HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 6, 2022

BB: All right. Well, first of all, you know, just on behalf of the players and the coaches that wore the patches, in my case Timothy Clegg, or the number or the initials on their helmets, you know, proud to be out there and recognize the people that have fought and died for our country and defended us. And for the ones that were enlisting today, just the tribute to, you know, our great military and what they stand for and how they protect us. So definitely proud to be a part of that, seeing the families on the way on and off the field keeps things in perspective here. But, you know, good win for our team, certainly a lot better than the last time we played the Colts. Had a lot of big plays defensively. Obviously, the third down and field position they created for us, big play in the kicking game, and, you know, were able to convert enough of those, score enough points to win. And so that's what it's about in this league. So always things we can do better but really good to walk off the field today with a good win against the Colts, a team that we obviously couldn't play very well against last year. So it was a little different story today. Big day for Jon Jones. Big day for our team defense. Coverage, rush, great game plan by the defensive coaches and well executed. Put a lot of pressure on the Colts and were able to take advantage of the situations, headed by Ju [Matthew Judon]. Big day for us out there. Really big day.

Q: Coach, can you talk about the pressure up front, led by Judon and Uche with three sacks each and what they were able to do to Ehlinger?

BB: Yeah. You know, the sacks are the sacks. Some of those came when the quarterback was flushed out by somebody else, somebody else got them. But it was a lot of pressure from – we got pressure on early downs, created some long yardage situations. And Ju, Josh, Dan [Ekuale], we had a couple of secondary pressures in there that hit as well. It was just good team defense. Any time you have a good pass rush, you have good coverage. Any time you have good coverage, you'll have a good pass rush. Some of those sacks looked like coverage sacks, where there was nobody to throw to. Some of them were great rush sacks where they didn't have time to execute the passing game. But good team defense is really what it's about.

Q: Bill, I know you talk about this a lot, but how pleased were you in the second quarter to see the Jon Jones blocked punt and then that led to the touchdown pass from Mac to Stevenson, the complementary football you like?

BB: Yeah, that was great. That's, you know, great job by our special teams unit. We had good returns today. We had good kickoff return. Had a couple good punt returns. One in particular went for, I don't know, we got good field position on that. I think that was the first one. Then we came back with the, you know, with the block. Jon timed it up perfectly. It was well designed by Cam and Joe. And they timed it well, hit well. We had a chance to scoop it in there but couldn't quite stay on our feet. Then offensively, you know, finished the job and get the touchdown so good play, good throw from Mac to Rhamondre. Jon's interception was a good catch, another tough catch, a low ball. Came up with it and got a couple good blocks there, and you're not going to catch Jon from behind. Once he saw some space, it was all over. So it was big plays for us. That's 14 points that are kind of bonus points that it's hard to count on going into the game. But when you get them, that makes a big difference in the final score.

Q: Bill, what went into the decision to rotate at left guard Cole Strange and then move Isaiah Wynn from right tackle to the left guard spot?

BB: We play a lot of people in every part of the game. On the offensive line, skill positions, all the defense, you know, we play a lot of people. That's what we do.

Q: Bill, you always say a player's always a work in progress, no matter what level they're at. What has Jonathan Jones done since when you first got him to put himself in a position to be able to have a game like this?

BB: Well, Jon's had a lot of good games for us. Jon's one of our best players. So, of course, he started out as an undrafted free agent out of Auburn, came in here and lit up things on the special teams with his speed, his toughness, his intelligence. He's a smart football player. Worked his way into a big role defensively. We signed him for that role. Kind of a third corner. Now, of course, the game, everybody plays with three corners most of the time. So this year, we had some depth inside and moved him outside, and so he plays outside and inside, like a lot of our players do. We play them in different spots. He made a transition to playing on the perimeter this year. Has done a good job for us. Myles has played inside. He's played opposite of Mills and Jack Jones. Sometimes he moves inside and Jack and Jalen are outside. Again, following up, we rotate our people defensively and have a lot of good players. They all deserve to play and they all help us.

Q: Bill, besides Jonathan Jones and Judon's play, Ja'Whaun Bentley had a big game as well. Could you talk about his importance on the defense?

