Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Brian Daboll

NYG Postgame (vs. Eagles) Transcripts: Head Coach Brian Daboll

October 20, 2024

BRIAN DABOLL: Certainly a tough game. Got outcoached, got outplayed. Made a change in the fourth quarter when it was 28-3, we had 100 yards, just to create a spark. Daniel (Jones) will be the quarterback going forward. But, obviously, we didn't do enough offensively. Hardly had any yards, no points. Defensively, I thought we battled hard. We had two big runs in the first half and then that fourth down (pass) to (Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver) A.J. (Brown). Then the game kind of got away from us. They ran the ball. Just not a good day, all the way around. No excuses. We got to play better and coach better.

Q: You talked about a spark in the fourth quarter. Did you think about maybe early in the game, to find that spark, making a change?

BRIAN DABOLL: The score didn't get out of hand. I thought we had some chances there to make some plays. We just didn't make them. I wasn't going to take him (quarterback Daniel Jones) out then. All the way around, not just the quarterback, the coaching, everything, just wasn't good enough.

Q: There have been games in the past where it has been lopsided and haven’t score a lot. So why today made you think…

BRIAN DABOLL: We had 100 (total) yards. I was trying to create some type of juice and maybe make a few plays and swing the momentum a little bit. But that didn't happen.

Q: What do you think is wrong with the offense right now? Obviously, you said 119 yards in the game…

BRIAN DABOLL: Just not good enough all the way around.

Q: Is there anything that you look at and say, this area we need to get significantly better in?

BRIAN DABOLL: The two areas that we continue to work on, actually three, over and over again, are third-down, red zone and explosive plays. Another game where, I don't know what our longest play was, it couldn't have been too long, 14 yards. I don't know what it was. But, it's hard to generate points when your longest play is 14 yards or your longest play last week was 15 yards. So, you can do that one of two ways: catch and run or push the ball down the field and give our guys some chances or go up and make some plays. We're continuing to work on that. Those are two areas that we put a lot of time and effort in and we're not getting the results equal to the work and the effort that we're putting into it. Those are two areas.

Q: You mentioned earlier in the week when (tackle) Andrew (Thomas) was out that you can't replace him. But, you obviously had to replace him. How upsetting was it to you that the offensive line played so poorly? I know he's not there, but…

BRIAN DABOLL: I'd like to go back and look at it and really evaluate it. We tried to do some different things that we haven't done. Mainly, we jammed a fair amount, particularly in those throwing situations, and tried to give some presence to the edge on the left side. But, to sit up here and give you an evaluation of it all right now, that would be unfair.

Q: Why not change the offensive line mid-game before you change the quarterback?

BRIAN DABOLL: The quarterback, it was 28-3. I gave you the reason why I did it. There were some things that… Again, I don't want to get into the evaluation process. We'll go back and we'll take a look at it.

Q: Did you have any issues with effort today?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, I'm going to go back and watch it all. These guys have been busting it. Again, when the score is what it is, make no excuses. None of it was where it needs to be.

Q: Specifically, (cornerback) Deonte (Banks) on the (Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen (Hurts) scramble seemed like he did not…

BRIAN DABOLL: We'll go back. We'll take a look at all that stuff and whatever we need to address, we'll address. But, the guys are putting effort into it each and every week. We're just, unfortunately, not getting the results and it's a results business.

Q: So that wasn't something that you needed to address in the moment?

BRIAN DABOLL: I'm not going to get into the sideline or coaching part of it. But, none of it was good enough today.

Q: Why not bench a guy for that?

BRIAN DABOLL: I'm not going get into… None of it was good enough today. I’ll leave it at that.

Q: How concerned are you about the way this looked? Obviously, (Philadelphia Eagles running back) Saquon (Barkley) was on the other side. We knew where ownership stood on what they felt of him. He has a big game against you and you guys can’t do anything…

BRIAN DABOLL: He played well. Like we said, if he gets in space, he's going to make some yards and he played well, particularly there in the second half. The first half, he got that edge. Played well. We prepared for it, just not good enough.

Q: Right at the end of the first half, and I know you didn't have any timeouts, you made the decision to kick a field goal instead of maybe taking a shot at the end zone. What was your thought process there?

BRIAN DABOLL: Just thought it was the best thing to do.

Q: What about punting it in the first quarter, I believe you were on the 40-something, on 4th-and-3?

BRIAN DABOLL: I thought it was the best decision.

Q: Why?

BRIAN DABOLL: I talked with the guys upstairs and made the decision we thought was best for the team.

Q: As you were calling the plays, do you get a sense that you could not do a lot of the stuff that you wanted to do because Daniel (Jones) was not secure in the pocket at all?

BRIAN DABOLL: You're always changing based on how the game is going. But, make no excuses, not good enough.

Q: Do you see any common threads for the struggles offensively today that lingered from the Bengals game?

BRIAN DABOLL: Like I was saying earlier, explosive plays and 20-yard plus plays. When you have big plays and a drive, it really ups your chances. Converting on third down, which we didn't have, I don't know… We were 3-of-14, was it? Something like that. It's hard to sustain drives if you're not creating big plays and you're not converting on third downs. Some of that is a result of first and second downs, some of the sacks and negative plays that we took. We haven't been going backwards a whole bunch. But, not good enough any way you look at it.

Q: When you identify those as the issues, you're obviously going to try to fix it. Whatever you tried to do for this week didn't work. So do you go back to the drawing board and try to…

BRIAN DABOLL: We try to get as many reps as we can in those critical situations. You only have so many reps you can get. But third down, red zone and pushing the ball down the field, those are things we work at every single day. It's not where it needs to be.

Q: A game like today can leave players demoralized. Are you concerned about that in your locker room?

BRIAN DABOLL: No one was happy about the result. I think we have a strong group. You need to have a strong group in this league. There's a lot of ups and downs. Unfortunately, we've had more downs. But, our guys will come back. We'll regroup and we'll do everything we possibly can do, like we do each week, to be at our best on Monday night.

Q: With (Deonte) Banks, do you think not benching him when the (Dallas Cowboys wide receiver) CeeDee Lamb play happens allows something like this to happen?

BRIAN DABOLL: We'll keep the conversations about technique, fundamentals, effort, anything like that, in-house.

Q: You really haven't been able to create explosive plays with Daniel (Jones) in three years. What gives you confidence that you can do it?

BRIAN DABOLL: We have some guys around that I think can create explosive plays. We'll just go back to the drawing board and do the very best we can to try to improve that area. Which, for two weeks in a row, but it's been a little bit longer than that, we haven't created them and we need to.

Q: Do you consider Daniel (Jones) a limitation to what you can do on offense?

BRIAN DABOLL: No.

Q: Did you get a chance to talk to Saquon (Barkley)?

BRIAN DABOLL: After the game, I said congratulations to him. I just saw him after the game real quick. He was surrounded. I waited for him for a minute and told him congratulations. Had a good game.

Q: You came out throwing today. Obviously you saw something that you wanted to try to exploit…

BRIAN DABOLL: I thought we had some space in there. I thought there was some opportunities. We just, for whatever the reason may be, we just didn't get it done.