HEAD COACH BRIAN CALLAHAN
All right. (Jack) Gibbens, obviously not good. Ankle, likely out for the year. So there's not really much to say about that one. I think you guys all saw it. And then (Tyjae) Spears was evaluated for a concussion but didn't return to the game. I don't have any finality on what that actually ends up being ruled. He just didn't come back in. So we'll see what that comes tomorrow. Other than that, I'll let you guys go ahead.
What was your view, what were your thoughts on the call to Mike Brown there? And what feedback did you get from the official in that situation?
On the fourth down? Yeah, nothing.
What did you see on the replay of it?
On the play? I saw a hit that was level with the shoulder pads to the body. That's what I saw.
How do you keep guys from get frustrated dealing with some of that today?
I mean, they have every right to be frustrated and they should be. It is what it is. I think those guys played hard. They fought and they fought the entire game and kept trying to climb back into it and make plays. And we made quite a few. And it was really a lot of encouraging things about it. And we just didn't have enough to overcome it and find a way to get in the end zone, you know, another time or two. So disappointed about that part.
There were three illegal formations called. In that situation with Isaiah Prince, aren't there supposed to be warnings first and then it's called or how does that work?
I don't know. You guys can ask them. I don't know.
Did you try to correct something with him after the first?
Yeah, I sure did.
Do you feel like he responded to what you asked him to do?
I would hope so.
When you engaged with the officials so harshly after the end zone call, was there dialog there? Were they not answering it? The crowd certainly seemed to like what you were doing.
Yeah, no, they get in those moments and they just let you yell at them. They don't really say much. So, at that point, the call had already been made, we already had a first down, so I figured I'd let them hear. It wasn't going to cost me anything at that point.
Do you think that wins you something with the players for them to see you in that mode?
Maybe, you have to ask them. I don't know. I just was really frustrated in the moment that just there just seems to be a lot of big plays and critical plays in games that get taken away from officiating, and that's unfortunate. So it's frustrating.
There were a couple of calls against Jarvis Brownlee Jr. that extended their drives that were eventual TDs. What were you your thoughts on them?
I don't get to see a lot of those, to be honest. There's not a lot of replays on the board that I see on those penalties. And a lot of times I'm looking at other things. I didn't see the actual call, so I can't determine their validity at this point. But I just know we play an aggressive style of defense and we were going to challenge those receivers. And I thought overall those guys did a nice job of locking them up in the second half and making it hard on them. And again, if they're going to—I'd just like to see it called both ways, that's all.
Did Will Levis show you the kind of poise and playmaking that you've been waiting on from him?
Yeah, I thought Will (Levis) did a really nice job today. That part was encouraging. I thought he stood in the pocket, played tough. He was accurate. There's going to be things that we need to clean up, but managing that game against that defense, the complexity of it, all the things that we have in our plan that you have to have to handle all the things that they do, I thought he did a really nice job. I thought that was another positive step for Will and I'm proud of the way he played. He fought, he battled. He stood in there and took a few and delivered some really nice throws, and I wish it was more to show for it.
How much of a plan was it to get those zone reads going? Did you expect the run game to kind of be tough today? Was that kind of what that was about?
Yeah, there's a lot of guys on the line of scrimmage against this defense. It's hard to run the ball. Plus the amount of movement that they have up front. The front's always moving and stirring. They pressure off the edge, they pressure internally, the fronts— they're just always all over the place. They can make it difficult to run, especially knowing that we were going to try to run the football. That was just a challenging day on the ground for us against that defense. They do a good job. So we thought we had a chance to get a couple of things on the perimeter maybe, and then they were okay. They weren't anything crazy. But definitely was a tough day on the ground.
As good as Will Levis might have been overall, taking the sack on fourth down there when you got your last chance, what's the mindset there?
Yeah. We were pretty well covered at that point, I think. And it was he was trying to make a play. I'd have to watch it. You'd like to get the ball at least in the air or try to get a shot at something, but not great overall for us, I don't think, just getting open and call and all that. I maybe had something better there. But yeah, you don't want to take a sack in that spot.
Can you explain the reasoning behind playing for fourth-and- short instead of going for the first down on that third-and-seven?