BB: Yeah. Ja'Whaun does a great job. Bent does a great job for us. His communication and the ability to run the defense, control the front, make calls. We have different formations that cause us to check things, whatever it is, check the front, check the coverage or just check into a different defense at times. In no-huddle situations which we faced really all year, Cleveland gave it to us, Jets last year, Indy gave some to us today, that communication ability. But nobody works harder than Bent. He stays on top of it. Everybody has a ton of respect for his preparation and mindset. He brings it every day. Really, every play. You see that from him out on the practice field and, you know, it's kind of contagious. It's a good thing that other people build on our defensive line communication on pass rush. Our secondary, of course, Dev and Jon do a great job of that. But really, it's everybody having that communication. So yeah. Bent's a good football player and just whatever we ask him to do, he's done really well this year. He's played more on the end of the line than he has in the past and played well there. Rushed the passer, good zone player, good tackler, smart football player, tough kid. Glad we have him. Glad we re-signed him. Good player.

Q: Bill, against a good Colts front, how did you feel Mac handled pressure today?

BB: They have a good defense. The front's tough. They gave us some problems. So collectively, as a team, we had some trouble for sure. Some negative runs, and there was some pressure. Didn't turn the ball over. Fumbled it, but didn't turn the ball over in a passing game, so that was good. Had trouble with their front, no doubt about it. They have good players. Talked about those guys all week. They rotate them through. They have seven or eight guys they play. They do a good job. Good linebackers too, Franklin, Leonard, Okereke. Good depth at that position too. Kenny Moore is a good star. Good defense. Steph, a lot of good players.

Q: Bill, Yodny Cajuste with the start today. What did you think of him since he came back? What did you think about the way he played?

BB: Look at the film. Take a closer look. 11 guys out there. Can't watch them all. I think we all hung in there. But sure, things that were good, sure things could have been better.

Q: How did the wind affect the kicking game?

BB: Affected a lot. Pretty strong to their bench. Just about all the kicks went to their sideline. We had the kickoff return to their sideline, the punt return to their sideline. Kicked with the wind into their bench. That's where we got the block from. The Colts tried to come back to the field a couple times on the kickoff returns, and just good strategy on their part, you know, figuring that we're going to kind of overload to the boundary side or the wind side. But it definitely affected it. McLaughlin had the miss before the half. Nick – didn't bother Nick. He bangs them right through the middle. He's amazing. But, no, it wasn't easy kicking out there today. Conditions were a little bit challenging. So, yeah, definitely affected the direction and it was hard to touchback. Jake hit the ball well. I forget how much touchbacks we had. We had a few, but it was hard to touchback the kickoffs today.

Q: Bill, you mentioned that kick returns. I want to ask you about the Marcus Jones. Your thought on his performance today and also his improvement throughout the last couple of weeks.

BB: Marcus's improvement has come all year. A little limited in the spring, wasn't able to do everything in the spring, still coming off of the injury from college. Actually, two of them. And then he's just gained more and more confidence and more and more experience as we've gone through training camp and through the regular season. His ball handling, his ball security, decision-making, setting up blocks. He's been doing that well in practice, been doing it well in other games, whether it's kick returns, punt returns, the decision-making, fair catch, not fair catch. Knowing how well we have the gunners blocked or don't have them blocked at times in game situations. So he's just really gotten better every week. This was a big – this is kind of a big challenge for him this week with the left-footed punter. It's something we really haven't seen all year. So you know, he can kind of, you know, put the jugs and put them in the opposite direction and all that. Not really the same. We brought Michael here, Palardy, and that was actually good, you know, I think good for Marcus to be able to handle those lefty punts out in the kind of windy practice conditions all week. So I think that that helped him as well. Again, one of those little things, and Palardy did a good job. I think it helped Marcus's ball handling on a left footed punter. He's gotten better every week. A hard-working kid. Each situation that we talk about, they come up in the game and he just continues to handle them better and better. You know, as we've seen from other returners as they gain experience, you know, guys like Edelman that never returned punts, different than Troy Brown and Welker, who were returners from way back when. Troy had a ton of experience returning punts, and Troy's done a great job with Marcus, I might add. Troy's done a nice job with him in terms of catching the ball, ball handling, making the first guy miss, setting up blocks, ball security, decision making, reading the ball, reading the flight of the ball, spin of the ball, so forth. Troy's done a great job with him. He deserves a lot of credit and Marcus has worked hard to get better every week. Same thing with kickoffs. Another one, how deep is it, how much hang time is it. A little different than punts with guys coming down. You have to make that decision on where the ball is laterally on the field, where is the return, how much time do you have to get there. Do you want to touchback, bring it out. Those are big decisions and then, of course, there's execution of the setting up the blocks and running. All those have gotten better. Thank you.

