BILL BELICHICK, HEAD COACH
BB: Alright, well obviously we didn't do much of anything well enough to win today, so we've just got to do a better job, turn the page here. We think we're a better team than we showed today but we just didn't do anything well enough today. So, we'll get back to work and get ready for Cleveland.
Q: Can you talk about the challenge your team faced trying to stop Tyrod Taylor and LeSean McCoy all game?
BB: Yeah, they're good players. We obviously didn't do a good enough job of it.
Q: After seeing Julian Edelman's long catch and run get called back on the first offensive play of the game, did that make you think that the team was prepared well enough to execute the rest of the game plan?
BB: Yeah, we just didn't have a very good day today.
Q: Can you talk about the offense's inability to execute on third down?
BB: It wasn't good enough in any area. Obviously, we were in a lot of third-and-longs so that wasn't good. A lot of third-down problems are related to first and second-down and it wasn't good enough on third-down. It's pretty obvious.
Q: When was the decision made to not be able to use Jimmy Garoppolo today?
BB: When we made him inactive.
Q: Was that today or did you decide that yesterday?
BB: We did the inactives today.
Q: Did you know yesterday he wasn't going to play?
BB: We did the inactives today.
Q: What was your reaction to the pregame scuffle between some of the Bills' players and your own players?
BB: I wasn't out there.
Q: With the defense giving up only 16 points would you characterize that as a good performance?
BB: I said at the beginning nothing was good enough today.
Q: What are your thoughts on Tom Brady's return tomorrow?
BB: Right now my thoughts are on the Buffalo game.
Q: Was the biggest problem on offense the play of the offensive line?
BB: I didn't think anything was good enough. Nothing was good enough at any position, in any phase of the game. It just wasn't good enough.
Q: Did they do a lot of things differently offensively now that they've switched offensive coordinators?
BB: No, I wouldn't say that. I mean that's what we've talked about all week. They have a pretty expansive running game, which they showed and they ran today.
Q: Was part of the problem today trying to tackle too high, especially on Tyrod Taylor?
BB: Tackling was definitely a problem, period. One of many.
Q: Can a game like this serve as a wakeup call for a team that started out 3-0?
BB: Every week is a challenge in this league. We all know that. We just have to perform better. We have to coach better. We have to play better in all three phases of the game. It's like that every week in the National Football League. If you don't perform well, you don't do well. Every team is good in this league.
ROB GRONKOWSKI, TIGHT END
Q: What led to not being able to convert on a lot of the second-and-long and third-and-long plays?
RG: Yeah, every time you start a new drive, you want to gain positive yards, you want to go forward; you don't want to go backwards. You don't want to be second-and-15, you want to be second-and-five, second-and-four and stuff like that. It's tough. It was a tough day. You've got to give hats off to the Bills. They played well. They played better than us today. We've just got to improve overall. I've got to improve, just everyone. The whole offense together just has got to go out there and produce more.
Q: How far away are you from being the player we're accustomed to seeing?
RG: I felt good today, went out there. The coaches, training staff and everything, we just had a little plan, obviously, not to go every single play, but to build it back up. I felt good out there, felt good every time I stepped out there; just got to keep on improving. It's basically just up to me to get back to full speed. I've just got to go out to practice and do what I've got to do to get back to where I need to be.
Q: How much impact can Tom Brady have when he re-enters the facility tomorrow?
RG: I mean, I don't even have to answer that. You've got to give hats off to Jacoby [Brissett] today going out there. Much respect to him going out there and doing what he did today as a rookie, so hats off to our quarterbacks. They did a tremendous job the first four weeks and obviously it's exciting to get Tom back tomorrow.
Q: How does it make you feel to see Martellus Bennett put up the kind of numbers he did today?
RG: It's great. He's a great dude to work with and he's an unbelievable football player. I'm super happy he's here with us. He's a great guy to work with blocking-wise and in the receiving game, and we learn a lot from each other, so I can't wait until we're both out there at full speed together.
Q: Were you guys just looking for someone to make a play to get you guys back into it?
RG: We were making plays, but sometimes just things happen as an offense – a penalty there, a penalty there, we've just got to eliminate it as a whole. You just can't look around for someone to make a play. You've just got to step up and make a play, obviously. We've just got to go back to the practice field, got to go back and start doing what we do – producing yards, producing points. We've just got to roll.
Q: If you were told in July that the team would go 3-1 without Tom Brady and largely without you, what would your reaction be?
RG: I mean, it's not July anymore, now it's like real life that we're 3-1.
Q: What's your reaction now?
RG: We just lost to the Bills, so the reaction is we've got to get better as a football team. But I'm just proud to be a part of this team. We stick together and we've got to move forward to the Cleveland Browns. I mean, 3-1 is not a bad start at all, but when you lose you've got to see what you did wrong, correct it, go back to the practice field and get back on the right track.
Q: There seemed to be a good amount of mental mistakes made today. How has the team responded to and improved upon that in the past?
