Postgame Transcript – WK7 CHI – Patriots Players

PATRIOTS PLAYERS

Matthew Judon, LB

(On what the Bears did with Fields that gave the defense problems)

“I think he just had running lanes. He kept the drives going on third down. We gave him third-and-long and it seems like he would just find a running lane and pick it up with his feet or make a throw. I think he was just keeping the chains moving. I think we kind of had no answers for him. We have to look at the film and get that corrected.”

(On how he would characterize the execution and the effort from the defense)

“I believe the effort was there, like I said it was just running lanes. We didn’t execute by stopping them. That’s pretty much it. But when you have a running quarterback like that, and we knew he could run the ball, how fast he is, and how good he is just creating. You have to be locked in on a guy like that. You have to execute every play. There’s no plays off because, like you can see, he will just pick up 30, 40 yards with his feet.”

(On if there was disappointment on not taking control of the game)

“Not disappointing. I think the encouragement is we were down 10-zip and nobody hung their hat. But once we come back and get that lead, we have to execute. We have to get a stop on defense. I think they just drove the ball and got a field goal out of that. Then they were getting the ball back at halftime. So we have to execute and we have to come out and play well back on defense.”

(On what this loss says about the group and how they can change course heading into division games)

“We have some division games coming up and it’s a long season. We fought back to get to .500 and then we dropped this one tonight. But all that means is we have to come back and continue to fight. That’s really all that means. We have to continue to hang our hats on our fundamentals, our pilings and just continue to be resilient as a team.

Devin McCourty, DB

(On what about Justin Fields gave the defense trouble)

“He just made a lot of plays, I’d say. Throwing, dropping back, scrambling, more designed runs than we saw on film. I think with the extended time they added some plays that I think we saw in the Baltimore game with Lamar Jackson. Some of those style of plays, but we just didn’t do a good job of keeping him in the pocket. Early they had some kind of moving the pocket plays, boot plays, roll pass, to get them more comfortable. But then, just some big third downs where he was able to scramble, by time, throw some passes on the run. Things that we knew coming in. I would just say overall, across the board, as a team, it was just a poor showing. Across the board, from beginning all the way to the end.”

(On the message to the team moving forward to the Jets with a short week)

“Yeah, I mean we don’t have time to worry about this one. We don’t have time to sulk or feel sorry for ourselves. We’re at Tuesday tomorrow. We need to be getting ahead on the film. The Jets will be ahead on the film. They’ll be watching us, so we need to do the same thing. We need to turn the page and start preparing. We go down to New Jersey, we could easily come back with another loss. That team is a good football team. They’re rolling right now. We need to get ahead and focus on next week. We need to let tonight be what tonight is. If you want to watch the film, watch the film tonight and we need to move on by tomorrow morning and try to catch up to where the Jets are, because right now, they’re ahead of us. They didn’t play a game tonight, they’ll be preparing, getting ready to go Sunday.”

(On who the starting quarterback would be going forward)

“We’ll have to see. I know for me, defensively, as we gave up thirty-three points. I don’t think anybody on defense needs to worry about who the quarterback is going to be at all. We need to worry about what we need to do and figure out how we’re going to get stops and play better. I think that needs to be the key for everybody on defense.”

Davon Godchaux, DL

(On what the Bears did that gave them trouble)

“I can’t even really sit here and make excuses. They just played better than us. We played terrible in all three phases of the game. It was really embarrassing.”

(On what they have to do to turn around for next game)

“We have to turn around because the New York Jets are playing well and it’s a divisional game. No one is going to feel sorry for the Patriots, so we have to turn around and flip the page. I am going home and watching film tonight and then we’ll all come in and get to work.”

(On what the defense can do better)

“Quarterback runs is what is killing us. We have a good defense and we know it but we didn’t display that tonight. Right now, it’s all about next week and the team is going to look at film tonight and take it all into the Jets next weekend. We have to fix this because we have a really good defense and a really good team. We can’t just keep saying, we have to put it on film.”

Hunter Henry, TE

(On if the momentum picked up once Baily Zappe came in)

“We all just executed well. I would not just say it was him, but he did do a good job of executing. When we start to get things going then it begins to snowball.”

(On how disappointing today’s effort was)

“It was terrible. I think everyone is disappointed. We have to leave ourselves in here and go out on Sunday and plan again, so we have to look ourselves in the mirror and decide what we want to do.”

(On how they turn around how they played today)

“I think we start by looking at today’s game. We are just doing things that are putting us behind the sticks and it makes it tough to recover.”

(On if Zappe coming into the game was a surprise to him)

“No. I mean everyone has a job to do. That decision is beyond me and whatever it is, our job is to go out there and execute and do what we have to do.”

Jakobi Meyers, WR

(On if tonight was eye opening)

“Yeah definitely. We have a lot of good vets so we knew what would happen if we came out here and did not play our best. We kind of got exposed today. We have got to go back into the locker room tomorrow and come back and be better.”

(On if the fumble changed the momentum)

“Yeah, I would say so. That was definitely kind of a momentum killer. I am better that that, just have to come out and be better next time.”

(On how the team moves forward from here)

“It’s the NFL. You know that it’s not our first loss. I mean it was definitely eye-opening but at the end of the day we have to come here and be better next week, nobody wants to lose two in a row. Hopefully we can come in, have a good week of practice, and play better.”

Rhamondre Stevenson, RB

(On if Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe were both getting first-team reps in practice)

“I mean it looks the same each week, we all get the same amount of reps. It is just practice to perform on Sundays, Mondays, things like that. It was just a regular week.”

(On how disappointing this loss was)

“I mean an L is an L regardless. It’s not a positive thing, we just need to go back and get better.”

(On if anything changes based on who the quarterback is)

“Nope, not at all. We all practice the same plays the same week. So no drop off or anything.”

(On if this was a reality check)

“No I do not feel like it is a reality check. We need to go back to work and just get better and grind throughout the week.”

(On his career-high eight catches and comfort level as a receiver)

“I am comfortable with it. It was just the defense they were playing. They were just dropping out and leaving me open and Bailey was dropping it off to me.”

Myles Bryant, DB

(On his interception)

“I think it was a good point in the game. It allowed our offense to go down and score. It definitely worked. We could’ve used a couple more of those. We had some plays we let get away. We’ve got to get back to work this week and get ready for New York.”

(On the defense in the first half)

“Like I said, it’s getting back to work, watching the film, and improving on the stuff we did good and bad. Seeing that on film, getting back out there on Wednesday and sharpening up.”

(On if Justin Fields surprised the defense)

“Not really. We came into the game knowing he was a guy who could use his legs and would buy time using his legs. I think he did a good job with that. Finding time in the pocket and those guys able to get open and us not being able to plaster as well as we’d like to. They did a good job.”

(On the defensive struggles on third down)

“Fields bought time. He got it done through the air and with his legs. He did a good job doing that. Kudos to them.”

Mike Onwenu, OL

(On the Bears loading the box to stop the run game)

“They were loading the box. Slanting. Same thing everybody else does. They just came out and played better.”

(On how the offense can grow from here)

“You can only do so much. Obviously, everyone knows we’re going to run the ball so they want to load the box to stop the run. We’ve got to work from there and get open.”

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