QUARTERBACK MAC JONES

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 6, 2022

Q: How do you sort of sum up the day for the offense today?

MJ: Yeah, I think football is a team sport, and we got the "W" today against a good team overall. Obviously, talked about, you know, a lot about last year and how we felt after the game. Felt like we came in and played as a team. Obviously, offensively, want to do even better, and we will. We've got to look at the tape to kind of figure that out. Defense played great. Uche, three sacks; Judon, three sacks; Bentley, sack, D-Wise, half a sack. Sacks everywhere. So we kind of knew our defense was going to control the game, given the circumstance with the other team, and that's a good defense that we went against. I think there's good players all around. I don't think they did anything crazy in the game that we didn't expect, but we've got to hit our targets a little better here. But no turnovers from my part, which is an improvement. But, you know, we put the two fumbles on the ground, which we'll fix. That's one of the things we talked about was just controlling the ball and not turning the ball over. So did a good job there. Obviously, we want to score more points in the red zone. I'm not sure how we finished there, but definitely had some short fields that we want to score on, and I thought we fought hard and won the game. In the NFL, it's hard to win, you know. It takes everybody. You know, like I said, last year was a different story. We won this year. That's all that really matters.

Q: Mac, obviously, like you mentioned, you guys got the "W", 4 of 5 now. What do you take from yourself and that offense as you go into the bye week. What would you like to accomplish as you go into the bye week for the final eight games of the season?

MJ: Like I said, we want to play our best team ball. Our defense and special teams are playing really well. We're playing good at spots, but we need to continue to go up here and stop riding the wave, you know, which we will. I think we have really talented players at every position. Even today, the guys that stepped up with, I guess, what was it, four or so starters out of the game, it's pretty impressive to go in there and not have a lot of drop-off and beat a really good team. So we'll look at everything. I know our coaches have been grinding it out, doing a great job, putting us in a position to succeed. We've got to go out and execute a little better. The bye week or whatever you want to call it is always a good time to physically get yourself back and then obviously mentally. And then X's and O's-wise, see what you're doing well and what you're not doing as well. I know our coaches will do a great job grinding it out, and we'll be on the same page.

Q: Mac, obviously, you want more touchdowns, but you talked this week about not going broke by making sure you're taking the profits. How do you feel you and the offense did that today on the whole? Especially against a challenging defense like the Colts.

MJ: Yeah. I think we definitely want to move the ball. And when we get the ball as an offense, we want to score on every possession, and we want to score touchdowns. And sometimes when we don't do that, we get a little frustrated, myself included. But at the end of the day, it's about controlling the ball. When we don't turn the ball over, our statistics are really good to win the game. Sometimes it's hard to realize, but we talk about that internally all the time, and when we do that, we usually win. So definitely some things I'm sure I'll see on film that you want to have back. At the same time, you've got to move the ball, and we've got to eliminate some of the negative plays. We're just in long yard situations way too often. It's the NFL. These guys are pretty good. If you put yourself behind the sticks, your percentages plummet. It is what it is. You've got to fight through it and figure out a way to be better on first and second down. That helps on third down.

Q: Two things off that. You mentioned guys were talking about the negative yardage or penalties. Also the consistency factor. How do you get better in those two areas, specifically?

