Post Game Press Conference – Patriots Players
Hunter Henry, TE
(On his performance despite coming up short)
“We were in a rhythm early. I feel like in the third quarter, we stalled. We have to be better, coming out fast in the second half. I feel like we were able to run the ball late, which we had a lot of success with. I wish we were able to execute there in overtime, on that third down, and even on the early downs. I wish we put ourselves ahead of the chains in a better position so we could finish it.”
(On his chemistry with Jacoby Brissett)
“It’s been good. I missed a good amount of time in camp, so I’m just trying to get back in the swing of things. I’m feeling good, and just have to continue to build. I know there were some good things we did out there, but we have to do better. There’s still some plays that can be made out there. We need those plays, because obviously, we came up just short.”
(On how his success today can translate to the receiver room)
“They were playing a lot of zone. We were able to execute some things. We’re going to need those guys. We’ve got a good group in there. They need to hold their heads high, because we’re going to need them to make big plays. The ball wasn’t finding them today, but we’re going to need them this week and going forward.”
(On the state of the tight end room)
“I think we’re doing well. There’s some things that we have to clean up. It’s early in the season. I’ve got to be better on certain things, especially in the run game. I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to do better in the pass game. I had some success getting the ball today, but I think there’s areas I can clean up to continue to get better. That’s my main goal this week and going forward. Continuing to climb, continuing to get better, and learning from this. It stinks to lose the home opener the way we did. We competed really hard. We’ve got to keep going. We have a good football team. That was a good football team that we played against. We’ve got the pieces. We just have to put it all together.”
David Andrews, C
(On takeaways and learning from this game)
“We always talk [about it], there are a few plays here and there and you don’t know which ones they are. They might be mundane, they might be critical situations and so we will have to go back and clean those up. We had our chances to win. I’m proud of the way all sides of the ball competed. All you can really ask for is a chance to win and we had one and kind of gave it up. That is the NFL and now we have a quick turnaround, so we’ll rinse this one out and get ready to go next week.”
(On changes to the personnel on the offensive line)
“There are things we did well today, there are things that we need to improve on. I think Jacoby [Brissett] got hit too much. I haven’t seen the film obviously but I’m turning around seeing things, feeling things. We’ve got to do a better job and get more production from our passing game which is something I’ve always said is a team effort from everybody. It’s not just one person or one position group, it takes a team: all 11 guys on offense to do that and it’s what we will try to do this week.”
(On the third-down play in overtime)
“We had a play and just obviously didn’t get it done right. We will have to go back and look at it and see what we can correct. Like I said, there are multiple plays and moments throughout the game where you look at them and say ‘man, I wish had that one back.’ You do that even after a win but it’s more glaring after a loss. You never know when the crucial moments are and that was one of them. Obviously, after a loss, there will seem like there are a lot more so we will have to correct it and move forward.”
(On his confidence in the run game)
“I have a lot. I think we are a physical team. We have two really good backs. It was good to get AG [Antonio Gibson] going a little bit. There are games where you have that and you will have success, but we just have to get more production in the passing game up front and in all four position groups. If we start doing that and putting it together, we will see a lot of success so we will correct it and move forward. But in the running game, I thought we [were] physical, our backs ran hard. So, we will clean it up, take the good and keep moving forward.”
Keion White, DE
(On coming up just short after a back-and-forth game)
“First and foremost, Jacoby [Brissett] and the offense did what they needed to do for us to get the win today. I feel like as a defense, we need to play better, me included: defensive line, defensive backs, linebackers, everybody. So we need to go to the drawing board, watch the film. It’s a short week and that’s what [football] is all about: making corrections.”
(On what specific adjustments need to be made during a short week)
“I have no idea, I just got off the field, so I haven’t had the chance to watch the film. I’m confident in our coaches, I’m confident in Demarcus [Covington] to make the corrections and get us to where we need to be and those adjustments are for him to decide.”
