JAGUARS HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024
(On if he feels like the team hasn’t figured out how to overcome adversity) “Yes, to your
point. That’s kind of the obvious, right? Right now those are things that are plaguing us. It’s
the mistakes and then being able to overcome the mistake. Those are things that we have
to obviously take a look at and correct.”
(On how he felt like QB Trevor Lawrence played today) “He played tough. I mean, he’s just
one man obviously, and we’ve got to play better are all-around, everybody, and he included.
He knows that. There’s ownership in that. Coaches, the same way. I take full responsibility
obviously, but we all need to be better.”
(On if he feels like the changed practice schedule impacted the team’s preparedness) “I
don’t. I don’t.”
(On how he feels after the 1-5 start) “Defeated, obviously. I feel for the players and the
coaches. We work extremely too hard to be in this position. I feel like the guys, they don’t
quit. They keep fighting. We have to figure out how to just get out of our way and just play
football. I say that, and it sounds easy, but it’s tough. It’s a tough game to play. We didn’t
expect to be here in this spot, and, hey, now we have to find a way to get out of it.”
(On if he thinks Wembley next week is a must-win) “I would say so. I would say everything
here on out, quite frankly. If we want to get back to playing the type of football we know we
can play, you’re going to have to win a lot of games moving forward. I would say that, yeah,
these games moving forward are just that.”
(On if he believes he still has the full backing of Shad Khan) “I do. I was just with him, and I
do.”
(On what he thinks is the first point is he would change to fix the Jaguars losing streak) “It’s
hard to put a thumb on it or a finger on it 30 minutes after a game. It’s something I’ll have to
consider and really dive into I think these next couple of days before we get back on the
field, but your point is taken.”
(On how important it is that the team is all in London this week to prepare) “I think it’s huge
for us to be here as a football team, to be around each other, support each other, keep
encouraging each other. There’s nowhere for us to go, you know? We’re at the hotel, and
we see each other every day. We have to support each other and keep picking each other
up.”
(On The penalties today in crucial moments that were detrimental to the team today, what
can you do as a team to ensure that that stops moving forward) “Yeah, those are penalties
that really hurt. Again, taking nothing away from the players. They’re playing hard. They’re
putting everything out on the field. We keep talking. We’ll just keep showing them. We had
the 12 men on the field, and there was a substitution change. I put that one us as coaches.
That’s on us. So, everybody has a piece of this. It’s not just coaching, not just players. It’s
all of us, and that’s where it has to start.”
(On RB Travis Etienne’s injury) “I haven’t talked to our trainers yet, so I don’t have any
updates on medical yet.”
(On what positives he can take away from today) “Great question. Yeah, I’ll say this. You
know, we’ve talked a lot as a team. I know it’s a small thing, but we haven’t really started
football games well this year. We’ve given up points, and we’ve been off the field.
Obviously today was a positive, right? We got them off the field early, and then offense
went down and put points on. I mean, we dropped a touchdown, but we still put points on
the board. I think that’s a step in the right direction. Look, I could probably give you a better
answer in a day or two when I look at this tape, but that’s a start.”
JAGUARS QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024
(On if he feels like there is a lack of focus as a team) “You know, I didn’t sense that.
Obviously, the way the game turned out and some critical errors really all the way around
would point to that. I felt like we were ready to play. I thought we had a good week.
Obviously, everyone deals with the travel over here. Chicago had to do it earlier in the week
too. So, I thought even considering that, you know, we had a good plan, good week. I felt
like we were ready to go. Then obviously it didn’t go our way. Didn’t make enough plays.
Didn’t execute and had just too many mistakes. So, I guess I can’t say that it wasn’t that
because I think that definitely can contribute to that, yeah.”
(On if WR Gabe Davis’ dropped touchdown on the first drive was a momentum killer) “No, I
mean, it’s football. That happens. I missed a couple throws too. So, it’s going to happen.
You want those guys to catch every ball, and that would be great, and they want to catch
every ball. That’s just not this game. You’re going to make mistakes, and stuff is going to
happen. We ended up getting a field goal, and it was 3-0 us. You would love to score, but it’s
a long game. I think as a team we can’t be so fragile. It’s like it’s not going to go perfect every
week. Most weeks aren’t going to go perfect. You’re going to have to sometimes dig yourself
out of a hole. We got down in the second quarter and had an opportunity to come out of
halftime and didn’t take advantage of it. I mean, obviously you look back. Every play
matters, and we had plenty of mistakes, but no, I don’t think that was a huge momentum
shift. Obviously you would love to make it, but no, it’s on all of us.”
(On if there is anyway back from 1-5 as a team and for Head Coach Doug Pederson) “Yeah.
