HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, December 1, 2019

Opening Statement

"Not a whole lot to say here. The Texans did a good job tonight all the way across the board in every area. They were just better than we were tonight. I'm proud of the way our guys fought and competed. We've just go to coach better, we've got to play better. We've just got to do better than we did tonight. Just wasn't good enough in any area, and they were the better team. I think that pretty much sums it up."

How much of a factor did illnesses play in this game?

"I don't know."

Is there a cause for concern about the offensive performance?

"We all got to do a better job. Gave up 28 points, and they're not making any plays in the kicking game. We've got to perform better. Got to coach better, got to play better."

Did you notice any frustration from the offense especially in that first half?

"Again, I don't think we played good. In the first half, it just wasn't good enough in any phase of the game."

Did the Texans show differences with any course of the running backs or tight ends that they haven't shown in the past, based on some of the personnel packages you have on defense?

"They did a good job executing. Made quite a few plays on second down. Scored in the red area. Couldn't stop them in the red area. That would have helped us a lot, but we couldn't do it."

On the delay of game penalty, was there a miscommunication?

"No, no. Didn't have a good play."

QUARTERBACK TOM BRADY

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, December 1, 2019

Frustrating night offensively for you guys. What was so difficult about it?

"Just execution. Just got to do a better job. And tough to get behind and come back and just put ourselves in a pretty deep hole and you can't do that on the road."

RB James White said the plays were there, it was just execution. Do you agree with that assessment?

"It doesn't matter. We didn't get the job done. So a loss is a loss and learn from it and try to move on to next week."

We saw you come off the field and you were on the bench trying to encourage the guys. What kinds of things were you saying to them?

"I think we're all trying to do a good job out there, and give them credit. They played well, we didn't make enough plays and it just wasn't a great game."

Can you take us back to the interception and just what you saw on that play?

"I threw it and they got it. Bad result."

On the two-point conversion, can you explain how you balance it? I assume you didn't want to take a timeout there and was the look they were giving you that you didn't want to run the play that you had called.

"Yeah, didn't like the look."

And the timeout?

"Yeah, we didn't want to use a timeout, but..."

It was a weird week with the illnesses and how did have an affect on the preparation or did you see anything that carried over?

"I think the guys just battled hard. And I think you deal with a lot of adversity over the course of the season and I don't think that any affect on the game. I think us trying to figure out how to do a better job for 60 minutes is what's most important. I'm proud of the guys the way they fought through the week and played against a good team on the road. And if don't play good, you don't win. We didn't deserve it."

Can you take something out of coming back fourth quarter and the productivity you guys put together offensively in the fourth quarter?

"We lost the game, so, you know. We lost. We'll learn from it. See if we can use things as we move forward and try to do a better job."

With all of that frustration, I've seen you battling and that, it hasn't been easy. What's your mindset with your group, with your offense? With four games left, last year 9-5 coming out of Pittsburgh, what's your mentality as you go forward here with this group?

"Kind of what it's been all year. Try to do the best we can do out there and see if we can do a better job in all areas. So see if we can get to a good place and put ourselves in a good position. So we got a tough one this week. It's a long flight home. Try to get ready and get back at it."

Is this group as talented as you need it to be offensively to take you where you need to be?

"Like I said, we're battling, we're trying as hard as we can and hopefully we can make enough plays and be the best we could be. That doesn't, it all remains to be seen. So you can make a bunch of predictions and so forth, but that's not what it's about. It's about going out there and doing it. A lot of guys made some plays tonight. Try to build on it and see if we can do better next week. So, thank you guys."

SAFETY DEVIN MCCOURTY

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, December 1, 2019

How would you sum up the Texans approach tonight in where they attacked and gave you all problems?

"They just outplayed us. We competed, but this time of year, you've got to find a way to win. I think that's what it came down to. If you look at the game, it was just a couple of plays. They made more plays than us – the shot play, a couple of plays on third or second down, getting the fringe, the option play was a pretty good play call. They just made more plays than us. It's not like we went out there and just stunk it up the whole game, but we're in December. Good teams find a way to win, and I thought they did a better job of that today than we did."

What was going through your mind defensively as the game went on?

"You just try to figure out the way the game's going. Once they got a lead, they did a good job of when the shot was there, they took it. But running the ball, trying to throw it short and break tackle, they did a good job of just executing their game plan. When things open up and they felt like they had a good opportunity depending on our defensive call, you saw shots there. They're a team that throws the ball down the field a lot. We knew that. But I thought Deshaun Watson did a good job of understanding when to do that, when not, and making even some plays that should have been bad plays where we got good pressure, had a chance to get him in the backfield, broke a tackle, was able to throw the ball away. All of those are winning plays. I thought they did a better job of that. Even with the communication and everything, at the end of the day, it just comes down to executing out there on that field."

