HEAD COACH BRIAN CALLAHAN
Just to start off injury-wise, two guys that probably don't look great right now. We'll still take the time to look at them, but Quandre Diggs with a foot and Lloyd (Cushenberry III) with an ankle of some sort. We'll get the imaging, but not real positive on those two at this point. But man, what a definition of what we want our football team to look like and play like when things get tight. Tremendous amount of resilience. We finally got in a position where the way our team plays and the way that they go about their business actually got a chance to pay off for us, which was really great to see. I'm proud of those guys. I love what we're made of in the locker room and we finally played long enough, hard enough and well enough to put ourselves in position to win a game. We want a little longer than I was hoping for. Got an extra quarter of football in there. But man, I'm just proud of what those guys put out there and how hard they fought. We had a bunch of guys step up. Obviously, Corey Levin had to come in, Mike Brown had to come in. And those guys played a big role in giving us a chance to win the football game. I thought we ran the ball in that overtime period, that was—we impose our will in that overtime period, which was awesome to see. Running the football down there and taking up almost the entire overtime and not giving them much to work with on the back end. Tony Pollard, just to point out, I mean 154 total yards, didn't practice once this week. He's everything. He's everything that our locker room is about. Proud as (crap) of him. And then finally we won a turnover battle. We finally found a way to get our hands on three footballs. We only turned it over once unfortunately. We had a shot to get a touchdown there, and we turn that ball over, just got tipped up in the air. So a lot of really good things, plenty of things to clean up. But I'd much rather be cleaning them up feeling good about a win than after a loss. It was just really good to see our team fight today.
Just how badly did you guys need this today?
I mean, look at me. I needed it bad man. It was a—yeah, we needed it.
After they score there on the last second play and then also Mason Rudolph with the fumble down there, were you starting to wonder what's it going to take to get this?
Yeah, I mean, we knew we had to go answer. I think one of the things that we did in this game that was really good offensively is that when we—for the first time all year when we got put in a hole, we fought back and answered. Every time we had a chance to we answered. And that was really good to see. And so we just knew we had to get ready, get ready and go call and haul it. And I was going to lean on the running game to get us down there. And they did a great job executing it, made a couple of throws that we needed, but it was just really good to see that the finish that we had in that game—with a chance to finish it. Really proud of those guys.
Did you sense anything different about the team that allowed for that finish to happen, for that follow through?
No, I think we've been working through it all year. We talk about it all the time. Just the type of team that we want to be. And I think that's one of our strengths is the way our team fights, the physical nature that they play with. And we finally put ourselves in position to win a game. And really what's happened prior to here is we've taken the game out of our hands and given it away. And we finally didn't do that and then this was the result. It was just really good to see.
When Arden Key makes plays, he's a difference maker. It is two weeks in a row he has got the ball out.
That's huge. I mean we've been around the quarterback a lot. We finished on him occasionally, we got to finish on him more. But the game-changing play is when you separate the quarterback from the ball, those are huge, huge moments in games. We've been on the opposite end of that a couple of times. But to see Arden (Key) get the ball loose and get his hits on the quarterback, he's playing at a really high level right now and he's fighting as hard as anybody in there. And I got a lot of respect for how Arden goes about his business, the energy he plays with. That was really cool to see him come along here these last two weeks and be an impact for us.
We saw you after your first win and you have different emotions from that. What is it about this win that has you feeling the way you're feeling?
I think it's everything that we want to be about, just the program itself, how we want to look, how our team looks. And we've had moments of really resilient play. But this was a really resilient performance by our guys. To go give up a ball at the last second to tie the game and then have to go to overtime and then to respond. I thought we did a good job really for the first time all year of really complementing each other when something happened. If something bad happened, we picked them up, if something didn't go right on offense or defense picked us up, our special teams play well. Those things were important for us. I just think that to see that happen and to see our guys play the way I know we're capable of playing was really good.
Some of those things you gave yourself to have to overcome, particularly in the penalties department.
Well, I feel like every time we got a good play, we got a penalty for something. I mean, it's like every time we score a touchdown, the ball comes back. It drives me insane. But we've got to clean some of those things up. It's certainly—we can't, it's hard to sustain those, but I felt like every week we got to overcome these huge plays that get called back and it's killer. But we got to find ways to clean those up.
Why not punt the ball out of bounds at the end of regulation having struggles covering at that point?
Yeah, I was more concerned of trying to hang the ball enough to go cover. We'd like to get it more towards the sideline, but didn't get hit that way. But yeah, those are all things that we were trying to get done in that moment. So, just like any player, there's some times where you don't execute it at the level we need. And we did a decent job getting down there. But yeah, we would like to pin him down there a little deeper and not let him get out.
What does it say about Calvin Ridley continuing to kind of build on his play in the last two games? I know he didn't have a lot of receptions early on, but down the stretch there, that huge play.
Incredibly difficult third down conversion at a place where we needed it really badly. And that's what we brought him in here for. As receivers, you got to be patient. Sometimes the game doesn't come to you early. We had a couple of things, we tried to get it to him, get going. But, then sometimes— he had a drop or two that would have helped us. But at the end of the day, he was there when we needed him and made the plays when we needed to at the end of the game. And that's why you bring guys like that in so they can do that for you. That third down catch was probably just as critical as any play in the game.
How much is the emergence of Calvin Ridley and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine help to stabilize the receiving corps and maybe allow you to do some things that you want to do in the pass game now?
