The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Baylor quotes
10.21.2012 | Football
Oct. 21, 2012
TEXAS COACHES
Head coach Mack Brown:
Opening Statement: First I was very, very proud of the crowd. At a time where we did not play well last week, the crowd came back full speed ahead. It was one of our better crowds. I thought they were loud, and very, very positive and upbeat. That's a real credit to our fans at The University of Texas. We're so lucky to have them. There were a lot of people that were negative this week. I don't think any of them were at the game. Because they came to win. They came to help us. They were very, very positive. The guys really appreciated that. And that just doesn't happen everywhere. So I do want to thank them, and thank them profusely.
Proud of the guys. Baylor is really, really good, as advertised, on offense. They can move against anybody. They can run up and down the field. And in a game like this, especially in our league right now, you've got to get a stop. And that means a field goal. That means a turnover. That means a punt. You're not going to have shutouts very often in this league. So give them credit for the game that they played. Their defense fought hard, but our offense had to score when they had it. It got to be who had the ball last and who was going to score. I was a little disappointed in our offense that we didn't put it away with nine minutes left. And we had to punt. But [senior P] Alex Kinghad a great punt. And then I was proud that they ran the ball well and put it away at the end of the ball game.
[Sophomore QB] David Ashplayed well. The offensive line played much better. This is the offense we want. It's who we want to be - very balanced. It's who we were the first two games. It's who we were at Ole Miss and Oklahoma State and West Virginia. We got away from it, and didn't do it well last week. Oklahoma had something to do with that. But I'm very proud of them tonight. And very proud of the takeaways that the defense had.
On freshman TE M.J. McFarland:He's getting a lot better. When you take a wide receiver, and he goes from 230 pounds to 256 and he's never blocked at the line of scrimmage in his life, it's going to take a while. But I think he'll be what we thought he would be in time. We decided to take the ball tonight if we won the toss, which is not something we've been doing but, West Virginia scored on the first drive, Oklahoma scored on the first drive. So we wanted to score on the first drive, and not only did we do that we also scored on the first play. And I thought that got the crowd excited and moved things forward. He also made a big catch down the middle. So he's starting to play more, and he's started to play better.
On getting so many players to touch the ball:It's something that our coaches are doing a better job of and what they actually do is they sit in their meeting all week and they say, "Who do we want to carry this ball on this play?" Then if that play's hot, they get it a little bit more during the ball game. But they'll actually have designated packages for each of the players and the players know what that is. And that also helps some of the younger players play better because they may only have five plays, but they're from different formations and they still do the same stuff.
On the importance of the win:It was really important. West Virginia was a must win. Oklahoma was a must win. Oklahoma State was a must win. Ole Miss was a must win. And now Kansas will be a must win. Coach [Darrell] Royal told me a long time ago the only games that are important at Texas are the ones you lose. When you win one everybody thinks you should. The good thing about this game was Baylor had beaten us two years in a row, and we got back on top. We are making some progress, and I'm excited about going to Kansas next week and trying to get our sixth win.
On the offensive line: I thought it was good tonight. We did not have [OT] Donald Hawkins. We tried him in pregame, and he still had a sore ankle. He dressed but he didn't play. But I thought they pretty much dominated the line of scrimmage
On practice this last week:I think anytime you play as poorly as we did last week there's a different urgency. You'd like to think it's every day. Sometimes that slips a little bit when you start feeling pretty good about what you're doing. Like I said, I didn't think Wednesday's practice offensively last week was good, and every practice this week was good. It was very physical and very intense, and we were in the dressing room a little bit longer tonight. We told the guys to get ready for Tuesday's practice because it's going to be the same.
