OFFENSIVE LINEMAN MITCH MORSE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2024
(On what it means to have completed a sweep of a division rival such as Tennessee) “Yeah,
you can call a spade a spade. This year has not been what we all thought it would be, and
it’s tested us being professionals. I think when you can play a game like we did yesterday
together, it’s just a celebration of the hard work you put in because we’ve been working. It’s
not from a lack of working. So, to answer your question, it was a great experience being in
that locker room after a win like that, and then we understand we’re going into a hostile
environment against a division opponent who’s very good. Listen, we all want to end on a
win, but you’ve got to put your best foot forward as professionals and that’s what we plan
on doing on Sunday.”
(On making the plays late in the game to secure the win) “Yeah, it feels nice to be on the
other side of those one-score games. When you really look back and take a step back and
you see those games that we lost, it’s gut-wrenching, it’s heartbreaking. It wears on your
soul. To end up with a game like that when you’re on the other end of that, it soothed us, to
say the least.
(On whether Head Coach Doug Pederson’s message about addressing mistakes to win
one-score games has resonated with the team) “I mean, listen, when you’re in the thick of
it, no one’s trying to make mistakes, and no one’s trying to take something in their own
hands where they think it’s going to be detrimental to the team. I don’t think it’s a lack of
listening to someone’s message. I think it’s just we all understand that we could’ve done a
better job executing the plays, and yeah, I think there are a lot of unfortunate learning
moments this year that I think a lot of guys will carry on throughout their professional
careers.”
(On if this season will stick with him for a long time) “Yeah, absolutely. I mean, some guys
use this as fuel, some guys use this as a learning experience, some guys use this as both.
For me, in the later years of my career, I think this has been a unique experience, to say the
least. I learned a lot about myself, and I learned a lot about traversing losses and trying to
come in the next day and the next week and progressing as a player and as a person. So,
yeah, I think that question is a good one, and I think it’s going to be very individualized for
each person. There are 90 guys or so in this locker room, a little bit less. Each person is
going to have a different answer for that.”
(On whether it’s easy for players to focus on preparing for next season when there’s
uncertainty surrounding leadership) “To be honest, it’s one of those things that you just—
this isn’t my lane. My lane is to understand the game plan, put myself in a position for guys
around me to be as successful as possible. If you try to get outside of your lane or outside
of what you know is in the realm of your control, that’s when you just play a game of mental
gymnastics. It’s, first of all, not healthy and it’s not going to help you do your job on Sunday.
So, that might not be another answer that’s just individualized to myself, but I feel like other
guys share that same sentiment.”
(On how he handles losses) “Well, it hasn’t gotten easier, right? As a competitor, and not
only as that but as a person, you invest time throughout the week away from your family,
you invest your body, you put yourself out on the line, you’re disappointed when things
don’t go your way, to say the least. The first thing you do is you look at yourself and the one
thing I learned is that that’s all you can worry about. That’s all, as a mature competitor, you
have to focus on things in your control. Like, listen, I can’t control other stuff and I’m not
saying it wasn’t my—I’m not trying to underline any other message. It’s just the truth. It’s
like, focus on the things I can control, go out there, do your best to mitigate those, and then
you have another game plan and you try to mitigate that and so on and so forth. So, yeah,
hopefully that answers your question.”
(On why the team has struggled in the run game specifically) “I think for both passing and
run blocking, there’s so many different variables that kind of go into it. I think with the run
game, everyone’s got to be on the same page just like the pass game. There are so many
different variables that play into it. I don’t know if I can totally give you an answer that
there’s just one thing that sticks out to me. So, yeah, I don’t know, I really don’t have
anything for you.”
(On how the run game can be fixed going into next season) “I can tell you next year.”
(On how QB Mac Jones has progressed and if he feels he can start in the NFL next season)
“Well, I think Mac Jones is not only an infectious personality, really brings the guys along,
really great to have in the huddle. His confidence is not cocky. It’s hard to explain. He’s got
confidence in his guys, he’s got confidence in what he does, and he does a great job of
bouncing back from mistakes, but also learning from him, not just kind of a laissez-faire,
running around with the football. I think Mac has a bright future in this league and I think if
any team gave him a chance to make it, make him the staple guy, they’d be lucky to have
him. It’s been a privilege these past few weeks and months to play with him, just as it was
with Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence], especially as a guy who you kind of hated when you were
in Buffalo with the Patriots, right? We joke about it all the time. He’s just such a great dude,
a vibrant personality and one of the most-liked guys in the locker room. So, I don’t know the
answer to that. I wish I had a crystal ball like the run game, but I love the fact that he’s
getting this opportunity, he’s putting his best foot forward, making mistakes, learning from
them, and then going from there.”
