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Monday Transcript: Cornerback James Bradberry

Eric from BBI : Admin : 10/4/2021 7:08 pm
Cornerback James Bradberry
October 4, 2021

Q: What’d you think of your guys’ defensive performance yesterday, overall?

A: Overall, I think we played pretty well. I think we started off kind of slow in the third quarter at the
beginning of it, but we finished well.

Q: Could you tell me about your interception and just walk me through that play?

A: I know they were around the logo, so I was expecting them to throw a shot, throw like another
explosive pass. So the guy ran the post route, pretty much, I had him in cover 3, so I was on top of him
and then (Saints Quarterback) Taysom Hill threw a jump-ball to me and No. 11 (Deonte Harris), so I just
feel like I went up and made the play.

Q: Just a follow up on what was asked about the interception, were you surprised Taysom Hill threw a
pass? Like when he’s in the game, they run the ball almost every play, so I’m wondering if you were
surprised by it and why you weren’t surprised by it? Because I think everybody’s surprised when he
throws.

A: That’s why you’ve have to be high alert for those type of plays because they were around the logo, so
you’ve got to automatically think, ‘they want to take a shot,’ given the tendency of that team. Also, they
had fast guys in the game. That’s also the tendency for a pass play, so I paid attention to the tendencies
that they had and then I feel like that’s why I was able to make a play and I wasn’t surprised by it.

Q: I think your interception was one play after they had a touchdown that was taken off the board, is
that right? So, I’m saying, can you feel on the sideline the momentum shift there because if they have
that touchdown, we’d be having a much different conversation. You guys probably lose the game and
then you get an interception and win the game. Could you feel that in the moment or is that only a big
deal now after you won?

A: You could definitely feel that we were in a tight predicament had that touchdown stayed up, but
thankfully, we were blessed and there was a penalty on the play. I think we were able to have another
chance to make a play and put ourselves in a better position for the game. But you could definitely feel
like the Saints were getting the momentum and they were definitely getting on a roll, but that’s why
you’ve got to be able to make plays in those time spurts.

Q: What about the stops there at the end because I feel like I ask every week about end of half
defense and how you guys have struggled in the four-minute drill and then you guys came up with
two big stops there. What changed versus the first three and a half games?

A: I guess we were just more alert of that. We wanted to win. We wanted to make sure that we were
executing, and we were in the right position to execute and I think we put ourselves in the right position.
Of course, it was a good play call from our coaches, but we also executed the call well and I feel like
that’s why we were able to finish.

Q: When we talk about the pass rush, a lot of people look at the guys up front, but obviously a pass
rush is a joint effort between the guys up front and the guys on the back end. With that said, the pass
rush has kind of gotten off to a bit of a sluggish start overall. What have you guys identified on the
back end as to what maybe you can do to help that pass rush from the front end?

A: That’s a good question. We definitely, like I was saying earlier, we just make sure we execute at a high
level in key moments in the game. Third down, you’ve definitely got to be able to execute, also in the
red zone and also at the end of the game in four-minute and stuff. We weren’t executing at a high level,
somewhat because on the back end but also on the front end, it was a group effort like you said. We’ve
just got to be able to put all that together and it starts off in practice by preparing, making sure we
practice hard and making sure that when we get to those situations in practice, that we execute a high
level, so that when we get to the game, nobody’s really over-thinking it. It’s just happening naturally.

Q: If I can just quick follow-up, when you say execute, are you talking about holding the coverage a
little bit longer, playing better angles – what specifically?

A: I think it’s a little bit of everything. Us on the back end, we definitely need to be able to hold the
coverage a little longer, but we also need to be able to pressure, too. When it doesn’t happen right, it’s
hard to point the blame at one person in particular. But of course, when everything comes together, just
like on the pick play, it came together because we also got a good pass rush. It made Taysom Hill throw
a pass that wasn’t directly on target and helped me make a play. So, things like that where they come
together, you make a beautiful play. When it doesn’t come together, you make a mistake. We’ve just
got to continue to put a group effort together and put it all together.

Q: At one point did you start thinking about the Cowboys and what do you think about their
receivers? Obviously, you haven’t done a lot of film study yet, but they’re a division opponent, so you
know those guys.

A: I started thinking about Dallas a little bit after the game. Not directly after the game, kind of like when
we were on the flight, but I’m not going to start preparing until today. We already know about the
offense. It’s very explosive. They’ve got a very very good running back. They’ve got an elite quarterback,
elite receivers, so they can score in many different ways. Definitely going to get started on that today.

Q: Big picture, how much did the win mean to you guys as a team and how much confidence does it
give you that you can compete with Dallas on Sunday?

A: It meant a lot for us because we knew if we lost, we were going to be 0-4. 0-3 was terrible, 0-4
would’ve been worse. It was definitely a momentum booster for us, a morale booster for us and I feel
like it gives us a little bit of momentum. Dallas is definitely a tough opponent, so we’ll just have to
prepare as hard this week just as we did last week.

Q: As a defensive player, when you watch your offense finally have a game like that or really a fourth
quarter and overtime like that, how eye-opening was that? How exciting is that as a player on the
Giants defense – a defense that carried you guys through your most positive games last season – to
watch this explosion from your offense?

A: I wouldn’t say that was the first time we’d seen them really explode like that. I feel like when we
played Washington, they played really really well that game. They put up a lot of points. Even when we
played the Falcons, we were down Shep (Wide Receiver Sterling Shepard) and Slay (Wide Receiver
Darius Slayton) got hurt and then other guys stepped up and helped with the workload and they played
pretty well. So, I don’t think this was the first time we’ve seen them explode, but I’m definitely glad we
won the coin toss in overtime and they went down there and scored. I think we all had confidence that
they were going to go down and score, just the way we were playing and how we were reacting and just
how energized we were. I think that was really the whole thing. We were just confident in that overtime
drive. You see that from good teams and that’s what we want to be. We want to be a good team.
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