Patriots Players Postgame Transcripts 11/2
PATRIOTS PLAYERS
Stefon Diggs, WR
(On if being tied for the best team in the league was something he envisioned when signing with the team)
“No, hell no. I mean, it’s still early in the season. I just think we are at the halfway point. We are at a good spot. Could we be better? Hell yeah. Could we burst? We are only playing the guys in front of us. Envision and just taking it one week at a time, man. You know, when it is early in the season and people come out with all these rankings, or where you could have been. Don’t drink the Kool Aid. That gets you distracted fast.”
(On playing Tampa Bay next week)
“They’re a good team. Everybody knows that they’re a good team. Baker Mayfield’s a baller. He has been one of my favorite players since he was in college. They got a lot of explosive guys on the other side. We are going on the road again. There is a lot to prove for us.”
(On Drake Maye’s performance today)
“Chin up, chest out. That stuff happens. Receivers aren’t perfect, we aren’t always open doing the right stuff. But to be able to go out there and wheel to a win, I’ll take that any day, and I’m riding with Drake Maye.”
K’Lavon Chaisson, LB
(On what it took to come away with a close win)
“Grit and just a ‘next play’ mentality for sure. Obviously, they made some plays when they had to. They have some key play makers. The receivers made some decent plays, just keeping the drive going. So, just every time we get back to the sideline, we’re finding ways to get the drive stop, get off the field, and keep surviving.”
(On the key to his start today)
“I feel like that’s something that we kept saying, that we need to start off with a better first half, a better first drive. So, we had some great tendencies going into the game and once I got on the field, I was excited and ready to get my opportunity.”
(On the feel of momentum in the locker room)
“Most definitely, we’re not going to overlook that. We talked about it as a defense, the night before the game, just enjoy this and embrace what we’ve put on the table, what we put on film. We keep saying there’s some things that we want to get better in, but it’s a lot of things we’re doing right and some things that got us to six in a row.”
(On holding Bijan Robinson to under 50 yards)
“I guess it’s been impressive to the outside, but I feel like, internally, we all know the standard that we set for ourselves and something that we know we’re capable of. So, continuing every weekend, just to establish that run game and try to set a wall, so when we have the opportunity to rush the passer, we can be successful.”
Milton Williams, DT
(On being tied for the best record in the league)
“We’ve got a long way to go, it sounds good right now, but we aren’t anywhere near where we’re going to be. Just keep stacking wins when we can get the opportunity and build off of it.”
(On stopping the run and making the other team one dimensional)
“That’s our plan, we’ve been hearing that every week. Everybody’s going to come in and try to run the ball, we’re stopping the run. Like you said, making them one dimensional, doing what they pay us to do. We go get the quarterback, affect the game, do whatever, get the ball back for our team. I feel like we did okay today, not as much production as we want obviously, but we got the win, onto the next.”
(On preparing for and stopping Bijan Robinson)
“That’s a special back. If you ask me, it’s him and Saquon [Barkley] as the top two, so he’s a special back. We keyed in on him all week and what they were trying to do. At the end of the day, it’s on the front. I put it on the front every week, be where we’re supposed to be, put hands on the guy you’re supposed to be on, be in your gap. Like he said, make it one dimensional, so we can go out there and rush and get off the field on third down.”
Robert Spillane, LB
(On facing Bijan Robinson)
“Yeah, anytime you get to go up against the greatest in the league, it’s a fun challenge. Bijan Robinson, when he runs the ball, all 11 are at the point of attack. He can pick and choose where he wants to run the ball at any point. I’m really proud of our defensive line. Our defensive line has stepped up big for us all year. They continue to make plays in the run game and the pass game. Then, our secondary support, our tacklers, our corners, our safeties, and our nickel, who keep showing up in the run game, limiting some of these potentially big runs to two, three yard gains. That’s really huge for us as a defense.”
(On earning a win today)
“It means everything to us. We get 17 of these opportunities guaranteed, and you don’t take them lightly. Each one of these games is going to show up big later down the season in November and December. When you’re looking for a win, to come out of here with a win was huge for us today.”
(On continued defensive success against the run this season)
“It’s a mindset. It’s a willingness to stop the run at all costs. All 11 players on the field being dedicated to stopping the run game. If you have one corner that doesn’t want to tackle, those runs turn into big runs. Gonzo (Christian Gonzalez) sticks his nose in there every chance he gets, an elite shut-down corner. When he gets any opportunity to tackle on the edge, he comes up and fills those lanes. Same with Carlton [Davis III], and those are not easy for such a great cover player to say, my job is to cover, not make tackles in the run game. They dedicate themselves to setting hard edges and making physical tackles. So, I’m really proud of that, Marcus Jones included.”
