| Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019 (Opening statement) “Obviously, it’s disappointing. We start the game off and we get the stop for the defense and force them out of field goal range and wind up getting a punt. Obviously, the three turnovers, two out of the three were in scoring position, you know, to score and go up. That always hurts when you have that opportunity. Every turnover hurts. Before you know it, it’s 22-0, so we go in there, we play the first half and, just to tell you, I wanted to get a spark. It was kind of dead and I wanted to get things going and made the switch at quarterback. I told Nick [Foles] coming in, as soon as I got in there at halftime, I spoke to him. We got everything ready for Gardner [Minshew II]. I haven’t spoken to either quarterback afterwards. I know I’m going to get a lot of questions on it, on what’s going to happen, which is fine. I’m going to tell you the answer already. I haven’t spoken to them, and I always believe in doing things the right way. I’ve got to talk to them first. It’s obviously emotional right now and we’re really disappointed, so we’ll wait, and I’ll talk to them before any announcement comes out. I just think it’s the right thing to do. I know it might not feel like the right way for the fans and everyone, but I’ve got to continue to do things the right way. I’ve got to continue to lead. I’ve got to continue to find a way to go. I thought we had a good opportunity to get the game within one score. The ball was on the one-yard line and those are the times where you’ve got to be able to score and we weren’t able to do that and wound up turning the ball over there. It was an opportunity to get us back within one score, which would have been great to see what would have happened, but we didn’t give ourselves the opportunity. It sounds like these past couple of weeks, we haven’t given ourselves the opportunity to win a football game. When I look at that, it’s easy to look at one person and if one person were switched, but right now, none of us are doing a good enough job, but at the end of the day, starting with me, the coaches, I’m sure there are some good plays here and there, but consistently, we’ve got to do a better job.” (On why Nick Foles is having difficulty moving the offense downfield compared to Gardner Minshew II) “A little bit of mobility, I think that helps [Gardner Minshew II]. Up front, they got after us a little bit, knocked us back, squeezed the pocket, so from that standpoint, he can extend plays a little bit more. I think it changes a little bit, but not much in this game coverage-wise. The lead was 22 and they were still coming after us. That’s not the case. We were able to make some plays. DJ [Chark Jr.] made the play down the sideline, and we missed some plays, too. We had a drop for a slant, but we were able to make some plays where before that we weren’t able to make some plays and weren’t able to protect [Nick Foles] well enough. The first one, he gets hit as he was releasing the ball on the backside. The second one, the right tackle gets beat and it’s a strip-sack. The third one, in my opinion, he should have been able to hold onto because he saw the guy coming on the back. That’s how I saw those three turnovers.” (On how close he was to switching quarterbacks in the first half) “It would have been difficult. I was just trying to get a score, knowing that we were going to get the ball back, so I really was just focusing on trying to get a score to get this game going, thinking if we score here before the half and get the ball to start the second half and score again, we can get ourselves back in this game. That’s what my mind was thinking at that point.” (On if he felt Gardner Minshew II provided that spark he was looking for) “I think we had an opportunity. I’m not going to sit here and say that we didn’t, so I would say yes to that.” (On if it was a difficult or easy decision to switch quarterbacks) “I just thought it was going to give us the best chance to win. I really did. I don’t think any decision like that is easy. It’s very painful because you know it’s not just one person. I look at it as if I ever have to bench someone or pull someone or whatever words we want to [use], it’s a direct reflection on me in not having guys ready or whatever it may be. It’s not easy, those are the decisions that have to be made.” (On what he’s seen from Gardner Minshew II in the weeks he’s served as backup) “We’ve been working with him extra. We liked him, like I said before, so we got him extra work after practice working on the things that he needs to improve on. We didn’t want to just stop his development, and a lot of times that happens when you’re not playing, so we tried to do the extra things with him to keep him going and then our focus was on getting Nick [Foles] comfortable and getting him ready to play and win games.” (On whether this is a matter of Nick Foles being rusty) “I’m not doing a good enough job. When you look at what we’re doing out there, it’s not good enough. Like I said before, it’s tough. You try to do the best job you can, but at the end of the day, when you’re pulling quarterbacks and pulling other players, there’s no doubt it’s a direct reflection on me, that I’m not doing a good enough job for those guys. We’ve got to do a better job, all of us, myself, coaches. The team is fighting. You’re sitting up here going, ‘Shit, they are fighting their asses off.’ I know they’re pros and all that other stuff, but like I said before, we’re going to find a way and get a good taste in our mouth and look to see what we’ve got to do differently, look to see if there’s something we can build on, look to see if there’s something that can get us over the top and then go out and compete our asses off. That’s all you can do.” (On the performance of the second-string players that started on defense today) “I think they’re fighting their asses off. We had three turnovers, which was tough, obviously, two in our zone, one sack-fumble for a touchdown, but they still drove the field. I thought we kind of got after them a little bit. I thought we had pressure early on. I think that we lost our gap control on that one run, but those guys go in there and it’s an opportunity to show what they have. They are fighting their asses off. There’s not much more you can ask of those guys. I think we did make some plays on defense. You are always going to look back and want to make some more, but I thought for the most part, I’m happy to see those guys get in there and get an opportunity and the way they go about themselves, it’s just unfortunate that I can’t pull them all home for a victory so they can truly celebrate it.” (On if the reps Gardner Minshew II had in the first two months are why he’s able to step in and play today) “Yeah. That’s how that story was. I really wasn’t that comfortable until after the Kansas City game when he started going in there and playing. I think all those things are a great experience. He’s guy that his whole entire life he took advantage of it, no different than Nick [Foles], no different than a lot of these players. The more experience that you have, it can help you as long as you use it in a positive way, which he has.” |
