NYG Postgame (vs. Cowboys) Transcripts: RB Saquon Barkley
September 10, 2023
Q: Difficult one tonight. I can’t imagine that there’s any way you guys could have expected having such a difficult night after the training camp you guys had.
A: No, it sucks. We got skunked in the National Football League against Dallas, and at home, but I don’t think that takes away anything from what we did in training camp. I feel like we had a good week of practice; we came out and we just didn’t execute and play to the level we could play to.
Q: That first drive, sixty yards downfield everything seemed to be working right and then they get the blocked field goal and everything seemed to snowball from there. How difficult is it to stem the tide when the momentum starts going like it did?
A: That’s football. We’ve got to do a better job, starting with myself and the leaders of stop the leaking, stop the bleeding and we didn’t do that. We can’t go down like that to a team of that caliber. Just got to go, watch film, learn from it, and get ready for Arizona.
Q: They’ve always been a fast defense. Did they seem even faster tonight than maybe they were in other times you played them?
A: We just didn’t execute, but you’ve got to give credit where credit is due. Dallas is a great team. A lot of talent over there and they made more plays than us, obviously, today.
Q: Your rookies kind of had a tough time, everybody had a tough night tonight, but what’s your message as a leader here to the rookies that had a tough go tonight like (center) John (Michael Schmitz Jr.) with the snap, (wide receiver) Jalin (Hyatt) dropped his first pass, and things like that? What’s your message to these guys to take out of tonight?
A: It’s the National Football League. The sad thing about it, we’re 0-1. Everyone is going to go out there and say whatever they want to say about us, but we’ve still got 16 games guaranteed. We’ve got one guaranteed game next week against Arizona, so move on.
Q: I’m asking more about your message to the rookies. How they…
A: Simple as that. It’s the National Football League. You’ve got to move on. The train is going to keep on moving—hop on. They’re talented, like I told them all before, you prepare for this moment your whole life – nothing new, you’re going to have bad games, you’re going to have bad plays in the NFL. It happens to all of us. I think you go through any locker room, any person that’s been in the league long enough, everyone has had a bad play, so continue to move on, learn from it and grow.
Q: What happened on that play when you got hit, lost the ball and then the interception?
A: I think we had it against the right coverage. (Dallas cornerback Trevon) Diggs made a great play, and I’ve got to do a better job of holding the ball.
Q: I know you’re taught not to overreact to a loss, but is there any danger of something like this when it’s 40-0? Is that lop side lingering?
A: I mean, yeah. The danger is we can come in and listen to the media and listen everyone and let those ‘poor me’s’ creep in and they can trickle down and have an effect on our season. That’s the reality of it but at the end of the day, it’s on the coaches, it’s on us—the leaders, it’s on the players to come in next week, come in tomorrow, watch film, learn from it, put it in the past and move on. It sucks, but sometimes you need an opener like this. You never want it to be this way, 40-0, home, to Dallas, but you’ve got to hold each other a little more accountable and that starts with meetings on Monday and then come to practice, raise your level and push each other.
Q: There’s something that was talked about, closing the gap on the Cowboys and Eagles as well, obviously the snap reaction after something like that is going to say, ‘hey, you guys haven’t closed the gap.’ What do you say to that?
A: Yeah, that’s what the reaction is going to be. Like I said, it’s a long season. I’m not really too focused on the Eagles. I’m really focused more on Arizona and the beauty is we get to see Dallas again. We’ve got to go there in a tough environment, but I’m not worried about that gap. They got us, they came in, they played better than us, made more plays, and we didn’t. Now we get ready for Arizona.