MJ: I think it starts in practice. I feel like we have a really good group of guys, and we need to make this our thing. It's, all right, we need to take it personal for the offense that we're getting too many penalties or, you know, missing a guy here or there. Whatever it is, like, we need to just nail that down and find out the issues and just create, you know, there's problems, obviously, clearly, and we just want to fix anything with a solution. I feel like we've done a good job of that, but we really need to pick that up to beat some really good teams coming up. We know what it takes. We have good players. We've got good coaches. So it's a group effort. Everyone being on the same page and coming together and every day at practice, that's all you can control, right? You have to line up, do your job, whether that is block somebody, whether I have to hand it off, throw it, whatever, change the play. So it's all an individual effort. But at the same time, when you get 11 people on the same page, all that stuff will look a lot better.

Q: Mac, you're now nine games into playing with a new coaching configuration on offense. How do you describe where you, Bill, Matt, and Joe are in terms of being in rhythm and accomplishing what you want to accomplish?

MJ: Yeah, I think we were focused on today, and today we kind of hit some of our targets. But wanted to hit even more of our targets. They've done a great job preparing us for the games. Coach Belichick in our meetings and stuff, anything he sees, he's always providing that information for us as quarterbacks from a defensive perspective, which is great. That's continued, and that's helped me a lot. With Coach Patricia, obviously, we've grown together and he's done a great job. He's a great leader of men. He loves football just like, you know, all of our coaches, and he's going to give it his all every day from 6:00 a.m. until whatever it is, 2:00 in the morning. So I know that they're all going to give their all. And Coach Judge, same thing. He's here early trying to find ways to help me and trying to, you know, help me play as best I can, and we're still growing together. It's not going to be a perfect picture every play. But as long as I'm doing my part, the guys around me are trying to do their part, we'll be in a good spot.

Q: Mac, admittedly, it's easy for us to say, oh, there's a guy on the other side of the field that might have been open or something like that on plays. When you come to the sideline and see it on the stills or the film, what as a quarterback can you do to make sure that maybe you open a different direction or something like that on given plays?

MJ: I'll have to look at it. I look at the stills and stuff, but I don't look too much into it. It's false reality. So just trying to see what the defense did. That's all you can really control. And I'm sure there's some plays, but it's all about where your eyes start, right, as a quarterback. What you're being told and where you're looking.

Sometimes you miss things that people – you don't know if you missed it or not on the field. You walk off and are like, darn, I looked at the picture. Looked like it was there, but my eyes were starting where they were supposed to start. Sometimes that's how it is. A lot of those sacks too, it's just on me to get the ball out to the open guy. Doesn't have to be an explosive play every time. Like I said, I thought the guys stepped up with a lot of our – some of our starters out. That was really good. But got to watch the film and see how it really was. It's all about timing and footwork. Does it match up to the play? Does your drop match up to the route to where your eyes are? Like I said, there's good players on the other side of the ball. There's a clock going on in your head. You've got to be ready for it. Can't sit there and hold the ball all day.

Q: Mac, to follow up, in the fourth quarter, there was a scramble play. Looked like you had the touchdown right there, one defender to beat, but didn't happen. Can you take us back to the play and explain your thought process there?

MJ: Trying to think. I'll have to watch the film. There was somebody in front of me. Otherwise, I'd have gone in the end zone. Pretty simple.

Q: Mac, you see the emergence of Rhamondre. On the touchdown pass, it was a hell of a catch. What was it like in your mind to see him as a running back haul it in like that, and what has it meant for the offense over the last few weeks?

MJ: Rhamondre has done a great job. Damien not being out there, he's definitely carried the load there. JJ stepping in and making plays too. Just proud of those guys. We have a great group of running backs. Vinnie has done a really good job with those guys. They actually put two guys on him a few times. Still got open with two guys on them, which is cool. He's done a good job. He's a competitor. Quiet, but super competitive. He might not say it, but he is. He's done a great job and will continue to do that.

Q: Mac, Jonathan Jones had quite a day today. You go against him in practice every day. What have you learned about him as a football player?

MJ: He's done a really good job this year, playing different spots. Early on, he's historically been inside. He's done a little bit of everything and is a really fast, quiet technician. I think he has done a great job for us. He's a great leader on this team too. Whether that's just when we're talking to him one on one or he's talking to the defense, you can tell they all respect, him, and he has a very big voice in the room. Really happy to see him haul that one in. He's obviously fast so he's going to get to the end zone.

