NYG Postgame (vs. Cardinals) Transcripts: Head Coach Pat Shurmur -- October 20, 2019
Opening Statement: Injury wise, Lorenzo (Carter) hurt his ankle, then Saquon (Barkley) was in and out a little bit but he was fine, he finished. Turnovers, penalties, then we had opportunities at the end and we didn’t make the most of them. That’s what comes of it. The blocked punt, obviously, was a big play that kept us in it. I felt like we settled down on defense in the second half. When you have dropped balls, you have penalties, we do the things we do on offense along the way there, it keeps points off the board. So, with that, I’ll take your questions.
Q: You were set on going for it on fourth down there on the second to last possession? Can you explain your play calling, because on 3rd-and-18 you ran a draw?
A: I had planned to go for it. If it was going to be soft, you see typically against two deep, and that’s why we did it. Those runs, they actually ran the same type of run against us and got it. I had planned to go for it, and we just didn’t execute the play as well as we would’ve liked and that’s what happened.
Q: You were hoping the draw would get a lot of that chunk back?
A: Yeah, because I wanted to keep Saquon involved. We’ve seen where he’s able to do that. I had made the decision at that point that I was going to go for it. That’s why.
Q: Once you’re stuck there on 4th-and-15, do you contemplate punting?
A: No, because I had two timeouts, it played out exactly how I liked, or I would’ve hoped. We stopped them, it’s a six-point game, we had two timeouts and the two-minute warning. So, it played out well. They actually helped us by going out of bounds on their third down, so we got it played before the two minute, which was good.
Q: Why were they so effective in their running game?
A: They had it spread out a little bit. I thought for the most part we did a pretty good job on their toss plays. They had a couple of kind of wide zones that popped. They had a couple of big runs against us that were actually touchdown runs.
Q: Your offensive line gave up eight sacks today. What did you see from their front line that made it so difficult for them?
A: They did a good job of rushing us. We had a couple of breakdowns there. It’s a mixture of things, so we’ll just have to get back to basics on that.
Q: Once it’s 4th-and-15, you didn’t think to punt it there?
A: No.
Q: Why not?
A: Because it was going to play out the way I thought. Stop, stop them, stop them, make them kick a field goal at the very least, then we go down and score a touchdown. Plus, I wanted to get a chance to make it on 4th-and-15. That’s why. And that’s the way it played out, right? We had the ball with the chance to go down and score a touchdown to win the game. That’s how it played out, and we didn’t do it.
Q: With Daniel (Jones), three more turnovers, 11 in five starts. Is that concerning to you that they keep piling up?
A: Turnovers? Yeah, we had a couple in the pocket. Certainly, he’s got to secure the ball. Then the interception, I think he threw it late. That was the one early on.
Q: What has been your impression on him up until this point?
A: He’s a tough son of a gun, and he’s fighting through it. He made some good throws, too, today. He did a lot of really good things. We just have to try to cut back on some of the mistakes, that’s all.
Q: Were you surprised the offensive line had a tough time with their group?
A: I don’t know if I was surprised. We’ll go back and look at why it happened. They’ve got some really good players up front. We face good players every week.
Q: Why call a timeout before the punt with four and a half minutes to go?
A: Because at that point, I felt like it was important. I did not want to lose 45 seconds right there. That’s why.
Q: What did you think of Saquon, how close is he to being back to his full self?
A: I thought he looked good. He was out there competing throughout the game. He did a nice job.
Q: He did tweak it, though?
A: I don’t know that. He came off the field, and then he was back on. I don’t have many details on what happened there.
Q: He limped off and got tended to on the sideline.
A: Is that what happened?
Q: Was there any concern of putting him back in in your mind?
A: No, he was ready to go and went back in.
Q: On the third down, was that a play call or was it a check?
A: It was an audible against two deep. You were late getting here, but I had made the decision I was going to go for it there on fourth down. That’s why that came out like that.
Q: Daniel was right with the audible there, then?
A: Yeah, it was a soft shell. We just didn’t block them well enough to pop it through like we would like to.
Q: Your team had a 10-day break there. Were you taken aback by the start, after coming back home, with Saquon and Evan back? You guys got down so quick.