We got 11 more games, so there’s definitely a way back. Me pumping us up isn’t going to do
anything up here, so we have to take care of business on our end. But, yeah, it’s a long
season, and we have a lot of football left.”
(On if he and the team are still playing for Doug) “Yeah, that’s our head coach, and we’re a
team. This is tough. Losing is hard. It’s hard. But it has nothing to do with that relationship,
how we feel about Coach. We’re a group. We’re staying together. We know brighter days are
ahead. We just have to keep working, and we have to keep putting our best foot forward.
You know, we just have to stick together as a team. We have to play more had
complementary. We’re not playing good team football right now. So whatever the answer to
that is we have to find it quick. Yeah, no thought of that on my mind.
(On what gives him confidence going into next week’s game) “What gives me confidence? I
know what we can do as a team. I’ve seen it. We have some really good players, a lot of
playmakers. Speaking offensively because obviously that’s my side of the ball. We’ve done
it before. I’ve seen us pull ourselves out of holes bigger than this. It’s challenging, but you
can’t look at it as all this stuff that we have to do. We just have to take it one day at a time,
one week at a time. That’s what we said before the Colts came. That’s what we said before
this game too, and it didn’t go our way, but that doesn’t mean you jump ship and you quit.
It’s one game. I mean, it’s a long season. I’ve been through a lot in my career. I’ve lost a lot
of games. We have to change that around here, and we have to be the ones to do it. We
have to take accountability. We have to go play well and find a way to win. It’s not going to
go perfect, but just find a way to win in the end and put yourself in position to. That’s what
sucks is today we didn’t have a chance to because we made too many mistakes. Those
games always definitely suck.”
(On what positives he can take from this game) “I thought we actually did a lot of things
well. I thought we were better on third down. We weren’t able to run the ball as good as we
wanted to based on a lot of different things. A lot of factors go into that. I think the way the
game went and us having to become kind of pass-heavy towards the end to try to score
quick, that’s a big part of it. But I thought we did some really nice things. Like I said, better
on third down. I thought we had a good plan for this defense. It’s a good defense, and it was
just the mistakes that kind of started to accumulate, whether it was turnovers or it was just
assignments, little things here and there from — there’s enough blame to go around for
everybody, including myself. There’s plenty of that there. It just seemed like our plan and
our plays were there, and we made a lot of them, but then we made some crucial errors
too. It felt like when we got some big plays, we would have some penalties, or we would
turn it over. Then we didn’t play complementary. When the defense got a stop, we didn’t
score. When we got a big kick return, we didn’t score. When we turned it over, they went
and scored. That’s the quickest way to lose in this league is to not take advantage of your
opportunities when you get that momentum. I felt like we didn’t take advantage of it today.”
(On how he pleased he was that TE Evan Engram bounced back after the fumbles) “I’m not
surprised at all. Evan is a guy I have a lot of trust in. It’s goods to have him back. He made
some big plays today. Like I said, that’s why I’m talking about fragile as a team. Yeah, he had
a fumble. He knows that. He knows that, you know, that stuff shouldn’t happen, and that
can affect the game, but it’s one play. So you have to bounce back as an individual, but also
the team around you has to pick you up. Offensively we’ve got to go make more plays next
time we get the ball. Defensively we have to get a stop. It’s on all of us. So there’s going to
be mistakes, and we had two turnovers today, which didn’t help us. It’s harder to win that
way, but you have to be able to overcome stuff too. You can’t just say, Oh, we don’t want to
turn the ball over. So what happens when you do turn it over? Do you just stop playing? I
think that’s a big part of it is he’s a very resilient guy, so I wasn’t surprised to see how he
bounced back. I know he is beating himself up, but it’s not on him. I mean, it’s one play in a
long game, and you have to be able to overcome some stuff.”
(On what you learn about yourself and the team after a defeat like that) “Yeah, I think how
we respond is the biggest thing. The good thing is we play next week. We get another
opportunity. We’re staying here. We’re not going anywhere. So you guys get us for another
week. Yeah, just the way we respond, and we have to stick together. Obviously, you want to
watch the tape and take all the accountability and really figure out what you can do better
as an individual, as an offense. Just take it for what it is and then move on. By the time
Tuesday, Wednesday comes around, we have to be moved on to getting ready for New
England because that’s another game in this league. It doesn’t slow up. You play a good
team every week. Whatever we can do to get our minds, our bodies all ready to go and play
well on Sunday, that’s the biggest thing, and that’s all we can do and just take it one game
at a time.”
