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Replay: Patriots Postgame Show Mon Oct 07 - 06:00 PM | Tue Oct 08 - 11:55 AM

Patriots Postgame Quotes - 8/22/2008

New England Patriots players comment on their 27-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium on Friday, August 22, 2008.

Heath Evans, Fullback
(On the offense's progress)
"Frustrating is probably a good word. At the end of the day, we look back from where we were four weeks ago, we're getting better as a team. Obviously, as an offense, we've been accustomed to one style of play, and it's high-flying, and it's fast, and it's kind of a vicious style of offense. It gets after you. Well, now we've got to find a different way to win ball games on offense."

Matt Gutierrez, Quarterback
*(On his performance Friday night)
*"I'm not sure really how I performed until we watch the film tomorrow. Obviously, we didn't win and that's the most important thing. So there's obviously room for improvement and that includes me."

*(On how excited he was after he threw a touchdown pass to Chad Jackson)
*"Yeah, I enjoy playing the game and all these guys do, too. We work hard and when we do something good, we should celebrate it. But like I said before, one or two good plays weren't enough."

*(On if he spoke to his receivers after the game about the catches they made and the routes they ran)
*"I told them. 'Good catch.' Those guys are great athletes and good players and those are the types of plays that they can make. I have to trust them and give them an opportunity to make those plays."

*(On if he gained more confidence when he played)
*"Sure. I'm still a young player on this team, learning every day and trying to grow, and staying up to speed."

*(On the 99-yard touchdown drive he directed at the end of the game)
*"Like I said, we strung some good plays together, but we still came up short. So it wasn't good enough."

Sammy Morris, Running Back
*(On what the offense did differently in the second half)
*"Overall, we just executed better. I'll have to go back and find it more so tomorrow by looking at the tape, but the easiest answer is that we executed better in all phases."

*(On Matt Gutierrez's performance)
*"Yeah, he does well. He's a confident guy and he plays hard and he was able to do some big things out there."

*(On how much the offense misses someone like Tom Brady)
*"Well, he's Tom Brady. That says enough right there. But regardless of who's out there it's up to us to execute and do our own job. It may come out where we may have to be without Tom. So it's up to whoever is in there to execute."

*(On if it's difficult to judge the offense without Brady playing)
*"There are a lot of things where there are injuries to other positions. It's difficult right now just because the people that are in there, we're not executing. Regardless of who's in there, we're not executing. That's the bottom line for us."

Kelley Washington, Wide Receiver*(On the play of the special teams)
*"We just haven't really found our groove on the special teams side of the ball. For myself, particularly, I felt rusty because it was my first game, but we just have to do a better job as a team, as a special teams unit, going down and making plays like we did last year. We're going to continue working on it in practice. We only have another week before we get started, but we take a lot of pride in our special teams unit, especially our kickoff, because the way we cover kicks really sets the tone. There's just no way we can have returns going back on us, putting our defense in a tough situation and putting our team in a tough situation. We struggled tonight as a unit, but we just have to go back to work and work on the things we struggled with tonight."

*(On playing his first game of the season)
*"I just feel rusty, coming back from a slight injury and getting back on the field. It was good to get out there, running around offensively and on special teams, just getting back into it. We just have to get back to work, watch some film and see what we need to improve on. That's what the preseason's about, getting things ready for the regular season."

Ellis Hobbs III, Cornerback*(On the team's performance)
*"There are no excuses for us. One thing we as professional athletes learn as you're in the league a couple years is a player must remain on an even keel. We can't be up and down, with the media and the fans, because it's a roller coaster and you allow your emotions to set in, especially so early in the season right now. The season hasn't even begun. I'm not necessarily saying we don't have problems that we need to correct, but having the sense and poise to know these things can be corrected and it's not too late."

*(On playing hard in the preseason)
*"It's about effort and guys having a desire to basically make the team, for everybody. No spots are written in stone, especially with the New England Patriots, whereas when this season begins, everyone is written in pencil. Bill [Belichick]'s always telling us the best players are going to play. Taking it further with the young guys, it's a sense of determination and a desire to refuse to be cut off of this team, where you're going to go out there and every play you're going to show up on film. That's what the preseason's all about, because you're not only auditioning to play with this team, but with 31 other teams if this team doesn't want you. "

John Lynch, Safety*(On how he felt out there tonight)
*"I'm starting to get more familiar with the defense. It obviously wasn't a good game for us as a team, but as I said I'm starting to learn the system and its fun when you know what your doing and can just go out there and play. I feel like I have a good grasp on it now but I'm going to have to grow on top of that."

*(On how he felt the defense and special teams played tonight)
*"We obviously have to work on our special teams because you can't win football games with returns like they had tonight. Everyone just needs to look at their job and see what they can do better. Defensively, I think we just need to hold them on third downs. We just have to go to work next week and get better."

*(On playing on the same field as Rodney Harrison)
*"I didn't get to play with him down in Tampa but he was out there tonight and carried a presence about him. He's the type of player who you know that is out there and it's going to be fun playing with him."

*(On if he feels the defense will play better when they scheme against individual teams rather than generic formation packages)
*"It's always a part of it but a part it for everyone else as well. As I said before, I think we all need to just work on the little details and worry about getting themselves better and we will start playing more productively as a unit."

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