Sunday, December 1, 2019
Postgame – Philadelphia
(On today’s win) – “We played 60 minutes. This team went and competed. That’s a good team we beat. That’s a really good team. They got a lot of good players; they got good coaches. It was a tough game we just played. We played well today, and it was a total team effort – offense, defense, special teams. We played for 60 minutes, this team – they compete and I’m proud of this team. I just told them I’m thankful to be the head coach of this team, this organization. I’m proud of that group.”
(You guys have had second-half issues earlier in the season. What did you see in your team when you were down 28-14?) – “I think there’s been a lot of growth over the course of the season. I think that’s something that we struggled with and we talked – early in the season we’ve talked about building, improving on a week-to-week basis, really, in all areas. I think it showed this afternoon. So we went in, talked about playing a 60-minute ball game at halftime. They came out, put a score on the board early. But this team doesn’t get down, they compete. We know how to deal with adversity. They turn things around quickly. Offensively we moved the ball. DeVante (Parker) played well, Mike (Gesicki) played well, (Ryan) Fitzpatrick played well. I thought blocking, we had struggles blocking them early but we got that under control, to a degree. I mean, again, they’ve got really good rushers, and I think players win games. That’s really what it boils down to. Players win games and they went out there and made plays in the second half. I thought (Offensive Coordinator) Chad (O’Shea) called a great game. I thought (Defensive Coordinator) Pat (Graham) made adjustments defensively, and we were able to – look, they had it going for a while. We kind of got things under control in the second half, I would say. I thought Pat and Chad did a good job, and then (Special Teams Coordinator) Danny (Crossman) always does a good job – well they all always do a really good job, I should say.”
(What would you say about your team collectively – like you mentioned coaches and players – being able to bounce back after the first quarter, after falling down two touchdowns to start the second half?) – “That’s something that good teams, they have to do that. There’s adversity every week in this league, there’s ebbs and flows. We’ve talked about that really every week and every game. You can’t get too high, can’t get too low. We’ve got to stay even. This team’s learned how to do that. And we’ve got to string good plays together. I think we played with more consistency from the fundamentals, the technique standpoint. Those guys went out and made plays. So, again, players win games. I give all the credit to the guys in that locker room and our coaching staff. They did a good job of putting guys in position to make those plays.”
(Can you take us through the P Matt Haack to K Jason Sanders touchdown please?) – “It’s just a fake we have worked on for a few weeks and we felt like that was a good time to run it, and it gave us a spark. Obviously, that one worked and it gave us a lot of momentum. They don’t all work, obviously. So it’s something we practiced and we executed it well and I thought it was – check Haack’s passer rating. I think it’s pretty good. (laughter)”
(Was it supposed to be an underhand pass?) – “Just get it there. (laughter)”
(There probably weren’t many people that thought this would happen, didn’t give you much of a chance today. How was your team able to go down and continue to fight back, they score, you come back, and then you scored on six straight possessions – five touchdowns and a field goal. How were you able to keep coming back?) – “It’s a team of fighters. This is – we compete. I think that’s something that we talk about day after day after day. It’s something we’ve talked about since April 1st when the first group of guys got here. We’re going to compete, we’re going to fight, we’re going to give great effort, we’re going to try to be a tough, smart, disciplined football team. That’s what you need if you’re going to come back – really, if you want to play in this league at a good level against good competition like we had out there today, that’s what you need.”
(What you can you say about your team being able to buy into that in your first season and doing that and not backing down or quitting? What would you say about that?) – “That’s a room full of guys who, they’re not going to back down from anybody. It’s not always going to go our way. I think we have learned that this year; but we’re just going to keep swinging and that’s it.”
(Was this the ultimate moment for your quarterback, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, today – was this his crowning moment as far as what he’s done for this football team, what he did out there today for you?) – “He played well. He’s played very well. He played well today; but it’s everyone. I thought the offensive line blocked well after that first quarter; we had some struggles. I think our receivers went up and made some catches. I thought the backs broke some tackles and got some yards after contact. But, yeah, ‘Fitz’ leads the way and he did a good job there. I think the entire team feeds off of that in all areas – offense, defense and obviously, special teams as well.”
(How would you describe the game that WR DeVante Parker had and the lift he gave the team?) – “He played great. In a lot of ways, he carried us in that first half and went up and made some great catches. Those are the plays, those 50/50 balls, and he’s really made those plays the entire year. Again, I’m proud to be the head coach of this team, I’m proud to coach DeVante, and really everyone in that locker room. He’s really played consistently, and I think it starts with the way he prepares – the way he prepares on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, really the entire week. I think a lot of the guys are preparing the right way and we’ll continue to do that — that’s the process. The results are the by-product of that process, and when guys continue to be consistent in the process, hopefully good things happen.”
(Which of WR DeVante Parker’s catches impressed you the most?) – “Well, the catch that impressed me the most was the onside kick by Sherels at the end. (laughter) Let’s start right there. DeVante, he made a lot of grabs that were – I mean, the touchdown, the grab where he kind of toe-tapped the sideline. I mean every one of them was good, so I like them all.”
(You talked a little bit about the trust that Ryan has, he’s built now with WR DeVante Parker and now TE Mike Gesicki, where he can just put the ball up there and let them go up after it and make a play.) – “DeVante’s made a lot of plays over the course of the last, let’s call it 6-8 weeks – really the entire year. So you build that trust, quarterback to receiver, and when you see the coverage or an opportunity there, then you take a shot. And ‘Fitz,’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) he knows that. He’s looking for them and DeVante’s coming through for him. But it’s, there’s a lot of things at play there. The offensive line has to block, the running backs and tight ends in protection, everybody running their route correctly to get to the point where we can actually make a throw. There was instances early where we couldn’t get the ball off, so we put the whole thing together. It’s always a team game, and I thought we played as a team today and we played that way for 60 minutes.”
(Is it fair to say that this is the best game that your team has played so far?) – “I would have to look at the film. There’s always some things that you don’t like; but yeah, I think we played well. We played for 60 minutes. That’s what it was. We played for 60 minutes. We made mistakes, we got down, we went up, and we dealt with the highs and the lows of the game and we played a good 60-minute team football game, and that’s how you need to play in this league to win ball games.”
(The last couple weeks it kind of looked like the wheels were starting to come off this team a little bit. How were you able to get them back on and get this team confident enough to go in and do what they did this afternoon?) – “I think – we talked about it. I’m all about transparency. I thought the last two weeks – we had played fairly well the few weeks before that and why – we talked as a staff. We sit and say, ‘hey, let’s try to figure out what we’re doing that’s gotten us to not play as well as we did earlier in the year.’ And we talk about it with the players and we talked about just playing consistently, good fundamentals, good technique, playing together, playing as a team, dealing with the ebbs and flows of the game. I think this team, we think being down doesn’t really – we feel like we can come back. There’s some confidence that we can come back and that’s a good thing. I think we showed that today.”
(With a win like this, how encouraged are you for this final stretch coming up?) – “I’m encouraged, but every week’s different and every week’s got its own set of – every team, there’s strengths and weaknesses. So next week we’ll be ready for the Jets and that will be another tough game on the road. But, yeah, I think hopefully there’s some momentum, but every week is different. We’ve got to build momentum throughout the week with our weekly process, which is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – that process that we have gone through. So we’ll enjoy this one. I want the players to enjoy it. It’s hard to win in this league. And momentum, it’s fleeting in this league. It really is. It’s just kind of – it is. So we have to re-create that momentum every week.”
