Head Coach Brian Daboll
Q: You know how (Patriots head coach Bill) Belichick loves his looks. It seems like (quarterback)Tommy (DeVito) was reading pretty well. He's not forcing the ball again. Talk about what you saw. I know you gotta look at the film again but talk about what you saw.
A: He made a lot of good decisions for us. Didn't turn the ball over. We had that one fumbled snap on the jet sweep. I don't know, what a 107-quarterback rating, and made good decisions. We gotta help him out too. We had a couple, two drops in there, and a few things that we can clean up, but his job is to do what he needs to do to help us win and he did a good job.
Q: Do you see that progress in Tommy from the Jet game to now?
A: Absolutely, really since the OTA's. We got a lot of work on still; he's only had three starts. Two and one, I think, in three starts and certainly, I think we'd like to do better. It was good to get this win.
Q: (Quarterback) Tyrod (Taylor) can come back after the bye. Do you still want to stick with Tommy?
Q: We'll have our bye week here. We'll discuss a lot of things. Look at a lot of things. So, over the next few days, that's what we'll do.
Q: How big was the (cornerback Xavier) McKinney interception?
A: They all were big, but X was great. Another over route, that was Banks' too. So, I thought (defensive coordinator) Wink (Martindale) did a fabulous job of really scheming it up and players did a good job of executing, so proud of those guys.
Q: Can you talk about how (outside linebacker Kayvon) Thibodeaux played without (defensive lineman) Dexter (Lawrence)?
A: Obviously, you always miss a guy like Dex. He's one of the better players in the league, but I thought all the guys stepped up, not just Thibodeaux, but inside, (defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches) Nacho, (defensive lineman) A'Shawn (Robinson), (defensive lineman) D.J. (Davidson), (defensive lineman Jordan) Riley was out a little bit. So, you know, we activated him, but Kayvon has been a leader for us and again, I've talked about his growth for a while. I'm glad he's on our team. A good football player for us. Good leader, good to have him.
Q: Are you in your head thinking in your head about, okay, the coin toss in overtime when he's lined up, you know what I mean? What goes through your head real quickly? You gotta move ahead and then you see this thing go wide left.
A: Well, you gotta make a decision on what you wanna do in overtime and then you take your headset off and go shake the other coach's hand when it doesn't. Those two things.
Q: What did you think of the way your defense played and has been playing the last couple games?
A: We've done a good job of taking care of the ball or taking the ball away and flying to the ball and I'm proud of those guys.
Q: How good does it feel to go into the bye week with back-to-back wins?
A: It feels good. It feels better than the alternative.
Q: There was a report pregame that you and Wink are not getting along. Care to comment on that? Do you expect him to be back?
A: I'd say the biggest argument that Wink and I have had is who has the last piece of pizza. I got a lot of respect for Wink. He's done a good job. I'll leave it at that.
Q: Are you saying there was no truth in that? Candidly, I didn't see it.
A: I got a lot of respect for Wink. He's a heck of a coach. I'm glad he's on the staff.
Q: How about (wide receiver) Isaiah Hodgins kind of getting involved today and getting that touchdown. He was such a big part - I know it's not last year anymore,
A: He did a nice job. Ran an under route, broke a tackle. It was a big play for us. Thought it was a good call by (offensive coordinator Mike) Kafka. It's the only one we had, but it was a big one. I thought (wide receiever Jalin) Hyatt, so you got (center John Michael) Schmitz (Jr.), you got the DeVito, and you got Hyatt, three rookies. I'd say all contributed in a positive way. We're gonna keep building those guys and improving them.
Q: What did you see from Hyatt specifically today?
A: He made plays when they came his way. It was big for us, you know, he's had a few big ones. I think Tommy's got a lot of trust in him. Those guys are pretty close. So, you know, that first over was a heck of a throw by Tommy, and he did a great job of getting his depth and getting his feet in. They were going to start a go, got a big third down on the shadow crosser. He's making strides. All those young guys are. This is what they've got to do towards the end of the year is continue to make progress.
Q: One of the things that you see when you're watching Tommy play is, it just looks like everybody's having fun around him. Can you quantify that as a coach and how much does that help?
