BILL BELICHICK, HEAD COACH
BB: Alright, well, we didn't really do much of anything well enough tonight to deserve to win. We gave up 42 points, stopped on four short-yardage plays. We've got to coach better, got to practice better, got to play better. We've got a lot of work to do. I mean, that's obvious. We'll have to get back to work and see if we can improve pretty much everything. It's just not good enough. Andy [Reid], Kansas City – they did a good job. Give them credit. We just really weren't competitive enough, especially on offense and defense. We made too many mistakes and didn't play well on top of that. The fundamentals weren't good enough. Really nothing was good enough so we've all got to do a better job. That's going to be pretty much the answer to every question because that what it was.
Q: Tom Brady said the team lacked urgency tonight. What did you see form the team's attitude tonight?
BB: Whatever he said, go with that.
Q: On the two big plays given up for touchdowns, what did you see from the sideline that contributed to those?
BB: Bad defense, bad coaching, bad playing, bad football.
Q: On the short-yardage plays that were stopped, are those plays that Tom Brady can call a quarterback sneak on or did you feel that it wasn't the best option on those?
BB: We ran the play that we thought was the best. I'm sure everybody has another play that could've been run. We did what we thought was best. It didn't work out.
Q: How much did the momentum change when Rob Gronkowski wasn't able to hold onto that would-be touchdown in the end zone?
BB: I don't know. It was 17-7 with two minutes to go in the half and we give up a 90-yard touchdown drive. I mean, look, there was problems all over the place.
Q: How can you use a loss like this to bounce back?
BB: Well, I don't know. I mean, you go in there and, like I said, there's a lot of things we need to work on. We need to get to work. We need to improve them. It's a pretty lengthy list. That's what we'll do.
Q: What did you see from Mike Gillislee and the offensive line down on the goal line on his three touchdown runs?
BB: I mean, I was disappointed we had two other times we couldn't get the ball in in the red area. Now look, we did a few things but it just wasn't good enough.
Q: Was part of the reason for having six defensive backs on the field a lot due to Alex Smith's mobility from the quarterback position?
BB: I mean, there were a lot of plays where they had five receivers on the field – four receivers and [Travis] Kelce.
Q: Are there parallels to draw between this loss and the loss to the Chiefs in 2014?
BB: I don't know.
Q: You lost an important offensive player in Julian Edelman. Can it take a team a few weeks to bounce back and adjust on offense?
BB: I don't know. I mean the season just started. Everybody is playing with what they're playing with right now.
Q: Did you see anything upfront on defense from Adam Butler or Deatrich Wise?
BB: We'll look at it on film. If it's good, we'll tell them it was good. If it needs to be corrected, then we'll correct it.
Q: What have you seen from Cassius Marsh and Phillip Dorsett in their first action after not having been here very long?
BB: Yeah, like everybody else, we all have a lot of work to do. We put certainly the players that are new here into that category. I'd put everybody into that category – every player, every coach. We've all got a lot of work to do. That's what we need to do.
Q: Will this be a normal schedule this upcoming week with the extended rest between now and the game in New Orleans next Sunday?
BB: We'll do what we think is best for the team to get ready to go for New Orleans.
Q: Was there anything specific you noticed that led to the big plays given up on defense?
BB: I'm sure there were a lot of things that contributed to it. There's plenty of them.
TOM BRADY, QUARTERBACK
Q: What did you see on the two fourth-and-1 plays you weren't able to convert, and did you think about a quarterback sneak on either of those?
TB: I think it's just better execution. I mean, situational football's always important to us and short yardage and a lot of things that we need to do a better job of. So, it was just a very poor effort. We're going to have to do a lot better.
Q: What changed after the Rob Gronkowski touchdown that was called back and the first fourth-and-1 that you weren't able to convert?
TB: Yeah, that was a disappointing play. I mean, that would have been a big play in the game. You know, just didn't make it and didn't make a lot of plays tonight, actually. So, we just have to be a lot better in a lot of areas, starting with our attitude and our competitiveness. We're going to have to do a lot better than tonight.
Q: Your offense has struggled in the last few years when Julian Edelman has been injured. What does the offense have to do to play better without him on the field?
TB: Yeah, I mean, we definitely have to play better. It's a long year, so we've got 15 games. We're going to have to do a better job, and he's not coming back. So, the guys that are in there are going to have to do a good job. Every position that we have is going to have to do a better job than we did tonight. There was nothing really positive about anything that was done, so we've got to get back to work. We've got nine days before the next game, and hopefully we play a lot better than tonight.