(On if it feels like this team has to play close to perfect to have success) “That’s a good
question. You can’t play that way because you’re never going to be perfect. Did it feel like
that way today? Yes, because it did snowball. Unfortunately it happened today, and we let
those mistakes kind of accumulate and just pile on, but you’re never going to play perfect.
So, if you are waiting to play perfect, you’re not going to win a lot of games. I think as a team
we do have to be better at overcoming adversity. You want to start fast, and I thought we
started pretty good today. We got three points. Obviously we have a good touchdown; got
three points. Is started off, got a stop before that. That’s been kind of our problem in the
past was not starting. So we did that today, and then we still had some of the mistakes
creep in. Whatever it takes just to play a full 60 minutes as clean as you can and if you do
make a mistake, just go make the next play. You don’t have to do more than your job. I think
that’s a big part of it, and I am talking about myself too. I know as a quarterback sometimes
when one play doesn’t go right, it’s happened a ton in my career where I try to make the play
the next time and make it worse because I’m trying to do too much and I’m not just doing
my job. So I think that that is a big part of it too what we have to do as a team and control
that aspect of it.”
JAGUARS DEFENSIVE END JOSH HINES-ALLEN
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024
(On if he feels like there is a lack of focus) “I think there’s a lack of a lot of things, but focus
can be one of those.”
(On what he feels like went wrong the most today on defense) “Penalties, not getting off the
field. Things that we’ve been struggling with all year. Then the penalties we kept them on
the field for one drive with three penalties and ended up eventually scoring. So beating
ourselves as well, we have to correct those.”
(On what he would contribute the penalties and fundamental errors to) “I mean, I think,
again, outside of the penalties if you look at the play, we were getting off the field. So, we
did a better job up front of just getting to the quarterback, getting him off his spot. All being,
it was just the penalties. I can’t really speak on what put them in that position to feel like he
needed to be there, but at the end of the day we still had to respond and still get off the
field, and we didn’t do a good job of that today.”
(On what is needed to turn things around) “A sense of urgency, it’s a must-win. We know we
have to trust in everybody here, but the sense of urgency needs to pick up, the passion, the
love. The reason why we do the things that we do needs to pick up a little bit more. It starts
Tuesday once we get back to practice and focus on the Patriots.”
(On why he felt like QB Caleb Williams had success) “He’s going to make plays. He’s done
that all year. Like you said, I think the first half outside that one drive we did a good job of
keeping him in the pocket and getting hits, but he’s going to make plays. Kudos to him.”
(On if the players see next week as a must-win) “Yes, sir.”
BEARS HEAD COACH MATT EBERFLUS
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024
(Opening statement) “Okay. Fall first of all I want to thank the fans. You know, the fans
were great all week. We had a big group out there in the stadium. So my hat’s off to them.
Bears fans always travel well, and that was proven again today. And then really thankful to
the staff. You know, our logistics group, Kyle [Director of Operations – Logistics Kyle Kelly]
and Jay [Team Logistics Coordinator Jay Nickell], and then security, Tarpey [Vice President
of Security John Tarpey] and Pete [Director of Security Pete Spizzirri] did a wonderful job all
week, team men, our equipment, did a wonderful job, as well. Grounds crew, [Head
Groundskeeper] Ken Mrock, had our practice field all set; and our Performance team
working with our players getting them ready to go, Salazar [Clyde Emrich Director of High
Performance Brent Salazar] and [Head Strength and Conditioning] Jimmy Arthur. And then
[Senior Director of Sports Medicine and Player Health & Head Athletic Trainer] Andre Tucker
is our trainer, does a wonderful job as well. But again, most of all, thankful to the players.
They did a really good job of leadership. We were out there in the countryside a little bit,
but it was good. It was more like a training camp feel for us. We’re really big into building
our relationships with each other in the springtime, in the summertime, and that paid off.
The guys did a really good job the whole week working the plans. The coordinators did a
nice job of that as well, getting those plans implements so they did a nice job there.
In terms of the game evaluation, I thought was really good complementary football during
the course of us taking the ball away on defense and scoring those 14 points off of those
takeaways. A couple good two-minute drives there, really good two-minute drive there at
the half for the offense, and then a four-minute at the end of the game to expire it, waste
some time there, and do a good job with that. The DBs that came in, we had some injuries.
The DBs that came in, Blackwell [Bears DB Josh Blackwell] came in in the middle of the
game for Kyler [Bears DB Kyler Gordon], and obviously [Bears DB] Jaylon Jones did a nice
job. [Bears DB] Elijah Hicks did a nice job coming in there, and that’s the partnership they
have with their coaches. The coaches got them ready to go. We are always ready to go in
terms of the depth part of it, and that’s a good job of coaching those guys as well but really
good job of playing. A couple guys had really good games. Obviously Caleb [Bears QB
Caleb Williams] had a nice game. Always look at the QBR, and that was good, in the 120s
again. Really good solid work there by him in terms of distributing the ball to Cole [Bears TE
Cole Kmet]. Cole had some really nice catches, a couple touchdowns. First man in the
history of football to get two touchdowns and snap it right afterward, maybe, I don’t know.