RG: To work and improve on mental mistakes, physical mistakes, you've just got to go back out to the practice fields, go back to the drawing boards, and get it back together. It happens; it's the game of football. Their defense is solid, they're fast players, they run all around, so you've just got to study up, get back out on the practice field, come together as an offense and work together this week to get better.
Danny Amendola, Wide Receiver
(On a tough day offensively)
"We didn't play well on all three sides, we got to play better and figure out a way to win… We just didn't play well enough, we got to go back and watch film and stuff, just got to get better."
(On poor field position today)
"No question, we can clean up the penalties and play better football all around. Everybody has a job to do, like we say, and we just didn't get it done today."
(On Tom Brady returning)
"He's a good football player so we're excited to get Tom back. He's our leader."
Martellus Bennett, Tight End
(On what contributed to today's loss)
"Yeah the biggest setback was, I mean they played very well; they were the better team today. We had a lot of negative plays- penalties, holdings, false starts; a lot of setbacks. In those situations you have to stack as many positive plays as you can, we'll get a couple positives and for every positive we had, we had two negatives. Every two steps we took forward we took two steps back, so that was the biggest thing out there today."
(On it being a rough day offensively)
"I thought Jacoby played very hard. That's what you ask for out of your guys, to come out there and give every single thing you have. It's not always going to go your way but that's not just football, that's life. No matter what it is you're doing, that's what I try to explain to my daughter all the time, that things aren't always going to go your way, but that's just life."
Julian Edelman, Wide Receiver
(On the game)
"We just got out-played; we couldn't execute today. Anytime we have penalties, it just puts you behind down in the count. So it's tough to overcome those types of things, negative plays, it's hard to establish a rhythm. We turned the ball over, we didn't do well on third down, we didn't, I don't even think we got in the red area, so I don't know that stat. That's what the game comes down to, is staying ahead in the count, especially against a defense like that, they played well. You got to tip your hat to the Buffalo Bills, they just out-played us and now we have to move on and start thinking about Cleveland."
(On field position today)
"That's a part of the game. I don't think we did well on any phase. I can't speak for other teams. As far as the offense, we didn't help anybody out, we didn't help the defense out. I'll tell you one thing though, number seven, he's a tough kid and he came out there and had a gutsy performance, [I] gained a lot of respect for that young man and how poised he was to overcome obstacles that he had to do."
(On Tom Brady returning tomorrow)
"It's going to be good. He's our leader and it's going to be great to have him out there. We're going to have to have a great week of preparation to get back in sync, that's where it all starts from, going out there and having a good week in practice. We had a good practice this week, we just didn't turn it on, and like I said, you can't get behind in the count, especially against a team like that who plays really good defense."
Chris Long, Defensive End
(On not being able to get off the field on third down)
"They're a good football team on offense, they've got a lot of weapons. Like I said, if you don't play anywhere near perfect, and we don't make any plays, that's a recipe for not a great day."
(On the uncertainty of who would play quarterback today had an effect on the team)
"We just worry about doing our job. Jacoby [Brissett] stepped up and if the result was a little better with one or two things, we'd be talking about what a great job he did. It's disappointing but we've got to handle our business on defense and we have to come out here and have a great week [of practice], because it's going to be time to move on real quick."
(On if the team had a bad week of practice)
"I felt like we were locked in and ready to play and we just didn't execute. So it's not enough to just have a good week of practice, you have to go out and execute [during the game]. For whatever reason, we didn't execute and that's just not good enough. The Bills did a good job of playing good football and we played bad football."
Devin McCourty, Safety
(On if the team was flat today)
"We didn't' play well from the start - the opening kickoff, defensively not being able to get off the field, [the Bills] moving the ball up and down the field on long drives - we just didn't play well. A lot of times, you're flat because you're not making plays, you're not playing well and there's nothing to get you going, so obviously we've got to keep working. It wasn't a good performance, but we've got to keep working and play better next week."
(On if the loss can be chalked up to just a bad day)
"I mean, you do, but you don't. You've got to still go back and see what you did bad and fix those things because obviously whenever you go out here and play a game, you put that on film for teams to watch [and they] will come back and try to do things you didn't handle well. It's not chalked up to [a bad day], they did a good job of playing and out-playing us. So you've got to watch the film and be prepared for next week and the weeks after to see the things we didn't handle well today."
(On if the loss was humbling)
"I think the thing I've learned since I've been here is each game is tough, especially in our division. Nobody in our division lays over because we're the New England Patriots. All three teams, whenever we play them, are always tough, home or away. It's never an easy game."
Malcolm Mitchell, Wide Receiver
(On what went wrong out there today)
"We had a couple of mistakes. They took advantage of some opportunities and they just outplayed us today. They were the better team today."
(On if there is any kind of teaching point for him about how to handle the pregame scuffle that happened today)
"I think people just handle situations differently. Would I walk away from it? If I feel like it will help the team, yes."
(On if he would walk away from the situation again in the future)
"Let's just hope we're not in that situation again."
(On if he was just protecting his quarterback)
"At the time I did what I thought was best. Am I right or wrong? I don't know. I just did what I thought was best at that particular time."