Q: Did the Chiefs do anything in particular to take away the short middle area of the field?
TB: Yeah, you know, they packed it in there pretty good. We had a couple plays, and then we missed a lot of plays. If that's how teams are going to play us, then we've got to make plays where they're not, and I always say I'm going to throw it where they're not. We just didn't come up with enough of them.
Q: What didn't you like about the team's attitude tonight?
TB: I just think we need to have more urgency and go out there and perform a lot better. That is a winning attitude and a championship attitude that you need to bring every day. We had it handed to us on our own field. It's a terrible feeling, and the only people that can do something about it are in that locker room. We've got to dig a lot deeper than we did tonight because we didn't dig very deep tonight.
Q: What are your thoughts on Mike Gillislee and Brandin Cooks in their first regular season game with the team?
TB: Yeah, Mike ran really hard. We're going to need that all season from him. He ran hard. Cookie made a lot of plays, drew I think four or five pass interference penalties, along with his receptions. Wish I'd have hit him on that post there, the second-to-last drive. So, I've got to figure out what I've got to do better.
Q: Did you and Josh McDaniels feel like you were limited in what you could do to counter the Chiefs because your wide receiver options, like Phillip Dorsett and Brandin Cooks, lacked experience playing with you?
TB: I think Phillip [Dorsett] knew what to do. We just have to execute better. I mean, different guys are called on at different times. He went in there, and I wasn't worried about him. We've just all got to do a better job, everyone.
Q: The teams you've been a part of have always been known for being mentally strong and competitive. In that context, was it shocking to you that that was an issue tonight?
TB: Well, we didn't have it the way we needed it tonight. It's got to be at a much higher level next week and the rest of the year. That's going to be a big point of emphasis for all of us.
Rex Burkhead, Running Back
(On if the game slipped away in the second half)
"They just made plays and we didn't. We didn't execute and when you don't do that, you're not going to be in games."
(On the inability to convert on fourth downs)
"They did a great job just stopping us there and we've got to be better in those areas. We have to go back to the drawing board and improve. Some of the mistakes we made we have to get better at and move forward."
(On if the outcome was surprising)
"You never want to lose, but we have to take it and learn from it. We've got to do that first and foremost. We have to learn from our mistakes and move forward."
(On the most surprising part of the loss)
"They just controlled everything it seemed like. In every phase, they outplayed us. When you're not making plays and they are, things aren't going to go your way, so you have to be on top of your game and we weren't tonight."
(On play of the defense after Dont'a Hightower left with an injury)
"Hightower is a great player. I just got here, but I know that he's a vital part of the defense. The rest of the defense has to make up for it. Part of that being me. I just have to be better. We all have to be better and I know that we will watch the film and work hard in practice every single day. I'm going to start getting myself better right now. I don't accept that [result] for one second. I'm not OK with losing, ever. I'm not OK with being beat, I want to be great. This team wants to be great and I'll be better."
(On if the Patriots were surprised by the Chiefs tonight)
"No, absolutely not. I've played these guys before. I know who they are. We just have to be better. I have to be better and I have faith in these guys and I have faith in myself. I know we will turn this around and do what it takes to be better and get W's [wins] like the Pats always do."
(On if he felt the Chiefs gaining momentum in the fourth quarter)
"Honestly, I don't have much to say. I just know that we have to be better and I have to be better."
Brandin Cooks, Wide Receiver
(On what the Patriots need to do better)
"We have to focus on doing the little things better and doing our job. We'll have to go back to the drawing board and figure it out."
(On losing the season opener after winning the Super Bowl)
"It's a tough loss in general. Especially with the year we're coming off of, even though I wasn't there for it, and it being the season opener makes it even tougher."
(On Danny Amendola's head injury and what it means for the Patriots offense)
"It's tough, it's really tough."
(On not converting fourth downs)
"In those moments we just have to execute better and do a better job individually. Fourth down conversions are vital and we didn't convert them tonight."
Trey Flowers, Defensive Lineman
(On if the preparation for the game tonight felt different than usual)
"I wouldn't say it felt different. It was all about the game, whether you feel something before the game or not, when the whistle blows it's about making plays. I just don't think we did enough of that."
(On the game)
"It's the NFL. There are a lot of great teams out there, so if you just don't play well enough, you're going to lose. That's the bottom line. There wasn't anything alarming or nothing, we just lost the game."
Stephon Gilmore, CORNERBACK
(On what he was feeling during the game)
"We've just got to play harder and focus on what we can control. The stuff that we messed up on is us, so we've just got to go out and play harder and play with a better attitude and go from there."