But then Keenan [Bears WR Keenan Allen] made some really nice catches out there, some
tight windows, and you know, I thought our D-Line really rushed well today. Got some really
good pressures in there. Linebackers, those guys are always playing hot. So it’s a good day
by all of them. Then working into the bye week, so we got the bye week here. Guys will
come in. We’ll evaluate this game. Get it all cleaned up and those guys need to do a good
job of taking their of their minds, their bodies and their spirits to come back for our next
rack of games we have leading into this schedule. With that, I’ll take questions.”
(On how important it was for Williams to keep the momentum up from the last few weeks)
“Yeah, it’s always good, right. That’s consistency. You make the progress and you want it to
be linear but it’s not always that way. But we feel that he took a step in the right direction,
our football team took a step in the right direction of playing that complementary football,
and him being able to distribute the football and operate. We ran some no huddle and
different things in there where he had to operate there at the line and did a nice job today.”
(On his thoughts on the team’s execution on third down) “Yeah, you need those to keep the
drives alive. We helped expire the game with one of those slants. It’s important that even
third and fourth down, we are going to go for those things in the quad zone area. And you
know, the play has the go to be good, which Shane [Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron]
dialed up some good plays today, and they have got to execute them. Overall it was good.”
(On what separates Williams from other quarterbacks) “Just his ability to learn and grow
and want to get better. He knows that he’s always working and improving and growing. He
knows that it’s going to be a big — this year is a big year for him to be able to learn the game
up here. You know, he’s always been good enough in terms of the talent and those things.
But he’s learning the game and learning our offense and learning our skill sets that we have.
Learning new things that they can do. You know, so our guys have wide skillsets. So we
want to utilize those guys skillsets to be able to widen that so we can really expand our
offense as we go through the year. So he’s going a good job with that.”
(On Gordon’s injury status) “So I’ll go back to the injury report. We have Kyler Gordon is a
hamstring. He ended up feeling a hamstring right there, one of those plays in the second
half. Like I said, black well did a nice job coming in. Then our long snapper, Scott Daly has
got a knee. We’ll see where that is, as well, as we get back to Halas Hall tomorrow.”
(On the degree of Gordon’s injury) “We’ll see. I’m hopeful that’s what it is. I am. Kyler is a
really good player for us. He plays the hot spot for us at nickel. We’re hopeful.”
(On how Allen’s production has impacted the offense to his expectations) “We’ve all seen
it, right. He’s had a long career and he’s made a lot of plays. He’s always open that guy,
right. I’ve tried to double cover him in front, behind, sideways, doesn’t work. He’s always
open. He’s an exciting player.”
(On the stadium atmosphere’s impact on the team’s performance) “I think a big impact, it
always is. I know this waned considered a home-home game but I’m we’ve won nine
straight at home. It’s always a big impact. Our fans at home in Chicago do a great job of
that and are loud and always into the game and impact. It’s very difficult for the other
team.
(On neutralizing Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr.) “He’s a heck of a player, he really. Is I
watched a lot of tape on him during the Draft process and he’s good. He’s fast. He can get
the deep ball, and he’s going to have an outstanding career, you know, for himself and for
the Jags. He’s exciting to watch, and you know, in terms of the three catches, you know,
that’s NFL ball, right. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”
(On the difference between Blackwell and Kmet) “Yeah, Cole, we practice that every
Thursday. He gets the short snaps and long snaps every Thursday. It’s part of our routine
that we have because he is the backup. So he does a good job with those guys. A couple
snaps were high but you know, he did a good job.”
(On how of an impact Bears RB D’Andre Swift was) “Very big. Very big. The big thing about
Swift is get him out in space because then he can be electric. I was really pleased how he
ran the ball today. I think it was in the fives, and I think their run average was in the low
fours, I believe, so. It was good in both regards in terms of the average. But you need some
explosives, and you have to limit those on defense, and I thought we did that on both sides
of the ball today. Again, that’s the perimeter blocking, the line, finishing, everything that
they do and playing the way we play.”
(On mitigating the impact of William’s interception) “We understand that that might happen
on occasion. That was a shot that we took. That should be our ball or no one’s. But they
ended up coming up and made a nice play on it, and our defense responded. I always talk
to the guys about responding. Complementary football is helping the other person out. So
when something happens, good or bad, you take advantage of the great opportunity and
make it even better, or when something happens that was unforeseen, then they rise up to
the occasion and help the other person out, the group out, and that’s what complementary
football is.”
