Running Back Saquon Barkley
Q: We just heard the news about (Wide Receiver) Sterling (Shepard) tearing his Achilles. I know you guys are obviously close. How tough is that, especially with all he's been through this year?
A: It's definitely tough. He's a spark to this team, he's a leader of this team. Just the energy that he brings every single day on the field and off the field. Anytime you see a guy go down, it's a sad thing. One thing I know about Shep, he's a fighter, so it's a setback, but I know he's going to attack this rehab. I know his family well. He's got great family members, he's got great friends, great teammates and he knows he can rely on a lot of people in a time of need. Like I said, Shep's a competitor, he's going to attack this rehab. This is just a little setback, but the comeback is going to be something special.
Q: How do you make sense of all these injuries to you guys, especially talking about you and the wide receivers in particular?
A: No idea. It's part of football, sadly. That's the game we play, and we've played since kids and it's the game that we love. Just bad luck, I guess you could say.
Q: We saw you on the fourth-and-one. You guys had a false start. Obviously, you were frustrated after that. How would you describe your frustration level at this point?
A: Everyone's upset that we lost. That's a pivotal play in the game that we've got to convert to get a chance to win the game. There were a lot of plays that we had to convert to give us a chance to win the game. We've just got to execute, and we didn't do that on that play and other plays. We've got to be better, I've got to be better myself. Two-minute, having a fumble. Can't have that happen. That's unacceptable. You can't have that happen at all. There's just multiple plays that you can always go back and pick that can change the course of a game. We've just got to be better as a team, as a staff on those plays.
Q: What did happen on the fumble?
A: I don't know, I've got to go back and watch it. From what I remember, I was cutting up and the guy punched it out. I've got to go back and watch my ball security. Hats off – I don't know who made the play – hats off to whoever made the play, but I've got to be better. That goes to practice, working on my ball security in practice, doing extra stuff with ball security, to going back to the little things.
Q: You guys made a quarterback change late in the game. It seemed like (Quarterback) Mike (Glennon) was struggling to find his receivers. What did you see from Mike and what did you see from (Quarterback) Jake (Fromm)? Maybe moving forward if (Quarterback) Daniel (Jones) can't play, do you think Jake can give you a little something?
A: Both of those guys, I think, are very talented, I think they're great quarterbacks. They come to work every single day. Obviously, Jake is a newer addition to the team, but from day one Mike has been coming in, attacking and doing everything we ask him to do. Ever since Jake has been here, he's been doing the same thing. Obviously, I don't make those calls, but I think we're confident of whatever happens in the future and knowing that those two guys are talented and knowing that those two guys are going to work and go out there and give the best they can to help us win the game.
Q: How disappointing has this season been for you personally and what do you need to do to get back to playing what you might call your standard?
A: What do I got to do? I don't know, got to figure out. If I had the answer, I think I would be playing a lot better, to be completely honest. But at the end of the day, it's going back to trusting myself, trusting the team, trusting the line, leading, coming to work every single day and push myself, push the guys around me. Like I think I've said before, I'm a big believer that the things you want to accomplish only happen if you work for it. Everything that I want to happen in my career is still out there. I'm still young in my career. The season is still not over, so just every single day just go out there and attack it and try to get better.