(On Geno Smith’s cadence and no huddle offense affecting defense)
“They play fast. Again, as far as we played as a defense, I just know we didn’t play well enough. I don’t know what we did, I don’t know what we need to do better. But we are going to watch the film and hear the corrections from Demarcus [Covington] and Jerry [Montgomery] and I’ll be able to decide then.”
(On what makes Geno Smith difficult to play against)
“Geno [Smith] is a vet, he’s been in this game for a very long time. One thing I’ve learned in my short time being in this game: it’s not always about who’s the most athletic, who’s the best athlete, who’s the fastest. A lot of the time, it’s about how smart you are, and he has gained a lot of experience from all the reps he’s taken over the years.”
Deatrich Wise Jr., DL
(On key takeaways from today’s game)
“I believe we showed a lot of tenacity today. It went down to the wire, and we wanted to end with a win but once I look at film, we will see exactly where we went wrong and what happened throughout the game. I think for the most part we played the game pretty good down to the wire.”
(On Keion White’s growth)
“Yes, I think we are all seeing the same thing. He is showing a lot of versatility. He is able to sit there and get on the run game, get pressure outside, able to come inside and get pressure, able to run games, he is doing a great job with that. He can set up rushes and communicate very well so we are all seeing the same thing from last year to this year and he is becoming just an overall great player.”
(On his message to rookies heading into a short week ahead of Thursday’s game)
“Today is Wednesday in our book. Here you must have short term memory. We will watch the film coming into tomorrow and then it is a quick turnaround to make sure you get the body right. This will be a big mental week and recovery week, making sure we get after the game plan, know what we have to do, study and be able to play high energy Thursday night.”
(On Geno Smith’s ability to extend plays)
“My mentality is we have to keep it in our pocket more. Once he started using his legs more, it falls on the defensive line and we are able to contain it more and get after him. We want him to get off his spot but not scramble. He would scramble here and there and have some quick throws but for the most part all the scrambling stuff falls on us.”
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB
(On the performance of the offense)
“I’m not going to have those answers right now. I need to go back and watch the film. I think we played physical. I think we need to get more first downs. The three and outs need to go away. I just need to watch the film, but we played tough.”
(On how he’s feeling physically)
“I’m feeling good. I’m ready to go. I know it’s a short week, but I’m ready to go.”
(On pairing with Antonio Gibson in the backfield)
“I feel like we work very well together. AG [Antonio Gibson] had a couple of good runs today. I’m proud of what he did today. Pounding the rock, using our offensive line, and staying on track, I’m confident we can stay locked in together.”
Christian Gonzalez, CB
(On Geno Smith’s effectiveness)
“You know, he’s a vet. He’s a great QB, he’s been in the league, he’s seen a lot. He came in and executed what he had to do.”
(On matching up with DK Metcalf)
“Yeah, I mean, he’s a great receiver. I have fun out there doing it. He’s one of the league’s best, so I feel like I did alright, not going to say I had a perfect game, there’s never a perfect game. He made plays, I made plays. But, you know, the main thing is we didn’t win, so besides that it doesn’t really matter.”
(On the difficulty in guarding DK Metcalf)
“He’s got all the tools. He’s fast, real fast, physical, smart. You know, he studies a lot of film, you can see how he plays. You know, he’s been in the league, so he’s done it, he’s done it against multiple different corners. That’s what he does.”
Davon Godchaux, DT
(On home opener emotions)
“They were happy, everybody was excited. I’m sure everybody is going to be excited for the next game too. Just excited to get back to Foxborough, play football. Feels like it’s been a long time since the last time we were in Foxborough. So yeah, everyone’s excited, but we’ve got to close that game out, man. This is a game we should’ve won for sure, definitely should have won this game, one hundred percent.”
(On Seattle going no huddle)
“Yeah they weren’t going no huddle to go quick, they were going no huddle to see what we were in. It’s a college system, I think the offensive coordinator came from Washington? So, he wasn’t going no huddle to snap the ball, he was going no huddle to see what we were in and make his adjustments. It was basically keeping some of our guys off the field. Say for instance, our third down package, I mean, I’m a first, second down guy, he was keeping guys off the field. It wasn’t really to go fast, it was just to see what we were in, keep us off the field, so they did a good job of that. I mean we knew that coming into the game, they were going to do that, so that’s why we worked some extra stuff in practice, but we’ve got to close that game out.”
