Q. How good does it feel to win?
MASON RUDOLPH: It feels great. It always feels great to win. It feels great to win and get Cally (Brian Callahan) his first big one in primetime football. It's always good to celebrate in the locker room. For a coach's first win, it's big time.
Q. Not the first time you've come in in relief. What was that like? What was the conversation like when you were coming in and when did you know you were staying in?
MASON RUDOLPH: I've come in in relief before. Yeah, it seemed like it was sort of a see if Will (Levis) can – just monitor his shoulder. I was told to continue to go, so. I thought we ran the ball really well. I didn't do a whole lot, that's for sure. Tony (Pollard) and the O-line and Tyjae (Spears) just mauled them up front and moved the ball and controlled the ball in the second half. We protected the ball, didn't turn it over in the second half and got out with a win.
Q. Is it just as simple is that, don't turn the ball over and chipping away?
MASON RUDOLPH: I think they're playing with a guy -- Snoop Huntley is a great player, but he just got there a couple weeks ago. You know that they're probably not going to score as many points as they would with Tua (Tagovailoa), and so it's a possession game where you don't want to make any mistakes and run the ball, control the ball, move the chains.
Q. When you talk about not doing a lot, how quickly do you get into the flow of the game and realize, all right, I can...
MASON RUDOLPH: Yeah, the first couple series we completed some balls and I think I had one over the middle there where it felt like I was getting into a groove. Then we had a two-minute drill before the half. It felt good. I missed a couple. Tyler Boyd is still running if I hit him there at the end of the first half on the third down. That stunk, but I tried to execute the plan as best I can without getting the reps during the week.
Q. Is that the way you drew it up on the -- late in the first half there hitting Tyler and getting down and getting the spike?
MASON RUDOLPH: Yes. Credit to Brian (Callahan) with just his incessant work at situational football. It's every week. We did it a lot in the spring. That was a play we had repped in that situation a bunch. Alert to get down, get up there and spike it. Great job by Tyler (Boyd), great job by the O-line getting up there and giving us a chance to kick the field goal before the half.
Q. Were you aware of the streak? Is that something Head Coach Brian Callahan mentioned?
MASON RUDOLPH: Yeah. Yes, he did. Somebody told me on the sideline. I wasn't sure. But I guess it had been a couple years or so with 30 points, so yeah, it was big time. Like I said, I didn't do a whole lot at all. That was a running monster between the two-headed monster between Tyjae (Spears) and Tony (Pollard). They did a great job and controlled the ball, man.
Q. Is that part of the mindset also, if you guys didn't make mistakes, you're going to win this game?
MASON RUDOLPH: No, you're right. The defense played probably its best complete game. They held them to 14 points and got a couple key stops on fourth down and give us the ball back in plus territory. I'm happy for (Defensive Coordinator) Dennard (Wilson) with the performance they had. Stoney (Ryan Stonehouse) with the kick to down them inside the five or the 10, whatever it was, so all the way around it was good football.
Q. You have seen before where offenses struggle. Once you have a good game like that, how much can that roll into consecutive games?
MASON RUDOLPH: Yeah, I think it's a game of momentum. I think I've been a part of teams that get going eight or nine game streaks and then – but no one season is the same. This is a unique group. We're going to keep working. It's a young offense, a young team. I think we're going to get healthy through the bye week and come back and get ready for Indy.
Q. Did Head Coach Brian Callahan specifically tell you don't try to do too much or was that just kind of the unspoken game plan?
MASON RUDOLPH: I think you're always talking in the second half, especially when it's a two touchdown game. 'Listen, let's protect the ball. We are not going to put you in a lot of the drop-back situations.' There is no reason to when you got a two-score lead and you run the ball and you're chugging the clog. Absolutely, I invite those kind of communications.
Q. Moving forward, a lot will depend on QB Will Levis' health. Is your plan to prepare as if you're the starter until you're told you're not?
MASON RUDOLPH: Yeah, yeah.
Q. Did you have much of a conversation with QB Will Levis during the transition, during the game?
MASON RUDOLPH: Absolutely. We were looking at the iPads every time we came off, good or bad. I've tried to give him a tip or a suggestion or even just hear him out when he comes to the sideline when I was at backup. So we have great lines of communication. He's a solid dude.
Q. How important was it to get the points at the end the half and how did you feel like you guys executed there, spiking it?
MASON RUDOLPH: Yeah, that was a great play. I hadn't been around the amount of -- the situational emphasis that Brian (Callahan) has each and every week about two minute at the end of the half, two minute at the end of game, four minute, two minute, coming out. So we hit all those stops and I think it showed. Guys were all right, hit the play and we executed and got up there and spiked it.
Q. Not just in terms of the 30, but just in terms of offensive production, do you think there is a little bit of a sense of overall offensive relief? The run game fed the passing game like you guys wanted to, which helped the pass protection and all that stuff coming together, was that a relief?
MASON RUDOLPH: I think so. The key to every win is running the ball. If you can control the ball and take some pressure off the quarterback, make your tackles not have to sit there and pass protect against two great edge guys in (Jaelan) Phillips and (Emmanuel) Ogbah for 20, 30 snaps a game, it makes football easier. So probably the offensive line, they controlled the trenches and the backs ran great and we got out of here with a win.
Q. In your first huddle coming onto the field, kind of what did you say to the guys?
MASON RUDOLPH: Yeah, just hey guys, my mindset is always one play at a time. Don't worry about me. Let's do our job collectively and move the ball, and let's celebrate in the end zone when we get down there. I'm not much of a rah-rah. I'm not going to get in there and give a dissertation. Just a few words. Let's get it going.
Q. K Nick Folk, you have competed against him a bunch. Just how cool was it to see him do what he did tonight?
MASON RUDOLPH: Automatic. He's incredible. He's a vet, a savvy vet. We're locker buddies and I've really enjoyed being able to pick his brain. The amount of stories and football that guy has seen, and obviously to be as stellar and as automatic as he was tonight, it just makes playing quarterback a heck of a lot easier.