A: I don't know if you can quantify it. I just think that he's got a great mentality. He enjoys himself out there. He's serious when he needs to be. For a young, undrafted rookie, he's worked extremely hard since OTAs and he's made progress, still has got a ways to go. Obviously, he's only played three games and started three games, but I'd say the defensive guys, you know, he's out there, show team dancing in a defensive huddle this week. He's got a little moxie to him in terms of his personality, but there's still a lot to work on.
Q: Where has he made the biggest strides in your opinion, in this short time that he's been a starter?
A: I think he's played two good games in a row, so he's made good decisions with what we asked him to do. He's made the necessary throws, he's done his job for the most part, the way that the quarterback
needs to do his job to help us. Obviously, we want to score more points. No question about it, but there are a lot of things that go into that too as well. We've just all got to keep doing our job and doing it as well as we can.
Q: How much of an adjustment was it at halftime when they switched quarterbacks?
A: Not much. I thought we had a good plan all the way through. We watched both quarterbacks, but I thought most importantly was for us to play well and we didn't get off to a good start in the second half there, we kicked the ball out of bounds. They get the ball, they drive down and hit a couple of third downs and score, but the resiliency was good and then we ended up making that kick after we kicked the ball out of bounds, we ended up making a 43-yard, whatever it was, to go up 10. Obviously, wish we had some more chances to get some points on the board. We'll work on that. That's what we'll do coaching-wise this upcoming week.
Q: How big of a momentum swing was the challenge at the start of the second half?
A: Yeah, the fourth-down and one. I thought it was – obviously It was a big play, saw that they didn't get it. His elbow was down. The guys upstairs did a great job of communicating it, you know, backed them up. They tried to get us offsides. It was helpful that they didn't get the first down, no question.
Q: Did you get a sense that they weren't going to let (running back) Saquon (Barkley) beat them?
A: Yeah, that's every week. That's every week.
Q: I'd argue that Jalin Hyatt was the offensive MVP this game. There's been a little inconsistency as far as getting him involved this season.
A: You'd what, I'm sorry. Did you say you'd argue? I just want to make sure I know what you're saying…
Q: I'd argue that he was the offensive MVP. There's been a little inconsistency as far as the game plan for him on a week-by-week basis. How, even past the bye week, how sensitive is it, for lack of better words to get him more involved down the stretch as a rookie?
A: I just think Jalin has got to continue to do his job. He does everything we ask him to do. When he's open, he gets the ball thrown to him, and you make the play. Again, this guy has worked extremely hard since he's been here. He's a young player like Tommy, like John Michael like (wide receiver) Wan'Dale (Robinson) that we've just got to keep bringing along. Those guys work extremely hard to do everything they can possibly do.
Q: You likely might not have won without the three interceptions and could have lost if you threw even one…
A: Would've, could've, should've...
Q: I'm just saying – how difficult is it with a rookie like this to get in his head that you can't turn the ball over. It's easier said than done. He's not doing it…
A: I prefer not to say, 'You can't turn the ball over.' I prefer to say, 'Make good decisions.' That's what we've asked him to do. That's what he's continued to do. The ball came out there on one of the scrambles, which we just talked about. It got a little rainy out. Our mindset is what we need to do, so be
proactive and making good decisions. I don't like telling players, 'They can't,' (or) 'Don't turn the ball over, don't do this or don't do this.' It's a competitive game, things are going to happen. I'd rather give them, 'This is what we expect from you,' but this is the culture we're trying to build.
Q: One thing he's not doing is forcing any of his passes, but does that lead to sometimes him holding the ball too long?
A: Maybe. I think you take the good with the bad on some of those because sometimes it gives you a 50-60 yarder down the field, something we will continue to work on. There are probably plays in there that we could maybe get the ball out, maybe not. There are things that happen, it happens quickly. I think he's made progress. We'll keep working on that. He's trying to do everything he can do to help our team.
Q: Was it meaningful to you to get a win over Bill?
A: I'd say, look, I've got a lot of respect for him. I'm just really happy for the players, the coaches, the organization, a lot of smiling faces in there. These guys work extremely hard. They do things the right way. They're committed to the process. There's a lot of team chemistry. I appreciate that through some tough times. We've got a long way to go. We come back Monday night, I think, against Green Bay, but really proud of the people that put their head down and grind and are able to fight through some adversity at times because that's like I've said before many times, a roller coaster. So, stay committed to the things we do and believe in one another and do everything we can do to try to put us in good position to win a game.
