Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Pat Shurmur

NYG Postgame (vs. Packers) Transcripts: Head Coach Pat Shurmur - December 1, 2019

Opening Statement: It’s unfortunate the score got away from us there because of the turnovers there at the end of the game. (Corey) Ballentine had a concussion and then Daniel Jones has an ankle that he played through. With that, I’ll try to take your questions.

Q: Did Daniel have the ankle injury during the game?
A: Yeah. He hurt it, but he played through it.

Q: How much of a challenge is it to call plays in weather like this?
A: It was fine. I mean we were running the ball, throwing and catching fine. I don’t think that had anything to do with it.

Q: Did Daniel’s ankle affect his play at all or limit what he could do?
A: No, there were certain things that I chose not to do with him. The interception, the one interception there in the fourth quarter when he had the guy, that’s one that he’ll tell you he just overthrew it.

Q: Did he hurt it on the run forward or the…
A: I don’t know that exactly. He just came out off of that one drive before the half. We got him checked out, we got him re-taped and he was ready to go. Tough guy, he fought through it.

Q: You didn’t get a lot of pressure on Aaron Rodgers. What was the plan coming in and why do you think you weren’t able to pressure him a lot?
A: No, obviously we tried to pressure. There were times when we did pressure, we had some full blitzes in there, we had some structured fire zones. We had some four-man rushes, but you can see what happens when you don’t get pressure on him, he’s really good.

Q: What do you think of some of your young secondary guys? It seemed like Julian Love played okay but…
A: Yeah, Julian did a good job. You saw Ballentine came out of the game early with that concussion. I’ll have to check on him to see where he’s at. He battles. Grant Haley went back in. You saw both (Sam) Beal and (DeAndre) Baker in there. They battled. I’m sure, when we go back and look at it, there are plenty of good plays but then there were some that they gave up.

Q: On the one play when you guys defensively had 12 men and tried to scramble. Is there anything you could have done in that situation? Could you have called a timeout to prevent Rodgers from quick snapping?
A: Yeah, I thought we had an opportunity to get off the field in time and then they quick snapped it. By that time, we’re caught. They did a good job. Regardless, they completed the pass for a touchdown. Obviously, they executed that well.

Q: That’s 21 turnovers for Daniel this season. Any concern about his progress?
A: Well, the turnovers today were the interceptions, right? The first one was against a two-man, just tried to fit it in. Today they weren’t fumbles, right? Then the one he just overthrew, and then the last one there, he threw a nine-ball to Slayton, and I thought he was in a position to either make the catch. So, no, these were throws, these weren’t fumbles. He’s got to keep playing through it and keep learning from every scenario. There is no better training ground than playing. Unfortunately, we are dealing with some mistakes that you hope you never see again. He battles through it, and if you make mistakes you’ve got to overcome it. That’s the reality of it. We’re fortunate he’s tough, he’s smart, he gets it. He did make a heck of a lot of really good plays out there today because of who he is. We’ve got to just clean up the mistakes.

Q: Do you feel he was a bit more decisive today throwing the football?
A: Was he decisive?

Q: Yeah, a bit more today?
A: No, he’s always been decisive. I felt like he was good that way. I think he had some isolated throws that they made us pay for.

Q: Do you think, because your defense has not had a lot of success on third and ones or fourth and ones, do you feel the confidence that they are going to get off the field?
A: These feeling questions about confidence, they don’t… they are out there playing, and they are playing hard with the idea that they are going to make plays. You’re asking me frequently about, ‘how do they feel,’ they are out there playing, they are in the moment, and they are trying to execute the situation that they are in. There are times that we have success and there are times where we haven’t. Those are the things we’ve got to get better.

Q: How concerned are you that the progress you see going on behind the scenes isn’t showing up in regard to wins and losses on Sundays?
A: I’m always concerned when we don’t win. This is another feeling question. I’ll feel better when we win games. If you’re wondering how I feel, I’ll feel a lot better when we win games. I do see, you get an opportunity to watch us probably 20 minutes a day and you report on it. This is a historically young team that’s going out there and competing against some really good football teams. We’ve got to do what we have to do to win games and I understand that. They also are developing. At some point, we’ll be good enough to win.

Q: You know that you’re obviously being judged on wins and losses?
A: I’m well aware of it, I’m well aware of it. People will change what they think of us and me when we win games. I’m a realist when it comes to that and I get it. And you know what, when you don’t win, I expect what is written and said and what people think. I expect fans to be upset because we are, too. But we go about trying to fix it.

Q: Do you feel the criticism is deserved then?
A: When you don’t win. I try not to consume it, but when you don’t win, that’s what you expect, regardless of where you live.

Q: Jones hit Latimer with a big play, 17-10, it looked like the next play you took a 4-yard loss. Was that a busted play?
A: No, we tried to go tempo on them and they defended pretty well. It wasn’t a busted play.

Q: Where do you see the most progress from your team?
A: They fight and they are resilient. That game was in the balance. We had an opportunity within one score and it got away from us. That’s where I see it. They fight and some of these young players are very talented and they are learning on the job here.