We had a two-down call, and they were up in all those Abbey fronts and All-up fronts and we were hoping we could catch—you catch a crease in those and they can be really effective in the run game. And so on third-and-seven, with a two-down call, you get a chance to see if you can pop one against all that front. I thought we had a chance to get maybe a little bit more there, but knowing we were going for it on fourth down and, you know again, that pass rush, in that pressure package is hard to deal with. And that felt like the thing that might be able to pop one there for that spot and get us into a fourth-and-two to three, which was the idea.
On their long TD pass, it looked like it might be Darrell Baker Jr., might be Amani Hooker. What did you see happen on their long touchdown?
The first one. Sorry, there's a lot of them. We pressured, so we were in a fire zone coverage, so there's space in those coverages and we were right there on top of the quarterback. I thought they sacked him at first, and all of a sudden, the ball comes out. But when you're in those coverages, there's lanes and when you don't get home on those pressures, which we didn't, there's space in the defense and they found the void. I think it was just a Dagger route on the inside. And I can't recall who was in position and who wasn't. But then, he made a play with this feet after that. So, yeah, when you pressure like that, the idea is you've got to get home because there is a weakness in the coverage structure if you don't.
How do you felt like the Nick Westbrook-Ikhine play gave you juice? And their subsequent series when they kept the drive alive on the penalty, how deflating was that?
Yeah, it's very deflated when that happens. When you're getting penalties for first downs and you're not making them earn it, that's hard and it make it a hard day for us on defense. I thought the play—it was a hell of a throw by Will (Levis). They beat the Palms coverage on the—we had a Sail route called, and he took the vertical shot on Palms and couldn't get over the top fast enough and it was a fantastic throw and catch and explosive play that we needed in that moment. I can't say I've been a part of a whole lot of backed-up, 99-yard touchdowns or whatever it was, so that was encouraging. I thought we took momentum in that spot and we didn't do a good enough job answering.
To what extent you feel New York give you a fair hearing out after you're upset about a call and to what extent do you feel like you could have a reasonable conversation with them this week?
I don't know. I had a conversation with Perry (Fewell) on Friday, so I don't know. I have no idea.
I know you said that there was not much you can do at that point after they came back to talk to you to you, did they acknowledged that they missed the call?
No, absolutely not. No, they don't do that.
How much has the uncertainty of right tackle been the fact that you haven't been able to to get anything to settle there, and is there really an answer at this point?
Yeah, it's been really challenging. It makes it hard for us to operate sometimes. That's a position that's by far the weakest link up front right now. We're trying every which way we can to see if we can solve it and thus far haven't been able to. We help over there bunch, try to run the ball. We try to do a lot of things that keep them out of harm's way. But every now and again, you have to have the drop back and pass, and you can't help every edge and you need guys out in the pattern and we've struggled in those spots sometimes, particularly the two-minute drill at the end of the half. So yeah, it's a position that we're trying our damnedest to figure out and help us. And right now it's not quite been good enough.
You and your offensive line coach certainly had input into what's on the roster. You also had a general manager who knew what was left over on the roster there. Did he serve you well enough in terms of advice?
Yeah, I think so. I mean we thought we had—I thought Nick Nicholas Petit-Frere) was going to play pretty well for us. That hasn't been the case this year. He's not had the type of season—I think he would probably tell you he hasn't had that kind of performance yet. And you can't just find everybody all the time. I mean, we had things we got to get better at and right now, the right tackle spot is one that we're not there yet. We're trying everything. We're trying every answer. We're bringing guys in. We're doing all the things that you do to try to help fix it. But right now it hasn't paid off yet. So other than that, that's what it is. I think our communication with the front office has been great. We know what our issues are and how we need to address them.
Jarvis Brownlee Jr. came out of college with the reputation of being a little physical, a little handsy. Do you have to change that at all on him or are you comfortable with the way he was playing today?
No, I'm comfortable with the way he's playing. That's the style you have to play with on the edge in the league. You can't let these guys walk around and you have to put a hands on them at the line of scrimmage. You got to be physical, you got to be sticky, you got to be on top of them and all those things. Again, I didn't see all the penalties. I can't tell you how grabby or not he was. But, you're going to play physical in this league. And he's done a great job of doing that. So that's what makes corners hard to play against, when guys are physical. I wouldn't change much. I mean, I'm sure there's technique that we'd have to—you can clean up, for sure. But I like the aggressiveness that he plays with.