On the defense:Right now, we've leaned on the defense for the last two years when the offense has struggled. And now the offense is doing really well. We're trying to get the defense to get a stop. And if we had gotten a stop, like we did tonight, against West Virginia we'd be sitting here 5-1. So, I thought we grew up some tonight. We did better. We didn't panic. We didn't get down. I thought the young linebackers did stop the run better tonight than we'd done. Still didn't stop it great, obviously. But it was better. And they did a good job running [senior Baylor QB Nick] Florence more. We didn't think they would get him hit. But they had some new plays in with him. When he can run, and [senior RB Jarred] Salubi can run, and then you have those wide receivers, it makes it really hard to figure out who to stop.
On how he will evaluate the game:The only thing we're evaluating now is wins. Really and honestly. And it's not me being a smart aleck. We're trying to win games. Stats are out the window. The positive was we forced a couple of field goals, forced a couple of punts. Had two turnovers. That's the positive. And the positive was I think they were 3-for-12 on third downs. The negative was that they were 7-for-7, I think, in the red zone. So we've still got to stop the red zone plays somehow. And I didn't like the fact that they kicked a field goal right before the half. And then scored right after the half. That was a ten-point swing because we had the ball game in pretty good shape with about 1:30 left in the half. And same with West Virginia. So we've got to do a better job before the half and right after.
On the time of possession balance:I thought we really had it on the run at halftime. Their defense was getting really tired and beaten down some. Then they got a break the second half because we had a three-and-out early and didn't keep them on the field. Then we scored in two plays. Which is negative sometimes when you're wanting to eat some clock. I don't know what it ended up - we had the ball 20 minutes to [Baylor's] 10 [minutes] at the first half. And that was something that we needed to do. It ended up [30 minutes each] basically. They ended up having about it as much as we did. But I do think we did a better job against the pass in the second half. And we forced them to run the ball some down the stretch, when they needed to score quickly. A lot of clock was eaten up on that last drive, and it really helped us.
On the team's toughness:It thought we saw it at Oklahoma State. I thought we saw it at Ole Miss. I thought we saw it against West Virginia. And I thought we saw it tonight. I don't know where it went last week. Our team is not good enough to beat somebody unless we're ready to play with a lot of intensity and a lot of urgency. And that's what we've got to do.
On scoring 14 points in the second half: I thought we'd probably score more than that. But I don't care. I want to win. What this league has become is the one that scores the most points. And that's all that matters. I griped at [co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach] Bryan [Harsin] against West Virginia for only scoring 45 [points]. Can you imagine? So I'm happy we won. I don't even remember the score or care. We can go back to work. We will get better on defense because those young linebackers are getting better. I thought our young secondary did some better things tonight. They did the little double-move with [senior WR] Terrance Williams, and beat us deep which is about 80 yards of their offense there in the first half. But we made some plays. We're doing better. We're sure not where we need to be. But we're taking baby steps here. But this gives us a chance to get a sixth win next week and be bowl eligible, at the same time we were last year. And then maybe play a little bit better down the stretch.
Co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Bryan Harsin
On the offense: Well first of all, I am very proud of our team and the way they prepared themselves throughout the week. That's the one thing. I felt like after Thursday's practice, and I told the players this, that we had a great week of practice and like anything else when you prepare like that you have an opportunity to go out there and play well. Guys like [RB] Joe [Bergeron], just all week long, the way he ran tonight was the way he ran in practice, and he ran hard. Tonight we put the ball in his hands and put the game on his back and the o-line at the end of the game to finish it. It's those little things throughout the week that puts you through these opportunities, we believe. So our preparation is huge, and we still know that we have a lot of things to continue to work on and get better at. We will get back to work on Sunday to do it.
On RB Daje Johnson's explosive play: That was great. We felt like throughout the week that was going to be a good play for us, and Daje went and let the rest happen. You know I say Daje but everybody - really [TE] M.J. McFarland is the one that got that play started. He is the guy that is going to have the biggest block on that play and everything revolved around him doing his job and then once he did, we had a chance to get to the secondary, and the wide receivers are down there blocking their [guy]. And then Daje, once he gets an open field, he has done great things for us and has proven that throughout the year. So that was huge. We wanted to start fast. We took the ball and wanted to get out there and get a score and he made it happen on the very first play, and I think that's a huge statement that we wanted to make throughout the week. I think it says volumes about what those guys did in their preparation throughout the week to do that.
