BILL BELICHICK, HEAD COACH
Opening statement...
It's always great to win a division game on the road, so this is certainly a good win for our football team. As Tom (Brady) mentioned it was a long week with the west coast trip, Thanksgiving and all that. I thought our players did a really good job of working through it, fighting through it, preparing hard. I thought the last seven minutes of the game, we did a lot of good things and played our best football. That's always important. It's good situational football. It's solid football in the fourth quarter. It's good to win a division game on the road. I liked the way our team competed. We didn't start well, but we hung in there and battled all the way and made the plays we needed to make at the end. That's what it's all about.
On what makes Tom Brady great...
He's a good player. We have a lot of good players. A lot of guys compete hard. Like I said, they all work hard. We had contributions from all three units today, offense, defense, special teams. We got contributions from a lot of players. We didn't turn the ball over. We ran it. We threw it. We defended, covered, kicked, returned. I thought a lot of guys stepped up and competed. Tom did a great job, but so did the other 45 guys. The coaching staff did a good job. It's a tough week for Matt (Patricia), Joe (Judge), Josh (McDaniels), to pull it all together after last week's game on kind of a short week. It's a hard team to prepare for. The Jets do a good job. They're not easy. They have a lot of good players. A lot of tough guys to cover, a lot of tough guys to block. Like I said, we got contributions from all three phases. We played good, complimentary football.
On the defense closing strong...
It was what we needed to do. Malcolm (Butler) had a big play on the strip, Chris Long, the blocked field goal (Alan Branch) kept points off the board there. Those were all big plays for us. We had a few stops on third downs that we needed to keep us in the game. Not as many as we would have liked to have had, but we made some key ones. And they made some great catches. (Ryan) Fitzpatrick and (Quincy) Enunwa and (Brandon) Marshall made some great plays. You've got to give them credit.
On Malcolm Mitchell's development...
Malcolm's done a good job for us all year, all the way back to the spring and OTA's and all the way through training camp. He missed some time in camp after he got injured. He's always hung with it, mentally staying on top of it. He's just getting a little bit better every week. It's a long season for the rookies. We've got a lot of guys like Malcolm, Joe (Thuney), Vincent (Valentine), Jonathan Jones, guys like that that really come through for us week after week. Malcolm made some big plays today.
On Rob Gronkowski's injury status...
I haven't seen Rob. I don't know.
On what adjustments they made...
I think just in general as the game goes along you get a little better feel for what they're doing as the game goes. I think our players obviously should get credit for making plays. In the end, it's the players that make plays, Malcolm and James (White) and Dion (Lewis) and (LeGarrette Blount) and the offensive and defensive lines. It's a good team effort.
On Brady's toughness setting an example for the rest of the team...
He did a good job. Tom worked hard this week. But as he said, I think a lot of guys, it's Week 11, so I don't think anybody's fresh as a daisy. Again, coming off the San Francisco trip and all of that, the Seattle game the week before. It's a grind. You've just got to fight through it. Tom's got great mental toughness. So do a lot of other guys on the team that are dealing with something too.
On Malcom Brown's play...
Better in the second half. We had our moments. At times we had a little too much space in there. Overall I thought we were competitive in the running game. We gave up a lot of big plays. We had a few no gains and a negative play early in the game. We were able to get them in some third-and-nines, third-and-tens, and those kind of situations when they weren't able to run the ball, make it third-and-three, third-and-four. They're tough to defend...They go in those five-receiver sets. It's a lot to defend. I thought we were competitive in the running game. (Alan) Branch, as usual, does a good job eating up a couple blockers in there or piling things up inside. I thought he did some of that too, Malcom and Alan both. Playing with two defensive big lineman puts a lot of pressure on them.
On if there was any thought of playing Jimmy Garoppolo...
Our thoughts are to win the game.
On Brady winning his 200th game...
That says a lot about him and what he's been able to do for this franchise. That's what it's all about. That's what a quarterback's job is, is to win. He's done a great job of that. I think today is a good example of not turning the ball over, some good situational plays that came up that don't show up in the stat sheet, like the fourth-and-one offside, things like that, that are plays that you need for your team to win. Tom does a great job of that. He's a good situational football player. The quarterback's job is to win. He's won a lot. That's good. I'm glad he's our quarterback.
On James White's progression...
He's been pretty good going back to last year's preseason games. He's a hard guy to tackle. Starting with the 2015 preseason and all the way through the year last year, he's a hard guy to get down out there if he's got some space to work with. You've seen him run screen passes and plays out in the flat, things like that. He's pretty good out there and people have a hard time, and even if they get him, he's usually able to get enough for that first down. We've been very fortunate at that position between Kevin (Faulk) and Shane (Vereen) and now James. We've gotten a lot of production out of that, that kind of sub package. Those guys, they don't always catch the ball. They have to blitz pick up and sometimes they're in empty and sometimes they're in the backfield and sometimes they're running receiver-type routes, which takes a lot of extra work, but that position's been good for us. James, he does a great job. Tom's certainly been able to utilize his skills as he did again.
