New England Patriots Postgame Quotes 12/12

Postgame Press Conference
Monday, December 12, 2022

On how good it feels to get a win and set the tone for the week:

“First, I want to make an opening statement. I want to send my thoughts and prayers to (Mississippi State) Coach Leach and his family. He offered me a scholarship at Washington State and didn’t meet him, but talked to him over the phone. I’m just praising his family with everything that is going on. But, I think the fans showed up today really well. Patriots fans were here and were loud and it actually really helped us bring up the energy. It’s always good when our fans can have our back on a road game. It’s really good to see that. We came here to win and that was the important part, so coming out with a win however we had to do it, and I think it was a team win. We’re going to watch film and get better.”

On how important the swing to end the half, then begin the third was:

“We had the one fumble there. We’ll learn from that. We were fortunate to get on it and kick the field goal. Then, we get the ball back on our half. We’re just trying to play good football. The defense scored a touchdown for us, which was huge to give us that lead. We want to score more points, so we’ll watch the tape and see how we can do better as always. The biggest thing is to get the win. That’s what we came here for and everyday you have to fight to win, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

On finding tight end Hunter Henry open and delivering strikes to him:

“Hunter (Henry) and (tight end) Jonnu (Smith) have done a great job for us in the tight end room. Hunter has a great feel for the game. He wants to help the team any way he can. Same thing with Jonnu. Love those guys and we have to continue to grow their roles. When they’re on the field together they’re really good, so we definitely want to expand on that and do those things.”

On the rookies stepping up with experienced players out with injuries:

“It was a little bit of a hectic injury game for us, but we couldn’t control those things and when (running back) Rhamondre (Stevenson) went down, he’s one of our best players, those guys stepped up. With (running back) Damien (Harris) out they had to step up. The thing I told (running back Kevin Harris) was, ‘it’s like SEC football, so go out there, do your thing, you’ve played against really good teams and that’s what it is. Here, it’s the same thing. You’re a young guy, but really fast.’ He uses his speed well. They did a great job and they’re going to have to step up again. The rookies did a great job. I’m super proud of them and they just want to help the team win and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

On seeing smiles from the offense after the game and seeing resiliency as a whole:

“It’s great. That’s what we want to do, just try to win the game however we had to do it, and those guys made some great plays. The offensive line gave them the big holes and the receivers got the blocks on the outside. That’s how we want to play offensive football in the run game. We have to watch the film and see where we can do better. But that’s a good defense, (they) blitz a lot from different places to try to confuse you and you just have to stick to your rules, so props to those guys.”

On if he was frustrated with this offense:

“No. The biggest thing is not letting it affect my play and bringing the best out of my guys. Today, I thought we all did a good job trying to play the next play, play the next series and (Senior Football Advisor/Offensive Line Coach) Matt (Patricia) did a great job. He’s trying to call the game so that we can win. Sometimes, it might be this thing that people don’t know about, like the quick passes for whatever reason and that’s our game plan. We knew what we had to do to win and he called a great game and stayed calm. He’s a calm person, very stoic. We’re just going to continue to grow together and do what we can to win games.”

On DB Marcus Jones’ role expanding on offense:

“It’s cool to have him helping where he can. The kid’s on special teams, hitting people on defense, and covering really good receivers, then coming over and running full speed on motions and running routes. Really great leadership from him and a vocal guy. He’s a young guy, but to show that he’s going to give it 100 percent no matter what his role is is pretty cool. I felt like he did that tonight and we’re definitely going to expand on that. The guys want to be out there and the guys that play hard are going to be out there. We have a really good group.”