Connor Hughes, The Athletic: Robert (Saleh) was telling us that after the game he came up to you and asked if you were having fun yet. So, are you?
I am, I am. It's an interesting fun though. It (was) a rollercoaster game, for sure. The emotions are up and down and needed to come through in clutch moments so I'm glad we can learn from a win. It's the best way to do it. I was beating myself up on that last drive. Our defense did a great job of holding them, we got a missed field goal, but I had a couple chances there to just end it. I've got to take advantage of my opportunity to end that game. I'm excited to go into this week and learn from that. I thought we had a lot of awesome plays, but it really comes down to that crunch time. The NFL's hard. We've got to win that. I'm excited but at the same time I'm beating myself up.
Connor Hughes, The Athletic: Can you take us through the touchdown to Corey (Davis), the one where you redirected him, just what you saw when you rolled out, what you saw from him that you were able to connect on that, then the eventual throw.
Yeah, we ran our naked keeper to the right. Corey was actually not really part of the read there. He did a good job showing up across the field. They gave us their two inverted look, the corner had played Keelan (Cole) over there on the sideline and essentially they're deep post safety kind of ends up being a cut player, so he's running on Corey's butt across the field, and there's no one deep, so right there I just kind of say, 'Hey if the corner wants to play soft and take away Keelan on a route, if I can just push Corey down the field, I thought we had (a) chance for a big play there.' I feel like that's part of my game as far as just reacting and definitely needing that in situations like that.
DJ Bien-Aime, New York Daily News: On that deep ball to Keelan, was that the play that got the offense going?
I would say it was the drive where we got our first points on that run that the guys did a good job of pushing (Michael Carter) in. I felt like a lot of tension just kind of fell off of everybody. I would say that was like, 'Okay, we know we're doing what we know what we can do now.' The tension's kind of gone there and guys were playing looser, I was playing looser, and so it was exciting to just go into a situation like that at the end. I just felt there was a lot more confidence in the huddle. I was a lot more confident in myself and then everybody else around me. The big board of the week was trusting each other, so I thought that was a cool experience for all of us.
Brian Costello, New York Post: Zach, how are you able to stay so comfortable when things break down. I know what was part of your game in college and we saw it today.
Yeah, you've just got to understand you're in this position for a reason and there's going to be growing pains, but you've got to do what you've done your whole life and turn the noise off and make it like practice and be able to execute and just keep a laser-sharp focus all the way until the end and I thought the guys did a good job of that.
Ian O'Connor, New York Post: On that pass that you threw to Corey when you waved him down the field I think you threw that in the air about 57 yards. Do you feel like with your arm strength, there isn't a receiver who could out-run your arm?
I don't know about that. I think it just comes down to timing and execution. Anyone can outrun my arm if I throw it late. Right there we were fortunate. I was able to buy a little time on the keeper fake, I was able to set my feet, and Corey did a good job reacting to it and going and getting that ball. Those are some of the plays that we need when things break down.
DJ Bien-Aime, New York Daily News: On that fumble play, you picked the ball up and threw it for a 29-yard gain to Jamison Crowder, how were you able to stay composed and still be able to create a big play for the offense?
Yeah, we had checked to our second play and pre-snap I was like, 'Dude, this is going to be huge,' and that might have been why I fumbled the snap, because I knew J-Mo (Crowder) was going to be open and the center said I probably pulled out a little early right there, but the second that ball was on the ground I was trying to pick it up as quick as I could and get my eyes around. J-M- made a great catch. He's a baller. I'm glad we have him back.
Connor Hughes, The Athletic: What made you think it was going to be huge?
Yeah, they'd gotten into their man coverage, and based on where that safety was playing, how tight they were playing, I knew whether it was him or Corey crossing across the field, I knew one of them was going to have a good shot. Right before I snapped the ball feeling the safety push a little more to my right I knew that J-Mo probably had the best option there, and so right as I picked that ball up I was trying to find him down the field.
Brian Costello, New York Post: Zach, how huge has this defense been when you guys were struggling on offense?
Yeah, huge. They're putting us in positions to win. You've seen that the past couple weeks. The game's never over. Those guys are always fighting until the very end and they're giving everything they have, and so it's nice to have a defense that's willing to give everything they have. Coach Saleh obviously pushes All Gas, No Break, it's really cool to see those guys come up big in big moments
Connor Hughes, The Athletic: Zach, there were moments like the first three weeks where you could see the little pieces of the offense and the team coming together, but there was much more bad than good. Do you feel that after the way the offense kind of rallied in that second quarter on, getting the win, finishing as a team, having the defense and offense (contribute), do you feel like you turned a corner today?