(On the direction of the team) “I think we are in a good spot, I really do. I think we have got a
lot of improvement to do. But for the first six games, I think we are in a good spot, and we
have to get our minds and our bodies and everything right to go on to these next six games
starting with the first one.”
(On the impact of Hicks) “It’s great. It’s great. You have a guy that’s in a backup roll that’s
working his butt off on special teams and then he gets his opportunity, and you see him
perform like that — even Blackwell, Jaylon Jones, all those guys, it’s always good to see that
because they are working at it just like everybody else. When they get that opportunity and
they seize that opportunity and play well, it’s always fun to see.”
BEARS QUARTERBACK CALEB WILLIAMS
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024
(On what he saw during Bears TE Cole Kmet’s first touchdown play) “Yeah, throughout the
week, you watch fill, and their backers and things like that, they are good backers but I think
team-wise they are fast flow. So they fly around, and so we had a bunch of mismatch and
kind of having Keenan run around and then back here, and then Cole bluff and go down the
seam. Offensive line, you know, Keenan all these guys, they did a great job. All I had to do
was throw a lay-up to Cole down the seam and let them do the rest. To everybody else it
was great. Obviously getting that touchdown and getting everything going.”
(On his second touchdown pass to Kmet) “Yeah, so we practiced it throughout the whole
week and Cole did a great job because we him and I made an adjustment with his route
before the week — before the game, and so he did a great job with that and then yeah, so I
knew they were man. They tried to push the safety over to, I believe it was D.J. over there.
And he was running the slant. So they pushed the safety over to help and you know it was
supposed to be one-on-one corner ball and then safety fell off and then the corner is
supposed to fall or whatever happened over there. I think they busted coverage. But Cole
did a great job going up and getting it.”
(On what he credits to his on-field success during the game) “Offensive line, coaching,
progress, the leadership on this team. You know, for me, the constant mindset of keep
going, and then you know, I think us getting out there and getting our momentum going. Us
getting out there and executing. Us believing in each other is what you credit it to.”
(On how the game feels for him in the last few weeks) “Yeah, I think throughout this whole
process of these past couple games we’ve had, I think I’ve been seeing it well. That starts
throughout the whole week watching film, getting there in practice, talking to the coaches,
players and things like that. So I think seeing it well. I think the comfort level of just like I’ve
talked about before, getting back to playing football and where I need to be, eyes need to
be, if I need to hold a safety, if I need to just hang on a route. So just getting back
comfortable of just having that feel for the game. Obviously you study, you watch, and do
all these other things. But, you know, once the ball snaps, you have to have that post-snap
read and know what you have to do and be confident about it. So I think that’s what I can
contribute it to.”
(On what he saw on his interception) “Yeah, D.J. wide open. And I didn’t add enough juice
behind it. I didn’t put it where I put it in practice, which is the back pylon, and safety had an
easy interception, and you know, I need to be better because that would have got
everything going instead of turning the ball over. You can’t have turnovers. Something that I
pride myself on. Obviously you know, it affects the whole team. It affects my momentum,
especially when you have a wide open receiver like D.J. streaking down the field. I’ve got to
be better. Definitely frustrating. Definitely had a few words for myself after that. But you
know, got the mindset back on track and ready to go for the next.”
(On if the interception sparked his need for redemption) “Yeah, I was a bit pissed off at
myself because that’s a pass that I don’t miss, that you don’t want to miss, and do
something like that. And so yeah, I was a bit pissed off after that, and I think reset myself
was important. But still having in the back of my mind, like you know, can’t have that
happen again, and let’s go out here and go score.”
(On if the ball was hanging) “Yeah, it hung a little bit more than I wanted it to. I put it a little
too high and not far enough. So yeah, definitely got to be better.”
(On his London experience as a rookie) “Yeah, it was great. You know, you come out here for
a week or so, not a week, we were here for a couple days, Tuesday to now. You come out for
a couple days and you’re here for a good amount of time away from your home, away from
your bed, my dog, all these different things. You know, troubling sleep on the first two days
and things like that. You know, being able to take that eight, nine-hour flight home with the
win going into a bye week, it feels great.”
(On if he was part of the tea party touchdown celebration) “Yeah, I ended up being a guard
and protecting the afternoon tea. It was fun. They planned. You know, it’s always fun when
you can have those things come to life. It’s really enjoyable to go out there and watch those
boys do their job, and then go out there and have fun and do things like that.”