On declining a penalty allowing a 51-yard Jets field goal...
We could have gone either way. It's a 51-yard field goal.
On not calling a timeout at the end of the second quarter after Chris Hogan's first down...
Usually you try to save that timeout to setup for the field goal. We tried to press it a little bit. We went with the four verticals. We had a close play with Malcolm in the end zone. We thought we could press it and take a shot there rather than huddle up and let everybody get organized [inaudible]. We have to do a little better in that situation.
On what he learns from a win like this...
I think it says a lot about our team, their resiliency, mental toughness, ability to focus and execute under pressure. A lot of games in this league come down to the last series, a couple plays. You battle it out for 54, 55, 59 minutes and it comes down to one or two plays that are critical if they're executed well and if they're designed well, they have a chance to do it. We've had a lot of those come up and we've handled those pretty well. We had a lot of things we can improve on from this game. We'll talk about those and work on them as we get ready for Los Angeles this week.
TOM BRADY, QUARTERBACK
On winning his 200th game today...
It was a great win for our team. We didn't play as well as we wanted to, but we made the plays when we needed to. It was a division game on the road. It's always a tough team to play. I thought they played really well. I'm glad we made those plays there at the end.
On the first touchdown to Malcolm Mitchell with the fumbled snap...
I was trying to put it in Julian Edelman's pocket and it just hit off his hip and dropped to the ground. So I picked it up really quickly, so I can gather. Malcolm did a great job of running across the back end. He gave me a chance to make the play. He made a lot of great catches today. It's not how we drew it up, but it worked.
On his trust with Mitchell...
I think Malcolm has done a lot to gain everyone's trust because he shows up every day, works his butt off and is so committed to the team. Football means a lot to him. He's come through in the clutch, so we keep giving him opportunities.
On how he's feeling right now...
I'm happy the week is over. It was a long week.
On if he feels his knee injury hampered him with planting his foot...
I think everybody is battling through different things. You just do the best you can do. It's a long season. Every week starts fresh again. I'm glad it's over, and I'm glad we won.
On whether he considered sitting this week out to rest his knee...
Nope.
On what he saw on the second touchdown pass to Mitchell at the end...
We stacked the receivers and Darrelle Revis played over a little bit. We did a good job of breaking flat on that quick out. Malcolm made a nice catch and got in the end zone. It was a really good play. It was a great call by Josh McDaniels. It wasn't something we had shown, and we needed it at that time.
On the 4th down conversion...
He made a great play because the ball was thrown short of the sticks, and if we don't make that play it's hard to win the game. We still had three timeouts and they would've gotten the ball and maybe we could've stopped them but that was a game-winning play, championship-type play that James (White) made. So he did enough to shake off the tackle and get the first down. it was just a great play. There were a lot of great plays that we did there in the last seven minutes of the game there. It wasn't our best effort, but that's just what happens in these games sometimes.
On how important it is as a leader to play through injuries...
Well everybody's going to try and do different things, and I try to just show up and do my best, and I don't think everybody's feeling great this time of year so just do the best you can do and I'll try to do the same this week.
On what he saw from Darrelle Revis...
He's a great player, he's been a great player for a long time, so I have a lot of respect for him and what his abilities are. I thought he played really well.
On why it felt like such a long week...
Well it's a tough team to prepare for, and there was a lot of time I wish I had spent on the practice field that I was spending getting treatment. So I'd rather have more time to prepare mentally and on the practice field than do what happened, but that's the way it goes. You're not going to practice every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I mean, you'd love to, but it's probably not the reality for most guys in the league. It was Thanksgiving week, kind of a different week in itself, but I had the chance to get out there on Friday and run around a little bit and the coaches put me in.
On whether he hard time getting into a rhythm after some overthrown passes...
I'm going to have to watch the film, but you're right, I wasn't hitting the ones that were there early and we just couldn't make enough plays to stay on the field to put pressure on those guys and we need to do a better job of that. But I can certainly do a better job.
On what the 200-win milestone means to him...
It's a team sport. Individual award and things like that mean that I've been a part of great teams with great coaches and great teammates, and I've had a lot of really great support over the years so hopefully we can keep winning. It never gets old.
DEVIN MCCOURTY, DEFENSIVE BACK
On how it feels after the defense forced multiple turnovers...
It was big. I think I said it during the week. Nothing will help us more than cutting some drives. Like Malcolm [Butler's force fumble], they get a play on the scramble, he punches a ball out, we don't have to see any more of that drive. So, it's huge. They showed to be a big factor today.
On Chris Long's forced fumble to secure the victory...