SAFETY ANDREW WINGARD
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2024
(On what the team plays for on Sunday at Indianapolis) “You’re a pro, you just play the
game. I mean, that’s what you do. They keep score and the tape is the tape, and you’re
always playing for something. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I always just want to be
great, always want to play my best, always want to keep playing football in the National
Football League while I can, so that’s what you do. If you go out there and slack off and
think it doesn’t matter, then your tape is going to reflect that.”
(On if he’s more comfortable with dealing with the uncertainty of coaching changes in the
offseason) “Having gone through it, experience is always a good teacher. But what I’ve
learned is you don’t dip your hand in things you have no control over. So, you always just go
out there and try to be the best version of yourself and don’t read into anything because you
never know what’s going to happen and you’ll never know because it’s above your pay
grade. Yeah, and I know for some guys that you get caught up in that stuff when you have no
control over it, so that’s really it.”
(On whether Head Coach Doug Pederson’s message about addressing mistakes to win
one-score games has resonated with the team) “Yeah, no doubt. I mean, we are all in the
NFL for a reason. We’re smart football players. You don’t get here by not understanding the
game and not knowing that mental mistakes are controllable in a sense and that you win
games by going. That’s execution. So yeah, absolutely. We as players know that. Even
myself, I’m a smart guy and I had a couple of mental mistakes yesterday and that’s part of
the game. But it’s moving past it and if you do have mental mistakes, you don’t let it hold
you back. It’s really just your body of work throughout a game, making more good plays
than you do bad plays. So, I think that’s really, yeah, it’s gotten through and we as players
know that for sure.”
(On his evaluation of the defensive performance vs. Tennessee, and specifically in the final
minutes of each half) “Yeah, I thought we did well. I really did. You’ve seen this year in those
one-score games where the defense gives up a touchdown in that situation or the offense
doesn’t, whatever, do what they need to do. I really liked how we buckled down and
especially at the end of the game and got a stop and we needed to because there were
multiple games this year where we didn’t do so. I would say a great job as a defense and
then, even they scored coming out of half, which was tough, and I even had a couple of
mistakes on that drive. I think that’s where we as players have such a good cohesive unit
where we get on the sideline and pick each other up and go back out and keep fighting.
That’s what we did. I think the culture of the team, it always starts with the players and we
as players went out yesterday and just found a way to win. That’s what you do. So, I was
happy with that.”
(On how he would describe the team’s mood on the Friday prior to the game and today in
terms of focus and execution) “I thought we as players did a great job. Really did. It
obviously sucks when the season, you’re not going to make playoffs and stuff like that. We
went out there and we treated it like a championship game, and that’s how you’ve got to
treat every game. Back to the earlier question, we went out and we played good and we put
out good tape and won the game. So, I think that was good, carried it over throughout the
week. We practiced hard. Didn’t even think about this or that and just went out and played
the game. So, I was happy with that as well.”
(On how the team can see the success it had in previous seasons) “Yeah, it’s really not that
hard. I mean, you saw us go out yesterday and win the game when we needed to. [WR]
Brian Thomas [Jr.] making plays, Mac [QB Mac Jones] making plays, defense showing up,
[S] Antonio Johnson coming up so clutch, batting a pass away to win the game. So, I don’t
think it’s a lot. You could look at a lot of teams around the league and be like, yeah, I mean,
it’s that close. It’s the National Football League. You go to any training camp, any OTAs and
you’re going to say, ‘Dang, this is a damn good team,’ because that’s the truth. When it gets
to this high of a level, it completely transitions to your ability to perform, and performance
is a skill. Just because you’re talented doesn’t mean you can go out and get it done when
you need to. So, I don’t think it would take a lot, honestly. But who knows, we’ll see what
happens.”
(On what he thinks is the culture of this team right now) “Based off yesterday, we’re not
going to quit and we’re grinders, honestly. That’s never been an issue here. I’m telling you. I
was here in 2019 when all the stuff with Jalen [Dolphins S Jalen Ramsey] was going down
about him wanting to get traded and this and that. It isn’t that, and that’s not good. There
are no divas on this team. It’s really, really crazy. We have grinders here. I mean, I was
talking to [NFL Network Jaguars Analyst] Bucky Brooks after the game and it’s like, you’ve
got [LB] Foye Oluokun, who was a sixth-round draft pick who’s now a high-paid guy. But he’s
the biggest grinder I’ve ever seen. [DE] Arik Armstead’s a grinder. [DE] Josh [Hines-] Allen’s a
grinder. I mean, we’ve got all these guys who, we’ve practiced our asses off all year and
we’ve worked hard. Like you said, you’ve had nine or 10 or whatever one-score games
where it’s like you just you’re that close. But the culture is we’ve got dogs, we’ve got guys
that work hard, and we’ve got guys that want to go out and be great. So that is not an issue
in my opinion.”
