HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, September 16, 2018

OPENING STATEMENT: "Alright, well, not really too much to say after that one. We just obviously didn't do anything well enough or close to well enough to be able to take a win today. So, just not a good enough performance in many ways and we just all have to do a better job. Let's get back to work here and get ready for Detroit. It's disappointing to have the kind of day that we had today, but that's what it was, so we'll live with it, own it and move on."

(On Blake Bortles' running ability)

"It's just what I said. We didn't do a good enough job in any area, so it's a long list."

(On comparing this game to the team's loss in week 4 of the 2014 season to the Kansas City Chiefs, and if he saw any fight in the second half)

"I don't know, it was a different time. We just didn't do a good job today. That's all. It just wasn't good enough."

(On if he saw a different kind of game plan used to cover Rob Gronkowski that made him ineffective)

"I wouldn't say so."

(On Sony Michel's first game)

"Good to have him out there, but we have a long way to go."

(On why he elected to take possession of the ball at the start of the game)

"Because that's what we wanted to do."

(On how tough the heat was)

"It was the same for both teams."

(On what he attributes the trouble that the defense had getting the pass rush started)

"Like I said, we didn't do a good enough job in any area. There's a long list: Playing, coaching, every part of the game. It just wasn't good enough."

(On if he was impressed with Blake Bortles' ability to spread the ball around)

"Yeah, it's…you know. They have the ball on offense. They can do whatever they want with it. It's our job to stop them."

(On if the Jaguars CAN do whatever they want, of if they DID do whatever they wanted today)

"They can throw it to whoever they want to throw it to." 

(On the difficulty of the game based upon having to play the Jaguars in Jacksonville, the heat and the way the game started for the team)

"We didn't do really anything that we needed to do to win this game and give ourselves a chance to win. So, the results were what they were."

(On if Jacksonville did anything special to make Rob Gronkowski ineffective in the game)

"It looked to me like they played how they normally play."

(On how tough it was on the team losing Trey Flowers early in the game to a concussion)

"Yeah, well, that's football. We can't control that. Hopefully he'll be ok."

(If there was any though on going for a first down on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter)

"We decided to punt." 

(On if he thought that encroachment or offsides could have been called on the Jaguars on the punt)

"I don't know what you're talking about. (When they decided to punt in fourth-and-1 on the 19) "He was back before the ball was snapped." 

(On if he thought the team could have moved better)

"There's a lot of things that we could have done better today. There's a long, long list."

QUARTERBACK TOM BRADY

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, September 16, 2018

(On the early struggles of the game)

"Yeah, I mean, that was the whole game. I think we talked about getting off to a fast start and [we] had some opportunities, and [we] just got behind. I mean, they're a good team—good defense, and we've got to play a lot better than we played today."

(On what positive things he saw from his team)

"I mean, not many. I think we were here to win and play a lot better. I think we need to—you know, everyone needs to do a better job and that was definitely not our best effort. And, I give [the Jaguars] a lot of credit, they played good. You know, they make it tough on you—on our offense—their defense—and you know, we just couldn't string our plays together."

(On the Jaguars defense)

"I think they really limit, you know, your yards-after-catch, and they're very sound and they—I wouldn't say—it's relatively a more simple scheme, but I think those are some of the best defenses, because they are very fundamentally sound, and they forced us to drive it and just weren't able to do it."

(On having difficulty connecting with tight end Rob Gronkowski)

"Yeah, they had a lot of coverage on him at different points and, you know, we just never connected the way we need to."

(On the fumble during the fourth quarter)

"Yeah, we had a crossing route and just as our guys were kind of getting to their junction of crossing, I was just getting ready to actually throw it away because I felt like someone was coming, and the next thing you know the ball was on the ground. You know—got to throw it away quicker."

(On losing early in the season)

"I mean, it's a long year. I think you have a bad day against a good team—it's a recipe for losing. And we shouldn't even have had a bad day, and we've got to learn from having bad days—and these things don't just magically happen, you've got to make them happen, and we've got to, all of us, have to have more urgency to do things right—more often—over the course of practices, games and then, it's just a matter of going out and executing and playing. It was us. I mean, the first couple of drives, it was just us. I mean, you're behind and then, playing in a situation where playing against a great team on the road that plays well went over our heads, and they played really well."

(On their level of execution this season so far)

"I don't think it's anywhere near where we're capable of, or what we've done at different points through a season—this far in camp. You know, we've got to make improvements and I think September and October, that's what they're for. I think there's a lot of practices we need, and a lot of time that we need to figure out what we do well, and what we don't do so well. But you have to try to win in the meantime—and today obviously wasn't enough."

(On finding his own rhythm)

"I mean, we're all connected—I think that's the thing about offensive football. I mean, everyone is connected."

(On running back Sony Michel)

"Yeah, Sony always works hard, and he had a tough injury during camp and had some opportunities today, and he'll learn from them. [He] ran hard when he had some chances. He's got some great mentors in James White and Rex [Burkhead]—those guys to learn from. So, hopefully he can keep building on what he has done."

(On playing in the heat)

"You know, I actually don't think it was that bad—at least I didn't feel it. I mean, it was definitely warm—warmer than what we've had—but it was a lot like training camp this year. I think it was more the execution. [The Jaguars] executed really well; we didn't. I think it's really that simple, and if we want the outcomes to change, we've got to do things a lot differently. We've got to execute a lot better, we've got to, you know, pay more attention. There was a lot of detail allowing us to move forward; and if we get opportunities, we've got to take advantage of them. If there's yards there somewhere—throwing it, running it—you know, we've got to make them, specially early in the games."