Q: Mac, as you head into the bye here now, you mentioned early down inefficiencies is something you want to fix. Is there anything that has your focus individually in the bye week, in addition to obviously getting away a little bit?

MJ: Like I said, the coaches will evaluate that. They always do a good job of seeing what we do well and sticking with it. What we don't do well, how can we do better. First and second downs is a big part of the NFL. I think really good teams are good on first and second down. Third down, they're in a better spot and convert more. You want to be above whatever percentage mark we set, and we've got to be better and extend drives that way.

Every drive can't seem like it's so hard to get yards. We've got to be able to skip some third downs and move the ball and get explosive plays. Once again, defenses are kind of trying to take that away, playing a lot of two-high coverage and trying to stop that. So it's a respect towards our skill players and the guys we have.

Q: Want to get your thoughts on Nick Folk. I know you said you want to put it in the end zone when you're close. Is it nice to know once we're here, we can at least get 3 because he's been so consistent?

MJ: Yeah, he's the man. I'm not going to jinx him or anything, but almost every time he goes up, he has the confidence to put it there. Great person, works really hard. Has played a lot of football and made kicks, and he'll tell you he's missed kicks too. I'm sure his journey, it's been up and down, but he's a great kicker, and you can tell that he's just been – can't miss. I don't know how to describe it. He's just great. We're happy to have him. Thanks.

CORNERBACK JONATHAN JONES

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 6, 2022

(On his performance with a blocked punt and pick-six)

"We had that dialed up on punt, to go after him pretty early. I don't know if it was revenge for last year, but it's kind of on our radar to go after him on special teams. And then on defense, the front. They got after him, tied the team record for sacks and it makes our job on the back end so much easier."

(On how he timed up the blocked punt)

"It's a lot of rhythm. They were kind of doing the same thing, same thing, throughout the year. It's something we worked on this week to go after and we were able to connect on it."

(On how much the blocked punt boosted the team)

"Definitely. We pride ourselves on that, playing complementary football. Setting up our offense on a short field, we were able to get after them. That was a big play early in the game, kept momentum going and we buy into that. Special teams, defense, offense, we play together like that, it makes games easier."

(On how much the team has been working on blocking kicks in practice)

"A lot. We do a, 'block that kick' emphasis every week and it's something that we want to go after. Don't let up on teams in every phase of the game."

(On how it feels to go into the bye week with a win)

"Really good. We get a chance to analyze the first half of the season, correct, kind of see how teams are going to be looking to try to attack us in the second half. But any time you go into a bye week with a win, it's a great feeling."

(On what was going through his mind when he scored)

"I mean, celebrate with the guys. Every time. It was my first pick-six here and just celebrate with the guys. Everything we do here, it's a team effort and we've got a close group of guys that come in and work hard every day."

(On if this was a statement game for the defense)

"I would definitely say it was something to build on. Like I said, going into the bye week, something to build on. It's a good win, we did a lot of things well today but obviously we'll see what we did wrong and continue to build on it."

LINEBACKER MATTHEW JUDON

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 6, 2022

(On how he was able to have success today)

"The grace of God, for real. My teammates go out there, put me in great situations to execute. My coaches call good calls. I'm just willing to do whatever I need to do for our defense to have success. Whatever that is, however it looks and however I need to play, I'm willing to do it. Today it was just one of those games."

(On Josh Uche's performance and conversations they had on the sidelines)

"No, I be talking to Josh [Uche] throughout the whole game. Encouragement, just communicating how the offensive line's setting and really just telling him kind of what to call, where, and how to call it. Because I don't know if y'all know, but Josh actually calls the plays out there when we're on third down. So our execution is from him. That's hard for somebody that's in year three, and hasn't had that much success in the NFL, and it's third and long and he has to make the right call, right? So for him to come out there, and have a game like he had and play lights out like that, that just allows him to see what he can do in this league. He can be a premiere pass rusher. I always tell him, he's probably the best pass rusher we got. I'm very happy for him. That's my brother. I'm going to continue to speak him up and boast him, but that's all him. He works his butt off, just to get out on the field. When he's out there and he has success like that, I'm just happy for him."

