Patriots Players Postgame Quotes 9/7
Jaylinn Hawkins, S
(On what he can take from this game to move onto next week…)
“I would say for one, it wasn’t good enough. We’ve got to focus on the details, the little things that got us beat. No matter what call, no matter what we’re in, we’ve got to find a way, and that means honing in on the details, playing team defense, not chasing things and coming out for that second half, carrying that momentum and finishing the second half. That’s just the biggest thing is sticking together through that, as a team and as a unit.”
(On the plan against Brock Bowers…)
“We had a couple doubles on him. We had some plans where we were leaning him and stuff like that. He did his thing. He had a good game. He’s a good player. He did his thing.”
(On his interception…)
“I was just back there in the post, reading the quarterback. I kind of saw his back foot triggered. I went and trusted myself, and the ball fell in my hands. Rush and coverage married up together. We had a good rush; the boys up front were doing their thing. Then we had good coverage from the corners and nickel.”
(On the defense settling down after the first drive and what he feels like fell off toward the end…)
“We just started to play our ball. We started to figure it out. Coming into the first game and playing against teams with new coaches, new coordinators, you don’t really have too much of an idea of what they’re doing. You kind of do; you have the basic gist of things, but you don’t have as many tendencies. So, you’ve kind of got to go out there, the first 15’s the script, see what they’re doing, then you’re like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to settle down, play our ball.’ The juices are flowing, home opener, everybody’s turnt, and we settled down and played our ball. Going into the second half, we gave up too many explosives. That was the biggest thing, eliminating the X plays. I tip my hat off to those boys, they did their thing, and we’ve just got to eliminate those X plays.”
(On if the X plays were the Raiders’ scheming up of the defense or more of a miscommunication…)
“I would say just us and the details. At the end of the day, no matter what call, no matter what we’re in, that’s on us. That’s on us; that’s on us. I take full blame, my dawgs take full blame, that’s on us. So, we’ll be better. We’ll come back to work tomorrow, watch the tape, flush it and then move forward.”
(On the communication in the secondary…)
“The communication was good. I feel like everybody was aligned and knew what they were doing. It’s just the biggest thing is like I said, honing in on the details and execution, and executing. Executing, that’s just the biggest thing.”
(On what he felt like the Raiders’ game plan was and how he feels like it evolved in the second half…)
“With them, they have tendencies of plays repeating and stuff like that. Then we got in a couple different calls, they schemed some things up, they had a couple good plays planned, and they executed. We just didn’t do what we were supposed to do, so that’s that.”
Harold Landry III, LB
(On the game today)
“I feel like we came out with good energy, I felt like we settled down after that first drive. I felt like you could see the glimpse of dominance that our defense has. I think [Mike] Vrabel has been talking about it for several weeks now, about how this Week One’s going to come down to the second half. We’ve been emphasizing that a lot and for whatever reason, we have to look at the film, but we just didn’t come out in the second half ready to take over the game, win the game in the second half like how we’ve been practicing. It’s Week One, nobody in this league is going undefeated. We just got to come in ready to work tomorrow, learn from the corrections, move forward, and improve.”
(On what they can build off of from this game)
“We all know on the defensive side of the ball; the sky’s the limit for us. I think for us it’s just that consistency snapping in and snapping out and not having any lapses. You can easily tell that we have so much potential on that side of the ball. We just have to come to work, leaders have to lead, and we just have to come to work tomorrow ready to improve, hungry to improve. You can see it, this is an exciting defense, I’m excited to be a part of it. Like I said, we just have to be more consistent, snap in, snap out, have no lapses.”
(On what he saw from the Raiders offensive line)
“We knew that this game could be a game that we could dominate up front. I thought T [Terrell Williams] had said it best when he had talked to us before the game, how all week, we’re talking about who they have, but they need to be worried about who we have. That really hit me, but we were prepared for this game, felt like we had a great game plan. I felt like for the most part we went out there and executed, we just had too many lapses with X plays and not really making them earn it. I felt like you can definitely see how dominate we can be up front, and we just have to come in here ready to work tomorrow. It’s the NFL, it’s onto the next week after you watch the film.”