(On how much pride he takes in statistical defensive success against the run)
“None, my pride comes from being who I am, the person I am, trying to be a good teammate as best as I could be. I don’t put my pride into stats. I’m really proud of how we’ve been able to stop these running backs, and then I want to see that continue going forward. But at the end of the day, I’m going to be proud of the effort that I put in.”
Christian Gonzalez, CB
(On playing more off coverage than press early on)
“It was just on calls. Certain calls I play off, certain plays I press. I kind of have freedom in whatever I think I should play. They were running certain routes early in the game and we made adjustments and went with it from there.”
(On how the cornerback room values helping in the run game)
“We look at it the same way as pass plays. Sometimes they want to design, the offense can design, to make corners tackle, make nickles tackle. We invited them, so we enjoy it, and we all feed off each other. The same way they get excited when we make a pass break up, I think they get more excited when we come up and make a tackle in the run game. It is awesome, it has been a lot of fun.”
(On Drake London)
“He is a talented receiver, like a lot of receivers in this league. We had our battles. He won a couple, I won a couple. That is the nature of this position, is you just have to make plays. They are going to make catches, they get paid to, so I am just glad we won.”
(On the pass breakup on fourth-and-two)
“It was just outside, I saw the motion. They wanted to get a lot of inside breaking routes. Felt I had a beat on it, and you just trust your instincts and go and make a play.”
Terrell Jennings, RB
(On how it felt to score a touchdown during a winning game)
“This day was special in a way since it was our salute to service. I celebrated Brett Conway, his life today. Last night, I had lost a really close, he wasn’t a family member, but he was a close friend to my family. So, I was just balling for them today, and I can really say it was my team. That’s all I could think about with that first touchdown. My team, all the work we put in, they were more excited than me for the touchdown.”
(On how far he has come on the team)
“I give my blessings to God and my teammates. They push me every day, get me prepared for those moments. That’s what it is.”
(On how he contributes in small and larger ways offensively)
“Every week I prepare to be the best player for my team. If it is special teams, if it’s running back, if it’s having a conversation with a guy, I want to be the best at it anyways. I want to thank my coaches for putting me in a position to make those plays and be able to be on the field after a touchdown. That’s amazing to me.”
(On what was going through his mind after his touchdown)
“I saw the hole. As soon as I touched the end zone, I just praised the Lord. I’m thanking God in my head, like, thank you God. This is what I play the game for, to get in the end zone. My teammates being there, that made the whole experience better.”
Garrett Bradbury, C
(On miscues today and Drake Maye’s comments on improving)
“I think that’s everyone in this locker room right now. Obviously, you’re happy you won, but the Drake [Maye] miscues that he’s beating himself up on, we had our hand in it, too. It was protection issues, and we tried to make him do something that’s outside of what he’s coached to do. We have to be better for him. We have to clean the pocket up a little bit and give him some throwing lanes, because when we do, everyone knows how good he can be. That’s how we all feel. Even after blowout wins, all you do is think about plays you could have had back. If you can keep that attitude and keep wanting more and more and more, I think this whole locker room can do that, then we’ll be where we want to be.”
(On commonalities in the opponent rush week-to-week)
“This [game] was different. We knew they were going to bring five or more every play, so it was a good challenge for us. There were good pockets at times and there were some things we can do better, obviously, but every week is a new challenge. There’s different rushers, different patterns. They ran a lot of games today with pressure. Throughout a season, you’re going to see it all, and it’s about how you can say, ‘alright, we’ve seen it once, now we can fix it.’ We’ll get it again because it’s a copycat league, so how can we do better?”
Marcus Jones, CB
(On Salute to Service)
“First off, I want to start out with Salute to Service. It means a lot to me. I have a father that served 32 years in the Army, so it’s always been big for me. I met a lot of people today and stuff like that. It was definitely heartfelt for me. Being in that space means a lot to me.”..
(On defensive strategy down the stretch and Will Campbell’s effort to make the tackle at the 6-yard line after the fumble)
“Defensively, it’s all about adjustments. There’s plays that they made that we need to get corrected, and then there’s also plays that we made as well. But the effort from Will [Campbell] was undeniable. I’m glad that he got the guy down. I know they scored on that drive, but it made them play one more play.”