(On the disappointment of giving up big plays to the Chiefs)
"You know, you never want to give up big plays to anybody. But, just learn from them. Like I said, watch the film and go from there."
(On this being the outcome of his first game as a Patriot)
"Yeah, it was a tough one, but I love these guys. So, we've got to look at the film tomorrow and they'll be better. It's not going to be easy, but we'll take it a day at a time and go from there.
(On what the Chiefs did well tonight)
"I mean, a lot. They did a lot, but I think it was majority us more than them."
(On what happened on the long touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill)
"We'll watch the film and listen to the coaches and see what we could have done better."
Rob Gronkowski, Tight End
(On the difficulty of the loss)
"Not getting the win is definitely difficult. No matter what the circumstances are, whatever else is going on outside. They're a good team, they outplayed us tonight and they got the W [win]. We just got to keep working hard."
(On the fourth downs that the team didn't execute on)
"Those are always crucial going for it on fourth down. You got to get it. They played well, made the stops, they outplayed us."
(On the loss)
"They outplayed us. Starting with myself, we just got to go back, look at the film, see what we did wrong and just work hard. Go get back to the practice field, get our corrections right and just keep grinding."
(On the game)
"It felt like we were in a rhythm in the first half. The first half, the first drive we went down and scored. In the second half, they're a good team, they're playing hard. It is what it is, what happened, and we just got to keep working hard so we can be more prepared."
Duron Harmon, Defensive Back
(On the 75-yard Tyreek Hill touchdown)
"It was just a miscommunication. Every time we had a miscommunication, they made us pay. That's a good football team. When you make mistakes and you're going against a good quarterback like Alex Smith, he's going to find those broken plays, those miscommunications and [they'll] make you pay for it each and every time."
(On if having guys in new roles led to miscommunication)
"No, we practice it. We had a good week of practice. We can't blame new people for being out there because at the end of the day, they had new people out there. Tyreek Hill went down and they had to put other guys in. It's no excuse, we play tough, smart football and we didn't do any of that tonight."
(On the emotions on the sideline)
"I've been a part of this organization for five years, and I can say we definitely needed some more energy on the sideline. It wasn't where we were at, it wasn't at the level that we usually have it at and it seems like it made us pay… we had energy coming out and played well in the first three quarters. We had some mistakes, but we played well, we were in it and it got away from us at the end."
Cassius Marsh, Defensive End
(On play of the defense after Dont'a Hightower left with an injury)
"Hightower is a great player. I just got here, but I know that he's a vital part of the defense. The rest of the defense has to make up for it. Part of that being me. I just have to be better. We all have to be better and I know that we will watch the film and work hard in practice every single day. I'm going to start getting myself better right now. I don't accept that [result] for one second. I'm not OK with losing, ever. I'm not OK with being beat, I want to be great. This team wants to be great and I'll be better."
(On if the Patriots were surprised by the Chiefs tonight)
"No, absolutely not. I've played these guys before. I know who they are. We just have to be better. I have to be better and I have faith in these guys and I have faith in myself. I know we will turn this around and do what it takes to be better and get W's [wins] like the Pats always do."
(On if he felt the Chiefs gaining momentum in the fourth quarter)
"Honestly, I don't have much to say. I just know that we have to be better and I have to be better."
Devin McCourty, Safety
(On what went wrong with the big plays for the Patriots tonight)
"Each one was different. I gave up one where I definitely could have played better. We'll have to watch the film and see."
(On what Kansas City's offense did that surprised the Patriots defense)
"We got outplayed by a good football team. We just have to play better."
(On building from this loss)
"We have to work harder and get a lot better if we want to win any football game this year."
Nate Solder, Tackle
(On the loss)
"What's going to define this team is how we react to this loss. We've got a long season, we've got a long ways to go. We all know that's not how we want to play. We've got to improve and it all up to us."
(On what went wrong)
"It's obvious that we didn't play the way we needed to play. When you're forging steel, you've got to put it through the fire. And that's what we're going to do now and that's what we're going to continue to do, because that's what we need to be. I don't think the average person truly knows how difficult it is to win a game and maybe this team doesn't know that. But we're going to learn that and keep pushing forward."
(On if you can't expect to win just because you're the Patriots)
"I think that's absolutely true. I think that you can't take for granted how talented, how well-coached, how skilled and how tough some teams are. We've got to give everything we've got to win a game."
(On what, if anything, surprised you)
"They're a phenomenal team, we knew that. They're a big challenge. It comes down to us and how much we have to give to win these games."