(On if he has confidence that the team will improve despite personnel uncertainty)
“Absolutely. That’s something that definitely gives me confidence and I know it gives other
guys confidence. Again, we don’t know if we’re all going to be together again. We could be
anywhere, anywhere and everywhere. That’s the nature of the business. But I know the way
I sit down after a game and grade myself hard and look at myself in the mirror. I know we’ve
got a bunch of other guys doing that and that gives me confidence and I know it gives them
confidence. You know when you go to battle with these guys that everyone has been on
their ‘Ps and Qs’ and they’re not going to leave you out to dry.”
(On how the team has overcome the loss of locker room leaders such as WR Christian Kirk,
TE Evan Engram and QB Trevor Lawrence) “It’s hard for me to tell because I was injured for
so long and I was most of my time was spent in the training room. So, those first eight
weeks, I was hardly—I wasn’t in the midst of it if you know what I’m saying. But that is hard.
I mean, when great players go down, you obviously say, ‘Man, that’s hard.’ We lost some
talent there. But I think the culture spoke to itself. [WR] Parker Washington went out and
has played great. Brenton [TE Brenton Strange] has gone out and played great. Maason [DT
Maason Smith] has stepped up. It’s like, the culture is so solid in my opinion. It is hard when
you lose those guys, but we have enough grinders, like I said, on this team to where a lot of
guys lead. [LB] Caleb Johnson, [LB] Chad Muma, [S] Daniel Thomas, guys like that. We have
veterans who have been around and know how to do it, and they show the young guys how
to do it. We’ve overcome it in a way, and again, we’ve been so close in so many of these
games and it’s hard to put your results on wins and losses. But in terms of culture and in
terms of working hard and, like you said, having guys in the locker room that can bring the
young guys along, it’s better than what it possibly could have been, I would say.”
HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2024
(On injury updates following the game vs. Tennessee) “Yeah, Brandon [OL Brandon Scherff]
came out just because on ne of the screen passes there he just reaggravated his shoulder
that’s been kind of bothering him all year. So, he came out for a couple of plays, and then
the other time it came out, the bridge of his nose was cut and was bleeding, so he had to
come out to get that addressed and in and fixed before he’d go back in the game. Everybody
else came out relatively clean, just our normal bumps and bruises. Actually, quite honestly,
knock on wood, one of our healthier games.”
(On what it would mean to finish the season 4-2 against AFC South opponents) “Well, it
says we need to do better outside the division, quite honestly. Yeah, I mean we would be
proud. We’d be proud to be 4-2. I think it’d be three years in a row that we were 4-2 in our
division. It would be great, but at the same time knowing the disappointment that that
we’ve had, this season kind of I think that overshadows the fact that we’d be 4-2. But I think
it does mean that we’ve finished the season the right way. Like I said yesterday after the
game, that would be something to really hang our hats on as we move forward.”
(On the team’s momentum over the last three seasons) “Yeah, it’s sometimes that’s
difficult to answer. You don’t put it all on the players, you don’t put it all on the coaches, I
think we’re all in this thing together. We’ve got to look at this thing, I think big picture and
kind of see why. I know there were some mistakes made in-game, there were mistakes
made by coaches in-game. Everybody has a hand in that and those are things that we can
learn from and fix moving forward. I think just from my standpoint as the head coach, I
think too, you’ve got to keep educating your players. You’ve got to keep talking to your
players. In the offseason you’ve got to put them in these situations. You’ve got to put them
in different scenarios throughout training camp and really, teach them and understand that
everything that we do matters. I think yesterday is a great example of that. I think guys were
in position to make plays yesterday, [DT] Jordan Jefferson gets his hand up, tip pass; [LB]
Devin Lloyd interception, short field, what do you know? Next thing you know, offense is in
the end zone or scoring points. That’s just one situation, but that’s what needs to take
place, right? That’s the complementary aspect of football. I think when we look back on
this season, I think it was kind of the offense and the defense not, if the defense played
great one day, the offense played poorly and offense played great one day, the defense
played poorly. We didn’t all put that together and I think yesterday was a great example of
everybody doing their jobs and executing. Was it perfect? No, it wasn’t perfect, but at the
same time, I thought both sides of the ball played well. I think that’s what you got to look at.
