This was the second game as head coach for both Jerod and across the way for Mike Macdonald. What did you think about the way the two of them coached together back and forth in terms of the end of that game?

JB: Yeah, I thought it was a good game. Going into overtime, second game of the season, back and forth on both sides of the ball, playing good football on both sides of the ball and on special teams. I thought both of them did a good job. I don't know whether he was telling his team, but I thought Mayo did a good job getting us an opportunity, getting us a chance to be in the game, to go make the plays to win. Obviously we came up short, but it's a great learning experience, and we've got a short week so we've got to put this one behind us fast and get ready to move forward, and that's kind of what he's preaching in there to us right now. It's just going to continue to get better.

Q: Can you tell me what you saw on the sack that you took right before the missed field goal?

JB: Yeah, it was just a bad play by me. I was trying to get the ball out and I just didn't want to be careless with the ball and somebody strip sack me from behind because I felt somebody coming from behind. Yeah. So was trying to get the ball out. It was just a bad play by me.

Hunter Henry, TE

(On his performance despite coming up short)

"We were in a rhythm early. I feel like in the third quarter, we stalled. We have to be better, coming out fast in the second half. I feel like we were able to run the ball late, which we had a lot of success with. I wish we were able to execute there in overtime, on that third down, and even on the early downs. I wish we put ourselves ahead of the chains in a better position so we could finish it."

(On his chemistry with Jacoby Brissett)

"It's been good. I missed a good amount of time in camp, so I'm just trying to get back in the swing of things. I'm feeling good, and just have to continue to build. I know there were some good things we did out there, but we have to do better. There's still some plays that can be made out there. We need those plays, because obviously, we came up just short."

(On how his success today can translate to the receiver room)

"They were playing a lot of zone. We were able to execute some things. We're going to need those guys. We've got a good group in there. They need to hold their heads high, because we're going to need them to make big plays. The ball wasn't finding them today, but we're going to need them this week and going forward."

(On the state of the tight end room)

"I think we're doing well. There's some things that we have to clean up. It's early in the season. I've got to be better on certain things, especially in the run game. I've got to be better. I've got to do better in the pass game. I had some success getting the ball today, but I think there's areas I can clean up to continue to get better. That's my main goal this week and going forward. Continuing to climb, continuing to get better, and learning from this. It stinks to lose the home opener the way we did. We competed really hard. We've got to keep going. We have a good football team. That was a good football team that we played against. We've got the pieces. We just have to put it all together."

David Andrews, C

(On takeaways and learning from this game)

"We always talk [about it], there are a few plays here and there and you don't know which ones they are. They might be mundane, they might be critical situations and so we will have to go back and clean those up. We had our chances to win. I'm proud of the way all sides of the ball competed. All you can really ask for is a chance to win and we had one and kind of gave it up. That is the NFL and now we have a quick turnaround, so we'll rinse this one out and get ready to go next week."

(On changes to the personnel on the offensive line)

"There are things we did well today, there are things that we need to improve on. I think Jacoby [Brissett] got hit too much. I haven't seen the film obviously but I'm turning around seeing things, feeling things. We've got to do a better job and get more production from our passing game which is something I've always said is a team effort from everybody. It's not just one person or one position group, it takes a team: all 11 guys on offense to do that and it's what we will try to do this week."

(On the third-down play in overtime)

"We had a play and just obviously didn't get it done right. We will have to go back and look at it and see what we can correct. Like I said, there are multiple plays and moments throughout the game where you look at them and say 'man, I wish had that one back.' You do that even after a win but it's more glaring after a loss. You never know when the crucial moments are and that was one of them. Obviously, after a loss, there will seem like there are a lot more so we will have to correct it and move forward."

(On his confidence in the run game)

"I have a lot. I think we are a physical team. We have two really good backs. It was good to get AG [Antonio Gibson] going a little bit. There are games where you have that and you will have success, but we just have to get more production in the passing game up front and in all four position groups. If we start doing that and putting it together, we will see a lot of success so we will correct it and move forward. But in the running game, I thought we [were] physical, our backs ran hard. So, we will clean it up, take the good and keep moving forward."