(On Drake London’s second touchdown)
“They were in a bunch formation. They motioned a guy out. It’s a great play call that they ended up having. I would say, at the end of the day, you just have to make a play. He made a play. I didn’t get the ball out, and that’s just a great player making a great play.”
(On how the team’s win streak teaches them how to win games)
“Every game in the National Football League is, first off, not going to be a blowout. That’s what it is, so games like these, we learn from them, but it’s also a W. Whenever you’re able to know that you can not play a clean game and still get the W, it means a lot, because we know that there’s a lot of things that we need to get corrected. It’s not saying that we don’t try to do those things, but we have to learn from them and scratch it off the list and get ready for next week.”
(On in-game defensive adjustments)
“It’s always adjustments. We had certain plans that we had at the beginning, but as the game goes on, we start to see what they do and adjust from there.”
DeMario Douglas, WR
(On his 58-yard run)
“Before I answer that though, I want to give a shout out to the Jack Casey family. I was reading it before the game, and he loved the Patriots. I want to say a shout out to that family because I know it’s hard. I lost somebody yesterday, and I feel their pain. It’s definitely hard. Then for your question, I stay stumbling. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what it is, but had a cross route and caught it. I thought he was closer, but he wasn’t. So, I hit my knee, got up and I started stumbling from there. Then I saw the dude in my peripheral, so I just lowered the shoulder.”
(On his first 100-yard receiving game)
“It’s a blessing, man. I’ve been trying to get it, trying to get it in New Orleans and that kind of went away. But definitely feels good and definitely getting it with the win, that makes it better.”
(On his touchdown and what went into having him in the backfield)
“I’m in the backfield. We know they kind of go man here and there. So, me in the backfield, I could line up with the linebacker. So, Coach [Josh] McDaniels did a great job of scheming that play up. As I come off, I see a D-end on me. That might be a backer lined up at the end. I couldn’t really pay attention because I was just running by him. But as soon as I saw him try to connect with me, I just ran past him, but that’s a good play called by Coach McDaniels.”
(On how much it meant to him and Terrell Jennings to both score on the same day after growing up with Terrell and losing someone yesterday)
“He was with us. This whole morning was hard. As people came up to me – my eyes kind of getting a little – but as people came up to me, I tried to try to keep – I can’t even think. I just tried to be a man, and I just had to put my head down. I just know he was with me, and he was with Terrell, too. He got a touchdown, too. And that’s a blessing. We waited for this moment. Terrell did. He trusted the process, and he’s capitalizing and that’s a blessing.”
Mack Hollins, WR
(On preparing to play three games in 11 days)
“Play it one at a time. I think it’s tough to look ahead and say, ‘oh well, how do I need to prepare for the third game or the second game?’ Let sports medicine or sports science do that stuff and make sure you’re ready for whatever game it is. If we have a game tomorrow, prepare for the game tomorrow. Don’t worry about the game a week from now or two weeks from now.”
(On the militia costume he wore while arriving for the game)
“Well, you know, Salute to Service. We have the militia, which I think is very unique to this team versus the rest of the NFL. I thought it was a good opportunity to join them, and it’s the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War. So, it kind of all timed up pretty well. It was cool to see those guys in the end zone every week, and then be able to get in their uniform, and get a little bit of love and show a little bit of respect for them.”
(On facing Atlanta’s secondary and defense)
“Yeah, I think Coach [Todd] Downing always talks about route definition and giving the quarterback a good signal on your routes that, ‘hey, I’m breaking and I’m trying to come over right now.’ This is stuff that we’ve worked on since OTA’s. This league, I wouldn’t say, plays as much man as it once did, but when you get opportunities to play against not only a man team but a team that plays at a high level, you have to have the route definition. You have to be where the quarterback expects you to be, because that’s the only way it works altogether, and I think the guys did a great job with that.”
(On DeMario Douglas’ performance and the versatility of the receiving group)
“Yeah, I think he did great. I’m not shocked in any way by it. It’s fun being in this group where you don’t know who’s going to get it. So, everybody’s like, ‘oh, maybe it’s me this week,’ but I think that also makes it hard for defenses to go against us. You can’t say, ‘oh, well, I’m just going to cover Pop [DeMario Douglas] this week because somebody else could go for 100.’ It could be a tight end, it could be a running back, it could be another receiver. So, it’s great to have those complements to each other, and I think Josh [McDaniels] is doing a great job of calling it. Everybody knows that any week could be their week.”