Patriots Players Postgame Transcripts 10/11
PATRIOTS PLAYERS
Efton Chism III, WR
(On where the unselfishness in the receiver room comes from…)
“I think it’s just how much respect we have for everyone’s work ethic on a day-to-day basis. We love each other, we’re a tight group. I love seeing Kyle [Williams] score, Rome [Doubs] score, Pop [DeMario Douglas], it’s just so awesome. Even with Mack [Hollins] and A.J. [Brown] out, and everyone is just so close and tight. It’s an awesome room; I’m very blessed to be a part of it.”
(On the lateral pass to TreVeyon Henderson)
“He was there, I don’t know. I’ve got nothing for that. I had to take a deep breath, you have to get the play started before something happens like that. I was just trying to get it started, be there for Drake [Maye] and get it going in the first place.”
(On the offensive rhythm and Drake’s play…)
“It’s awesome, I think I said this last week, we have so much belief in Drake and that he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league. We just have to prepare each and every day like that and not take Monday through Saturday for granted.”
(On how the game is when Drake plays so well…)
“I think any day we come out here, it’s fun. I try to treat it as a playground, not as work. I try to come out here, always have fun, but like you said, when Drake is dialed, he’s one of the best quarterbacks on a week-to-week basis, not just on Sunday. You guys only see a glimpse of it, but he works his tail off, I love him as our quarterback.”
DeMario Douglas, WR
(On the offense breaking out today…)
“Straining. I feel like everybody strained, and a big word of this week was opportunity. I feel like a lot of people got a lot of opportunity to go out there and do what they needed to do, and I’m proud of this team..”
(On the unselfishness of the WR group…)
“It starts with our coaches. TD [Todd Downing] has been preaching serving. I feel like that’s what God put us on this earth to do: to serve others. I feel like our group has been harping on that. Run play, we’ve got to serve the running back. Serve whoever it needs to. Pass play, serve Drake [Maye]. Give him the confidence to throw that ball. So, I feel like it’s been good.”
(On what it means for him to see Drake Maye smiling on the sideline…)
“Yeah, that’s our leader. I feel like for offense and defense, how he carries himself means a lot. I feel like how he carries himself is by example. I feel like for us, we need to carry ourselves like that, too. Ups and downs, still got to stay straight. I love how Drake carries himself. It’s a blessing. Anybody, from those past games, anybody could’ve been down on themselves. Not him. He came to work. He came to work, and we still were like, ‘Hey, I need you. I’ve got your back, Drake.’ It’s like that on this team, and I feel like that’s what’s been taking us to that next step.”
Kyle Williams, WR
(On where the wide receiver group not caring who gets the ball or scores touchdowns comes from…)
“Just your brothers, man. I mean, you see how much work they put in. For me, as I’ve always been, ‘If one eat, we all eat.’ So, just seeing the joy on their faces, I think that’s a priceless feeling that you can have. You can always feel good for yourself, but when you start feeling good for other people, I mean, that’s the greatest feeling in the world. So, we just want to see each other eat and see each other do our best. So, it’s just like this. There’s no grudges when people are having fun out there, man. I just love to see everybody eat.”
(On who has helped give him confidence…)
“I mean, I’ll say my whole receiving room. TD [Todd Downing] has been big in my corner. I mean, somebody that uplifts me every day. You got Rome [Romeo Doubs]. From Rome, Mack [Hollins], Chis [Efton Chism III], Pop [DeMario Douglas]. I mean, the whole receiving room, the whole team, we’re just good at uplifting people, bringing the juice, bringing the energy. When things look a little slow and foggy, you’ve just got great people around you that are able to uplift you and uplift your spirit. So, it’s a great group, man.”
(On the talent in the WR room and the performance today despite missing A.J. Brown and Mack Hollins…)
“I mean, we have a lot of talent. Like I said, everybody could do everything in that room. So, when you have a room like that, it’s easy when people go down, for them to step up, because it’s like we already know what they come with. The preparation, if you see how we come in each and every day from start to finish, I mean, it’s not even a question of why it happened or how it happened, because it was the preparation that led us here today.”
Caleb Lomu, T
(On why the team does well embracing the next man up mentality…)
“That’s just one of the things that Vrabes [Mike Vrabel], and even just this league, is all about. Lots of things can happen. Injuries are a part of football, which sucks. Praying for everyone who has an injury, especially Will [Campbell]. But whatever happens, you’ve got to prepare like a starter, is what Coach Vrabes tells us. It’s completely true; anything can happen. So, prepare as a starter throughout the week, even if you’re not going to start because things like this can happen.”