Keion White, DE

(On coming up just short after a back-and-forth game)

"First and foremost, Jacoby [Brissett] and the offense did what they needed to do for us to get the win today. I feel like as a defense, we need to play better, me included: defensive line, defensive backs, linebackers, everybody. So we need to go to the drawing board, watch the film. It's a short week and that's what [football] is all about: making corrections."

(On what specific adjustments need to be made during a short week)

"I have no idea, I just got off the field, so I haven't had the chance to watch the film. I'm confident in our coaches, I'm confident in Demarcus [Covington] to make the corrections and get us to where we need to be and those adjustments are for him to decide."

(On Geno Smith's cadence and no huddle offense affecting defense)

"They play fast. Again, as far as we played as a defense, I just know we didn't play well enough. I don't know what we did, I don't know what we need to do better. But we are going to watch the film and hear the corrections from Demarcus [Covington] and Jerry [Montgomery] and I'll be able to decide then."

(On what makes Geno Smith difficult to play against)

"Geno [Smith] is a vet, he's been in this game for a very long time. One thing I've learned in my short time being in this game: it's not always about who's the most athletic, who's the best athlete, who's the fastest. A lot of the time, it's about how smart you are, and he has gained a lot of experience from all the reps he's taken over the years."

Deatrich Wise Jr., DL

(On key takeaways from today's game)

"I believe we showed a lot of tenacity today. It went down to the wire, and we wanted to end with a win but once I look at film, we will see exactly where we went wrong and what happened throughout the game. I think for the most part we played the game pretty good down to the wire."

(On Keion White's growth)

"Yes, I think we are all seeing the same thing. He is showing a lot of versatility. He is able to sit there and get on the run game, get pressure outside, able to come inside and get pressure, able to run games, he is doing a great job with that. He can set up rushes and communicate very well so we are all seeing the same thing from last year to this year and he is becoming just an overall great player."

(On his message to rookies heading into a short week ahead of Thursday's game)

"Today is Wednesday in our book. Here you must have short term memory. We will watch the film coming into tomorrow and then it is a quick turnaround to make sure you get the body right. This will be a big mental week and recovery week, making sure we get after the game plan, know what we have to do, study and be able to play high energy Thursday night."

(On Geno Smith's ability to extend plays)

"My mentality is we have to keep it in our pocket more. Once he started using his legs more, it falls on the defensive line and we are able to contain it more and get after him. We want him to get off his spot but not scramble. He would scramble here and there and have some quick throws but for the most part all the scrambling stuff falls on us."

Rhamondre Stevenson, RB

(On the performance of the offense)

"I'm not going to have those answers right now. I need to go back and watch the film. I think we played physical. I think we need to get more first downs. The three and outs need to go away. I just need to watch the film, but we played tough."

(On how he's feeling physically)

"I'm feeling good. I'm ready to go. I know it's a short week, but I'm ready to go."

(On pairing with Antonio Gibson in the backfield)

"I feel like we work very well together. AG [Antonio Gibson] had a couple of good runs today. I'm proud of what he did today. Pounding the rock, using our offensive line, and staying on track, I'm confident we can stay locked in together."

Christian Gonzalez, CB

(On Geno Smith's effectiveness)

"You know, he's a vet. He's a great QB, he's been in the league, he's seen a lot. He came in and executed what he had to do."

(On matching up with DK Metcalf)

"Yeah, I mean, he's a great receiver. I have fun out there doing it. He's one of the league's best, so I feel like I did alright, not going to say I had a perfect game, there's never a perfect game. He made plays, I made plays. But, you know, the main thing is we didn't win, so besides that it doesn't really matter."

(On the difficulty in guarding DK Metcalf)

"He's got all the tools. He's fast, real fast, physical, smart. You know, he studies a lot of film, you can see how he plays. You know, he's been in the league, so he's done it, he's done it against multiple different corners. That's what he does."

Davon Godchaux, DT

(On home opener emotions)

"They were happy, everybody was excited. I'm sure everybody is going to be excited for the next game too. Just excited to get back to Foxborough, play football. Feels like it's been a long time since the last time we were in Foxborough. So yeah, everyone's excited, but we've got to close that game out, man. This is a game we should've won for sure, definitely should have won this game, one hundred percent."