(On how important numerous guys on defense having success contributes to the confidence of the defense)

"I believe that the secondary covered their butts off today. It was a lot of coverage sacks. My sack probably was a coverage sack. We, as a defensive line, always go talk to them and they come talk to us. We just have to continue to feed off that energy and each other. No matter down and distance, where we go out there on the field, the situation we're put in, it's our job to get the ball back. It's our job to stop the opposing offense. When we do that, we just roll, we just roll. We've seen it in a couple other games and today we had it."

SAFETY DEVIN MCCOURTY

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 6, 2022

(On the defense and recording nine sacks)

"It's fun playing in the secondary when guys are doing that. We talked, I would say over the last few weeks, about doing a better job disguising and making things harder. I thought the guys up front did a great job of making things tough. We talked about getting off to an early start and when you are playing a young quarterback if you can make it tough like we did today, even the second sack that [Matthew Judon] got that ended up getting called back for roughing the passer, just that pressure that he felt that early in the game to get to the quarterback two or three times in the first six to nine plays, that's tough to come into the game with. Those guys did a great job and just trying to be opportunistic and doing a good job in coverage on the back end. You don't get many games like this where they are able to get after the quarterback so fast. We just have got to continue to build. It is not going to get easier at this point in the season. We have got to still play better, it is what it is. Especially the week after next, going back into the division with the Jets. We have got to stay on top of it, enjoy this win, rest up, be ready to go and after the bye it will be a long haul of trying to play our best football."

(On the complementary defense)

"It's always rush and coverage. I think you see sometimes teams that are so dominant up front the secondary play will not matter as much or vice versa. But when you are really doing it on defense and playing well, it is rush and coverage, doing a good job of those guys getting there fast, us getting on the guys and not allowing the quarterback to get rid of the ball fast. When they are able to get rid of it, I thought we did a really good job of coming up and tackling and giving up the run after catch. Last week at the Jets at the end of the game the play to [Denzel Mims], really if we do not get the onside kick, it's a different game at the end of the game. Making sure we do a good job of not giving up plays like that. I think we do a lot of talking on our side of the ball of what things will look like, how we need to play, and it has helped us out a lot from the front end all the way to the back end to understand how we are playing things. I think the versatility of guys like [Kyle Dugger], [Jabrill Peppers], [Adrian Phillips], with [Ja'Whaun Bentley], [Jahlani Tavai], Judon, that makes it tough for an offense and if we can stay on the same page and do those things as the season goes on it will help us a lot."

(On what allows Jonathan Jones to play at a high level)

"Yeah I think one thing is speed, buddy is fast now. I think his mentality and attitude. If you watch him play, he's small, he's 185 I make fun of him all the time about being under 190, but you don't see that. When he is out there, he's hitting. In the Super Bowl in 2018 he basically broke [Patrick Chung]'s arm coming down and making a tackle on [Todd Gurley]. I think that along with his smarts, he is one of our smartest football players. You see him playing outside, inside, he could even play free safety and make all those calls and do all those things. He is a fun guy to play with. Now when you look around with so many guys I came in with being gone, I look to J. Jones because we have the most years together in this secondary. I rely on him a lot to be a leader in that corner group, to be able to get guys lined up. For me as an older guy, like I said I have played with him for a while, but I was also here for a while before he got here, it has been really cool to see his growth. He came in here undrafted with a ton of ability and he earned it and he did it the hard way. Making a name for himself on special teams, being a gunner, making plays on kickoff, getting the opportunity to play defense. The first time he got the opportunity to play defense he was still the first guy down on kickoff with [Matthew Slater], he was still a gunner on punt, and he was playing on defense. He has had to figure out how to be a good player by playing a lot of plays on special teams and defense. I cannot say enough about him. Now going outside, which is not easy to do when you are inside and have made a name for yourself playing inside and playing good football, and to then go outside and play at a high level. Then he showed out today blocking a punt, intercepting a pass, scoring. He is one of our best players."

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN DEATRICH WISE JR.

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 6, 2022

(On the pressure the defense generated)

"That was our goal all week, to get after the quarterback, get pressure on him, game on the inside, beat him on the edge. We ended up coming away with nine sacks, which tied the record, which is awesome."

