NE Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Bill Belichick
On the victory…
It was a good win. I thought we made the plays we needed to make at the end of the game. There are certainly things we could do better. We played good, complimentary football at the end of the game. Good plays on offense, good plays in the kicking game, good plays on defense. The players worked hard, they deserved to win. I’m happy for them.
On Nick Folk…
Nick did a great job. He’s a tough kid. He came through for us in a big way. He’s really been consistent for us in the last year and a half. It couldn’t be a bigger kick and he put it right down the middle. It was an awesome job on his part and the entire operation. Our field goal team did a good job, they are a good rush team. Great job by Nick.
On Cam Newton and the offense’s performance…
They put together several long drives and keys plays on third-down, fourth-down, red area. We had to overcome a number of penalties in the game. Fortunately, we were able to do that. Cam did a great job. He hung in there and made some good reads, adjustments and checks. The Jets did a good job like they always do. They brought a lot of pressure in their defensive packages. Cam did a good job with it.
On if this win gives the team confidence…
We just have to keep working and take things one week at a time. I don’t think the team lacks confidence. We just have to coach better and play better. We have to keep working and keep grinding and we will have better results.
On the performance of the offensive line…
The offensive line did a really good job on the line of scrimmage. This is a good front, they have a lot of big physical players and they stood up to them, ran the ball and pass protected against a lot of pressure and a lot of blitzes. They were able to hang on during long drives. For the most part stay out of third and long and for the most part converted on short yardage plays. They hung in there and showed toughness and good conditioning to string together long drives.
On Jakobi Meyers’ performance…
Jakobi’s done a good job for us all year. He’s a good route-runner and really understands coverages and timing and when to be open on the route. He knows how to take advantage of different coverage leverages. Cam did an excellent job. He missed him on one big play opportunity but hit him on quite a few times, must have been double digits. He had some big throws to (Damiere) Byrd too. Again, they brought a lot of pressure and we had to go to the outside and Cam did that. Damiere and Jakobi stepped up and made plays for us.
On JC Jackson’s performance and the pass defense overall…
That’s a position where you need to have a short memory. Defensively we didn’t play well in the passing game. It wasn’t one of our better performances. Fortunately, in the fourth-quarter we had the interception and got a stop to get the ball back. That salvaged it a little bit. But we gave up too many yards and points in the passing game.
On the Jackson’s interception…
We need to do a better job on playing the defense consistently. JC did a good job of staying over the top and Terrance (Brooks) got a good break on the ball from the other side. So, we played that play well. Give Coach (Adam) Gase credit he always creates problems for the defense and he did tonight. They had a good third-down plan and a good play-action plan. They put up quite a few points. They are always tough to defend. (Joe) Flacco’s still a great deep ball thrower. He put the ball right on the money quite a few times.
Cam Newton
Mike Reiss, ESPN: What is your reaction to leading the fourth quarter comeback and getting the victory tonight?
A game like this, well the last couple of games, build character. We did a great job with situational football trailing at halftime, being resilient and battling back as an offense. Being able to still run the football, keeping everything within the wheelhouse of this offense. For us to turn opportunities into points is something we’ve been harping on and working on all year. For it to just show off today, we just have to keep building on.
Ben Volin, Boston Globe: You were down 10 points in the fourth quarter and came back to win, which is the last time the Patriots did it since the Patriots win in the Super Bowl against Atlanta. What was the attitude in the fourth quarter being down all game and how did you not give up the fight?
We just did our jobs. That’s what it comes down to. As the offense, our job is to put up points. For us to put up 30 points, it was just as expected as we’re supposed to do.
Ben Volin, Boston Globe: For you personally, after what happened in Buffalo, to come back and have a great fourth quarter, what did that mean for you?
Just do your job. I’m learning that’s what’s expected. It’s nothing more or less than executing the call at hand and for Josh (McDaniels) to keep the ball in my hand during those time gives me confidence moving forward.
Dan Roche, CBS Boston: How good did it feel to execute and do what you wanted to do as a team and get out of here with a win?
I’m not going to lie, it felt good. At the end of the day, we’re in a position where this was a division game and a much needed win for multiple reasons. Not only for the division, but for our confidence. We just needed one in our opinion. We have a strong feat coming up this weekend. We just have to get healthy and pair it with a great week of practice and we’ll be all right.
Dan Roche, CBS Boston: How important is confidence for you and building off of this win?
It’s everything. For us, our confidence comes when we play complimentary football. It showed today. Defense got a much-needed turnover. We turned that opportunity into points and we just have to keep building off what did tonight and moving forward.
