Postgame Transcript – WK12 MIN – Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick

Thursday, November 24, 2022
Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick

Well, give credit to the Vikings tonight. Kevin (O’Connel) did a good job. They made a few more plays than we did, and they’ve got a good football team. Got a lot of good players, well-coached, and we just came up short. Obviously couldn’t make enough plays to win. (Kirk) Cousins was tough. They made a lot of good plays, throws, checks. He’s a good player. Disappointing to come up a little bit short, but we just had too many mistakes they took advantage of, and that really is the difference in a game. Could point to a lot of things, and any of them would have made a difference, but collectively we’ve just got to do a better job here and just perform a little bit better than we did tonight.

Q. How much was Jefferson’s production he’s just an elite player versus you guys could have done more there?
A. He’s not the only good receiver we’re going to see this year. Yeah, he’s a good player. Yeah, no doubt about it.

Q. Starting the third quarter, how disappointing was the kickoff return for a touchdown?
A. What about it?

Q. How tough was that —
A. Yeah, really is the difference in the game. Seven points that ended up being bonus points in the game. Yep.

Q. Did you get any explanation on the Hunter Henry catch that was overturned?
A. Why don’t you guys go to the officials with your pool reporter and ask them about the play and let them explain it to you. Isn’t that what you do? Thank you.

Q. Their opening drive, they’ve had some success on opening drives. Were they showing you stuff that they hadn’t shown on film? What did you see in that opening drive?
A. Yeah, converted on 3rd down, got a penalty. Yeah, again, they’re a good team. Give them credit.

Q. Do you feel like you left points on the board in the first half with the way that time out situation unfolded?
A. I don’t know. You’re talking about throwing the one in the end zone with six seconds to go? You don’t have much time. Yeah. Felt like take the points, come back, get the ball at the start of the second half, make it a tie game.

Q. Having to use the time outs that way leading up to Hunter staying in bounds and then Mac sliding instead of throwing it away in that situation?
A. Yeah. Yeah, you can second-guess a lot of plays tonight, sure.

Q. What was your thought on production in the passing game?
A. Good at times, three-for-10 on 3rd down. Not really good enough. Couldn’t get the ball in the red area on a couple drives. Room for improvement.

Q. Were you surprised by some of the mistakes you guys are making this far into the season?
A. Yeah. It’s the NFL. They’ve got good players, they make plays. We’ve got good players, we make some plays. I don’t know.