(On what was going through his mind when his number was called…)
“I was just ready to go. Just like I said, prepare like a starter no matter what happens. As soon as it happened, I was ready to go do what I could to help the team win, and that’s what we did.”
(On the key to keeping it rolling…)
“One of the things is staying connected as an offense. Especially with all the plays that we have, working together just to do your part. So, just staying connected for everything with great communication out there on the field is the biggest thing, and I think that was the key.”
Morgan Moses, T
(On the previous criticism of Drake Maye…)
“We’ve got a quarterback that’s a hell of a leader. And this whole team believes in him. He’s our guy, and it doesn’t matter what goes on. We know the capabilities that he has. He never gets down. He never gets too high. That’s what you want in your leader, and we look forward to having No. 10 behind us every game.
(On Caleb Lomu…)
“He’s confident, man. That’s the most important thing. You never know when your number’s going to be called, and obviously he’s been able to get some snaps at the big tight end spots. So, he’s been able to get used to the speed from preseason into the regular season. So, that’s always good. But he works hard. He’s a young rookie that asks a lot of questions in meetings. And he asks like, ‘Hey, how do you see things?’ I think when you build that camaraderie off the field to be able to ask questions in meetings with me and Will [Campbell], it just boosts the morale for everybody. So, I think he came in, and obviously, we’ve got to look at the film. There are some things that we all got to correct. But I think he did a hell of a job.”
(On the team identity helping them show up…)
“Our identity shows up on the road and at home. The number one thing, it doesn’t matter who’s on the field with us, it’s to protect this house. We did that today, and it takes all 11 on all sides of the ball: offense, defense, and special teams. I think we played a hell of a game of complimentary football.”
Elijah Ponder, LB
(On his production…)
“I’m just trying to make plays to help the team win. So, in whatever way I can do that, I’m excited. Blessed to have the 2 sacks, and just got to keep rolling.”
(On what it means for him to see Drake Maye smiling on the sideline…)
“Yeah, that’s our guy, that’s our quarterback. He’s leading this team. So, whenever we see him, he’s in a great mood, we can all build off of that. Even if he is down, we’re picking him up regardless because we’re all teammates. We’re a brotherhood, a family. So yeah, it’s great to see him smiling out there, having fun, making plays.”
(On his journey to the league and having success…)
“Absolutely. I’m grateful for all the opportunities I have now and that I had last year. I’m just trying to keep building off of that, make it worthwhile. He [Coach Mike Vrabel] gave me those opportunities, and I just want to pay it back, pay it forward.”
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB
(On Drake Maye giving credit to everyone else…)
“I mean, that’s why we respect that guy so much. He always pays it forward. He’s just a selfless guy at the end of the day. He’s a great quarterback, a great teammate, one of the better teammates I’ve been around. He’s a younger player, so that says a lot about him. A great player, and just excited for him, proud of him.”
(On DeMario Douglas, Kyle Williams and Efton Chism III…)
“I see this every day in practice. Those same guys you just mentioned come to work and come to work hard every day. So, it’s not really a surprise. Proud of those guys and how it’s paying off for them. But just as a team, we need to stay consistent and keep rolling like this every Sunday.”
(On the team overcoming injuries…)
“We hate to see it. We want everybody on this football team to be available and help us win. But the game of football in the NFL, that’s going to come. This year has been a lot more than we would want, but it’s just next man up mentality. It speaks to the volume, practice squad people or people that don’t really get that many opportunities. So, just speaks to how locked in they are. They come in to work every day, and I’m proud of them. We’ve got to keep it going until we get the guys back.”
Hunter Henry, TE
(On what’s been different for the offense the last two weeks…)
“We’re just staying out of our own way. That’s where it starts, man. Honestly, early in the season, we did a lot of good things. We would get to the fringe, the midfield, and have a penalty, a turnover. We just honestly stopped beating ourselves. We still have a lot of things we got to clean up, but we were able to bounce back and execute at a high level today, and it was a lot of fun. A lot of guys got involved, and that’s always what you want in offense.”
(On slowing down Maxx Crosby…)
“So much respect for that guy, man. Just a heck of a player. We have a ton of respect for him and just all he’s done in this league and this year. He can wreck a game pretty fast. So, I’m over there a lot, chipping and throwing little extra jabs to help out. The offensive line does a great job. Morgan [Moses] on the right with a lot against him, and Morgan does a great job, man. A guy that I love going to work with is a guy like Morgan who’s a lot of fun to compete with and has been in this league for a long time and I have a ton of respect for. It was kind of a team effort to take care of that guy.”