Yeah, I mean, to an extent. I wouldn't say we fully arrived. I would definitely say that this is just another puzzle piece to where we're trying to get. We've got to stack blocks. We've got to just keep getting better. We can't make the same mistakes twice. We've got to go into this next week and, like I said, it's great learning from a win. It's going to feel good going in there and be able to be hard on yourself and critical on yourself and find what things you could've done better. But it definitely is a step in the right direction.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: Even though you say your confidence never wavered during the last three weeks, what does it mean to have a tangible result like a win in terms of confidence building going forward?
Yeah, it's definitely huge for confidence. I would just say I've always had a lot of confidence in myself, but you could feel lit in some of those situations when you go three-and-out to start a game and in the past couple of games you could feel the tension overall, guys wanting to press and we've just got to be able to settle in. It was nice, we were able to convert on a couple of things right there and instantly I felt like our confidence, the rhythm of the game, the momentum from the fans, I just felt like everything was kind of going in our direction there for a little bit and I thought it was awesome. You could definitely feel the game was in our hands
Justin Walters, PIX11: How loose did you feel heading into overtime with the way the offense was playing?
Yeah, really good. I knew we were going to put a drive together. That's why I'm beating myself up. We got all the way down (there). We did the hardest thing. Getting the ball down to the one-yard line is the hardest part. We did an awesome job as an offense doing that and I told the guys in the huddle when we were on the five, six-yard line, 'A field goal is not an option here.' And I've got to be able to come through, make a good throw. We called the right play, I threw a ball at (Ryan Griffin's) feet. I'm going to learn form that. It's awesome we came away with a win because I was beating myself up for that.
Neil Best, Newsday: On the third-and-goal from the one do you also have to not take that loss?
Exactly. Really, it's can I try to run it and get it in? I'm a competitor and I always feel like I can and that was why I tried and really didn't have anywhere to go and so I've got to be able to play smart situational football and give us another shot. But I wasn't as hard on myself on that one because I felt it should have been over at that point and of course I'm going to learn from that one as well.
Justin Walters, PIX11: Was it nerve-racking for you to be part of your first overtime experience to now be on the sideline and not have any control over the game that that could possibly be your last try?
Yeah, I mean, it is for sure and that's why I really wanted that touchdown out of that first one. It does suck sitting there watching them on third-and–long situations, second-and-long situations. They pick one up, we get a PI or whatever it is. That was a rollercoaster part of the game and so it does make the win taste a little better though.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: Saleh said a couple weeks ago that he wanted you to be more boring, but it seemed like your best plays today were anything buy.
Yeah, what I felt I improved on today was playing within the offense. There were times, I don't think a lot of people see it, but getting a couple of my checkdowns over the ball and taking completions when they're there and not forcing things. I wouldn't say that some of the off-schedule plays that we had necessarily were trying to do too much. That was just the part of the game I feel like I have that comes naturally to me was being able to do things off-schedule. I'm going to keep improving on taking the easy ones, reacting to what a defense gives me and be able to get completions and don't put that stress on the o-line.
Ian O'Connor, New York Post: You mentioned earlier that you were having fun, but an interesting kind of fun. Has the NFL been even harder than you thought it would be?
I wouldn't say even harder. I would say it's challenging. These guys are the best of the best and that's what definitely makes it fun. And what I meant was interesting, obviously I'm having a blast and I was so excited, that rush you feel when you see that kick miss at the end and knowing that you won it, a win is a win no matter which way you look at it. We won that game and it's awesome. I just feel like I've got things I can keep getting better at and that's what's cool, is we're going to learn from this and we're going to enjoy it tonight but I'm going to be critical of myself in the film room.
Brian Costello, New York Post: Zach, when we spoke to Corey earlier he kind of downplayed this game for him personally, but he spent four years with Tennessee. Did you get a sense from him at all today kind of what this meant for him going against his former team and playing like he did?
Yeah, not much. We didn't talk about it much. At first I think I said something today like, 'Dude, I forgot you played there before.' You could tell he comes to work every single day with the right mentality, with the right attitude. It doesn't matter who we're playing, he's going to give everything he has. The dude's a warrior, so I'm excited we have him on our side of the ball now.
