for display only
Big Blue Interactive The Corner Forum  
Back to the Corner

Archived Thread

Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Pat Shurmur

Eric from BBI : Admin : 12/2/2018 6:29 pm
NYG Postgame (vs. Bears) Transcripts: Head Coach Pat Shurmur-- December 2, 2018

Opening Remarks: Well, you just watched it. Early on and throughout, I thought the defense did a hell of a job getting turnovers, giving us opportunities to score points. At the end there when it gets a little scattered, they did a good job against us, but for the bulk of the game, which really gave us an opportunity to take the lead, did a nice job of getting the ball turned over, giving us some field position. I don’t think it was our best performance on offense in the first half, but we found a way on some big plays and some trick plays to get the ball in the end zone and move the ball. I felt like the two scoring drives in the second half were huge, made a couple little adjustments and we found our way into the end zone twice. The takeaway is, and I told the team this - I’ll keep the swear words out of it – some people are fond of talented people, some people are fond of smart people, I’m fond of tough, resilient people. When you’re trying to flip culture, when you’re trying to build something, you’ve got to really dig in on that. There was some toughness and some resiliency. It would have been easy to cave when they came back, an 8-3 team, came back and tied us up, they had a little bit of juice, a little bit of mojo, but our guys found a way to put points on the board and then stop them at the end. I’m fond of toughness and resiliency, and our team showed that today. There’s probably plenty of takeaways, you’ve probably got plenty of questions, but toughness and resiliency are demanded in our sport, and we have that. We’ve just got to clean up the mistakes and keep going. That’s why I’m proud of our guys. It’s fun to win.

Q: What did you see on the onside kick?
A: The ball got in there, we probably would’ve been a little closer to it but they did a good job. That was well-executed by them, was a perfect kick, and certainly they got their hands on it and we didn’t.

Q: Did they change their lineup after they lined up and you called timeout?
A: No, they did exactly the same thing. We took the timeout to see how they were going to line up, but it appeared like after the timeout their intentions were exactly the same. The approach was the same, you’d have to ask them. I coached with Chris Tabor in Cleveland, he was my special teams coach, so you’d have to ask him.

Q: Didn’t look like Odell (Beckham Jr.) jumped in there? Did you see that and what was your take of that?
A: I’ll have to look at it. I couldn’t (see), it happened fast and it was hard for me to see. I’ll figure it out when I see it.

Q: How much did you need that Odell touchdown pass? What kind of turning point was that?
A: Yeah, that was a big play. It got us on the board. Certainly, his contributions in the game were big. I think something everybody gets wrapped up with is touches, but a player’s presence on the field makes a difference. I try to tell the players all the time that if you’re doing what you’re supposed to do on the field, your presence matters and that was a great opportunity for us to see how talented Odell can be.

Q: From a momentum standpoint, how big was the Saquon Barkley third-and-23 play right before the half?
A: Huge. Huge. It’s sort of a give-up call to just run it, and when you hand the ball to Saquon, that’s not the case. He’s a super, super talented guy. The first run of the overtime, that was an outstanding run and he did a great job of staying inbounds. We’ve seen all year what he can do, and for those of you keeping track, I think he had 24 carries today, so that’s a good day’s work for him.

Q: Why did you throw it on third-and-eight late in the fourth? You threw it instead of running it and making them burn a timeout, last possession when Eli took the sack.
A: We can’t take a sack there. Eli threw it with the idea we had a field goal and we need to do a better job protecting, but we also got to at the very least throw the ball away, kick the field goal. That was before the last series, right? That’s not good on our part.

Q: Why not kick the 57-yarder there, he’d already hit one earlier? What was your thinking on that?
A: I felt like that was a little bit too long right there.

Q: In the first half, it seemed like you were forcing the ball or they had a lot of coverage on Odell early on. Did you make some adjustments in the second half on that?
A: We got away from some of the things, I think we got to some of the plays that attacked the way they were playing coverage better. That’s about it, really.

Q: Did your decision today (to activate him) make Kyle Lauletta the number-two quarterback?
A: Yeah, I think behind the scenes he’s done a good job and that’s really what happens for the backups this time of year. Other than warmups, you guys don’t really get the opportunity to see and I think he’s made progress here during the season and it’s just the next step for him.

