HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK

CONFERENCE CALL
Monday, November 4, 2019

Q: It appeared your run defense struggled last night against the Ravens, especially sideline-to-sideline early in the game. When you watched the film, was it more a matter of the Ravens executing or your defense not controlling gaps?

BB: It was a combination of things. They're a good running team. We've got to coach better, we've got to play better, we just have to do a better job all the way around, so it was a little bit of everything.

Q: What did you see from the adjustments made in the second and third quarter where it seemed like your defense settled in a little bit better?

BB: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, we had our moments, but in the end, they did more than we did. We just have to do a better job. It's not any one thing or any one play or player or scheme or anything. We just have to coach better and have to play better. 

Q: What was your viewpoint on the action of the Ravens snapper, Morgan Cox, on the neutral zone infraction that they called on Shilique Calhoun?

BB: It doesn't matter what I think. It's the officials' game to call. 

Q: It looked like the ball moved a little bit. On his head coming up, is that a close call when you see that?

BB: Well, I think you should talk to the officiating department and ask them exactly how they officiate the play, and then that would be the right answer for you.

Q: In terms of how you coach your guys in that situation, whether they try to draw them off or not, is there any rule there for your player that you ask them to follow in that situation?

BB: Yeah, of course.

Q: And what is that?

BB: That's what we need to coach and execute the plays better.

Q: The pitch-and-catch from Tom Brady to James White that went for 30 yards, what helped it come together?

BB: It was an adjustment that we made and a great throw and a great catch. I mean, coverage was pretty good, but it was a great throw and a great catch, just like the play to [Mark] Andrews on third-and-5. It's the National Football League. Great players do that. 

Q: What did you learn about Lamar Jackson last night? Was it pretty much what you expected or did you take away some new things?

BB: Yeah, I mean, I think we've seen plenty of him. Obviously, there's a lot of things we could do better based on last night's game, so you learn something every week. 

Q: A lot of players played 100 percent of the offensive snaps last night. Did going into a bye week have any impact on that decision to ask more of these players, knowing there is an extra week to recuperate?

BB: No, I don't think we thought at all about the bye week. We were thinking about trying to compete as well as we could in the game last night. That's what was in our thought process. 

Q: On Julian Edelman's fumble, is that a situation where you have to tip your cap to the defender for punching the ball loose?

BB: Well, we're going to have guys punching at the ball every week. I mean, this is the National Football League, so that will happen 10 times in every game. 

Q: On Brady's interception, what happened on that play? Do you have a sense of what he was seeing and why he threw that?

BB: Yeah, I didn't really talk to Tom about that after the game or after the play. So, yeah, we kind of moved on. We'll talk about that when he comes in.

Q: From your perspective, what did you see on that?

BB: Yeah, I mean, did you ask him about it after the game?

Q: I wasn't able to, unfortunately.

BB: Yeah. Well, like I said, I didn't really talk to him about that play either. 

Q: How would you rate the offensive line play from last night? Did you see any adjustments made that got better as the game went on? Did Tom take a pretty good beating yesterday?

BB: I think I covered this, but all the way across the board in all three phases of the game – offense, defense, special teams – certainly the coaching and the playing and fundamentals all could be and need to be better. So, that goes for every position, every player, every coach. We've just got to do a better job. I don't know how else to put that except that's the truth. 

Q: For our purposes, you don't want to break it up group-by-group? You're satisfied putting everybody in that group?

BB: Yeah, because that's the way it is. It's not about rating what did or didn't happen. It's about correcting the mistakes and improving on them, and there's a lot of room for all of us to do that, and that's what we'll focus on – every player, every unit, every coach. I mean, when you look at it collectively, there are things we could have done better in every area that would have helped us, and we all need to address those and we all need to improve on them.