Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Joe Judge

NYG Postgame (vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers) Transcripts: Head Coach Joe Judge

November 2, 2020

Opening Statement:

I appreciate your patience after the game. Long story short, I’m proud of the way our players played tonight. I’ve seen a lot of improved football, seen a lot of fight from our guys throughout the season. I continuously see an improved team on the field at all positions and guys playing for each other for 60 minutes. That being said, we were able to make some big plays tonight down the stretch; ultimately, we have to overcome some mistakes, and we have to improve collectively as a coaching staff and as a team to give ourselves the best chance to be successful. We’re not asking for moral victories, we understand the people of New York deserve better, so we got to keep working to be better for them.

Q: Could you tell us what you saw on the conversion and what explanation you got for the flag being picked up?

A: I thought (the official) made the right call when he threw the flag. I’m not sure why it got picked up, we had a pretty good view. I know they can’t use the jumbotron to replay. We had a pretty clear view of that as well. I thought (the official) made the right call the first time, and I thought normally your first instinct is right. That’s all I’m going to say about the officiating, I know there’s going to be a lot of follow up questions to it, I’m going to be very clear and concise about that. I thought our guys played hard, we got to put ourselves in a position that we can have success and not bring in a third party. It’s tough enough to beat the Bucs, so that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Q: Does it all come down to turnovers in your mind?

A: Not completely, but turnovers are obviously a major factor in any game right there. But there’s a lot of things we have to improve upon there. And look, we have to do a better job, every coach and every player, to keep on moving. But I’m telling you right now, I’m proud of the way our guys are working and playing. I knew the way they came to work and prepared this week, there’s been a lot of questions externally in terms of how we’re holding up on the inside, and I see a group of guys that come to work every day committed for each other, with a lot of fight and urgency, and I see a lot of improvement going forward, and a lot of confidence - these guys can see we’re building this thing in the right direction.

Q: Obviously these turnovers with Daniel (Jones) keep happening, what do you say to him when you have those two turnovers, and is there something you need to do moving forward? Would you consider, when he makes those plays, taking him out?

A: Daniel is our quarterback. What we have to do is make sure we keep improving everything around him, and that we coach every player the same way. I told Daniel on both times those plays happened tonight to be patient with it, stay committed to it, we’re going to need you down the stretch, we’re going to need you to make plays. And obviously, in that final drive, he made a lot of big plays for us. We just got to keep moving on, things happen in games, we’re not going to go and tolerate everyone on the team having a one-off type of deal, we can’t have one-offs as a coaching staff, we all have to hold ourselves accountable, and the man next to us accountable. But Daniel is our quarterback, clearly put.

Q: Bruce (Arians) said afterwards that Daniel is trying to do too much with those two interceptions, what do you think of that assessment?

A: I’ll look at the tape and we’ll talk about that collectively as a team. I like the way Daniel is fighting right now.

Q: You mentioned about Daniel and the interceptions, he seems to have this problem with not getting the ball out of bounds, a lot of his interceptions are not coming from the middle of the field. How can you get it into his head to get the ball out of bounds? And also, does he need to make a better throw even if there might have been a penalty on the two-point conversion? It seems like if he puts it more to the outside, Dion (Lewis) has a completion that might be fairly easy.

A: Yeah, I think Dion had a chance to catch the ball right there, there was just contact before the ball had a chance to get there and actually complete the catch. So it’s tough to make that assessment on a throw right there. As far as getting the ball out of bounds, none of the things that happened tonight were the result of trying to throw the ball out of bounds and the ball not reaching. In fact, he had a nice throwaway in that last drive to stop the clock and avoid a sack. I don’t see any issues specifically with that.

Q: You guys are 1-7 at the midway point, how would you characterize the first half of your first season here after another close loss?

A: A lot of improvement. I see a lot of improvement. I’m proud of the way our guys are working day by day, sticking together. We got a really good foundation and culture being built in this building right now, and we got a lot of really good guys to build this thing with for the long term. So if you were going to ask me, the first year, how I’d classify it, I see an improving team that is developing in the division going forward.

