INTERIM HEAD COACH MIKE MCCOY
Just two injury announcements. (L'Jarius) Sneed actually had the quad and then Jeff (Simmons) with the ham (hamstring). Just a quick little summary of the game. Got out to a fast start, exactly what we wanted to do as a football team. Going out there doing a great job and got rolling through the game and did some really nice things. Cam (Ward) played a nice first half for us as we got going there, and then at the end of the half, unfortunately, we gave up the big play. That was disappointing and then, they came out and went down the field to start the second half. And then obviously we had the turnover, which was critical. We can't have that. We got to do a better job, all 11 guys on the field.
It's disappointing the way the game went after the end of the first half. So, we got to do a better job stopping the run. The quarterback got out of the pocket a little too often for us. We got to contain that, keep him in the pocket and make him do it the hard way. And then offensively, we can't get shut out in the second half and do what we did. Only, what? Eight plays in the first three series in the third quarter.
But, hey, we're going to stick together here. We're going to fight our tails off and find a way to go win the next one. That's the most important thing.
Aside from the turnover there in the third quarter, what were some of the reasons for the offensive struggles in the third?
It's going to — I'll have to obviously watch the tape tomorrow. The turnover starts and then there's some protection things that came up as the game went on and we've got to do a better job, all 11 guys doing their job better. We had some very successful drives in the first half of moving the ball, and Cam (Ward) was playing well. We got to run the ball better and more consistently, so.
How much was simplicity kind of at the core of what you guys were trying to do with all the turnover today? Was there a concerted effort to try and just do what you guys know how to do well? Or were there a lot of changes made to try and reconfigure the offense, I guess?
It's not about the simplicity of it, it's what do our players do best? That's what we're always going to look at. It doesn't — every play on that call sheet you thank you is a good play. That's why it's on there. So, I think we're going to always, every time you go into a game plan from week-to-week, you look what do you think is the best way to approach this team and what is the best way for your football team to go down and move the ball and score points offensively. You saw what Cam and the rest of the offense did. Chim (Dike) had the big play, the explosive play. It was the perfect coverage, things like that. That's what happens. Players play. Go make a play. It was great. Great to see.
How would you assess Cam's day and what do you say to him about the turnovers? It's happened in a couple of games. I know he's not trying to do it but how do get that out of him?
That's something that can't happen. We've got to avoid that, and there's going to be —listen. You're going to have some mistakes. There's going to be some things like that that come up, but it's happened too often in the last couple of weeks. It's something we harp on, we talk about it all the time and players got to go out there and play, and we got to do a better job as coaches also. So we are all in this thing together.
That last series in the first half, you had some time-outs --
Offensively or defensively?
Offensively. You had three timeouts, you had a chance maybe to get in position, Joey Slye's kicking the ball well. What happened there?
With the wind conditions, it was howling. That was the tough way to go, the tough direction, even our last series, the series before that on offense. If you could hear the conversations that were going on there, just because the way the wind was blowing, it was changing, things like that. I think Bones (John Fassel) did a great job communicating with me all game long where the start point needs to be to even attempt it. That came into consideration of where we were going. The score of the game, how we're doing it. Don't give them another opportunity. There's a number of things that come up, but the wind was definitely a consideration of it's not like — normally, if you're playing inside, there's not any issues, weather issues or anything like that. You say okay, you get the ball, you get to the 50, you can bomb it, certain things. But there was no way in today — at that point in time during the game that we would be able to do that.
Slye did hit a 50-yarder into that same wind. Did something change?
We were going what we thought was best, like we will every game. That's what we're always going to do. Situation of the game, score of the game, how we're playing on both sides of the ball. There's a number of factors. It's not just, 'Hey, okay, he's made this one.' So we're just going to always think about, okay, situationally, what's the best thing for our football team on that game day.
What are the ways that you can maintain the energy that you guys came out with in the first half? Seemed like the offense was ticking, things were moving pretty fast for you guys and you guys were getting what it looked like you guys wanted and in the second half it seemed to kind of sputter. What are some things that you guys are looking at to kind of maintain that as the game goes on?
Play complementary football. That's a big thing. I think when you look at it, playing complementary football, the offense, the defense, the kicking game. I think Chim (Dike) did a phenomenal job in the return game. If we just block one return a little better, it's going to be a house call and the whole team, it'll electrify that entire team. It's a matter of everyone going out there and all three phases playing together, help each other. We had a critical third down backed up, third-and-eight, becomes a big play and next thing you know, they go down and score. So if you get that stop, it's a field- position game with the conditions we had. And you get good field position. You go down there, get points, it's a whole different deal. But it's all three phases playing together, playing complementary football and finding a way to go out and win a game.
I don't know if you said this yet, any update on Simmons and Sneed?
Like every injury, I'm going to tell you guys this now. Every injury we come in here, we're going to come in, give you an update on what it was, and every injury is going to be a day-to-day basis because you never know until you get back to the facility how guys wake up the next day, how they're feeling. You're always trying. We'll always talk to the players about, hey, at this point in time, it's Sunday to Sunday. We got to do whatever we can to make sure we take care of our players because we're always going to look out for our players' best interest health-wise. Number one. That's always going to be taken into consideration, so they'll do whatever and as the week goes along, we'll give you guys an update if we have any information to share.
Can you identify anything that was done different or particularly specifically changed under your regime what had been happening before the change?
In what area?
Was there anything that the team did differently today that you believe was not happening?
We got off to a fast start. We got off to a better start. I think the way we played the first half as a whole until the last couple minutes, I think we did a nice job there.
On Cam's interception, it looked like a similar, I don't know if it was the same route or a similar route to him throwing behind Elic in the first quarter. Both of those misses, was that an issue with guys not getting to the landmark? Was he behind those guys or was that a miscommunication?
I have to watch the tape to tell you exactly what happened and where, see how the route was, see how the coverage was, see all those little things. We got to protect the football.
For a game like this, how do you hold guys accountable? That was something you talked about in the week leading up here. How do you, as the interim coach, hold guys accountable?
After every game. I'll say this: Our entire organization this week has been phenomenal. The entire organization. Everyone came in, we rallied around each other. We had a great week. Thank you for all your help this week. You were awesome. But I think everybody in this organization, top-down, they were unbelievable. The week of practice we had was phenomenal. So, they did a great job. So, it's just a matter of we got to find a way to play better and we're always going to — you talk about the accountability part. Regardless of the score of the game, no matter what it is, practice, games, we're going to watch the tape and we're going to be critical. We're coaches. We're going to coach. We're going to coach extremely hard and that's the way it's going to be. No one's trying to make a mistake. No player is out there trying to make a mistake, but we also have to coach them and talk about the little things, the fine little details that it takes to get over this hump. Whether it's footwork, whatever it is. As coaches, too, we've got to look at ourselves and say how do we help the players? Because it's all about the players. It's always going to be about the players. So, we got to do whatever we can to put our players in a position to succeed. And they've got to go out and execute. We're not going to make any excuses. We're going to get back to work, get back in the meetings tomorrow, watch it in all three phases tomorrow. Clean everything up. Players have Tuesday off. We'll get back in Wednesday and bust our tails to find a way to get a win this week.
Patriots hadn't run the ball really well this year coming in. What did they do well today in that department, and I guess how much did losing Jeff hurt?
I think starting the game that was one thing after the first couple of series we said we got to do. We got to stop the run. That was one of the first things we talked about. I heard the staff talking. I was doing some, doing a little bit of everything at halftime, but you could hear the defense staff saying number one, we got to stop the run. Stop the run and keep the quarterback in the pocket. They out-executed, and we got to do a better job at that.
