NYG Postgame (vs. Falcons) Transcripts: RB Saquon Barkley
Q: What is your level of frustration with the losses?
A: We just have to finish. 0-3. Obviously no one is happy. We just have to keep trusting each other and stay with each other. Starting 0-3 is where you’re going to hear a lot of noise outside. As long as we stay strong in the locker room, we’re going to be alright. So we have to keep trusting each other, keep trusting the system, keep trusting the coaches and keep coming to work and try to figure it out.
Q: How much do you guys hear that noise and how much does it affect your psyche?
A: That’s part of the game. We have some of the best fans here. We know that, and we know how New York and New Jersey are. That’s part of the game. We have to give them something that they can’t boo about. We have to be better.
Q: During the Eli Manning’s jersey retirement ceremony, when (Giants owner) John Mara came up to the podium, the fans booed him. What do you think of that?
A: I don’t that’s fair to Mr. Mara. I think he’s done a great job. He’s a great owner. We just have to keep doing better as a team.
Q: Were you injured at one point or did you get hit somewhere uncomfortable?
A: I got hit somewhere uncomfortable. I got hit in my private part. I don’t know what other way to say it. If you’re a guy and you’ve ever been hit there, it’s not comfortable. When you have a 220, 230 pound linebacker hit you there, it definitely does not feel good either.
Q: How are you assessing the way you’re coming back, the way you’re attacking the holes? Is there more to go?
A: There’s definitely more to go. I can see it. My teammates can see it. They’ve been telling me it’s coming, that I’m starting to look like myself again. I knew this road wasn’t going to be easy. This season didn’t start how we would have liked, but I’m going to keep coming to work, keep pushing myself, keep pushing the team, keep being a leader, and keep going.
Q: When you see Darius (Slayton] get hurt, when you see Shep (Sterling Shepard) get hurt, you know Kenny Golladay is hurt, do you feel that weight on your shoulders like you have to more than you normally do?
A: It sucks to see those guys go down. They’re key parts of our team. They’re leaders of our team, they make big plays for us and they come in every single day and they work. It sucks to see those guys go down. But even with them going down, we still had an opportunity to win the game and we didn’t do that. We didn’t finish and that’s both sides, all three phases. We have to go score on offense, so we don’t even give them an opportunity. Special teams, we have to do better. Defense, we have to do better. That’s where we are at as a team, to be completely honest. It’s been like that for the last four years, three-four years. It’s going to click. We’ve got something special. I told those guys at halftime that we have something special. I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but we have to start believing. When I say ‘we’, I mean the players. We have to start believing in each other and believing in the scheme and when that happens, we will have something special. But until then, we’re going to keep having losses at the end of the game with field goals, because we’re this close and we keep saying it. ‘We’re this close.’ But somebody has to do something about it and that has to be myself and the leaders of this team and just the guys on this team. We have to step up and make plays.
Q: This team was bad when you got here. How sick are you of losing?
A: I don’t think we’re a bad team, to be honest. I know you guys are going to say what you’re going to say and write what you want to write, but that’s the NFL. There are no bad teams in the NFL.
Q: You’ve lost a lot since you’ve gotten here.
A: I’m sick of losing. Everyone is sick of losing. No one wants to lose, but I wouldn’t consider us a bad team. We just have to figure it out, and that’s the difference.
Q: In the last answer, did you say you guys have to start believing in each other?
A: What I mean by believing in each other is believing that we have something special, believing that we can go out there and win games when it’s close, believe that we can go make those plays.
Q: Were you disappointed that on Eli Manning’s jersey retirement day you couldn’t deliver a win?
A: Yeah, losing in general sucks. Obviously Eli did an amazing job here and has done some great things for this organization. It would definitely have meant a little bit more to go out there and get a win for him, but we didn’t do that. We have to go back to the drawing board, watch film, learn from what we did and get ready for the Saints.
