Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Joe Judge

NYG Postgame (vs. Arizona Cardinals) Transcripts: Head Coach Joe Judge

December 13, 2020

Opening Statement: First, I just want to give credit to Arizona. They came out and played a good football game today. They outplayed us. We were outcoached, outplayed. We have to do more to be successful. We have to have a better week this week and take steps forward as a team. A lot of mistakes were made in the game that can't happen again. We have to work harder to correct. There were some positives from the game, but positives always get overshadowed by the negatives and bad football on tape. With that being said, we'll go back to work this week like we do every week and we'll start to prepare and make gains on the next opponent. With that being said, I'll open it up to any questions you may have.

Q: What did you see from Daniel (Jones) and, specifically, how did you think he looked health wise?

A: Well, I thought he was able to protect himself in the pocket, which was the main concern as in can he step up and can he move in it. We knew there were going to be some situations today where he wasn't going to pull it down and just run like he's done in the past. We knew that he was going to either end up throwing the ball away or take sacks at certain point. We knew that going into the game and we saw that early on. But I thought, overall, that he showed that he was able to protect himself in the pocket. I checked on him at halftime. I checked on him throughout the course of the game. That was really kind of the feedback we got right there.

Q: Did it get worse throughout the game? Were there any regrets on playing him?

A: No, I have no regrets on playing him. We made a calculated decision based on what he could do as a player. We went out there, and as a team, we have to execute better.

Q: I don't know if you thought Daniel was rusty or anything like that, but what do you attribute to the overall offense with 10 first-downs, 159 yards? I mean really nothing at all in the first half. What do you attribute that to if it wasn't only Daniel?

A: I have to look at the tape before I make a lot of statements outside. Look, ultimately, we have to coach better, we have to play better, we have to execute. There were things that we did today in terms of turnovers and penalties that we have to take off of the map. You can't have success with those things. We give them credit. They played well. They were able to get the ball off of us several times and those led to points. We have to make sure we do a better job of protecting the ball and finishing drives.

Q: Did Daniel reaggravate the injury? It looked like he was favoring his left leg there at the end.

A: I'm going to have to check with him right there. After the game, I just touched base with him a little bit in terms of how he was feeling. In terms of where he is coming out of this game, we'll have more news on that internally tonight and tomorrow morning based on how he feels.

Q: Can you just go over the decision on the third-and-one deep in your own territory late in the third quarter? You kind of threw that pass down the sideline instead of running the ball and trying to get the first down.

A: There was a matchup we thought we liked right there. There are things we talk about going in terms of game plan and how they played and things we had to do to make plays down the field. That's part of what we discussed during the week and in practice. Look, we've hit some of those throughout the season as well. They've been big plays for us. To sit here and second guess everything we did - we went in, we knew what the plan was. We'll look going forward to see if that's the best decision for us or not. We'll make the decision based on the opponent and how we're playing in each game.

Q: Did you give any thought to taking Daniel out at halftime? And the fumble on the first drive seemed like something that he had cleaned up in recent appearances and it shows up again. How critical is it that he protects it and the field position if anything else?

A: Well, there are 11 guys on the field when that happened right there, so that's not one person’s fault. There are some things that we have to do better in terms of communication, identification - you know it all ties together - ball protection and security. It's not just one person on that play right there. In terms of taking Daniel out, we checked with him health wise. We kept getting status updates from him to make sure he can keep playing. The feedback was all positive from him and the medical team. On a side note, did we have conversations about getting Colt (McCoy) in the game? We had some brief conversations about it, but that was not based on health. That was based on was there anything that we needed to do to change how we're playing game plan wise and change up some of the play calling and change up some of what we're doing. Those were all things we practiced. We made the decision that it was best to stick to what we're doing to try to make some things work and make subtle adjustments right there. But, as far as the conversation with Daniel, as long as his health stayed up, we were committed to putting him in the game today.

Q: It seemed like the offensive line really took a step back today after playing well for the last month. What was the biggest difference there? What went wrong?

A: Well, I need to look at the tape and break some things down before I start making some bold statement right now. Those guys have been working really hard. I think they made a lot of gains throughout the season. We'll take a look at what happened today. These guys did a really good job in terms of their packages and movement. There were some good matchups. We have to finish better. We have to play better. We'll take a look at that tape and adjust what we have to.

Q: In retrospect, how much does it change your offense and limit Daniel when he can't run? I don't think he attempted a rush today. That's been a big part of his game this year.

A: Something that has been very positive for our offense this year is Daniel being able to run the ball and extend some plays right there. He had a few today. He got outside of the pocket. He had some passes down the sideline. He had a throw away and a completion down there at one point. Obviously, you take away part of the offense in any regard, it's going to affect how everything else complements itself right there. Look, we'll work this week. We'll see where he's at physically and we'll make decisions on how to structure the game plan.

Q: You're scoring under 20 points per game. I know you guys have been able to win that way, but do you need your offense at some point to put some points on the board? Significant points?

A: Yes. We're playing complementary football is the goal right there - all three phases playing together there. We're trying to finish drives and work as hard as we can to stay on the field. We didn't do a good enough job of that today. We have to do a better job next week.

Q: This seemed like the third straight week that special teams were making some mistakes. There was the dropped kick return, some directional punting issues and coverage tackling issues. How concerned are you with that group? I know you were talking about the three phases needed to complement each other. How do you feel about that phase where you guys stand right now?

A: Well, this has been a phase that has been a strength for us for a large part of the year. We have to make sure that we just keep on moving forward. We're going to get back to fundamentals this week and work as a team collectively to make sure we make gains this week on it. Cleveland is going to be a very good team in the kicking game. It's going to take all week to prepare for them right there. So, we have to make sure schematically and fundamentally that we make improvements this week.

Q: I can tell you're not pleased with the execution in many facets today. I'm just curious from the approach and an attitude situation coming into this game, were you pleased with what you saw from your team this week? Were there any effects from your big win last week?

A: No, I don't think we had any kind of a hangover from going out to Seattle last week. I don't think that's the cause of it. Again, this game is completely independent of anything that has happened before. We simply didn't come out today and we didn't coach well enough and we didn't play well enough. That's the hard truth of it. We have to do a much better job. One thing about our guys is I know they're going to show up tomorrow, watch the tape. I know they're going to show up on Wednesday ready to practice, locked in and ready to roll. We have a mindset around here and everyone is committed to it. We're going to go back to work. Regardless of what the result was today, that's going to be the same approach and same mindset as well. Look, it's going to take everything we have this week to prepare for Cleveland. They're a really good team. We have to make sure we adjust and correct what happened today and we have to move forward as a team. Regardless of the result today, we have to get better as a team and that starts with getting back to work this week and going hard.