(On what it’s like to have Bears WR Keenan Allen on this offense) “It’s great. He’s been like a
big brother to me. He’s been special from our relationship and then obviously he’s been
special for many years. And so to have him on the team, his wisdom, his knowledge, things
like that, is it stuff that he’s taught me, it’s great. So being able to get him two touchdowns a
day, I know we’ve been just super close, first game of the year, we threw a ball and we didn’t
connect. Rams game, threw like a ball to the seam. It wasn’t a seam route but threw a ball
to the team and got held. So we’ve been super close. To be able to get two touchdowns for
him today, you know, it’s pretty sweet. Pretty awesome.”
(On his chemistry with Allen) “So we practice throughout the week. We have different
throws that we’ve practiced. You know, getting the extra reps, I think helps out. Like I’ve
talked about before, sometimes we get a few extra reps in an individual drill or after
practice and things like that, and I think it definitely helped out. You know, all the hard work
and extra work that we’ve been putting in is great and to have somebody like Keenan, his
patience and things like that, we’re six games in, and he’s just getting his first two
touchdowns. So I think his patience, he’s such a great player and things like that, he’s been
great. So be able to get him those two, throw the back shoulder, it’s like I said, it’s
something that we’ve practiced, kind of the same ball we practiced this week that I threw
earlier this week. So he did a great job, and super excited.”
(On how he settled into the game and found a rhythm in the second half) “Yeah, it feels
great. I would say we got to be better and we’ve got to start fast, especially when we get the
ball first and teams defer. But we definitely did a good job with the second half, but also
right before going into the half. Those points were huge. To have those things and things like
that, they always talk about the four minutes going into half and the four minutes coming
out of half and things like that. So it’s super important but we’ve got to be better at the start,
myself included. Go Bears.”
BEARS WIDE RECEIVER KEENAN ALLEN
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024
(On how he and Bears QB Caleb Williams were on the same page for his first touchdown
reception) “Starts with two-high defense. Once we get to two-high, I’m one-on-one with the
middle linebacker. We’ve been working on that throw since OTAs. So you know, today we
was able to put it on film and make it happen.”
(On where the Bears’ wide receiver room ranks among the rooms he’s been part of in his
career) “It’s up at the top for sure, from top to bottom: Tight ends, running backs, receivers
obviously, and then you’ve got a quarterback like Caleb, I think we can be real special.”
(On Williams’ command and placement of the ball) Yeah, he was obviously in a rhythm
after the first couple drives, and you know, five incompletions, I think it was, you can tell
he’s dialing them up. Even the fourth down ball, the slant. When he’s in a groove like that
and all the balls are catchable, then it’s pretty easy to play receiver.
(On Williams’ own frustration about throwing an interception) “Yeah, absolutely. When he
came back the next drive, after the turnover, just hear him kind of give out like a ‘Whooo,
let’s go.’ You could tell wasn’t down and didn’t lose any confidence. I was like, let’s see how
it goes ask binge balm boom we down all the way down the field.”
(On how Williams has been able to settle into his role, particularly in the last few weeks) “I
think just his growth, just week-in, week-out, he gets better. You know, obviously when we
pick up the tempo, he’s a lot more comfortable. He’s able to see things faster and you
know, the defense can’t do all the moving around and stuff. This benefits us.”
(On how he would describe the offense’s sense of belief) “First couple weeks, defense is
playing huge. Offense wasn’t really doing a lot. Now we’re coming out and scoring more
than we were, and scoring a lot of points. So you know it makes it easier for the defense.
I was just talking to Montez, he was like, Man, I was getting frustrated. Y’all kept converting
on third down. I was ready to go back out there. I’m trying to get a sack. I’m like, yeah, it’s
going to be like that sometimes. As long as everything is complementing each other and
special teams is playing good, we’ve got a chance.”
(On how it felt to have a breakout game with the Bears this season) “It was big. Big time.
Like you said, missed a couple weeks. Just coming back, when you take a little break from
football and you come back, you’ve got to get back into the groove of things sometimes.
You know, just keep playing. Don’t try not to get frustrated and just stay ready.”
(On deciding which celebration to do) “Obviously the drinking tea one was one we were
talking about during that drive. Whoever scores, we’re going to do the little tea party thing.
That was kind of the only one. We did the little marching band at the end, too.”
(On who came up with the tea party idea) “Swift [Bears RB D’Andre Swift].”
(On the impact of Swift’s production on the offense) “It’s been huge. Run game has come
alive. First couple weeks we were struggling. It’s come alive a lot. Screen game has come
alive a lot, and him out of the backfield is second-to-none. As long as you have to account
for everybody on the offense, Caleb is running around, it’s kind of hard to play like that.”
