Running Back Saquon Barkley
Q. How impressed were you with Daniel Jones today?
A. I would say I'm impressed. I'm not shocked. He been doing it all year. He's really a special player. You know what a way to start it off. I'm happy for him and proud of him and we're going to need him and keep leaning on him.
Q. What about the offense handling the noise. What allowed you to keep your poise?
A. Yeah, we practice it. We just stuck to the script. Got to credit to the guys up front and all the coaches creating a great game plan and (we) executed.
Q. How important was scoring a touchdown on your opening drive? Place incredibly loud, and you guys punch them right back.
A. It's all about how you respond. All three phases got to play together. Defense gave up a touchdown, we got to help them out. Last drive, we had the ball in our hand, we didn't do it -- that's how it works.
Q. You guys start the season with a gutsy call versus Tennessee where you score a two-point conversion and here Dabs goes for two fourth and ones, including the one right before you scored the game-winning touchdown. What does it say about the confidence he has in you guys?
A. We're not shocked about that. We know the type of coach that he; we rally off that and feed off that. We know he's got the trust and confidence in us and we executed.
Q. It's been a long haul for the Giants to get to the playoffs and yourself; what does it feel like to get that first win?
A. All the other conversations is playing about the past, talking about how long we've been here or experiencing this -- we finally got here and we were able to get the job done and now we go back, watch film, learn from it and move on and get ready for Philly.
Q. Facing this team after coming up short on that 61-yard field goal the last time around?
A. We have confidence because we know the type of man and woman we have in our facility, our locker room, we believe in each other. We are a confident group and we showed that throughout the whole season. If you look at this whole week of playoffs, that's a type of team you've got to beat because every game is going to be close. You've got to lean on each other and trust each other and make plays in critical situation.
Q. Do you know how much Dalvin Tomlinson weighs?
A. No, I know he's really strong now. He'll let me know about it the next drive, like make the tackle and kind of slammed me. He got in my face and let me know.
Q. Daniel Jones said he sensed in the huddle you were going to score?
A. I mean, D.J. looked at me and says, "LFG" and I gave him the look back, you already know. That's the kind of relationship we have with each other. We expect a lot from each other. Got each other's backs and he's made a lot of plays for us this year and came up big for us tonight.
Q. Did he say the initials or the words?
A. Said the words -- if I say the word do I get fined? (Laughter).
Q. You guys were poised out there the whole time despite the crowd being really loud at certain points. What was the communication like and how did you guys manage to keep it together and execute?
A. We practice it. Obviously, you can never really get the exact regimen you're going to get but we did a really good job of locking in, knowing the cadence, knowing who we have, knowing the play and executing.
Q. Talk about your final touchdown run.
A. I would say the whole thing is one, two, two-yard run and playoffs. That's how it is. That's why I feel like we are a confident group because we've been in these games all year. The only difference with this game is if you don't win, you go home. So the stakes are a little higher. But we found ways to win games. We've prepared for these moments all year and you see it through the whole first week of playoffs, whether it's Jacksonville down by however many points and coming back and us coming here in this hostile environment, it's all about the will and all about the confidence and all about the belief in each other, and to you have that, you can go places.
Q. What does this win mean to you after some tough seasons recently?
A. I'm not really getting into all that. I'm kind of just in the mood that, you know, obviously happy that we won but on to the next one. Go back, watch film, nothing we can do about it and take care of it.
Q. The last few years, teams have not been able to get through the playoffs without elite play from their quarterbacks. Do you feel like you have an elite quarterback?
A. I know we have an elite quarterback. I think he's shown that most of the time. But we've also got amazing players around, too, so we've got his back no matter what.
Q. You ran the ball nine times; you guys obviously wanted to come out and throw the ball and you did.
A. I said earlier this week, whatever I got to do to help the team win. If it's carry the ball 50 times, block, run the ball as many times, that's what I'm going to do. We feel like we can throw the ball on this team. We ran the ball well too to be honest but we got the job done, put points on the board, gave us a chance to win and defense closed it out for us.
Q. Speaking what have it takes to win, did you happen to catch that block that Kenny Golladay put on the Vikings DB?
A. Of course, I told him, you couldn't get the safety? He's like, come on. You've got to give a lot of respect to KG. Obviously the season has not been going how he would want it, and obviously you guys say whatever you want to say about him but he's a talented player. He's a really good player and I've just got to respect the grit and the grind of when things are not going your way, coming out a week in Philly and playing every single snap and making a big play and then coming in in a crucial drive and making a big block, so hats off to KG.
Q. Thoughts on playing the Eagles again?
A. Of course, it's Philly, so it's going to be another hostile environment. They got us the first two times but I'm really not getting too much into Philly to be honest. Go back on this plane, hydrate, watch film -- just keep it like that.
Q. Over the year when your offense had success, getting 25, 30 touches, this game, you didn't have to get that many touches, the offense was rolling anyway. What does it say about the growth of this unit and your quarterback the way the offense has expanded where you're a part of it but not like 85 percent?
A. Yeah, I think hats off to all the guys, offensive line, tight ends, D.J., Kav, designing the plays up. We're finding the rhythm. We felt like we had a rhythm going in end of the season, found our identity again. We had a different identity beginning of the season. Find a new identity and you know, we're executing it. Who knows, next week it could be a different type of game. So I'm just ready for whatever I need to do, whatever Coach asks me to do and try and help this team win.
Q. Were you surprised when you looked up and there was so much open space in front of you on some of those passes? You caught the ball, turned, looked there was a lot of space sometimes?
A. No. We didn't come into the game that they were going to be really locked in and focused on my swings. We had some like inserted stuff like that where we would confuse the linebackers and give me a chance to get me one-on-one, so no, I'm not surprised. Kav and all those guys, they did a great job game planning that stuff and we executed those plays.
