(on tonight's game)
KEVIN BYARD: Honestly throughout the game there have been a lot of ups and downs. I've been talking about the consistency. What I will say about this group, this entire team, is resiliency. That's the word of our team. We have been in a lot of situations since I've been here. We've been in a lot of tough games. We usually come out on top of those games because we're battle-tested. I'm proud of the way the team fought today. Just a great team effort honestly.
Q. Can you describe your emotions when you saw him go down?
KEVIN BYARD: Honestly it goes back to 2019 Chargers when we got the goal line stop. I think it was Wesley (Woodyard) forced the fumble or something like that. Incredible atmosphere. Movie-like, you know what I'm saying? One of those games where Monday Night Football is like the stars aligned, something crazy. I know he's going to be pretty sick about it because I think he just slipped or something like that. That's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
Q. Did you get a look at Jeff's play at any point after the game or during the play?
KEVIN BYARD: No. I mean, honestly once I saw him go down, I was just running on the field. I was so excited. Like I said, electric atmosphere. It was definitely movie-like for sure.
Q. Why does this team seem to have such a knack in those goal line situations?
KEVIN BYARD: I mean, it's the way this team is built, the way the guys are built. It wasn't pretty. I think Derrick (Henry) made a quote, something like, 'That it wasn't pretty, but it was beautiful.' I think just the way we fight, nobody ever falters, gets too up, gets too down. One of those situations where we continue to battle, continue to battle. Honestly it was the message throughout the week. We brought up the play in Jacksonville, made the goal line stop. We said if things go bad or things don't go our way in this game, just remember that play. It's crazy. We got another goal line stop.
Q. You have taken people off of roller coaster rides sometimes. The loss to the Jets seems like underachievement, then rising to the occasion for a game like this. How much fun is the part where you pull people back?
KEVIN BYARD: It's super fun. At the end of the day we talk about being 4-2. The whole week, the whole message was about the stats, number one in the league, all that good stuff. We just talked about the only stat that matters is being 4-2. I talked about consistency and those type of things. We obviously got a lot of stuff to clean up. Proud of the way the guys fought tonight. We'll get those things cleaned up but we're going to enjoy this victory tonight, for sure.
Q. (Question about finding the football better.)
KEVIN BYARD: Honestly, man, all God. I got to give credit to God. Last year I felt like I didn't play up to my standard. Honestly I think last year was the most important year of my career because I had a lot of growth mentally, physically, on and off the field. I came into this season with a different mindset. The ball has been finding me. At the end of the day, I've just got to continue to make plays for my team. That's what it's all about, getting Ws.
Q. What is an example of that?
KEVIN BYARD: Honestly, like I say, just this offseason. It's a ton of excuses I can make, COVID, all this other stuff. I just didn't feel like I was playing my best self last year. I really took all that in and just grew from it. I think just my mentality is a lot different now. It was kind of humbling a little bit. I just give all the glory to God because at the end of the day I don't do anything, He's doing everything.
(on injuries and the next-man-up mentality)
KEVIN BYARD: It's tough. It's tough to see my guys go out, guys that are out there battling, fighting. Dealt with a lot of injuries this year. It also speaks to the resiliency of this team, the way we're built. When guys come in, they have to make plays. Breon (Borders) gave up the play, pass interference, he almost caught the pick the next time. Next-man-up mentality. Like I say, it's tough to see guys go down. You know the way this league goes, next man up.
Q. Against an offense like, that how big was the pick?
KEVIN BYARD: It was incredible. I was happy to make a play for the team. We were able to get a touchdown. You never know towards the end of the game how those plays are going to affect the end score. I was glad to make a play, put our team in a position to make a touchdown. We gave up another play on defense. We have to make sure we're being more complementary in those times.
Q. Kevin, how much of a measuring stick do you look at this for you guys because of how well they've been playing?
KEVIN BYARD: I mean, we're a confident bunch. We have some ups and downs this year, but we going to go into every single game confident we can win every single ballgame we can play. I guess I would call it a good measuring stick. We have the Kansas City Chiefs coming here next week. We have another big ballgame coming up. We got to get right, get the guys healthy, win another ballgame.
Q. (No microphone.)
KEVIN BYARD: I felt like guys were scrambling a little bit. We were trying to get the call from the sidelines. In a big situation like, that we had three timeouts, I took it upon myself to call it.
Q. The offense was glad Buffalo was going for it. How much confidence was there from you guys?
KEVIN BYARD: We were literally on the field talking about defending every blade of grass. I was yelling defend every blade of grass. Thinking about the Jacksonville play from last week, just a resilient bunch of guys. It's not perfect. But at the end of the day we have guys that fight, that's all you can ask for in this league.
