DT Damon Harrison
Postgame vs. Dallas, December 11, 2016
Q. You’ve been in the league for a while now and know the rivalries. What is it like now that you have both Dallas games. What’s the rivalry feel like for you?
A. It’s great. Being for Louisiana, about 90 percent of my immediate family are Cowboys fans. It’s just been great getting both games but we know we have something greater than just playing these two games against the Cowboys. But it doesn’t hurt to win a rivalry game like this.
Re: facing the Dallas rushing attack
A. When you have a group like that, and there’s no discredit to anybody on the offensive line because those guys can really play, they’re a heck of an offensive line from tackle to tackle. When you have a group like that, an offensive coordinator who’s the head coach of the team. they put a lot on those guys to get the running game going. They did to an excellent job tonight. And that’s why I come in. I’m a big run stopper, not much of a pass rusher, but Ezekiel Elliott, great running back. He’s a young guy, and has been running the ball with some confidence, and you can tell the difference between the first game of the year and the game now.
Q. With JPP out, the rookie Romeo Okwara comes in and steps up. Can you talk about his game tonight?
A. He played big. There’s some stuff we have to clean up, not only him, everybody along the line. He got his first sack. I was happy for him. He got in there a couple times on some big plays. We have faith in him, that’s why coach started him. You know if it wasn’t for that he wouldn’t be out there. We knew what he was capable of, it was just a matter of him going out there and showing it.
Q. You pitched a shutout in the second half. How do you compare your defensive in the first half of the season vs. now?
A. We’re still not nowhere near where we need to be, to be honest with you. The communication has gotten a whole lot better. We’re still feeling each other out. It’s getting better week by week. At the beginning of the year, it was just a “let’s go into this game and see and talk it out during the game.” You can talk it out during practice but until you get in the game, it’s not real. As the weeks gone on, guys have been getting really comfortable with each other. But we’re still not where we need to be and it’s a good sign that we will.
Q. What adjustments did you make at halftime?
A. Nothing. Guys just said that we were going to hunker down and just try our best not to get him [Elliott] over a 100 yards. He was able to do that. That’s a credit to him and the offensive line - those guys came out and performed. But guys just went into the second half with a totally different mindset than the first. We knew what we didn’t want to do. It was just a matter of settling down.
Q: How satisfying is it as a defense to shut down an offense like that time and time again?
A: Well it’s great because they have beaten everybody that they play and it’s a high-powered offense with a great rookie quarterback and a great rookie running back. For us to come out and hold them to 7 points, I have to tip my cap to Coach Spags.
Q: How were the field conditions? Was it tough footing wise?
A: No, actually it wasn't bad at all. The field was a little slushy but they did their best to keep the field manageable. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.