Yeah, I just think those guys are playing well. I think we're finding ways to get them the ball. They're winning. They're getting open. That's the other part of it. They're doing a great job. Nick (Westbrook-Ikhine) just keeps making plays, man. He keeps finding ways to make plays. He ran an unbelievable route in the redzone. We had a great protection and had a chance to get all the way back to it, and I think he's what? Three-for-three, four-for- four, whatever it is, catching touchdowns. He's playing at a high level and the two of those guys together playing at a high level with mixing in Tyler (Boyd) in there doing what he does, it really helps our offense. We moved the ball quite a bit. We came away empty—two and five in the redzone is not great. I would have liked to have those points that we didn't get a chance to get and had a few more on the board and maybe not make it as interesting, but those guys have really helped us move the ball. I think we're moving the ball really well right now offensively overall.
How gut wrenching was it to see them score on the final play of regulation and how do you think Mason Rudolph kind of settled the group down to lead that drive?
Just like everybody, we knew—I was sort of prepared for all circumstances. I didn't really—I just said we'll wait to see what happens. There's a lot that can happen in those short seconds left and they were right down there with a chance. Mason (Rudolph) came right over and just said, 'Hey, man, just call it and we'll go win it.' I said, 'I got you, man, we're going.' And they did a great job executing.
Can you take us through the process of getting to that decision of where Mason Rudolph was the starter because Will Levis practiced the whole week?
Yeah, he practiced limited all week, same process as the week before with Will (Levis). Threw more, threw better, felt better at the end of the day. And then he got to the end of Thursday's practice, didn't quite feel—still felt the fatigue from it a bit. So he decided, after feedback from him and Todd (Toriscelli), we decided that probably one more week would be best because when he goes back in, I don't want him coming out for any reason. So I want to make sure he's 100 percent ready to roll and I think we're getting real close to that. So ultimately, that was the decision, just to make sure that he felt just enough in practice. He's a lot better, but just wasn't quite ready to go play. And I want to be ready to go play fully when it's time to go.
What did you think of Daniel Brunskill and the right tackle rotation?
It's hard for me to—in the postgame without—there's a lot of things that go on in there. But, it sure seemed like they did a pretty good job, all those guys in there. And they fought. Corey Levin goes in there as well and plays well enough for us. So I'm sure there's plenty of things to clean up. We had the one sack. I think maybe it was Leroy (Watson IV) got the one sack. But other than that, I think our offensive line has really improved and doing a good job and those guys keep stepping up. So again, I'll have more critique for you maybe tomorrow. But as of right now, I feel like it was enough to win.
What did Amani Hooker do well to get those two picks? And as you touched on earlier, how important was it to have that turnover ratio?
Hook's (Amani Hooker) just again, another guy that's just all about what we want to be about. He's a pro. He was banged up all week, too. He fought through it. Another really impressive performance from him. But he's just a really smart football player. He's got a good feel for this defense now and he knows where to be. They do a great job preparing back there with Mike Brown stepping in. Those guys practice together—Mike (Brown) practiced all week, really. And so it was just good to see those guys communicate and be where they were supposed to be and eliminate a lot of those plays. They took a couple of shots down the field and Amani seemed to be right where he was supposed to be every time.
With Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and how productive he's been making plays in the offense, I guess the pretty natural question is why has it taken so long to get him some of those opportunities? And I guess what did you see from him, his mentality throughout those times?
That's a fair question. We had a good group of guys with Hop (DeAndre Hopkins) and we thought we had a chance to see what we can use Treylon (Burks) for. That's how these things go during the season, and an opportunity came up for him to take a lot more reps. Nick (Westbrook-Ikhine) does what it seems like he's always done here. When he gets an opportunity, he seizes it. And that's just what's happened. He's proved to be reliable. He's where he's supposed to be. The quarterbacks like throwing to him because of his consistency. All those things are really important. And then when the ball goes his way, he's made plays. That's the name of the game in the NFL. If you have an opportunity and you go in and make plays, that's really where you gain a lot of trust and confidence. I trust Nick as much as anybody on our football team right now to go play football at the level required to win and I love him for it.
How strongly did you consider going for the fourth down there to try and get the win versus the field goal? And just kind of what goes into that decision? The overtime one?
I thought very seriously about it. And then we fumbled the snap, and then I didn't feel as good in that moment. But yeah, we thought about it. We were having a conversation in the moment, getting ready. We were—really essentially, it was if we were with inside of one, we had a green light to go. And whether I decided to or not, I was working through that. But at that point, as we taken all that clock down, I was leaning heavily at that point, after we fumbled the snap, that kicking the field goal and taking the lead with that little time left and how our defense was playing was probably the right thing. But yeah, I certainly considered it
How about the earlier chance, I think it was three yards?
It was fourth-and-three. Yeah, we got to—we were green light to go at two or less. It was longer, it ended up being a full three. And so at that point, I think that was to—what was that? To go up 10-7? Just to take the lead after a long drive. Sometimes those are deflating too when don't take the points. Again, a lot of it was how our defense had played and hadn't given them much. But yeah, fourth-and-two would have been a go, we were fourth-and- three, so I decided to kick it.
You had to overcome some special teams miscues again. Some penalties, some big returns.
Yeah, the penalty was—I didn't see the penalty. It was on the sideline, the gunner, and I didn't think it was when I saw it. But again, they see and call it. They got the best returner in football right now, and I thought we did a pretty good job of bottling him up. He had a couple of returns that got yardage, but at the end of the day, it wasn't—they weren't fatal, and we covered better today than we did last week. So we're looking for improvement.
