Q: Has the shock worn off at all?
A: It feels like a loss. For 52 minutes, we played good football. There are still mistakes we could've fixed. The two turnovers gave them 10 points earlier in the game, but the last eight minutes we didn't play well enough. We were going down and we're at the 38-yard line on a second-and-five being close to field goal range on our second to last drive with three or four minutes left in the game and had a chance to end the game there. We jump offsides and don't convert on third down, so those are opportunities that you can't throw away. When you get late into December and you're playing in big games, every mistake is costly. Every little one seems to be magnified, so we have to eliminate some of those.
Q: Do you take some solace in the fact that this team is still in the playoff hunt?
A: Yeah, definitely. We're still in a good position. We're in a position a lot of other people would like to be in. Whether we won last week or not, we're still going to have to go out and win again in Green Bay and that's still our goal. We have to have a great week of preparation and focus and make sure we continue to do things well and find a way to get a win against a good team.
Q: Draw any parallels to 2007 at all?
A: Yeah, of course. You can always draw parallels. When things are going bad so far this season, we've responded well. When we were 1-2, and we responded well with a win streak. We lose two more and everybody is on our back, we responded well winning three more. We lost one here, it's a tough one, but we have to get back. We can't hang our head. We don't have time to moan about it. This is kind of the day to watch the film, man up for our own mistakes, see what went wrong, and put it behind us and get ready for Green Bay.
Q: Emotionally, how do you get over a loss like that?
A: I think you just get back to work. I think you just man up for mistakes and you take responsibility. You put it behind you and look forward to the situation and say "Hey, we have another big game" and that's fun. This is fun, this is good times. You try to look at the positives from yesterday. For 52 minutes, both sides of the ball played great football. We did a lot of good things and we let it slip away, but hey, we're still a good team, we have good players, and we have to make sure we keep that mindset in our preparation and everything going on to make sure we stay at our best.
Q: Did Coughlin reinforce that in your meeting today?
A: Yeah, he did. He said we did a lot of good things but mistakes cost us. Hey, we have to win that game.
Q: What about him makes him a good coach to have in a time like this?
A: I think Coach did a good job today. He could've come in and screamed and yelled and called out people and called out plays, but he talked about the positive side of things and said we did play some good football there. The same team that played terrible football for eight minutes played great football for 52 minutes. Under the circumstances we have with next week, we have to get our focus on Green Bay.
Q: You might expect him to go nuts with a loss like that but he's patient and positive it seems:
A: As a coach, you have to have a sense of the game, the feel of the players. When sometimes the players are down and wounded, you don't want to go in kicking them again. We have to make sure our spirits are high. There were a lot of good things and make sure we get everybody focused and prepared and excited about our opportunity instead of down about it.
Q: What do you say to the critics who blame the rookie punter Dodge or the defense?
A: You just say that you win as a team and you lose as a team. Everybody has their responsibilities, and offensively our responsibility was when the game was within seven - we were up 21, next time we got the ball they were down seven - we had to go get points on the board and end the game. Go up by ten and make it tough for Philadelphia. We had a good drive going. The first play we hit Manningham for a first down. We're running the ball pretty well. Second-and-five from the 38, that's right where you want to be, you jump offsides and then we run it for two yards and then miss an assignment on a third-and-eight. You can't have negative plays right there. That's when you're doing things well, and you want your guys to step up to the situation. We only had two penalties all day but they were costly ones.
Q: What did you say to the team today?
A: Just team stuff. Just talking about the situation we're in and now is the time not to get down and get in a panic. There were a lot of things about our current situation, and we just have to keep excelling and getting better.
Q: Did you stay away from the highlights last night?
A: I watched some other games, the Green Bay game, and everything was on mute. That's the way I do it now. I don't listen to the games, I just watch from the distance. I had some friends in town and family. I watched a little of it. It was just a little reminder, and then try to block it out again for a little bit.
Q: Did you decide to talk to the team this morning?
A: Yeah, just this morning after seeing some guys and talking. I just wanted to have a little team meeting. I didn't know if anybody else was going to talk, but I wanted to say a few words. I went up to coach and asked if I could beat (him) to the punch a little bit and address the team before (he) came in.
Q: Do you think this team could still do some special things, even if it's on the road in the playoffs?
A: I like the way we've responded when our backs have been up against the wall this year. We had two cases earlier in the season where we lost a few and responded well with win streaks. That's what you like to see, a team that can get hot. We know we're capable of that and we just have to go do it.