(On holding the Colts to 0-14 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down)

"Very big. One thing we talked about was stepping up in big moments, honestly, and big areas on the field. When it was on the third down plays, our goal was to affect the quarterback and get after him. When it was fourth down, we kind of took it as disrespect, like if you're going to run the ball on us, we're going to stop you and we did that twice. That's kind of our motto, our mindset, is to stop anything that comes our way."

(On how defense feeds off of Matthew Judon)

"He's a very electrifying player. Once he gets in the game and he does what he does, the crowd goes crazy, the juices start pumping and everybody just gets after it. Once he makes his play, you can see the morale of the team is building, the confidence of the team rising, our defense getting better and better, playing with more confidence, playing faster. He's one hell of a player."

(On what a performance like this does for the defense heading into the bye week)

"It's a wonderful feeling going into the bye with a 'W.' It gives us confidence going into next week."

(On Josh Uche's performance)

"It was awesome. It was great. He's battled so much to get on the field. He had a great game last week against the Jets, hurt himself again but came back out, had three sacks. That's awesome, awesome for him, awesome for his career. I definitely was over there like, 'You have three sacks!' He was like, 'Do I?' I was like, 'Yes! You have three sacks.' He was like, 'Wow.' He was so shocked and then we confirmed it. I was happy for him. I'm very, very happy for him. I hope he continues to have this same stretch for the whole season."

PLAYERS IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Kendrick Bourne, WR

(On if there's any frustration entering the bye week without the offense fully on track yet)

"We just want to score more touchdowns as a group. No frustration, a win is a win, we win, it's all good. But we definitely want to score more, once we play as a team, we need to be able to score. Especially the defense putting us in a great position, we have to take advantage. They're balling, so we've just got to play better football, special teams, defense. Offense just needs to pick it up. Points is points, three points is good, but you never know how these next games are going to go, so putting up points is just more secure."

(On the team entering the bye week compared to last year)

"You know we played the Colts last year – I think they stopped our streak last year, so that was a good one to win but to get that win, getting back and going into the bye week, getting our bodies back is very encouraging, so yeah just not do what we did last year obviously. Pick up where we just left off today. Even these last few games, it's looking promising."

(On how the team felt entering the game knowing how physical the Colts' defense is)

"Yeah, I think we can do better with that, you know check downs, check downs, check downs, going down the field we need to have longer drives. Obviously take what the defense gives us. I mean I'm not the quarterback so I wouldn't know, I'm just running my routes, but we just need to play better as a whole, string longer drives and finish."

(On JJ Taylor recovering his fumble)

"Man, thank God, I don't know where he came from but that was scary. I got in trouble too. I've got to take care of the ball, just knowing the situation and not trying to do too much. If it's not there, just know the journey is over, go down and take care of the ball."

Jalen Mills, DB

(On Jonathan Jones' punt block that led to a touchdown)

"It is special especially when playing a good team like this and dominating in all three phases of the game. Having special teams not only getting good turns out there but get a block and then almost get in the end zone is special."

(On if there is any comparison to Matthew Judon in the NFL right now)

"When we talk about Judon, I think it is more about the work that he puts in each and every day at practice. I think that really goes to show on Sundays and it is a product of the work that he puts in. He comes out here on Sundays and he is getting sacks and so as far as comparing him, I think Judon is one of one."

Adrian Phillips, DB

(On the defense getting 9 sacks and gaining 120 yards)

"That is hard to top, it is definitely a dominant performance. We want to just keep building off of that because I know that we can be that dominant force on defense. If we continue to put that work in each and every day, we can get to where we want to get. It is great that we went out there, and did that today and we are going to enjoy this going into the bye week. But we are going to look at that film and look into a lot of things that we need to continue to fix to take us even further on the next level."

(On some key takeaways from the defense dominating the game today)

"You can always do something better and that is something we really look into when we watch film. It was a good performance out there today and that's what we want to go out there and do. We wanted to win the game on defense and we just want to keep that rolling."

(On Matthew Judon leading the NFL in sacks right now)

"It is wild no one is talking about that more but he isn't really worried about that, he just goes out there and lets the tape talk for itself. When the opponent sees that tape, they are thinking about him and his plays before they close their eyes at night.

