Q: Is there a sense of a reward that you're starting to feel a little bit now?
A: I mean, I've always felt blessed. There are only so many people who play this game, and even though I have bounced around in three years, I've always played in those three years. I've always felt blessed to play this game. I love this game, and I couldn't imagine anything else.
Q: Tom Coughlin talked about a lot of guys stepping up with all of the injuries. Is this kind of a testament to the depth that you guys have to plug holes like that?
A: Yeah, definitely. I remember whenever Tuck first spoke to us down at camp out there, about a week or two into camp. He was talking to everybody, and he was just like, ‘I have a good feeling about this team. Our back-ups could be starters on other teams.' So, you know, that's the mentality I think this whole team takes. Everybody feels like they could be a starter, and if someone goes down, that's their opportunity. Whenever you have an opportunity, you have to do what you can with it.
Q: Getting burned early like that, did you use it as motivation? Say, ‘that's not going to happen again?' It's time to make a big play?
A: I mean, yes and no. I knew I wanted to get back, get another turnover for the team, for doing that. At the same time, I don't want to press, because whenever you start pressing and you try to make a play, that's when you give up more plays. So, I was trying to be able to do what I could do, through the framework of the defense.
RE: Brown's interception and fumble recovery in a short time-span:
A: It's never easy to get a turnover. Back-to-back like that, it did feel good. I was a little tired, but other than that, it was good.
Q: How big is this win when you think about this upcoming schedule?
A: It's definitely big. We knew this was a game that we needed to win. San Francisco coming up next, that's a great team. We weren't looking ahead or anything like that, but you definitely don't want to go out there down 2-3. We had a slow start, but bounced back, played hard, and this gives us momentum heading into next week.
Q: After they score over the top, that's 14-0. What was that like? This is not the way it's supposed to be going, obviously.
A: Obviously, it's never written up that you're down 14-0, four minutes go by. There's still plenty of time to go in the game. You've just got to stick with it, and keep playing and make sure you can fight back and get back into the game.
Q: A lot of you guys haven't had the chance to play a lot. You've spent your whole lives as starters, through pop warner, high school, college. Today, you got to make a difference. How does that feel for you as an athlete, to show that you can play this game at a high level?
A: It felt good. I've always believed in myself, all the time. Like you said, an opportunity comes, you've got to make it. It wasn't perfect, but I was able to do a little bit.
Q: In a way, did all the time you got on the field in the game last week kind of settle you down for what you had to do this week?
A: I'd say that. Being able to get a lot of first reps, not just reps in practice. It's always good to get out there. So, having all the reps I had last week, being able to continue on in this game, it did help a little bit.
Filed under: