To end the season like this, what does it mean for these players?
It is awesome. Obviously, we talk about the same stuff every single week, nothing was different. I think just able to put it together, better late, than never. No, it was just awesome, with everybody fighting. I really can't even say too much about it.
How good did it feel to get that stop on defense at the end?
Man, it was awesome. Guys were challenging all day. Playing hard all day. And to come up on top at the end, this game could have easily gone the other way, just like it has many times this season. We've been in positions just like this, and we've come out on top, but we've lost more, than we've came out on top. So, to win this one, it was pretty cool. It felt pretty good. Last game of the season, just the fight in everybody. Everybody telling us we got nothing to play for and everybody, just like I told you, showing up. I'm grateful for all the guys here.
You talked earlier about, 'Hey, if I can't have it, they can't have it.' How good does it feel to deny Jacksonville from winning this division on your home field?
I don't think that felt as good, as it did just getting a win with the guys. I think I just learned in my life, that love is stronger than hate. So, I think my love for everybody in here is more important to me than my hate for them. I could care less, honestly. I just want to win. Not win, because I want to stop them from doing something. That's just, I guess, the cherry on top. But mostly because how hard everybody in here works. I'm just more so proud of everybody and happy that we were able to get a win.
It's been such a long emotional season. Is it kind of a sense of almost relief that it's over, and you're able to go out with a win?
I don't think relief, because whenever somebody else is still playing football, and you're not, it doesn't feel like a relief. It feels more like a little let down. But, like I said, I'm just grateful that we were able to finish on a high note and finish the season.
This locker room is full of celebration. What does this environment mean to you?
It means everything. Earlier in the week, (Mike) Vrabel was asked a question like, 'Why? Why do you want to win?' Or whatever the question was. He kind of snapped like, 'Because I hate losing.' It's like when you lose, everything that you do is magnified. Everybody talks about the negative. We got a couple guys we get-Derrick going to the Pro Bowl. Coach talked about it, you see all the winning teams, with the most Pro Bowl guys, the most accolades, and the most love. That's just how it works out. When you're not winning, people kind of just overlook everything, and focus on the negatives. When you get wins, everything feels so good. It changes everything; how you go home, the text messages you get. So it's just an overall, joyful feeling.
About Derrick (Henry). Obviously, we don't know. Could be his last game as a member of this organization. You played with him for one year. He ran like his hair was on fire today. If he's going to go out, he was going to go out on top.
100 percent, man. Obviously, that's a Florida boy, so we got a connection for life for sure. He's a brother just like everybody else in there. But man, like that's just who he is. So, I wouldn't expect anything different. But you definitely saw it. You saw it today.