(On Vrabel’s corrections and messages in the upcoming week)
“It’s going to be to come in, be ready to work, make the corrections. You have to be hungry to improve, it’s Week One. Nobody’s going to be talking about this week in a couple weeks, you got to be ready to make the corrections, be critical of yourself, and find ways to improve. Find a way to be more consistent, Vrabes isn’t going to change, he knows what it takes to win in this league, and he knows that the guys just got to come in here ready to work.”
Kayshon Boutte, WR
(On seeming to struggle more in the second half and what the difference was)
“I think we all have to be on the same track more. I don’t know if we felt settled in at halftime because we were up, or the weather wasn’t how we wanted, it was rainy. I feel like we could have had more energy going into the second half.”
(On if the weather affected their play after preparing on a nice day)
“We expected rain. I think everybody controlled their part of the game. As receivers in the rain to focus more on the slippery balls.”
(On if he and Drake Maye displayed a continuation of the chemistry they built in training camp)
“Yes. We have been working together since OTAs. Travelling from OTAs to training camp and keep putting in the work every day, day in and day out.”
(On if the energy in the second half was surprising to him after Mike Vrabel talked about winning the second half during the week)
“As we all know, we obviously didn’t win the second half. We have to look back at the film tomorrow and see where we could have been better and figure it all out.”
(On what the good production from players despite not taking many long shots downfield says about the development of the offense, team and himself)
“They are more of a zone team so they are taking away our deep balls and playing everything underneath. That was pretty much their scheme going into this week. They switched it up on us a little bit. It was great for us to see. We’ve got to be able to adjust to it next time.
(On how disappointing the loss was for him and what they can take with them to prepare for Miami)
“I don’t want to say it was disappointing. I just look at it like we can be better. Maybe we go back and watch film tomorrow. There are a couple plays we left out on the field that can be better. Then we go to Tuesday, put this game behind us and focus on next week.”
Robert Spillane, LB
(On what he saw from the second half that he feels hurt the team)
“No doubt. We are going to have to look at the film to get the exact details on how we can clean up, learn from this, and move on.”
(On the message in the locker room after a loss like this with a long road ahead of them)
“We do have a long road ahead of us. It is a brand new team, brand new year. This is one game. We have a big week ahead of us to bounce back from for Miami.”
(On what they have learned that they can take into the next week)
“I am really proud of how our guys fought. We need to clean up the details. We need to get tighter coverage, get home better on the rush, stop the run, and do all those things. This is a continual process and we will get in tomorrow and work on everything.”
(On what the team can build off of that they were able to do in the late first quarter into second quarter)
“Yes, we just need to stay with it. Like Coach [Mike] Vrabel preaches, that second half is where games are won and lost. We just didn’t play well enough in the second half to get the job done.”
(What was it about Geno Smith today that made him so difficult to stop?)
“Yeah, I think he did a great job with the RPO, getting linebackers sucked up, myself included. He found the soft spot in the zones behind. We’ve got to get in the lab and focus on it. Other teams are going to try to attack us in the exact same way. They are watching the same film we are watching. I know Coach Vrabel and Coach T [Terrell Williams] are going to have a great plan for us next week. We are going to go forward with that.”
Will Campbell, OL
(On his perspective on a chip block and sack gave up)
“I just had to block, nobody else other than me. Got to get better, we’ll watch the tape and learn from it and fix it.”
(On processing a loss)
“You look over what we could have done better. As a standpoint from up front, what I could have done better and what we could have done better collectively as an offense. Our defense played their balls off and we got to help them out, so that’s what we’re going to do. We got to get in the film room and find ways to get better.”
(On what he expected to see and what was unexpected in his NFL debut)
“It’s the NFL, you expect a good team. You played a good team. Whenever we don’t play up to our standard, it doesn’t go our way and that’s exactly what happened.”
Stefon Diggs, WR
(On not being able to execute in the second half)
“Obviously falling short is not ideal, but it’s a lot to learn from. It’s just the first game and I feel like we are a good team. We got to earn the right to win each and every week. We did not win this week. 24 hour rule, flush it, get back to work. We already know what happened out there as far as what we did not do right. So get back in the lab, correct it, and try to get back on track.”