With respect to the flu, did you have a sense of who might play and who might not by Friday or Saturday?

"Yeah, I said that I think Friday in an interview, that was more hype than anything. Guys were in there. By the end of the week, we had guys practicing. We knew exactly what we had. We didn't have anybody like on their death bed. Come Friday, we had a lot of guys in there able to go. No different than injuries or not knowing a little bit. But we had a good idea of who was playing. I wouldn't say, other than how guys felt individually out there playing, I wouldn't say, our preparation during the week, I wouldn't say we were thrown off a lot by that."

Regarding the first two touchdown passes, how did they create those matchups for RB Duke Johnson and TE Darren Fells in those plays?

"Yeah, I mean, the first play was we've just got to cover better. I understand that Duke Johnson's a really good player. Coming out of the back field is kind of tough, you know, KV (LB Kyle Van Noy) on the line. But that's what we do on defense, we mix up a lot of things. And then the misdirection play, we just got to handle that coming out of the back field. So both plays, it wasn't like new, like we never saw it before. But like I said, it comes down to executing. Those are two plays, that if we make a play, changes the game. But they made the play, so now it's two touchdowns in a game where we just couldn't give up. We couldn't give up touchdowns. In the red area, we had to try to force them to kick field goals. That's a part of playing good defense. And we didn't do that tonight. And I always say, being a good team, being a good offense, good defense, good special teams comes down to each week executing. No one cares what you've done last week, what you've done throughout the season, what your stats look like. No one cares about that. It comes down to that week, come Sunday, come and executing and playing well. And we didn't do that tonight. And when we don't do that, we're average at best. And I think that's any team. Any team could beat any team in this league. And when you don't come and execute and play at the best of your ability and play at a high level, you'll fall victim to getting killed or not playing well and losing. And I think, obviously, we fought and gave ourselves a chance at the end. But I think we know that about ourselves. We know we're never just going to just give up in the game. We've got that character, we've got that fight in us. But now, you know, playing the good teams, you got to execute. It's not about just fighting and playing hard. You got to execute."

Head Coach Bill Belichick mentioned earlier this week that Texans QB DeShaun Watson does a really good job at the line diagnosing the coverages. How do you feel you guys did in terms of disguising?

"At times, we did well, but at times, I mean, and there's other times we did good job, but like I said, he made a better play. We knew we had to win some one-on-one matchups. (Texans WR Kenny) Stills made a tough catch on a double move on a shot play where we kind of, we didn't really have the middle of the field on that call. So got us in a good call against two good players. Quarterback throws it out there. J. Jones (DB Jonathan Jones) is an inch away from making a play. And that's what it comes down to. But I thought at times we did a good job disguising. And then at other times when we did disguise well, he just did a good job of buying time, giving his guys time to get open. So that's what it comes down to. You could do good job disguising, but once the ball is snapped, you got to still execute."

It's tough to lose, but you're 10-2, you're tied with Baltimore, you've got Kansas City coming up, four games left to go. What are your thoughts as you regroup and look towards next week?

"Simple. Come out and try to beat Kansas City Sunday. That's what it is for us. Got four games left, we've got to find a way, each time we step on the field, find a way to win. I don't care how it is. Ugly, score a lot of points, don't score, like this time of the year the good teams, the teams that will be there at the end, find ways to win. We've done that here before. It's time to that now, and that's what it will come down to. Each Sunday, starting next week, we step on the field, we got to find a way to win because we're going to play a good team that's going to come, whether we are on the road or at home, they are going to come in there next week, they're going to be ready to go. Kansas City is a really good football team. AFC, we're all playing for something right now. They are going to come in there and try to beat us and we go to bring our best game or we will have another turnout like this."

Do you feel like you learned anything about your defense today?

"We'll watch the film. I'm not a fan of moral victories or all of that. To me, the lessons are learned in watching the film, X's and O's. If we see the different things that happen again, can we execute the play better, to me that's what it comes down to. I didn't learn anything new about our level of competing and going out there and sticking together and keep playing. I think we all knew about that each other. Every time we step on, we always talk about situations. Offense scoring, onside kick, like we always talk about that four-minute defense and so we know that about each other, but it will come down to executing and going forward."

PLAYERS IN THE LOCKER ROOM

WR JULIAN EDELMAN 

What was the difficulty offensively to try and get into a rhythm for you guys playing behind the chains and getting some of these penalties that were putting you in long down distances?

"I don't know, I gotta watch the film. The Texans outplayed us today. You gotta tip your hat to them. But I have to watch the film on that stuff." 

Is there some concern at all for the offense, that you won't fix some of the issues?

"I think we'll be alright. What I did see is a team that fought till the end. So, you can take that and you can build off that. It was ugly out there, a little bit here and there. We didn't play the way we wanted to, but you got to tip your hat to Houston, they played a hell of a game."