K.J. Osborn, WR
(On if getting the ball to Hunter Henry was part of the gameplan)
“Obviously, I’m not the play caller. Hunt, I’m not sure what he finished with, but yeah of course, if we see that match-up and we were able to exploit it, that’s great for us. The plan here is follow the North star, and that’s winning. If it’s going to Hunt[er Henry], we’re cool with it. But at the end of the day, we’ve just got to do what we’ve got to do to win, and we didn’t do that today.”
(On if he felt like today was a step toward building the chemistry of the offense)
“I think so. Any time we go out there and get live reps you’re going to take a step. It’s the second week of the season, going out there, playing a different defense, things like that. I think we always take a step forward every time we’re out there.”
Ja’Lynn Polk, WR
(On increasing the pass game)
“I mean, we put it in the game plan. We just go out there and try to execute whatever AVP [Alex Van Pelt] calls. We just try to have a high execution rate.”
(On his touchdown)
“We were in the red zone. We needed a big play, and AVP called something for us to go execute and make a play.”
(On what scoring his first touchdown felt like)
“It was pretty cool. It was a great experience with my teammates. Of course, we didn’t come out with the win, so I feel like [there are] more important things than my touchdown.”
(On the offense taking a step forward with building chemistry and timing)
“I feel like the chemistry is there. It’s going to come. So, we’ve just got to keep pushing and keep going.”
(On the need for improved efficiency in the red zone)
“Yeah, we’ve just got to execute. That’s all. Everybody’s got to be tuned in on the details, especially myself as well. Make sure that I’m doing my job in order for us to execute.”
Jabrill Peppers, S
(On the final drive of the game)
“Didn’t make enough plays. We’ve got to make plays. We had countless opportunities to get off the field and we just didn’t execute. It hurt. There’s always a handful of plays that cost you the game. As a defense, no matter what happens, when you go out there and your number is called, you’ve got to execute and we didn’t do a good enough job of that.”
(On how often he felt like the defense was able to fool Geno Smith during the game)
“Not often. I think they did a great job cadence-wise. The no-huddle, we could’ve done things a little differently, but that’s water under the bridge now. We play a lot of ball together, we’re a pretty veteran group. This one hurts. We know we’re better than what we put on today. Short week, flush it out, the world’s watching Thursday so we’ve got to put our best foot forward.”
Jonathan Jones, CB
(On the game)
“Yeah, I mean we had plenty of opportunities within the game to win and kind of put it away and we did not. That’s kind of the things we will go back and look at the film and see where within the game we needed to make those adjustments and win it.”
(On defending a strong wide receiver group)
“I think it is just more of that they did not have a run game so most of their plays were throws. They would throw it outside to supplement the run game. Losing their running back, they were trying to find a way to make up for the loss in their run game.”
(On Keion White)
“Oh man, he has been dominant. He was after them all night. That makes our job easier on the back end when we have a guy like that up front rushing.”
Antonio Gibson, RB
(On his long run)
“Made the first guy miss and everything opened up from there. Got to the sideline and then it was just running after that.”
(On the strong run game the first two weeks)
“We love it, as running backs that’s what we want. But at the end of the day, we came short of our real goal and that’s not a good feeling, especially at home. We are going to keep doing our thing and keep building on it and once that starts clicking that leads to victories.”
(On learning a lesson from his big play not resulting in a scoring drive)
“Yeah definitely, I think that is the biggest thing for us. We have got to score in the red zone. We get down there, we move the ball well, we have just got to finish. Once we do that and it starts clicking, I feel like we will be unstoppable.”
Transcripts are provided by the Patriots media relations department as a courtesy to the media and are edited for readability. All press conferences are posted and archived in their entirety on patriots.com. The duplication or posting of this transcript in its entirety as original content is prohibited. Media are encouraged to link to the complete transcript on patriots.com when sharing full quotes with their audiences.