Doug Kyed, NESN: It seems like you’ve been more efficient as a passer over the past couple of weeks. You haven’t thrown any interceptions. What’s been the difference over the past weeks versus the week prior to these games?
I’m getting tired of sucking. It’s simple. As a competitor, you know what your standard is. Taking pride in your work, that’s what it comes down to. You not being able to hold your head up because you’re thinking too much is one thing, but at the same time, you’re solely responsible for the performance you put up. I was extremely disappointed. I just did my job today and that’s what it’s supposed to be each and every week. Efficient football. I had a couple of mistakes tonight that I learned from and will get better from. At the end of the day, this offense thrives when we keep pressure on the defense throughout. When we’re running or passing, short passes as well as deep passes. We just have to get better from it.
Matt Vautour, Mass Live: When J.C. Jackson gets that interception, did you recognize at that point it was a moment that could flip the game and put you back where you wanted to be?
Absolutely. I was more pleased with how we came out of half time and started the game with points. That’s a key to victory for us each and every week. We want to score when we first get the ball. We want to start fast. That’s a point of emphasis, as well as coming out at half time, we wanted to put points up on the board as well, preferably a touchdown and we did that. When you gain that type of momentum, you have to keep it. We just have to build off of it.
Matt Vautour, Mass Live: Are you more elated right now at the feeling of winning or relieved not have that feeling of losing anymore?
I’m more relieved not having the feeling of losing because there are a lot of people in that locker room that deserve more than we have been showing. A lot of our fans have been let down by the lack luster performances of myself, amongst other people. I can only speak for myself, and I will. This is a game we can build off and we will build off it. That’s a good thing.
Michael Hurley, WBZ: I’m sure its more fun to be running in the open field that sneaking up the gut, but you had six sneaks tonight, five of which gained yards and four that were either touchdowns or first downs. Can you take us through that process?
Dave Andrews. Dirty Dave. That play’s always successful when your center or guards, Shaq Diesel (Shaq Mason) or Smokin’ Joe (Thuney) can get some type of surge and for me, being as big as I am, it’s just a lunge forward. I just want to be as efficient while running the quarterback sneak as much as possible. Those guys did the hard job for me to just get the clean snap and fall forward.
Levan Reid, CBS Boston: Can you talk about Jakobi Meyers? As you watched him grow over the span of the month, how much better has he been at getting to the ball?
I’m extremely proud of Jakobi, man, “My Germs”. He’s the person who I’ve known the longest, this whole ordeal. Me knowing Jakobi when he was 16, 17 years old coming out of high school. Both of us being from the greater Atlanta area, for him to be morphing into the player that he is today, it’s just hard work paying off for him. He’s learned so much from believing in this system, and also learning from the best to do it, the gritty type of guy in Jules (Julian Edelman), and him being accessible for him, him watching him on film, and him seeing how he practices and what not. Using him as a vessel, it shows for Jakobi to go out and put it to fruition with the hard work that he puts in.
Mark Daniels, Providence Journal: When you first saw Meyers, he was a quarterback in high school. Did you keep up with him?
Of course. For my foundation we have an All-Star team. We had Justin Fields, Jakobi Meyers, multiple kids that are in the NFL right now, George Pickens, Bo Nix. It’s a lot. For us to always kind of keep in touch in some way, shape or form, Jakobi going to North Carolina State as a quarterback, for him to be able to throw as far and as hard as he used to throw and for him to transfer to the receiver position, I knew he would have success because playing the quarterback position makes you intellectually sound. It’s cerebral by default, because you know what a quarterback is looking for and he’s such an easy target to throw to as you can kind of tell, and he just finds a way to get open. He’s got a knack for the ball. His decisiveness while running routes is easy to kind of tell where his body language is going to go. For him to have the performance he had tonight, ongoing these last couple of weeks, it’s just a show of hard work paying off, not only him, but Damiere (Byrd) and the whole core group.
Mark Daniels, Providence Journal: Is it wild for you to play with someone you knew so long ago and to see him have a game like tonight?
Without a doubt. Without a doubt, but God put me here for a reason and I just want to use my influence in a positive way. And Jakobi is a person who obviously I took up under my wing a long time ago and for us to have the same type of connection, it’s just impactful for many reasons, but Jakobi is not the only person who reaps that vessel of having a person who’s done it. Those guys learn from each other. They still keep in contact with the people from that seven-on-seven team, no matter if it was six, seven or eight years ago. We had Deshaun Watson the same way and for him to be able to be a star in this league and us seeing him at 16, 17, we knew the stars, so for it to happen the way it’s happened, we’re just getting started, I believe, and we’ve just got to keep working to get better and that’s what we’re going to do.