Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Pat Shurmur

NYG Postgame (vs. Cowboys) Transcripts: Head Coach Pat Shurmur -- December 30, 2018

Opening Remarks: Injuries, Grant Haley had a concussion and then Corey Coleman was dealing with a foot thing. Well, you just watched it. Hell of a game. We kept fighting, as we have all year, and again, we fell victim to that thing we keep talking about, finding a way to win. We’re on the devil’s doorstep of winning, and it slipped away. But as a team, there’s a lot of really good stuff inside of them, we got it out in a lot of the weekends we won games, we didn’t win enough. But we’ve got a heck of a lot to build on. The idea was always to go to the playoffs and compete and win the Super Bowl, but part of our deal this year was growing away from what was 3-13 and that locker room’s got a different feel because there’s a lot of different people in that locker room, and we’ve just got to keep building on that and we’ll put ourselves in position to win these games next year and be in a different situation.

Q: On that last offensive series, to not go to Saquon, you had a lot of time. Is there any second guessing there?
A: No. We had good plays called, they defended us well. Saquon was in the progression on all those plays.

Q: What do you think when you hear your rooking running back gains over 2,000 yards in a season?
A: You saw the impact he’s had on games, running the ball and (catching) the ball. He’s going to be fun to watch around here for a very long time.

On being 4-8 and losing close games – Is it a consistent thing, is it one or two things you see? What’s your assessment on that?
A: Close games, we’ve got to find a way to win them. That’s my assessment. We’ve got to find a way to get a stop and in a couple of situations, we’ve got to find a way to get a score, that’s just the way that works. That’s it.

Q: How do you think the transition went, you win the game on a non-touchdown call and then the replay says it’s a touchdown and you lose? You guys are celebrating and then they’re celebrating.
A: I wasn’t celebrating. It all goes to replay and I had enough information upstairs to tell me that it might’ve been a score. I don’t know what to tell you there. We’re going to continue to play the game. Then we had another opportunity, they go for two and we didn’t stop them. Then we had an opportunity to score a touchdown or a field goal, and we didn’t. So I don’t know what to tell you.

Q: How is Rosas’ leg? It looked like after the kickoff he went to the sidelines and got a rubdown.
A: He’s fine.

Q: Without looking at film, what did you think of the way Eli played today?
A: I thought he did a heck of a job. He had an interception on the first drive, where the corner made a good play. Then the second interception, he got hit and the ball was popped away. But he battled, he got us in position to win and I thought he did a good job.

Q: What has this season taught you about the guys in that locker room as a whole?
A: I think the guys in the locker room have got a lot of fight. There’s a lot to learn about a lot of new faces, there’s about 12 guys in there left from last year’s team. I only worked with one of the coaches before I got here, so there was a lot to learn about everybody, and I know these guys have got a lot of fight in them. The try to do the right things and some of the younger players that played a lot are going to benefit from the adversity that we faced this year. These guys we brought here are all winners, they’ve won every place they’ve ever been. I think it’s important to be able to learn how to fight through adversity. As painful as that sounds, it’s not about how many punches you throw, it’s about how many you take and keep moving. I think that’s part of what this team has. We can talk about a play or two here, a play or two there, that’s for the offseason. That’s probably after I visit with you tomorrow, we’ll worry about that then. But I’m good with that locker room. I told the players and it really is true, what we’re going through, trying to grow away from 3-13, this really is not about football. This is about leadership, people in control, people in the locker room, this is about team building. It just so happens we play football. When we tip those first couple things over, we’ll start to see the results that we’re looking for. I think a lot of people get tired of hearing about the process of things, but we’ve got to flip the table on what wasn’t good around here and make it happen. I think at least we’re on the right path.

Q: What do you say to Eli after a season finale like this and this season as a whole? Even he admitted he doesn’t know what the future holds for him.
A: I’m just going to go in and see how he’s doing, talk to him like a coach normally does. It’s not like a mini-series when you leak what you talk to a quarterback about. He was out there battling like the other guys. I’m not focusing on all this uncertainty that everybody else is focusing on. I want to get a shower and get the hell out of here. That’s what I want to do.

Q: From what you’ve seen out of Eli, you think he still has good football left in him? And do you expect him to be your quarterback next year?
A: Absolutely. I do. I expect all the players to be back at this point. I think everybody thinks I’m nuts, but I’ve seen the good in Eli and I believe in the good, especially in the quarterback position. I believe everybody around him has to do their job as well. I certainly hear things, but I believe in him.

Q: Do you feel like too much is made of all that uncertainty?
A: I don’t know. I don’t read it. (Senior Vice President of Communications) Pat (Hanlon) does a good job of keeping me aware of the questions you might ask. Aside from that, I’ve lived a much happier life not reading it. And you guys are all great writers, great reporters, so I apologize for not reading your stuff, but I just can’t do that. That’s why I don’t probably know how to answer your question.

Q: Obviously there’s a hierarchy – GM, owners, things like that – but if you feel strongly about a quarterback, do you think he will be your quarterback?
A: I feel strongly about Eli and as we go into the offseason, I work for people, and there’s a hierarchy, as you just mentioned, and there will be conversations about what we do at all positions. Again, I don’t know if that answers your question, but I’m acknowledging what you just said.

Q: You were in the playoffs this year, so you got started at this job pretty late. Any early thoughts in terms of what you want to start doing?
A: Oh yeah. I’ve got it all mapped out in terms of the process in January, February, March, April, May. I told the players that everybody does a little soul searching and know that you have that fight in you, but here are the things we’ve got to get better at. Let’s think about it and when we get back together, we keep working and the results next year will be more to our liking.

Q: You were trying to set the new standard of a culture. When you took (Curtis) Riley out after that play, is that a way to remind people of what to expect of players here?
A: Yeah, you’ve got to fight, you’ve got to play, and you’ve got to lay it all out there. We, as coaches, have got to do our very best to put you in the best position to do those things. That’s fair.