I think that’s something that we can lean on and teach from moving forward,”
(On if team culture and identity are dictated by winning) “I think winning has a part in it. I
don’t think it’s everything though. I don’t think it is. OK, take a look at our season. Not what
we wanted right? We’re 4-12. But OK, you take 4-12 and you would look at us and go, ‘They
don’t play like a 4-12 team,’right? They’re still fighting to the end. We’ve got nine one-score
losses this year, which is extremely hard. So, it’s a team that continues to compete. It’s a
team that continues to fight to the end. We’ve obviously suffered our share of injuries that, I
mean, you lose your starting quarterback, your tight end, two of your top receivers. Things
just sort of compound just a little bit, but I think winning helps it. But I think losing can
magnify it, meaning it can magnify it negatively or it can magnify it positively, and I do
believe that in this case, it’s actually been a bit more positive from that standpoint. Guys
are still fighting, guys are still battling, they’re playing for one another, playing with a lot of
pride and again, I think you saw that yesterday.”
(On where this season compares to previous seasons in terms of not meeting
expectations) “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me. I really felt coming out of camp that
we had an opportunity, that we had to makings to be a really good, competitive football
team. A team—and I’m not saying you’re playing for the Super Bowl anything like that—but I
think you’re playing for a playoff spot, you’re playing for the AFC South title, I think you’re
competitive that way. You’re one of the top teams in the AFC, that was my feeling and that
was our expectation coming out of camp. Then to have looked back now to see where we
are and the struggles we’ve had, it’s disappointing and everybody’s disappointed.
Everybody feels it. Obviously, I’m the one in charge of it, so, I might take it harder than
others, because I feel like that, if you’re going to put your hands on something, you want it
to be you want it to be positive. You want it to be better than when you started. Do I feel like
three years in? I still feel like we’ve created something here that is positive, and it is heading
in the right direction. I say that though and it’s tough because then it doesn’t—why doesn’t
it translate on the field, right? And why don’t these losses that we’ve had translated into
wins. That’s what you got to look at and that’s why you keep coaching. That’s why you keep
playing—to figure this thing out, I think, together. Go through the good times and go through
the bad times. This league can, if you let it—I’m telling you that if you let it, this league can
beat you up, right? This league can burn you out, this league can—it’s tough. It’s tough to
coach, it’s tough to play. I choose not to let it. I choose to bring energy every day with the
team. I choose to be positive and encouraging and at the same time be hard. You’ve got to
show the good, you’ve got to show the bad and that’s the only way I think we can work our
way out of the situation we’re in.”
(On how important continuity is for facilitating improvement) “Yes, I believe that continuity
is the only way that you can only kind of get it fixed. Even as a player—go back to like when I
was a player—even players today, you’ve got to think when you’re a free agent, you have an
opportunity to stay with your current team or go somewhere else. You’ve got to weigh the
pros and cons of both, right? Am I going into a better situation than what I currently have? I
think you look at where we are and the type of players that we have and the pieces that we
have. Look, do we need to improve in all areas, coaches and players? Yeah, we need to
improve, and we need to continually enhance this football team. Again, that’s coaches and
players. That’s not just all on players, that’s coaches as well. But at the same time, in order
to kind of work out of tough situations, I think the consistency, the continuity, you’re in it
together, you know exactly how people think, how people operate, the communication
level, all of that I think is positive in a direction that you’re trying to go. I think it’d be different
too if you saw people throw in the towel a month ago, right? You always hear coaches
losing a locker room, right? Then, I think that’s a different situation. I think that’s a different
story. I think that’s a different set of circumstances. I still, personally, I just don’t feel that
here. I don’t think that’s the case here. It was evident yesterday by the way the guys fought
and battled right to the end. The joy in the locker room at the end, the camaraderie, the high
fives, the hugs, I mean, that’s not a team that’s quitting, right? That’s not a team that’s just
throwing in a white towel or waving a white flag. It’s a team that’s trying to work its way out
of a hole that they’ve dug.”
(On if he thinks that one-score games tend to even out over time) “I do think they tend to
kind of work themselves out. I think, as a football team, we need to learn from them. We
need to find the reasons why, if it comes down to, again it’s coaches and players, so if it
comes down to the decision I make, I’ve got to be better for that decision to help our team
win. If it comes down to a player making a play, he’s got to make that play to help our team
win. So, it goes hand-in-hand. So, we’ve got to look at all of that, and yes, I do believe that
those things will flip, and when they do flip—and the other thing too, I think once our guys
understand the importance of what it takes, what it looks like to win, then there becomes
consistency in that, and then there becomes the fact that you’re winning year-in and year-
out, and again, that starts with me as the leader. It starts with me. That’s my message to the
team, and then it goes to your quarterback and all your top leaders on your football team.
So, I think it can flip, I think it can turn in a positive and make us better.”