(On how arriving earlier in London helps with overcoming jet lag) “I would say so. Being out
here all week, we had a chance to settle down. Tuesday, as soon as we landed, I had to go
to sleep. Because I didn’t sleep too much on the plane so I went straight to sleep, got me a
nap in but I didn’t go to sleep that night until four in the morning just because of the time
difference. The next day, same thing. Didn’t go to sleep, probably 3:30, 4:00 in the morning,
just sitting there on Netflix, stain gram, whatever, not being able to go to sleep. And as the
week progressed, yesterday I’m in bed at 10:30 ready to knock out. So it’s good.”
(On how Williams delegates targets among the Bears receivers) “Yeah, like we was talking
about with the receiver room that we have with the weapons that we do have, running
backs, tight ends, receiver, himself, running the ball. As a quarterback, I don’t think you
need to look at one person versus if you have like a [Minnesota Vikings WR] Justin Jefferson,
[Vikings WR] Jordan Addison and the rest are guys — no disrespect to those guys, but you’ve
got Justin Jefferson, you’ve got to get him the ball every damn play. We got guys you can get
the ball to. So it is what it is.”
(On the impact of William’s abilities to extend plays using his legs) “It’s huge. Because the
defense, their coverage shuts down the play that we have. But you didn’t guard the
quarterback. So I mean, who you going to stop? You stop the quarterback or you stop the
guy that’s running the routes? It’s hard to do both.”
(On what it says about Bears TE Cole Kmet to have two touchdowns and snaps at long
snapper) “That’s elite. We was talking about it on the sideline. I don’t think we ever seen it, a
guy who can score a touchdown and then do a snap. Pretty solid. Pretty solid.”
(On if he was expecting the fan support to be as strong as it was) “I didn’t. D.J. [Bears WR
D.J. Moore] was saying it’s a home game. Watch this. I was like, all right, I’ll see how it looks.
I’m not used to that. That was solid.”
(On how he would define the team) “Player-led team. We got a lot of leadership. We feed off
each other. The defense is amazing. The offense has gotten better every week. Special
teams is second-to-none, and you know, I think we do a great job of showing up every day
ready to work. Like I said, everybody feeds off each other.”
(On how much pride he takes in being open on third downs) “I don’t know, I’ve just always
been good at it I guess. Third down, you know, a lot of opportunities out there just because
they are going to be playing man coverage, and you know, you just got to find a way to get
open. That’s what I do.”
(On what he saw on the route and the ball for his second touchdown) “Second touchdown
with the fade? He was in the red zone. One-on-one. They was one-high, press coverage. It
was actually a run play with the fade check, and as soon as you line up, you’re like, you
know what time it is. It’s one-on-one; it’s me and you. Like, Caleb, throw the ball.
And even when I looked up it was a perfect ball so I didn’t have to jump up and make a
miraculous catch or anything. It was just pack and go at that point.”
(On his relationship with Williams being described by him as brotherly) “Yeah, absolutely.
Ever since I’ve been here, ever since he’s been drafted, we’ve always had the connection,
the relationship. Just going back and forth, laughing, whatever it is, talking football, video
games, playing cards, you know, whatever.”
(On what the week of preparation was like knowing he would be targeted more during the
game) “I didn’t think I was going to get targeted a lot. Going through the week, it was still
frustrating obviously, because you know, things happen. Plays don’t play out like they do.
But we were talking about it again on the sideline today, me and Shane, that the red zone
drive where I did score the first touchdown, kept coming to me back-to-back to back, three
plays in a row he came to me. That was big time for me.”
(On areas to improve on during the bye week) “Just continue to get better. Scoring drives on
offense and turnovers, obviously. I think we had one ball on the ground today fumble-wise.
Just protecting the ball at all costs and giving the defense a chance to shut them boys up.”
(On his fake screen leading to Kmet’s first touchdown) “That’s just great play. Great play
call. We was in the perfect spot on the field to dial it up. That was one of the plays going into
the game we are like, we have a good chance to score on this play. Cole made a hell of a job
getting into the end zone, running through a guy. And good reads, bad reads. You say it’s a
good read when you score a touchdown.”
BEARS TIGHT END COLE KMET
POSTGAME MEDIA AVAILABILITY
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024
(On if he found being a long snapper or scoring the first touchdown weirder) “Yeah,
definitely not a position I envisioned playing in the NFL, ever. But you know, you’ve got to do
what you’ve got to do and there’s only so many guys you can dress on game day, and only
so many guys that you can have on the roster. You have to have somebody that can be the
emergency and I’m that guy, reluctantly, at times. I get my two or three snaps in on
Thursday, and we go to Sunday, and you know, it’s all my biggest worry going into the game.