On TE M.J. McFarland's and o-line's role in that play: Everybody on the right hand side, but M.J. was the one. We knew he was going to have the one-on-one block there - really at the point of attack is where the ball was going to hit was going to be right behind him. He must have got it sealed, I'm not exactly sure, but there was no penetration and everything on that edge got cleaned up in a hurry and Daje was around the corner. And then the wideouts down the field that were blocking, Jaxon Shipley and Mike Davis, both of those guys out there taking care of business and springed him. When he is out in open space, he's hard to catch once he gets out there.
On the difference from last year against Baylor: I think the biggest difference in this game was our defense got turnovers, and we gave up turnovers in the last game that we played them in. That was the biggest thing. When you give up six turnovers its hard to beat anybody when you do that. We hung on to the football and then when we get turnover opportunities, that's huge for us, a sudden change, and we got to take advantage of that. I believe we did. I think we scored on the turnovers when we had those opportunities. Those are huge, and we know it's going to happen at some point during the game. When we get those, that is the biggest key. So we played smart football tonight. We played tough football tonight, and we took advantage of the opportunities the defense gave us, on field position or special teams. It wasn't perfect by any means. There were some drives in there that we didn't finish, and that is what we will have to go back and continue to work on. Overall, we take care of the ball and just do our job so then that is what we have to worry about.
On how he spreads the carries to different players: A lot of it is thought out throughout the week. When we put the plays in and [co-offensive coordinator] Coach Major Applewhite and the backs go through it and what play fits best, what are the reps, what are the numbers, and also who is practicing well that week, too. A guy that is really running well, running hard like Joe was doing. At the same time, you want to go ahead and divvy it up so different guys have touches so it is not just one guy at all times because the way we run is physical, and it's hard. I think Coach Applewhite and the backs do a great job of mixing that all up. We go into the game plan knowing who should get these touches, but it changes. Towards the end of the game, you see more of Joe and Johnathan Gray in there. Those guys are finishers like we saw in this game here. That starts to change as the game comes to a close and you are trying to run that clock. All right, who has been pounding it pretty good? So obviously, we wanted to put the ball in Joe's hands and let him finish it.
On Joe Bergeron's and Daje Johnson's performance: Well they've both shown it in games too. That's the true test that comes every week. In practice, like [DE] Alex Okafor was saying, we try to practice hard. When we get out there, we are prepared for the game. The game is not harder than what it is in practice. Practice should be more difficult. We want those guys to be mentally prepared, physically prepared, and those guys did that all week long. This was a great week of prep. Just their attitudes, mentality, and the whole approach they took, which I believe is key to showing up Saturday and playing well. And you know, Joe has shown that. He really showed that this week in practice. All those guys did. Daje did. All those backs, and they ran hard clear up until warmups. All those little things really start to make a difference, when they all add up. And the guys were doing it this week, and it showed in the game.
On evaluating players moving forward: I think tonight, we did what we do. You know, that's part of it. As the season goes on, you've got to find ways to change some of your tendencies, and guys have to step up so you can do that. For example, M.J. is a perfect example. He is a guy that's come on. He has come on more and more and more. Now, all of the sudden, he has been a pass threat. Now he's a run game tight end. He's setting the edge for us. And those are things that we have to have our guys do. We want to have guys that can do a lot of different things, so that we can be more multiple and more difficult to scout. As the second half of the season goes on, that's what you look at. All of those things you start to come predictable in, you have to break. Like anything, you go back, and look at all the preparation that you do and how you do it and make sure that all of those little things that are so important in the beginning are still important. You don't let up on that, and that's got to be a week-to-week thing. When you do, you get beat. And that's how football is. We got to continue that, and I am really proud of those guys, like Daje and M.J. MacFarland that continue to be role players and stepped up and played more and did what they did tonight. There's more guys, the [WR] Kendall's [Sanders] and [WR] Cayleb's [Jones] and things like that. The young guys that will have to help us and continue to have more roles as the season goes on.
Defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Manny Diaz
On tonight's victory: All we talked about this week was that we wanted to play faster and more physical. We wanted to battle. We knew that this would be a 60-minute battle. Obviously, Baylor is a great offensive football team. I was really, really proud of the way the guys fought tonight. I saw some young guys that looked like they started to grow up. We played faster. We tackled better. We did some of the things that we had not been doing in the last few games. There's some things that we can fix, but there was a lot of things that were encouraging. We asked them to fight tonight, and I think they did.
On the performance of the young players on defense: [DB] Josh [Turner] was really exciting. He made plays. He was lined up right. He was where he was supposed to be. He was disciplined in our coverage. I thought Josh, and really [S] Mykkele [Thompson] too, really both stepped up. I think [LB] Steve Edmond and [LB]Kendall Thompson had their best games. When they were in, they really did an outstanding job. They were physical and just really making strides. I am really, really excited about all those guys.
On a takeaway message from tonight: Right now, the one thing is just to find a way to win. That's what we need to do. You know, these last two weeks, we didn't feel too good, because we lost the games. It's so much easier to correct things after you win, because everybody has a good feeling about themselves. We knew going into the game that Baylor would make plays. You look it as a game of stops, and a game of runs. The two turnovers, and how crucial those were. Holding them to three field goals. Those are things that we did to win the football game. If we didn't give up the big chunk plays, which we corrected after the first one, it was going to be about do what it takes to win the football game. I talked about grinding it out. That's the way to grind it out. Towards the end of the game, you know, our guys chased around those guys for 80-some odd plays. Obviously, we wore down a little bit. We were tired, but we still battled. As a coach, there's a lot of things that are good, bad or indifferent, but I cannot be more proud with the effort of our defensive football team.
On the defensive mentality: When you look at it, we were good on third down all night. We had some self-inflicted wounds that really hurt us. In some of their scoring drives early on, there was some third down and fourth down penalties, and that extended drives. These offenses are way too good to let them get extra swings of the bat. We cleaned some of that stuff up. We didn't give up the big plays. We found a way to get stops, which sooner or later happens. For offenses, it's harder to drive the ball downfield. We made them kick back-to-back field goals. Both were 11 play drives in the third quarter. We got the ball back to our offense, and the offense kept powering away and scoring points. The fumble there, right before the fourth quarter, was crucial. That was the mentality. You get into the game, and you understand it was a mentality of finding a way to get stops.
On young defensive ends and defensive leaders: I thought they were both really valuable [sophomore DE Cedric Reed and junior DE Reggie Wilson.] Obviously, with Alex [Okafor], you know, Ced [Reed] came up with a big sack there at the end. They were good assignment-wise, and they took care of their responsibility, where they were supposed to be. And [freshman DE] Shiro Davis was out of there in the fourth quarter in critical situations. I thought all those guys did a good job. And one other point I want to make, too, thinking back on this week's practice. Because he won't say it, but Alex Okafor and [senior S] Kenny Vaccaro both deserve a lot of credit as well. They are really growing into the roles as leaders of this football team. And those guys really did a great job of getting our younger guys to continue to come along. On both sides of the ball, you keep hearing these young names that are exciting to see. But guys like Alex Okafor, he really did a great job leading us this week.
TEXAS PLAYERS
RB Joe Bergeron
On thoughts about being viewed as a short-yardage back: It is not offensive at all. That is in our game plan. That is what we do. That is what coach draws up. I just go out and do whenever my number is called. I just do my job. Whatever it takes to help the team win.
On running the ball: I'm just a player on the team. I do what I'm told. You cannot get in that mind set that, 'I am better than this' or 'I am better than that.' It is contagious and you are just going to bring down the rest of the team and everybody else will be like, 'Well I shouldn't being doing this' or 'I shouldn't being doing that.' Whatever your role on the team is, you roll with that and you help your team win.