Q: At several points tonight, you had several rookies on the offensive line. I know you want to go back and watch the tape, but how would you assess their performance, especially [Tackle] Andrew Thomas after what he’s been through the first seven games?

A: I would say that before I make any specifics on any of these guys, I’ve got to watch the tape and make sure I actually see all the details of the play. It’s tough to see all 22 guys on every single play. When I did look up and see it, I saw some good improvement from all three of those guys tonight. Some of the good things is we don’t notice them being out there particularly, that means that things are going in the right direction. One thing I did notice with [OL] Shane [Lemieux] is Shane is not afraid to mix it up. We know that from him, he’s a tough dude, he got in there and played with some nastiness, we like that about him, we like the way it showed up on the tape tonight. I’m going to look at the tape. Look, all three are going to have things they have to improve on, but all three have enough good football from tonight that we can build on and move forward with.

Q: I’m wondering about your naked eye assessment of [Wide Receiver] Golden Tate’s touchdown catch there. It seemed like a pretty high degree of difficulty. Then after the catch, he yelled into the camera, ‘Throw me the ball.’ I’m wondering if you sense any frustration from a guy who’s running out of time here to win another Super Bowl and if you sense any frustration from Golden behind the scenes.

A: No, this guy comes to work every day with a good attitude. We have a lot of fun working with him and this guy’s been productive for us. I thought it was a heck of a catch down the stretch, a tough catch, definitely a high degree of difficulty. Thought it was a really good throw to put it only where he could get it and it was a really good catch for him to bring it on down in that situation, so really pleased with the protection up front to give us the opportunity. The route was run, the catch was made and [QB] Daniel [Jones] gave him a great ball.

Q: You had a couple of opportunities down the field with open receivers that Daniel missed. Was there a common denominator with any of those that you saw and how hard is it to swallow those misses when you get those chances?

A: We’ve just got to keep swinging the bat and hit the next ball. I’ve got to look at the tape and kind of break down exactly what may have happened on each one of those throws. Look, you take shots down the field and there’s a number of things that factor in, it’s not always just on the throw, so I’ve got to look at what the relationship may be with the release of the receiver, the defender, something he may have seen, it could have been pressure inside. There’s a lot of factors that come into play with that right there, but we’re going to keep taking shots as a team.

Q: I know you have been coaching Daniel and your staff has been coaching Daniel that a sack isn’t the worst thing in the world, live to see another day. But if you coach that point and it doesn't get through, how does it get through? How does a player learn that if they’re told it over and over again, but it doesn’t register?

A: It sounds a little redundant when you put it that way, but we’re just going to keep on coaching hard. We’ve got to find inventive ways coaching it and drilling it. Then, as the player keeps on working, he’ll experience it through play, but there’s a lot of things we have to improve on collectively as coaches and as an entire team to help take him out of some of those situations right there, and it starts with me and we've got to keep making sure we put him in the best position possible.

Q: Three times in four weeks you guys weren’t able to close out fourth quarter leads. As these turnovers keep happening, is there a common thread late in not being able to close it out and do you have to maybe think about coaching differently down the stretch in terms of protecting the ball and just getting out of there with a win?

A: Again, you talk about closing out the games. To me, closing out the games starts at the opening kickoff. It’s a culmination of everything you’ve done for 60 minutes. Again, it’s never one player’s mistake, it’s everything collectively, there’s a lot of things that go into it. It’s a coach’s call, it’s how everything operates together on the offense or defense. It’s never one play that eliminates you in a game, it’s the effect of different plays throughout the game that add up. We’ve got to make sure that we eliminate some things early in the game which would change the effects of the outcome late in the game. We have to make plays when they come our way, but I see a lot of improvement from our team. I love the way they keep on fighting. Look, we’ve just got to keep on moving ahead as a team, but I see us moving in the right direction.