Q: What did you think of (Russell Shepard’s) performance today?
A: He’s a winner, he’s gritty, and he’s got a real team-like presence. When you’re around him, for him to have those types of contributions (is) good, but I see that in his spirit and he’s really brought that to our team.

Q: Can you talk about the job the offensive line did and keeping (the Bears defense) from wrecking things?
A: Initial glance and leading up to the game, I was fielding questions and based on what everybody was asking, we were going to cancel the game. I’ll tell you this, though, I’ve said it all along: we’ve got a group here that’s really coming. They battled those guys. Along the way, they could have looked at it as criticism early, when I said, ‘we’re going to go as far as our line will block for us’, but they just put their head down, Hal (Hunter) and Ben (Wilkerson) worked hard with them, and they’re developing a group there that we can be really proud of. Listen, I feel like if we play the right way, we can beat any team we play and it always starts up front.

Q: On Alec Ogletree’s performance today with two interceptions (including a pick six):
A: When you catch the ball like he did, when you intercept the ball, when you do those things, it’s a good thing. He’s one of the guys that’s helping us flip this culture because he’s a winner, he’s tough, he’s resilient, and he made some game-changing plays today and that’s a credit to him.

Q: Did you say anything to Eli (Manning) at halftime?
A: No.

Q: What was your sense going into overtime? Such a letdown, you had the game. Did you sense that?
A: No, I didn’t sense that. I really felt like we were going to get the ball and score, and we did that. It’s like the people that were ‘woe is me’ at the fact that we were up by eight at halftime against the Eagles a week ago. That’s not the feeling I had. I really felt like we were going to win this game, and I’ll say it again: If we play football the right way, I really feel like we can beat anybody we play. Until somebody can show me different, I’m going to always believe that.

Q: On the tight ends’ performance in both aspects of the offense:
A: Yeah, the two guys that played most – Scott (Simonson) and certainly Rhett (Ellison) – I’m fond of them because they’re tough and resilient. They’re gritty guys and it’s demanded of our sport, and they play that way. If they’re out there battling around, they have a way to get production like they do.

Q: You needed every point from (Aldrick) Rosas today, and he had some really long ones, a 57-yarder.
A: Yeah, I’ve said this all along, too, I’m fond of our kicker and I’m fond of who he is as a football player, because he’s not just a kicker, he’s a football player. If a fight broke out, he’d be right there. He’s tough, he’s resilient, and I’m really proud of the fact that he’s having a really positive impact on our games.

Q: How big was it for you to get big plays in overtime from both Olivier Vernon and Janoris Jenkins, two defensive players, veterans that have had up and down years?
A: I’m not worried about that. I think they had a big impact on the game, and they just keep playing. If you just keep playing, you never know when the play you’re involved in can change the outcome of a game.

Q: How are your legs after you got taken out on the sidelines?
A: Good. I’ve been hit harder than that before.

Q: What did you think of their touchdown, that trick play there to score?
A: That was nifty, well-designed. Good job on their part.

Q: How about that (pass interference) call there at the end?
A: I couldn’t see it. I was going with it was uncatchable, that’s what I saw. I saw the ball was thrown way high. It was so far away from me, even as loud as I yell at the officials, they couldn’t hear me and then it just played on.

Q: It was pretty clear that Eli was struggling in the first half. What changes for him in a game like this?
A: I think we just got to get to some of the things he can do. We ought to always be able to lean on the run here and I think that if we can keep it kind of a run, play-action type setting, I think that’s good for any quarterback.
Lauletta  
Lines of Scrimmage : 12/2/2018 6:58 pm : link
Moved to number 2 and said he has really improved. Interesting and also that he is liking how the OL is coming along. Encouraging comments.
He’s beginning to get how this offense  
Dave on the UWS : 12/2/2018 7:06 pm : link
Needs to play to win. Running and play action that’s the ticket
Dave  
Lines of Scrimmage : 12/2/2018 7:20 pm : link
Right on regarding running and play action. Hopefully they have a better than ace OL next year.
Back to the Corner