On going back to basics and establishing the run: Last week was really more of a wake up call. Going out there, you have to be prepared at any time for any thing. It doesn't matter what time you play the game. It doesn't matter who you play against. You always have to be prepared because you never know what is going to happen. So our mindset going through this week is that we needed to reestablish ourselves as a football team and as an offense and let them know who we are. I saw in the players' eyes that we are not going to have that feeling again. It is not a great feeling when you go into your locker room and it is just quiet and having everybody asking you what happened or what's wrong. It gets annoying after a while. So you just go out and play your game - you will win. So the offense throughout the week it was just incredible. You could see it in everybody. Offensive line put in extra work. Running backs put in extra work. Receivers, quarterbacks, and everybody just staying after practice to get extra routes and extra runs or handoffs. To see everybody come together like that, it felt really good.
On what he sees from the offensive line on touchdown runs: I just see the goal line. I see the holes their line makes, the little creases that they give me. That is what we tell them, to just give me a little crease and I can roll with it. I see the crease. I see the touchdown. I see the goal line, and that is really it. I just hit it. Really, it is just a blur. If anybody else comes within that vision, you just punish them. That is what you do on goal lines. Really that's it. Its just moving so fast that you just got to get in there.
On his five touchdowns tonight: Most of the touchdowns were in the redzone, so those are pretty much 'gimmies.' We practice on that all the time in practice. So those are times where you have to get because it is a momentum change. They are pretty much giving you the touchdown. When coach puts the ball in your hands you have to produce, and the team is looking at you to make the touchdown to help us win. You don't want to be that guy that everybody is looking at and saying, 'Man, if you would've just done this, we probably would've done this and the outcome would've been different.' So you want to do everything you can to keep your team motivated. So I just put that in my head. I don't do it for myself, I do it for the team.
OG Trey Hopkins
On the running game: It's a huge advantage for us. We just like the fact that we have so many guys in the backfield that can do all the same things. There isn't just one guy we have to depend on to run our power plays or to be physical. There is not just one guy that can get on the outside and help us on our perimeter game. It just helps us out a whole lot.
On the first drive: It was great. You could just feel the intensity building on the sideline. Especially on the offense, we knew we had to come out and make things happen. That first play was a combination of everything.
On practice this week: It was a lot more physical practice than we have had in a long time. People were getting after each other. There were individual battles. There was some good stuff going. I think that's what helped us coming out in this game. We knew that after OU we had to play more physical in both offense and defense, and it starts with the offensive line. We really got after each other this week.
On physical practices: I believe that it is something we have to continue to do, get more and more physical. Teams aren't going to take it easy on us down the stretch. Our coaches are smart. They don't put people in bad situations to get hurt. It is possible that we can continue to have very physical practices.
CB Carrington Byndom
On the win: That was the main goal coming in this week. Winning the game. Even thought the stats aren't as pretty as we would like them to be, we still came out on top with the win.
On stats: This season we have faced some of the top offenses in the nation so these guys are going to put up stats. I think the main thing for us is trying to limit as much as we can, but then again at the end of the day, all it comes down to is if we win or not.
On turnovers: They were the key. One thing we try to do each week is create turnovers and things like that. We try to set up the offense, and I think we did that today with those two turnovers. That is a goal of ours. We want to come in and take the ball away.
On the defense: The offense is doing a great job of scoring points. I think we need to a better job of controlling offenses and stopping them when we get our chances. That would put the offense in better situations. I think we need to a better job as far as our end, but all in all, we all played a heck of a game tonight. Like I said, the win is the result.
QB David Ash
On bouncing back: I thought we really bounced back well. You work so hard each and every week. It hurts when you lose, but it makes it so worth it when you win. I am just thankful for the opportunity to keep playing the game I love. I couldn't be more proud of my teammates for the way they battled and stayed resilient against a very good Baylor team.