We knew it was probably going to be a good game. Come down to the last [drive]. When you take the field, it's all on you. Offense did the job, going down scoring. Now it's all on us to get a stop. Chris came through with a big play, a sack fumble—something we've been needing, and he went out there and made the play.
On how physical the game was...
Yeah, it felt like the usual Jets-Patriots game. It's tough. They play hard. We both know each other very well. It was just a hard fought game of will. Who was going to come out and make the last play to win the game? We saw that with our offense driving down and then the big stop at the end.
MARTELLUS BENNETT, TIGHT END
On what this win says about the Patriots...
We've been the same team all year. Wherever we go, we bring the fight with us. I always say, "B.Y.O.E," which is "Bring Your Own Energy." When you come to a place like this, that's something we have to do. We were able to make plays when it counted. We knew it was going to be a tough, hard-fought game. It has been the last seven out of eight games. That's what we expect in the division. No matter what anybody's record is, it's going to be a good fight.
On Malcolm Mitchell coming back from a dropped pass to haul in the game-winning touchdown...
I thought the defensive guy made a good play on that thing. Malcolm Mitchell is an excellent player. He's been working hard every single day. If he gets the opportunity, he's going to make plays, so I'm very proud of him. He's been coming into his own the last couple of weeks. He just comes to work every week.
On finishing the game despite being hurt...
You can never count me out. That's who I am. I'm a blue-collar individual. I like to work and work hard, try to do everything I can. There's a difference between being hurt and injured. Everyone in the NFL this time of the year is hurting. You just got to find a way to fight through it and make plays.
MALCOLM BUTLER, CORNERBACK
On the defense getting two takeaways...
They most definitely paid off. They took away some of the errors that we made. The offense converted those to points, so it turned out pretty well.
On facing the Jets...
It's tough, man. We know each other. We probably don't get along to well, long before I got here. They're a good team when it comes to playing us. They're a good team anyways. Coach (Bill Belichick) said it was going to be a dogfight and that's exactly what it was.
On Tom Brady's toughness...
It's the NFL. You have to play hurt sometimes with bumps and bruises. There are a lot of other people on this team doing it as well. He's tough.
On the defense rising to the occasion...
We've been building. Our day is coming. Today is one of those days. We want to continue to build on it and continue doing the right things to get the ball.
On being a big play defense...
That's the goal every week. To make plays, create turnovers and get the ball to the offense so they can add more points to the board. Like I said once before, we have to continue to build on it and just keep scribing (scoring).
DION LEWIS, RUNNING BACK
On Tom Brady on the last drive...
He knew we had to make plays. It had to happen. It was a situation where we had to score to win and that's what we did. Everybody stepped up and everybody created room and we kept pushing.
On the defense...
Those guys fight every play. They came up big for us today with the big strip-sack at the end. Malcolm (Butler) punched the ball out. We need those plays to win.
On being a part of a milestone win for Brady...
It means a lot. We love Tom. Obviously, everybody loves him. We play hard for him and he works hard. Whenever you have a guy like that, one of the best who's every played the game, you want to play hard and you know he's going to help us win.
MALCOLM MITCHELL, WIDE RECEIVER
On his emotions after not catching a potential touchdown earlier...
We have a team full of great guys who kept me encouraged. I felt miserable after missing the earlier pass. All the guys kept me encouraged and told me we have more time.
On how he got open on the game winning touchdown...
I just ran an out (laughs). At first I thought the ball was going to Julian (Edelman) but I realized he wasn't reaching for it, so I thought I should.
On Darrelle Revis...
Great guy. Phenomenal player. A Hall of Famer.
On scoring the game winning touchdown...
I was just thankful our team got another opportunity after I felt like I messed up an opportunity for us to win the game. Regardless if it was me or someone else, I'm glad the defense gave us an opportunity to win the game.
On if Tom Brady said anything to him after the game...
We all go around and tell everyone "Good job."
On feeling more comfortable in the offense...
That just comes from practice. I try to work as hard as I can to prepare for any opportunity. I never know when they will come, when they do I try to be ready.
On playing with Tom Brady...
I feel blessed. I've felt blessed since I got the call from the Patriots on draft day. I'm happy to be a part of this team.
CHRIS HOGAN, WIDE RECEIVER
On the game-winning drive...
At that point in the game it comes down to a couple of big plays and execution.
On his 25-yard catch on the game winning drive...
I knew it was man-to-man so I had to run a good route and come down with the ball because the safety would be there.
On his incomplete pass to Malcolm Mitchell...
I almost completed it. It was close. We ran it a few times this week in practice. Malcolm did a good job, I just had to put it out there. It was a positive play.
On Tom Brady playing injured...
He's the leader of our offense and a true competitor. Nothing will really keep him out of the game. When you see your leader not at a 100 percent, you just want to play a little harder because of that.
