On the game:
"Washington did a real good job, Mike [Shanahan] gave us a lot of problems obviously on what they did offensively, but I was real proud of our defense...I thought we had our moments there all the way around, some good some not so good, but in the end, the Redskins are a good team. I would say Mike [Shanahan] did a really good job. It was a hard fought game, though we made a couple more plays than they did to come out on top."
On what he saw on the last play of the game:
"We were in a zone defense so they tried to chuck it down, the ball got tipped and Jerod [Mayo] made a good burst and closed it to make a play."
On being better at closing the game in the fourth quarter than last year:
"We had a chance to make it a two-score game there... and then still kept it a one-score game, but it was great to see us close it out defensively and come up with the ball in the end."
On quarterback Tom Brady following his interception in the end zone:
"The big thing is we were able to do enough to win and it wasn't perfect. There's still a lot of things we can work on to do better, but we'll keep trying each week to improve... I think this was a real competitive game and we have a lot of competitive players on this team."
On his decision to not call a timeout in the final minutes of the game:
"We were trying to stop them and if I would have thought it would have been a bad call, or it looked like we thought we had a bad matchup with what they were going to try to do, then, sure, we could've used it there. It was second-and-15 and we felt like the same works in reverse. If you take a timeout, they see what you're in and they change what they do and all that. If you don't feel good about what your matchup is or if you're on offense and you don't feel good about what your matchup is based on the way the defense is deployed, that's a situation where you could use a timeout at the end of the game if you have extra ones, but if you don't you're probably better letting the play play out rather than blowing it and then the next play they come out and you might be in an even worse matchup."
On Rob Gronkowski's record-breaking play down the sideline:
"He did a great job there. He didn't fall to the ground, breaking a couple of tackles, staying inbounds. He almost had no room to work with on the sidelines. He not only was able to keep his balance but run through a couple of tackles and stay inbounds. The one down the middle of the field, it seemed like they were dragging him for 10 or 15 yards on that play, too. We see him every day in practice. He is a tough guy to cover, a tough guy to match up on. We don't tackle him every day in practice, but we have seen plenty of people try to do it. He is a good guy to bring down."
On the Redskins matching up against Gronkowski:
"On the two long plays, the one in the first quarter and the one in the fourth quarter, it probably goes man coverage. We caught a couple zone, then he caught a ball in the flat and broke a tackle. It depends on the play and coverage. He's got Tom [Brady] lots of places to throw it to. He's a great target, and he's open to give him a lot [of passes]."
On if he talked with cornerback Devin McCourty about adjusting after giving up a couple big plays:
"No. We are in different coverages, and they are running different routes. At the end, we had that tough pass interference call; it was a close call so they called it. But, I thought we came back and battled."
*On the defense's performance:Â Â *
"Some things were good; other things we could do better. It is always nice to score on defense."
On linebacker Dane Fletcher's performance:
"He did a good job for us. When Dane's had a chance to play this year, he's done well. Unfortunately, he has missed a little bit of time, but he has done a good job. I thought he stepped in and was physical. He made a couple plays in the kicking game, too. He had one in the kickoff team. He played pretty physical in there as an inside linebacker. It is good to have him back. Hopefully, we get some of our other guys back as soon as possible."
On defending the Redskins' zone running scheme:
"Mike [Shanahan] does a great job. Offensively, he is one of the toughest guys to go up against. He had some good schemes for us; things that caused us problems. He does things that give you a problem, and then, he has things that come off and balances out so when you start looking a month-in you got something else. He does a good job of keeping it moving. They are a very well-coached football team. They did a great job. We have to play better. We have to coach better. We have to give them credit. They really know how to attack defenses."