On practice this week: There was a huge emphasis on physicality. There was a huge emphasis on execution, and there was a huge emphasis on energy and passion this week.
On a 'must win' mentality: They are all must wins. That is not a very good attitude for a player to think about the worst possible thing that could happen this year. Let's just try to work and be the best we can be. That is our attitude.
On the first drive: That first play was awesome. It set the tone. Everybody did their job. Daje [Johnson] took it to the house, and I watched. I didn't do a lot, but I had a pretty good handoff. I'd give it a B+ on the handoff. It was good. Any doubt that was in our minds was gone at that moment when we showed that we could get in the end zone again. We can play football. We can win. We can be successful as a team. All the hard work we put in this week paid off.
DE Alex Okafor
On tonight's victory: Obviously, we still have some work to do. But to come back after a loss like last week, and step it up and get this "W", it means everything and it shows our character.
On attitude in practice this week: We just went back to basics. If I could relate it to anything, it was kind of like a training camp type practice. Everybody was just giving it their all. Nobody was trying to save their bodies for the game. Everybody was acting like practice is the game. That was probably the biggest difference this weekend.
S Josh Turner
On his interception: It was a great read. It mainly came from our defensive line. They had a great push, and I was in the right place at the right time.
On the defense's statement tonight: That we didn't go anywhere. Our defense was kind of shaky the last two games and probably the ones before those, but we came out and made a statement that we weren't going to get run on. They had a few plays with long runs, but we still contained them.
On adjustments made in second half: We stayed deep as safeties, and the cornerbacks got better pass read runs.
LB Steve Edmond
On getting the win: Well at the end of the day, getting the win is all that matters. I can live with a win.
On not having LB Jordan Hicks: It's like having a coach on the field, but now he's off the field so it's like we're kind of inexperienced.
On the importance of turnovers: Anytime you get a turnover it's a momentum change. When you get a turnover you just try to capitalize on that, try to score, and get your offense in a good position to score.
On how much this win was needed: It was well needed. We needed a win after a loss like that against Oklahoma to build our momentum back up and finish our season off strongly.
On this week at practice: We wanted to throw all the negative stuff away and just focus on the next game and beat Baylor. We're going to do the same thing this week, focus on Kansas and try to beat them.
S Kenny Vaccaro
On the difference between this week and last week: We were tackling great tonight. We still gave up a lot of points, and we still have a lot of stuff that we can work on. Our tackling was better, and we got guys on the ground.
On the 25-minute stretch the Texas defense had in not letting Baylor into the end zone: We just stressed don't give up and to keep playing. It comes down to tackling. When those guys don't keep extending [the play], and you just get the guy on the ground. That's all it was from what I saw.
On how things changed in practice this week: It was really, really physical. We took guys to the ground the whole time. The scout team, everyone was getting slugged around. We just got back to getting physical and not so much worrying about the stuff that you get distracted with at Texas and just got back to playing football. That's all that really matters.
OG Mason Walters
On a different practice mentality the team had this week: We stripped it down and went back to basics. It was very full-tilt and getting after each other everyday. We were ticked off after last week and every chance we got to work toward this week we did 100%. That is what we have to continue to do even after a win. Hopefully we can do that every week.
On RB Daje Johnson's 84-yard touchdown run: I saw when Daje [Johnson] got to the second level. I saw that he was gone, and he was out of there. It was a play we worked on all week, and it was the first time we ran it so they weren't expecting it. It really matched up well against their defense, and that's what happens when you execute.
WR Mike Davis
On the overall offensive performance: We go against our defense everyday, and we try out different scenarios all the time and we bounce back and find a way.
On how the 67-yard catch developed: It was a great play for the defense they were running at the time. [Sophomore QB David] Ash threw a great ball. It was kind of short, but I made a play for him. We executed well and got a completion.
On how this win felt after last week's loss: It felt real good to bounce back. We let people know that we are still here, and we have a bright future.