(On being 5-4 and heading into a bye week)

"We are still growing and still learning. I think we now have figured out the identity of our team and now we are just focused on growing. It is time to buckle down and get ready for the second half of our season. We started off a little shaky and there were some things we had to fix but we are happy to get a win as we head into the bye week and continue to build off of that and see what the rest of the games have in store for us."

Matthew Slater, WR

(On if anything stood out during today's game)

"I think we really covered well and I think our young guys are really doing a great job. That is what I have been really impressed with. I think Brenden Schooler is really leading the charge as far as young players but you know, Pierre [Strong Jr.], D Mitch [DaMarcus Mitchell] but we have a lot of great rookies even like Marcus Jones who had another big return today so these young guys have really stepped up and making us go right now and picking up the slack."

(On Jonathan Jones' performance in today's game)

"It was career day for him and it couldn't have happened to a better person. Jon is just such a selfless team player and does so much to help this football team win. As a starter playing in the kicking game, it tells you a lot about a guy, so to come out and really turn the game with a blocked punt was just great execution on this game and then to put the nail on the coffin with the pick-six."

(On the big plays made by defense and special teams)

"It is a team effort. I mean we are not going out there and asking the offense to win for us every game or the defense or special teams. We have to win as a team together. I think we did a good job of playing complimentary football today."

(On feelings as the Patriot's head into a Bye Week)

"I think we have to be encouraged but the reality is we have a long way to go. You look at our division and we are probably still sitting in last which tells you a lot. It is an uphill battle and I think we have to be encouraged and be on the mend this next week and then be ready to roll."

Rhamondre Stevenson, RB

(On his one-handed touchdown catch)

"I think I'm done with that now. I think I need to use two hands. We got six on that play."

(On the defense's performance)

"Defense played great. I don't think they converted a third down today so that was huge for us. And defense always plays lights out, that's two weeks in a row now."

(On Judon's performance )

"There's not many people who can block that man. He goes 100 percent every time. Great teammate."

(On his increased workload)

"Not really worried about that. Trying to go into the bye and learn more as the second half of the season is a grind going into November football. And coming back stronger."

(On getting doubled out the backfield)

"On third downs I saw the bracket they had on me. That means I have to go that much harder. It's not disrespectful. They watched film and they saw that I caught a few balls out of the backfield last week and they tried to limit that."

Josh Uche, LB

(On if he has changed anything in his game over the past few weeks)

"I'm just being me. You know I always have faith in myself and even when nobody else believes in me, I kind of always knew what I was capable of. My dad has been a big help for me as well, just keeping that confidence as well so it's been great."

(On Matthew Judon's performance and leading the league in sacks)

"Do you want me to talk about it? You already saw it, I see it up close and personal each and every day in practice, so I'm not surprised. This is one of the greatest I've ever seen in my life so it's an honor to be able to learn from him and watch his game each and every day, I have him give me advice too so it's definitely good."

(On if their performance had a contagious energy)

"Sure, I mean we definitely feed off each other's energy and when you have a guy like Judon, everyone's just getting in on the fun and we just feed off of it you know because now there's blood in the water so now you know, it's time to hunt."

(On the energy on the field)

"You're just taking it one play at a time, you know, you're not really thinking about who is going to get the sack, it's just executing the job and winning the one on ones, whatever the case is. The end result is the end result, it doesn't have to be a sack it can be pressure to pass, anything"

(On his performance this year)

"I mean we just let it speak for itself, it's not our job to write any stories, we just leave that to you guys and we just take it one day at a time."

(On working on finding the quarterback on the field)

"Just the drills we work, each and every day, our coaches do a great job we have certain drills that we work on, so going out there is kind of reactionary. Big shout-out to those guys."

Mike Onwenu, OL

(On the bye coming at a good time)

"I would say so. It's a good midway point of the season. Last year it was Week 12. This is going to be a good week for us to rest and recover."

(On the challenge of the Colts defensive line)

"They're all really talented. They're all really good players. We did our best to block them and block the plays that were called."

(On benefits of the bye week)

"It's going to help us but it's important for us to stay focused. We can't slouch off or slack off. Let's all be focused. We know what we have to do after the bye. Let's take a day or two rest and get back to work."