(On adjusting the offense to play without wide receiver Julian Edelman)

"That's definitely something we're working at. I think [Chris Hogan] made some good plays today, Phil [Dorsett] made some great plays last week, [Jacob] Hollister is back, Cordarrelle [Patterson] made some plays, when he gets it in his hands and, you know, we had some plays there in the first [quarter], third down before we attempted the field goal, and we had Cordarrelle wide open—it could have been a touchdown, but I ended up throwing it away. And the game is different if I complete that pass and he runs 4 yards for a touchdown. It's a lot of little things but little things all add up, and it added up to a loss and, you know, it feels shitty for all of us, and we've got to go back home and do a lot better job."

PLAYERS IN THE LOCKER ROOM

DEFENSIVE END ADRIAN CLAYBORN

(On the loss)

"We have to go back and watch the film and see what we did right and what we did wrong."

(On the mobility of Bortles)

"We knew going into the game he was a good runner and he had some good runs today."

(On the pressure on Bortles and not blitzing much)

"We did some good things and some bad things.

We will look at the film and see what things we have to improve on."

(On the heat)

"The heat had nothing to do with the result today. We are a well-conditioned team and we trained in these conditions. We just didn't make the plays."

TIGHT END ROB GRONKOWSKI

(On the loss)

"We have to watch the film and we have to play better. They did a good job and they have good players and have a good team."

(On finding openings against the Jacksonville defense)

"It's difficult against a team like that and you have to be prepared. You have to be ready and you have to find the openings. And that's one thing I didn't do today."

(On coming back from the loss)

"We have to bounce back. Do I feel good about it? No, but you have to put this one behind us and bounce back. We kept fighting as a team. We stuck together and kept on battling until the end and that's what you want to see."

(On the couple of match-ups with Jalen Ramsey)

"I just tried to get open. That's all, no matter who it was against. They did a good job overall as a defense. They are fast. They covered well and were prepared. I just have to come out and play better."

SAFETY DURON HARMON

(On if the heat effected the game)

"I don't think so. We talked about it and knew what it was going to be like. I felt like everybody was hydrated. Not being able to get off the field, whether it was cold or hot, puts us in bad situations and that's what we did."

(On if the Jaguars did anything that was surprising)

"They kind of did what we thought they were going to do and just executed well. We didn't get off the field. We had them in third downs multiple times, and multiple times they picked it up. We just have to do a better job on third down and getting the offense off the field and everything will take care of itself. They just moved the ball. They had good, positive plays."  

(On adjustments they needed to make)

"When we got them in second and long, that's when we were able to play better and play the way we wanted to play. But they just kept getting in situations like third and four, third and five, third and three, which is easier to pick up than third and nine or third and ten."

(On the play of Jaguars QB Blake Bortles)

"When you look at the way he played in the AFC Championship game, I'm not at all surprised. He played us well there too. He plays winning football. The reason they were in the AFC Championship was obviously him and their defense, with [Bortles] leading the way. He touches the ball every play. He makes plays and did a tremendous job today. We just have to learn from it and move on."

WIDE RECEIVER CHRIS HOGAN

(On the Jaguars defense)

"They're a good defense, one of the best that we're going to face this year. They make a lot of plays. They're fast. They're physical. At the end of the day, we have to play better and keep drives alive."

(On playing from behind)

"We always feel like we're in the game. The great thing about this team is that we never really give up. We're going to fight 60 minutes until the end of the game and we know how this game goes. A couple of possessions here and there and we could have been right back in it."

(On today being a rematch of last year's AFC Championship game last season)

"I think they were just trying to win a football game – same as us. We're going to have a lot to improve on and will have to move on to next week."

(On being more involved in offense with two TDs)

"I don't care about that. I care about wins."

SAFETY DEVIN MCCOURTY

(On getting down early)

"We knew coming in it was going to be hard. They are a good football team and we knew we weren't going to be able to spot them 14 points and just come back. I thought we had a good effort but just didn't play well today."

(On the team effort)

"It wasn't like guys weren't playing hard. We just didn't play well enough. When we watch the film, we will see that guys just didn't play well enough. That's how I felt. We got to get better. We talk about it all the time in the early part of the season in September and October. We just got to get better and stick together. Obviously after watching film it's easy to do that."

(On the play of Blake Bortles)

"I felt like we knew what he was going to do, given what we saw in the AFC Championship, game. We knew he scrambles well and moves around. It wasn't a surprise to us and knew what he was capable of doing."

(On the heat)

"The elements – we've played in games like this when it's hot. You can't be out there on long drives. It's hot and you don't want to be on the field for a long time."

CORNERBACK JASON MCCOURTY

(On the disappointment of the loss)

"It's hard -- especially on a day like today. It was hot.

(On not being able to stop Jaguars on third down enough)

"That's the last thing we wanted to do."

(On Jaguars extended drives)

"I don't know the play count, but it felt like 10-plus play drives throughout the game."

(On getting down early on the scoreboard)

"It's tough when you put yourselves in a hole like that and are not able to get off the field. Against a good football team, it's going to be a long day."

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN LaADRIAN WADDLE

(On takeaways from this game)

"We could have done better I thought, but we just need to try and go out there and try to play the way we always play. We have to do better."

(On Jaguars DE Dante Fowler Jr. being a tough match-up)

"All those guys are good and are tough across the board. We have to work on being more consistent and playing better."

(On the weather)

"It definitely was warm, and we knew coming into it and we tried to prepare for it. We knew it was going to be like this. For the most part, we handled that pretty well and we have to play better football."

(On playing next week in Detroit)

"It's the same kind of deal, on the road, and we will look at the tape and try to get better and learn from our mistakes."

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