BAYLOR COACHES
Head Coach Art Briles
Opening Statement: I was really proud of the team and how they fought. We challenged them to do some different things this week, and I was pleased with how they came out tonight. I felt like some unfortunate stuff happened to us. Some questionable penalties. The only holding call of the game brought back a touchdown for us, and made us kick a field goal. A block in the back inside the tackle box. Fumble on a run up the middle. That was potentially a 14-point swing. But I'm proud of this team. They really worked their tails off tonight.
On QB Nick Florence: He had the one bad pass. It was a dead play. We knew that before he snapped it. He got a little banged up. But besides that, he was flawless. Extremely proud of him and his performance tonight. Definitely one of the top two quarterbacks to ever play at this school.
On the onside kick at the end of the game: Wasn't executed properly. You can say their guy made a good play and our guy didn't, but it simply was not executed the way it was drawn up and the way we practiced it since August 1st.
On RB Lache Seastrunk: Lache has been playing well in practice, and he was effective tonight. Made some big runs towards the end of the game, and did what we asked of him.
On RB Glasco Martin: Martin is a big, tough, mean guy, and he ran hard tonight. Did some great stuff. Made some big runs.
BAYLOR PLAYERS
QB Nick Florence
On whether tonight's loss was frustrating: Yeah, it's no fun to lose. We played hard. We made some costly mistakes on offense that cost us the game.
On whether his team played with a "tough guy" mentality tonight: For the most part, yeah. I thought our guys fought hard. It was probably one of our best weeks of practice. We just made too many mistakes. If you want to win a game in the Big 12, you can't make those kinds of mistakes. We'll work On it. We'll fix a lot of stuff from last week. We're going to go back and work even harder this week.
On whether his interception impacted the momentum of the game: Anytime you get a turnover it takes the momentum away. You can make excuses, but I threw an interception, too, that they got seven points off of. As an offense, we can't have those turnovers. We need to eliminate them.
On losing a game where his team scored 50 points: It's not the defense's fault. We take that upon ourselves. It's a team game. We have the mentality that, 'I have your back and you have my back.' We made some mistakes on offense and on defense. You put them together, and we lost the ball game. The score doesn't really matter, it's the fact that we lost the ball game. You could point to a number of things, but we're not blaming anyone. It's on us as a team.
NB Ahmad Dixon
On his defense's performance in tonight's game: We didn't answer. It's as simple as that. We had plenty of opportunities to get out on the field and make plays, but we didn't. We didn't answer. For instance, when Nick threw the interception, they got the first down on the third down. It was something that we worked on all week, and we just can't let the things we worked on go out the window. That's the main thing about our defense.
On whether his defense played better in the second half because they allowed fewer points: No. We didn't. We had more touchdowns, but I don't see how you could say we played better just because we held them to less points than we did in the first half. We did not play better. We had opportunities, and we didn't execute on them. It came back and bit us in the butt.
On his team's losing streak: It's frustrating. We still have plenty of games to go. We're not going to sit here and dwell on these games or the three games we've already lost. They've happened. There's nothing we can do about it. We just need to move forward.
WR Terrance Williams
On his reception that was ruled out of bounds: I had tried to tell him to save room for me. I had one foot down, and I thought I had saved room. I kind of figured that they were going to look at it from up top, but they didn't.
On whether it surprised him that his reception was not reviewed: Yes, because mainly this is their place. Sometimes they show the replay on the big screen, but I didn't see it. But that's just one play from this game. I can't focus on it. I have to let it go.
RB Glasco Martin
On how hard he takes the fumble he made: Pretty hard. It was a crucial mistake, and I can't let that happen. I'm taking responsibility for that.
On how the fumble happened: Just arms were wet. I covered the ball up. It just slipped out.
On whether he thought his team played with a "tough guy" mentality: I did. I felt like we played really physical, and we played hard. There were just a few crucial mistakes that kept us from winning that ball game.
On what his team needs to do to turn around their losing streak: We need to come in the next day and get to work. We need to try to forget the past
