Q: Why were they so effective running in the first quarter?
A: First half was pretty much crap. I give them credit. They have a great team, a great running back. It's hard to see him when he ducks behind his own lineman. You hit him, and he falls forward, he probably falls forward for three or four more yards. In the second half, we just came in and looked each other in the eyes and realized that, right now, we're kind of getting better. Our defense, the one thing you don't want to have your quarterback tell you is that they're tougher; they are being more physical than you. So, we just challenged each other. The second half, we picked our energy up. We played with passion and we were able to get the stops.
Q: What went on in the room, what did you say to the guys?
A: Basically, I just talked about how you allow somebody to come into your house and take over. At that point, they were doing whatever they wanted to do on offense. We just talked about doing our thing. Regardless of what they called, regardless of what defense we were on, we couldn't allow ourselves to be not on the same page, communication breakdowns, you know guys doing their own things, and I just challenged each of them. I told them that I was playing like crap, I told them that we were playing like crap and that in the second half we need to pick it up. Just try to create a spark and it worked.
Q: David Garrard, is he the type of player you look forward to or is he a lot harder because he's more mobile than most quarterbacks?
A: He makes it tough. Obviously, he's not Michael Vick as far as being a guy that looks to run. He picks his moments well. He does a great job of prolonging plays and when he sees an alley, he'll go and get eight, he'll get nine, and that's what they wanted to do. They kept him in rhythm. Anytime an offense can run the ball like them, anytime they get it to third and one, third and two situations, they're right back to where they want to be. He did some great things with his feet, but the second half we tried to chop our fronts up a little bit, give them some different looks, and hold on.
Q: Your sack in the fourth quarter, what did that play mean?
A: We're going to go after guys and it was a situation where we felt as though we knew what they were going to do, and he dialed up a great blitz for us. Antrel [Rolle] was screaming off the edge and I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time I guess. I think, at that point, it really solidified to them, not to us, but Jacksonville, you could just tell in the huddle, they kind of looked at it as, ‘dang, here they come.' And our crowd got behind us and our energy level really rolled at that point. Because they advanced the ball pretty well up to that point. Obviously, they needed a touchdown, and we were kind of in a give but don't break defense, but we held them right there and we were able to get more plays after that and finish the game.
Q: What's different when Jason Pierre-Paul's plays like he did today?
A: I've always said that JPP [Jason Pierre-Paul] is one of the most athletic big men I've ever seen in my life. He's the guy that, once he puts it all together on the defensive line and what we're asking him to do and things of that nature, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with. And today, I talked to him on the sideline and I just told him, ‘Listen, I don't care what schemes they're giving you, I don't care what they're doing, just play fair.' And he did that, and he played well today. I hope this is one of those stepping-stones and he can just elevate his game from it.
Q: Is this a wake-up call for you guys on defense and for the whole team?
A: I hope so, because they're a really good football team. We knew it would be a game that would come down to the last drive, win in the fourth quarter. We knew exactly what it was going to be and they did a great job of being physical and they kept everything where they wanted it in the first half. In the second half, it just showed our resilience. We had a lot of obstacles to overcome today. Our offense is banged up. Eli [Manning] and those guys did a great job of hanging in there and putting up points when they needed to considering the guys we have out on offense. It was a complete team effort. Hopefully it is a wake-up call. Hopefully it is something that can get us steamrolling. Sometimes you just have to win some games ugly.