A: Yeah, well, you fight through it. There are times when you start the game well, then there are times when you don’t. In that case, we got behind, we fought our way back in. We didn’t make enough plays at the end to win it.
Q: Can you share your thoughts in terms of the challenge on that pass interference against Jackrabbit (Janoris Jenkins)?
A: Yeah, I thought it was a… I guess I am going to continue to do it. I know they are getting overturned at a low percentage, but I felt like there was a push there and it was a big chunk of yardage. It was in the first half, and I felt like it was worth challenging at that point. I knew we had jumped offside and it was kind of one of those free play scenarios. But, I thought it was worth the risk at that time. It just didn’t get overturned.
Q: You’re 0-4 on those, you know they probably won’t get overturned, so why do you continue to do it?
A: Because I think it still makes sense in situations like that, where those are large chunks of yardage to give it a shot.
Q: What was your message to the guys afterwards and how do you sense they took this loss?
A: I think we are all disappointed that we lost. There is no question there, we are all disappointed. The message to the team is for the team.
Q: For a defense in particular that felt pretty good about its last outing, are you disappointed in your run defense in particular?
A: I think they had a couple of explosive runs against us. There were a lot of runs that we defended well. We’ll go back and look at the reason why the couple of them split on us. We need to do a better job all over— offense, defense, special teams did a good job blocking. But, we have to make our field goals, too. We just have to do a better job all the way around.
Q: In that regard to special teams and punt blocks in back-to-back games. Does that change how you do things or call the game aggressively because you know you may have the opportunity to block the punt or something like that?
A: Not because of the opportunity to block a punt. It obviously contributes to whether you win or lose a game, but not because of that.
Q: What do you think of Darius (Slayton) taking the ball out?
A: I think it was good. Trying to make a play. That’s what you try to do.
Q: It was a yard in…
A: It was a yard in, right? But he’s done a good job with the opportunities he’s gotten, and there was a chance for him to make a big play and score a touchdown from a yard in. I was okay with it.
Q: Does anything about Daniel’s play today concern you?
A: No, just try to get him better on the things that didn’t go well for him, that’s all.
Q: Where do you view your team overall now at 2-5?
A: We have to get better in all areas. That’s where I view it. It starts by getting ready to play Detroit.
Q: When they ran Patrick Peterson off that late blitz there, is that something that you saw on film or something typical that they did?
A: The corner blitz at the end? it was good on their part. Everybody does it to some degree. They got us on that one.
How about you start with I failed to prepare the team, did not adjust and was out-coached....again. Maybe you can add that this can't continue.
Were you surprised the OL performed the way they did? He says not really. That certainly inspires confidence.
The good coaches would be breathing fire they'd be so mad, and start putting players on notice (like Parcells used to).
Shurmur is how you sound when you have no clue what to do
shurmur is coordinating this offense. it is entirely his. what has he shown to make you believe he's even an average offensive coordinator, let alone an "excellent" one?
This was a huge game for Shurmur's coaching career and he fell flat on his face.
But hey he "deserves" 2020 because we shouldn't switch coaches again.
The good coaches would be breathing fire they'd be so mad, and start putting players on notice (like Parcells used to).
Shurmur is how you sound when you have no clue what to do
Amen to that Patterson. The thing that gets me is every single one of our players who gets a microphone shoved in their face talks the same way too. "They made a great play" or "we gotta get ready for next week". It really seems that none of these guys hate to lose. We apparently have a team full of guys whose only passion is cashing their game checks instead of throwing chairs in the locker room. As Banks said, no leaders.
This team can’t block, tackle, run routes, catch, cover in a consistent basis.
This is a very young team and it needs to learn how to play this game at a high level.
I just don’t see it with Shurmur. Bettcher needs to improve his game as well.
But hey he "deserves" 2020 because we shouldn't switch coaches again.
Nope. He’s a shitty version of Norv Turner.
That really makes me wanna run through a brick wall.
And where does this excellent coordinator come from it’s a bullshit version of the WCO he’s no Andy Reid what are his credentials he is a losing coach
What he did in Minnesota one year doesn’t hold water ..... he doesn’t even know what happened to his star player he’s got too much on his plate then
If I had the money I’d fly the plane over the Met life myself Shurmur must go .....