Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Brian Daboll

Head Coach Brian Daboll

Daboll: Obviously not the outcome that we wanted. It's hard to win a game when you have three turnovers and don't get any. Some things we did well but not good enough. Give (the) Detroit (Lions) credit for the win.

Q: A lot of injuries you suffered there on what now is going to be a really short week. How hard was that to get through this game when you're continually losing guys like that?

A: It happens in each game. I'll get with the trainers after this and talk about it and come up with a plan on a short week. It's what it is; there's no excuses.

Q: Is there a level of concern that (wide receiver) Wan'Dale (Robinson) is serious?

A: I don't know.

Q: He looked like he was in a lot of pain.

A: Yeah, he looked like he was in a lot of pain. He did. I don't know what it is. I'll find out after I'm done with this.

Q: There's a report already out there that (cornerback) Adoree' (Jackson) sprained his MCL. Is that accurate?

A: I don't know. I haven't talked to any of these guys yet.

Q: Any regrets about putting him back there (at punt returner)?

A: No. Look, it's football. Obviously, it was unfortunate. But we'll see where we're at here tomorrow and later tonight.

Q: What specifically did you see them (the Detroit Lions) do with (running back) Saquon (Barkley)?

A: They did a good job up front. They won up front. (They) made tackles in space. You know, bottled up the run game pretty good. That's obviously a big part of what we do. We had some plays. We executed in the red zone some; third down probably wasn't good enough – five of 13. (Quarterback) Daniel (Jones) threw for a lot of yards, but that doesn't really matter relative to (the fact that) we had two interceptions there. What was it, 17 points off of turnovers? If you have three turnovers and the other team has zero, you're probably going to lose every game.

Q: What did you learn about the wind out here? And how does it affect the way you call the offense?

A: It was a little windy, but there's no excuses. We didn't do a good enough job. That starts with me. So, we got a short week. We got to get ready to go to Dallas.

Q: What happened on the first interception that Daniel threw?

A: The one to (Lions defensive lineman Aidan) Hutchinson?

Q: Yeah.

A: He (Daniel Jones) didn't see him. He dropped. It was zone pressure. He dropped right into it. He saw (wide receiver Darius) Slayton coming across. Didn't see Aidan, and he made a good play on it. Next one was (an) overthrow. They made the play, and then we turned the ball over there as we were trying to come back on a fumble there. So, (it) put them in good situations for them – 17 points. That's hard to overcome.

Q: Why did you take (guard) Shane Lemieux out?

A: We wanted to play (offensive lineman Joshua) Ezeudu at half.

Q: How do you think Shane played in the first half?

A: I'd just say we wanted to play Ezeudu. I think Shane will work hard, but we talked about it. We made the switch there.

Q: Why start Shane in the first place?

A: Why start Shane? Because we thought that was the best thing to do relative to practice (and) where we were. We got Ezeudu some reps here in the second half.

Q: You guys have not been in a position where you've had to throw the ball so much with a deficit. We wondered, 'What is it going to look like?' What do you think it looked like?

A: I'd say nothing looked good enough today. When you lose, it doesn't matter about yards, stats, any of that stuff. The only thing that matters is executing the way you need to execute. It just wasn't good enough today. Again, it's hard to overcome three turnovers. (To) have a 3-0 differential, I know it's boring, but that's the truth. There's a lot of things we can do better. It starts with me, and that's what we'll do.

Q: Other than the turnovers, what disturbs you most about this game? There were a couple of penalties that kind of set you guys back.

A: Nothing was good enough. I'd say nothing was up to standard.

Q: Throughout the season, and even in the games you lost, emotions never really entered the following week. You had Monday to move past it. But with it being a short week, do you want to put more of a focus on this team and the emotions of this team to make sure that you guys bounce back this week on a short week?

A: Yeah, we're going to come in tomorrow and get ready for Dallas. That's all we can do. We got to put this one in the rear view pretty quickly. I've been part of Thanksgiving games, or obviously Thursday games for a while out there; that's what you got to do. Put it to bed and get ready to play Dallas.

Q: (Kicker Graham) Gano has been very effective in his career. Very efficient. Any explanation to what happened on his two PATs?

A: The one got blocked, I think. The first one got blocked. And then there was pressure on the second one, too. Every area, we've got to do a better job of.

Q: Can all the injuries that you guys have at all take an emotional toll on the guys that are out there? We all know next man up, but it's got to hurt when they see some of the guys go down.

A: You never want to see anybody go down, but that's the nature of the NFL. There's injuries every game. You feel bad for the guys that do go out, but you got to get ready to play.

Q: How did you see Saquon handle a day that didn't go as well as they normally do for him?

A: Like a pro.

Q: How did you see (wide receiver) Kenny (Golladay) respond this past week to get two catches today?

A: He did a good job in practice. We were going to play him, and he made the plays that came his way. So, we'll try to build off that.

Q: You mentioned earlier about Adoree' getting hurt (on) the punt return. That's obviously something that you guys and the whole coaching staff decided at some point – the risk/reward of everything. You were asked about regretting it; you said no. There is a large risk of a guy who is such an important player in that position. Is it something that was difficult for you to come to this decision?

A: No. I'd say there's a risk playing every player, regardless of what the position is. I told you before: I've been part of a lot of teams where starting receivers, starting DBs played. You just try to do what's best for the team. And hopefully, he'll be back as soon as he can.

Q: I know there's ebbs and flows of an NFL season.

A: A lot of them, usually.

Q: Every team has kind of – for a lack of better words, laid a dud, played a poor game. How much do you as a coach view it that way and say, 'This is just our bad game. Let's throw it away, and go to the side?'

A: I think it's a little different, too. You got a game in a few days, so you've got to move on really quickly. Other than that, we would do the same thing after a win: we would come in, we would correct it, we would move on. And we would do the things we try to do each week to try to win a game.

Q: This is the first time you've seen this team play like this – the way that you guys played today? How curious are you to see how these guys respond?

A: They'll respond. There was some good things; there was some bad things, just like there is every game. We're in an outcome, results-oriented business. We all understand that. But the things that we do during the week, the work we put in, how we study, that's what's important to me. Obviously, we want to win every game. But I think you stay consistent. I've talked about this plenty of times. We're going to be consistent. We're going to go through our preparation. And then we're going to go out and try to play the best we can play Thursday.

Q: You guys have obviously been consistent in your preparation, but now you've got a challenge of condensing your preparation in a certain amount of time. I know you've put together a plan of how you're going to do it. Do you tweak anything off of today? (Do you) want to focus on something that maybe wasn't necessarily part of your condensed game plan this week? Or do you stay consistent to what you guys have already set up?

A: We have our routine that we're going to do: we're going to do a bunch of walkthroughs. Again, you're going to go home, look at the tape tonight as a coach. And then, you're going to get ready to go play (the) Dallas (Cowboys). That's all you can do.

Q: What is about (Lions running back) Jamaal Williams on the other side there that makes him such a force getting in the end zone?

A: They did a good job. What did they have, 160 yards rushing? (They're) efficient in the pass game. (They had) 325 yards. (They were) six-of-13 on third downs (and) four-of-five in the red zone. I'd say, overall, they just executed really well.