(On his touchdown…)
“I should have got it in the first quarter. I feel like I lead the league in tackles inside the 3 [yard-line], not getting in the end zone. I’ve got to find a way to get in. But it’s always good to get in, man. Honestly, right before the half is always big. Last week, we didn’t have a great two-minute drive going into half, and that was something we needed to work on to put something together. Knowing we had the ball coming out of half to execute that and get some points was huge.”
(On four of the seven scoring drives being under three minutes…)
“It’s nice. It’s always good to wear a team down on a long drive, but it’s always nice to have a few explosives and just get down the field really fast. Obviously, scheme is always good. Josh [McDaniels] made some great calls and then when you call those calls, the guys have to go execute them. Offensive football takes all 11 guys and staying connected and making a play. Drake [Maye] made a lot of great throws, but up front, those guys were working their tails off today against a good front. It was a credit to them for sure.”
Kevin Byard III, S
(On the performance today…)
“I mean, this is a great team win today. We knew coming into this game, especially on the back end, we had a lot of injuries. Everybody’s dealing with something right now. But first and foremost, to see the offense put up 45 points was so great. Drake Maye, these past two games, he’s been playing lights out. The man, the quarterback, we all know who he is. It was a phenomenal win on both sides of the ball. Again, turnovers, turnover on downs, sudden change stops and stuff like that. So, this is a quality team win. It’s something we can build upon.”
(On the key to keeping Kirk Cousins in check…)
“We wanted to try to assault the middle of the pocket. I think it was the first drive, or the second drive actually, that we gave him some yards there. We’ve got to be a lot better on defense, even particularly myself on the penalty. But I think after that, we wanted to heat him up a little bit. So, we started to blitz and do some things like that. I think we were able to force him into throwing the ball away, chucking it, or whatever it may be.”
(On Drake Maye’s performance…)
“He played phenomenal today. And I’ve said this all along, this team, this organization believes in Drake Maye. We know what kind of quarterback he is, and I think he showed that the past two weeks. But I know him. He was not going to pay attention to it when people said he was struggling, and he’s not going to pay attention to it now. He’s going to keep going back to work. And that’s why we love him. That’s the type of character that he has as quarterback.”
Robert Spillane, LB
(On what today’s performance says about the defense despite injuries…)
“It says we’re really well-connected. We trust each other as a team. We trust whoever’s on the field to do their job. They’re one-eleventh, and like I said, we had a bunch of guys step up and really provide huge plays for us. Kindle [Vildor] getting that ball out on the turnover, solidifying the game. I just thought that overall, so many guys stepped in today and really did a good job for us.
(On what today meant to him…)
“Yeah, I mean, these days are few and far between. You’re only guaranteed 17 opportunities, and we work our whole lives for these moments. Three hundred and sixty-five days out of the year, we prepare ourselves for these 17 opportunities. To go out there and help the team get a win today, it makes my soul whole, in a way. I know we have a locker room full of guys that do everything they can just to help this team in any way they can, so just proud of our unit.
(On the third-down blitzes and the cornerbacks’ performance…)
“Yeah, they showed up huge. Like I said, when you blitz, those corners are out there solo-dolo a lot of the times. They really stood up, not only making the plays, but helping us get off the field on numerous occasions, getting the ball out, turnovers. I’m just really proud of all those guys. At the end of the day, we knew they were going to step up. They’ve prepared to be starters their whole career.”
Milton Williams, DT
(On the increasing injuries and the defense still performing well…)
“It’s a standard. It’s a standard that we want to hold up as a defense, as a team. We’ve always preached it. Whoever’s in there, whoever’s not out there, we’ve got to hold up that standard and play to our identity. No doubt we did that today.”
(On Elijah Ponder’s growth this season…)
“Baller. I’m not surprised at what he’s doing. He comes in every day with the same mindset, just working. At practice, work’s one extra mile, takes care of his body. He ain’t in a rush. You see him up there doing what he’s supposed to do. He’s making the most of his opportunity. So, he’s going to keep getting more and more. I’m proud of him and I’m happy for him.”
(On how Coach Mike Vrabel keeps the team motivated…)
“Just challenging us, week in, week out, coaching his tail off. Not letting us slip, not letting us slide. Preaching the details all the time. That’s just who he is. He’s not letting us waver. Just being consistent, being the answer to what our team needs. Live up to the identity everyone sets, each and every week.”
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