(On what the offense needs to focus on)
“Executing, staying in the green. I think playing at a high level, we got a lot of guys that can make plays. But as far as staying in the green consistently, making the right plays, being consistent.”
(On his individual performance)
“Decent, it was my first game back, I was just happy to be back. It is a lot of plays out there, we got a lot of players too. So, doing my job is important to me, and I am continuing to do that.”
(On whether he was surprised by anything returning to game action)
“No, I’ve been doing it for a little while now. If it was my first couple years, it probably would be. I had a conversation with TreVeyon [Henderson], ‘it is a little faster than the preseason.’ He said yeah, but he is a fast guy so he is getting adjusted. For me I just missed it. I had a couple in there where I got tackled. I miss getting tackled. You know I hate getting tackled, but I missed it.”
(On playing with Drake Maye for the first time)
“It was cool. It was my first time in the huddle with him. It is not too different than practice. He is a guy that is super hard on himself. We are pulling for him, we just got to continue that positive reinforcement and that positive encouragement. Quarterback is a very hard job so letting him know that you got his back and going to be available for him is going to be key in our success.”
(On playing for Mike Vrabel in his first game as head coach for the team)
“That is a guy you want to run through a wall for. He obviously was a player and I got a lot of respect for him, we all do. When you come up short it is like when you disappoint your parents or disappoint your dad. A guy that played this game, he puts a lot of time in as far as pushing us and trying to make sure we’re prepared for the game. So, when you fall short in certain areas you feel a little bit of disappointment, but 24-hour rule, we’ll flush it, get back to work, and show that we can be the team we want to be.”
(On how he will feel physically tomorrow after getting hit and playing in game action)
“I am ready to get back to work. I have been playing football since I was five, so I am actually very ready to get back to work.”
Hunter Henry, TE
(On the impact of a week one loss)
“We all have to look at ourselves in the mirror and what we want to be. It’s a long season ahead. Yes, it’s just one game but, at the same time, every game is important. We have to learn from it fast, and be able to get better fast.”
(On his assessment of why the offensive rhythm stalled out after the second quarter)
“I don’t think I could pinpoint something until I break it down, but it’s on all of us. We have to make a play and guys have to continue to do their job at a high level. We just weren’t able to execute the little details and that comes back to bite you at this level.”
(On if the second half was disappointing after Mike Vrabel emphasized finishing in the second half during training camp this year)
“Yeah, it’s disappointing. It starts with myself. Everyone has to look at themselves and ask what we can do to be better. It felt like we were in pretty good shape, but it’s just executing some of those things in the second half a little bit better.”
(On his first taste of the new system and how to flush this game)
“Yeah, we obviously have a lot to learn about tomorrow, but then, we’ve got to flush it fast, because we’ve got another game pretty soon.”
(On the process of establishing a strong, reliable connection with Drake Maye)
“A lot of game reps. We’re still working through a lot of things, just in this scheme and this system, but he’s a tremendous talent. We can continue to get better, and I’m just trying to be a guy that he can rely on.”
Milton Williams, DT
(On what adjustments the defensive line needs to make)
“Yeah, we’re just trying to execute and make the adjustments, making sure we’re where we need to be when they want us to be there. We did a pretty good job stopping them on the ground, but we need to do a better job in the air.”
(On the spark Harold Landry III provided to the defense)
“He’s just a competitor. He’s been there and done that. Just to see him out there and executing at the D-line is big for us and it’s going to continue that way.”
(On containing Ashton Jeanty)
“Yeah, I feel like we executed on the ground. We held them to under 100 yards rushing, which is always good for us. We knew coming in that they didn’t draft him in the first round for no reason and he was going to get the ball. We were ready for it, so we did good tonight.”
(On the message in the locker room postgame)
“Watch the tape, get better and flush it. Week one. It’s a long run of games, 16 more games. Just build off of this one from the good and flush the bad. Try not to dwell on too much and get ready for next week.”
Kyle Dugger, S
(On how it seemed like the Raiders passing game got free in the second half and what happened defensively)
“They were making plays. It was hard to tell. I didn’t really see. I’d have to watch the film and see what happened, but they were making plays, no doubt.”
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