(On Seattle going no huddle)

"Yeah they weren't going no huddle to go quick, they were going no huddle to see what we were in. It's a college system, I think the offensive coordinator came from Washington? So, he wasn't going no huddle to snap the ball, he was going no huddle to see what we were in and make his adjustments. It was basically keeping some of our guys off the field. Say for instance, our third down package, I mean, I'm a first, second down guy, he was keeping guys off the field. It wasn't really to go fast, it was just to see what we were in, keep us off the field, so they did a good job of that. I mean we knew that coming into the game, they were going to do that, so that's why we worked some extra stuff in practice, but we've got to close that game out."

K.J. Osborn, WR

(On if getting the ball to Hunter Henry was part of the gameplan)

"Obviously, I'm not the play caller. Hunt, I'm not sure what he finished with, but yeah of course, if we see that match-up and we were able to exploit it, that's great for us. The plan here is follow the North star, and that's winning. If it's going to Hunt[er Henry], we're cool with it. But at the end of the day, we've just got to do what we've got to do to win, and we didn't do that today."

(On if he felt like today was a step toward building the chemistry of the offense)

"I think so. Any time we go out there and get live reps you're going to take a step. It's the second week of the season, going out there, playing a different defense, things like that. I think we always take a step forward every time we're out there."

Ja'Lynn Polk, WR

(On increasing the pass game)

"I mean, we put it in the game plan. We just go out there and try to execute whatever AVP [Alex Van Pelt] calls. We just try to have a high execution rate."

(On his touchdown)

"We were in the red zone. We needed a big play, and AVP called something for us to go execute and make a play."

(On what scoring his first touchdown felt like)

"It was pretty cool. It was a great experience with my teammates. Of course, we didn't come out with the win, so I feel like [there are] more important things than my touchdown."

(On the offense taking a step forward with building chemistry and timing)

"I feel like the chemistry is there. It's going to come. So, we've just got to keep pushing and keep going."

(On the need for improved efficiency in the red zone)

"Yeah, we've just got to execute. That's all. Everybody's got to be tuned in on the details, especially myself as well. Make sure that I'm doing my job in order for us to execute."

Jabrill Peppers, S

(On the final drive of the game)

"Didn't make enough plays. We've got to make plays. We had countless opportunities to get off the field and we just didn't execute. It hurt. There's always a handful of plays that cost you the game. As a defense, no matter what happens, when you go out there and your number is called, you've got to execute and we didn't do a good enough job of that."

(On how often he felt like the defense was able to fool Geno Smith during the game)

"Not often. I think they did a great job cadence-wise. The no-huddle, we could've done things a little differently, but that's water under the bridge now. We play a lot of ball together, we're a pretty veteran group. This one hurts. We know we're better than what we put on today. Short week, flush it out, the world's watching Thursday so we've got to put our best foot forward."

Jonathan Jones, CB

(On the game)

"Yeah, I mean we had plenty of opportunities within the game to win and kind of put it away and we did not. That's kind of the things we will go back and look at the film and see where within the game we needed to make those adjustments and win it."

(On defending a strong wide receiver group)

"I think it is just more of that they did not have a run game so most of their plays were throws. They would throw it outside to supplement the run game. Losing their running back, they were trying to find a way to make up for the loss in their run game."

(On Keion White)

"Oh man, he has been dominant. He was after them all night. That makes our job easier on the back end when we have a guy like that up front rushing."

Antonio Gibson, RB

(On his long run)

"Made the first guy miss and everything opened up from there. Got to the sideline and then it was just running after that."

(On the strong run game the first two weeks)

"We love it, as running backs that's what we want. But at the end of the day, we came short of our real goal and that's not a good feeling, especially at home. We are going to keep doing our thing and keep building on it and once that starts clicking that leads to victories."

(On learning a lesson from his big play not resulting in a scoring drive)
"Yeah definitely, I think that is the biggest thing for us. We have got to score in the red zone. We get down there, we move the ball well, we have just got to finish. Once we do that and it starts clicking, I feel like we will be unstoppable."

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