Hopefully Scott [Bears LS Scott Daly] is doing all right everything and heals up okay, but
yeah, just glad I could go out there and just provide something for the team in that regard.”
(On how he ended up being a temporary long snapper for the game) “Someone found out
that I did it in high school. These guys know everything about you. They found out I did it in
high school. My uncle did it. I remember my dad, just me and my brother would be messing
around doing it in the backyard all the time and it was kind of like the more-you-can-do
thing. Thinking, like, if you ever needed to make a team, if you’re a guy that’s the 54 or 55
guy, and they are deciding between two guys, that you know, having that ability, they are
going to keep you on the roster for those type of things. Obviously, I’m not really in that
position right now, but that was kind of the mindset of learning how to do it, I wanted to play
in the NFL one day, and that was kind of the thing behind it and paid off today, I guess. So
was glad that I could just help out where I could.”
(On what he saw with the fake double screen) “Great play concept. He [Offensive
Coordinator Shane Waldron] had run it in Seattle before. They presented a good defense for
us to run that. We had run a bunch of screens where we’re flying the guy behind and pulling
those backers out. So just kind of blocked my guy on the line for a second there and Caleb
[Williams] gave a good fake and then just right up the chute and was able to break a tackle
and get into the end zone.”
(On how different is the pregame nervousness of being the long snapper versus as a tight
end) “I think for me, I don’t really get, like, nervous anymore to go out and play. I think the
first couple games of the season, because you’re a little unfamiliar from taking the big
break and you finally go back, I have a little bit of nervousness. But once you get rolling in
the season, it feels like game day is every other day. I don’t have that type of nervousness
anymore but because I’m just doing all those reps all the time. So, I just know what to
expect. I know what I can do out there. But I mean, like I said, long snapper, I take two
snaps a week, really. So, it’s not like I have a ton of time on task on that like I do at tight end.
But at the end of the day, like that’s kind of what this league is a little bit. You kind of just
have to plug-and-play some guys. Guys are playing out of position here and there, and it
just happened to be me today.”
(On feeling relief after successfully snapping the ball) “Yeah, I think I was tired enough on
each of those where I’m not thinking about it in a sense. Like you’re so tired on the field
that, okay, I’m going to shoot this ball between my legs real quick and get this over with. So
yeah, I think that’s kind of the feel — I think going into the night of the game, I do run my
head through all the scenarios and plays, and then I just think, gosh, I hope Scott don’t get
hurt today.”
(On the excitement around QB Caleb Williams over the last few games) “People can be
excited as they want to be. I think what I can say about Caleb, he’s taken steps every game.
I think that’s been evident, and you know, I’m sure he’ll tell you he’ll probably want that one
throw back that he had to DJ [WR DJ Moore]. Besides that, I thought he did some really
amazing stuff. I thought the scramble he had to me was just an unbelievable play and just
how he can create and do those type of things. If they are going to play man on us like they
did a few times and things might be covered or muddy downfield, he’s able to escape the
pocket and get 20 or 30 yards on some of those runs. He’s just super dynamic. He’s a pass-
first guy, but he has the ability to run, as well, and I think he did a pretty good job of taking
care of himself when he does become a runner, as well.”
(On his perspective when Daly got hurt) “I didn’t know he got — HT came up to me and said,
‘Hey, Scott’s hurt.’ I’m like, ‘Tyler Scott’s hurt?’ Like, what? And he’s, like, telling me. And I’m
like, ‘OK, why does that’s affect me?’ He’s like, ‘You need to get snaps in.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh,
sh-t, I’ve got to go snap right now.’ That’s kind of you how that went down and immediately
started firing snaps between my legs and thankful didn’t have to do any punt scenarios. I’m
pretty sure we had that fourth-and-four scenario before Keenan [Allen] caught that ball.
And I was like, this is usually a punt-and-pin situation, but I’m sure Coach [Eberflus] is like,
let’s try and get the first down here and that’s what happened.”
(On when he decided to run through the defender to score the touchdown) “Yeah, I think for
like my skill set, it’s always like trying to run things over and that’s kind of how I look at it and
trying to get half a man. I remember like [NFL TE] Jimmy Graham kind of taught me about
that. In anything that we do, whether it’s blocking or you’re in pass pro or running routes,
you always want to work on half a man, and that’s the same thing when you get the ball in
your hands. You take a half a man on them, he’s half his body weight, and now I’ve got my
full weight and my full speed going at him. So I was able to shut him. I’ll probably get
docked for reaching the ball out there for the end zone, but there was no way I was getting a
sniff fine, either, so that worked out well.”
