HEAD COACH BRIAN DABOLL

Postgame Press Conference
Thursday, August 11, 2022

BD: It was competitive. The guys played competitive. I thought the organization on the sideline was good. Didn't have any wasted timeouts on substitution errors or getting calls in late. Lost a timeout there on the challenge, so that was my first one, and I lost that one. But some good, some bad. A big week for us this week coming up. I liked how they competed. I liked how physical they played. Certainly there's a lot of areas to clean up, and that's what we'll try to do after we watch the tape. As far as injuries, only two that I got in Lemieux right now and Jamil. Then I'll get updated here on the train ride home.

Q: Lemieux was in a walking boot afterwards. Is that long-term concerning?

BD: I'm going to meet with Ronny and those guys on the way back. Hope not.

Q: Brian, what did you think of how Daniel and the first team – you had him in for two series. How do you think they did?

BD: Yeah, there was some good and some things we could have back. What was he? 6 of 10. We threw a couple of vertical plays there. They had a couple of free runners relative to the protection, but I thought he operated the offense well. He let them down on the first drive. We stalled there in the Red Zone. Good first start, but certainly things to clean up.

Q: He went back in for the second series. What made you decide to give him that rather than just pulling after the one?

BD: I was going to play him the first quarter. That was the plan. I kind of stay true to plan, and then we played with Tyrod the second quarter, and Davis the last two. So, in terms of the play time, most of it stuck true to what we talked about before the game. There were things we had to adjust here or there based on a guy coming out, but I thought the coaches did a really good job. They were organized with that and just keep on grinding away.

Q: Brian, Aaron Robinson had a pretty eventful night. Made some good plays, and even on the one where he made the good play, he had the taunting penalty. What did you make of the kind of uneven night that he had for a young guy?

BD: I thought he competed well. You are playing corner. You are playing a lot of man-to-man. In the preseason gets a good evaluation, and I thought he competed. We'll learn from that penalty that we had down there, but I thought he competed.

Q: Do you expect teams to attack him a little bit more than maybe Adoree' on the other side? He is probably a little more of a proven commodity.

BD: I don't know. Every team has their own philosophy offensively. I don't want to speak for other teams. I think we to have to be ready to defend all areas of the field on defense, perimeter, inside, and the running game. That's why we play defense. I mean, I don't want to speak for any other teams.

Q: You mentioned that you thought the operation was good. How about your operation as far as just knowing where to go and what to do and covering your responsibilities?

BD: Yeah. I lost the challenge. I was upset about that. That was my first one. I just thought the coaches did a good job in their respect. I think Wink had his staff really organized. Kafka did a really good job. I think he communicated well throughout the game. Again, we're not making a ton of adjustments here. I was pleased with that. Again, pleased with the substitutions. It's our first step. I'm pleased with the way they competed, but we'll go back and watch the tape and learn from it and try to get better.

Q: We talk a lot about Mike Kafka calling the plays. Was it strange for you to not call the plays after so many years of doing it?

BD: Yeah. Yeah. I tell you when it was strange was before the game and the night before. You're going through so many things in your head and thinking about situations. Whether it's the preseason, regular season, or the playoff game, whatever it may be. You know, it's a tough job to call plays, and you have to really put a lot of time and effort and energy into it, and Mike has done a good job with it. Again, it's his first game. Certainly there's no game-planning going on, but, again, the operation of calling it, getting it in quick to the quarterback, giving little reminders. I thought he did a good job.

Q: Was he upstairs?

BD: He was.

Q: Was that a change from what you were going to do?

BD: No. No. I thought about it. I thought that was the best spot. I called the plays upstairs. We'll see what we do this week against Cincinnati. I'll talk about it with Mike before I get to you guys, but it was a good operation.

Q: What do you think of your depth at offensive line and corner, especially with some guys going down?

BD: I always think you can use as much depth as you can get, but those guys that came in relatively new too up front really did a good job. I thought Bobby Johnson had them prepared just learning calls and communicating with one another. Then the same thing, you can never have too many corners, as one old coach said. The guys that competed and were out there playing, I thought they did a good job.

Q: It looked like Bredeson had a pretty good night just overall.

BD: Yeah.

Q. He is a guy you watch in practice. Doesn't always look like it's going well, but then the lights go on tonight and looked like he really performed well with what you were asking of him.

BD: Yeah, I think he has had a good camp. He has been flexible for us inside and snapping and also playing guard. He is smart, tough, dependable. Again, I have to go back and watch all the tape, but boy, is he competitive on the sideline too. Tells you what he sees. Good communicator. He is a good player for us.

Q: Was Andrew on just a slightly lower pitch count than the other guys or --

BD: Yeah, Andrew was going to get one series. So Andrew got one series, and Bark on offense got one series, and then they were out.

Q: Kadarius did not make the trip, correct?

BD: No. Everybody that was injured or working rehabbing, whatever it may be, that weren't able to play, they were going to stay home and rehab with the trainers and try to get those guys up to speed the best we can so we can be ready to go in our next game.

Q: Do you expect him on the field this week, Kadarius?

BD: I hope so. I think he is working hard. Again, everything we do, we talk about and try to do what's best for the players, so we'll see. They've had a couple of days here, yesterday, today, tomorrow, and recover and see where we're at.

Q: Did he tweak something new in that practice? We saw him limping. Is this more than just the recovery from his knee?

BD: With all due respect, I'm just not going to get into the specifics of it really with anybody. He is working back. We'll see where he is at when we get back.

Q: Leonard is an injury thing, not like a personal reason?

BD: All those guys we left back were for reasons that we thought rehabbing, being in the training room, would serve them better than being here. If they were here, they would have played.

Q: Do you think the team got a charge out of Sandro Platzgummer getting in and factoring in there?

BD: Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. We were down there towards the end of the game, and there were some guys that hadn't played yet, so I wanted to make sure that everybody that came on the trip had an opportunity to play. That's not the easiest situation either when they're trying to rip at the ball, and you're not loose, and you warmed up. He is such a good young man. I was happy for him. I think his teammates were too.

Q: What about Roy Mbaeteka? He is obviously in the same boat.

BD: He did the same thing.

Q: For a guy to be where he is at, Bobby talked about it the other day, what is your impression?

BD: Just impressed. I can't imagine coming to a different place and playing a sport you haven't really played all your life. The communication, I mean, where to put your knee pads, how to turn them. There are so many things that you just take for granted. He is such a good young person. He is physically talented, and we're working with him every day to help him learn this game the best we can.

QUARTERBACK DANIEL JONES

Postgame Press Conference
Thursday, August 11, 2022

(On what the team needs to work on in the pre-season)

"I think it's continuing what we have been working on. It's sharpening up the details and obviously in the pre- season, you are pretty basic with your game plan and with what you are calling. We need to continue to evolve and progress the offense as we roll out more stuff and detail it out. Like I said, I thought it was a good start."

(On working with Collin Johnson)

"He has been moving around a lot and he is good player. He brings a lot to the table with his size and route-running ability. He played well tonight and he has played big for us all camp. We will keep working with him."

(On getting Coach Kafka calling the offense)

"I thought he did a great job. He put us in some good situations and we moved the ball well. I thought he did a great job."

(On taking some hits in the game)

"It felt good to get out there and it was just like it used to be. That's football right? That's football and I felt good out there. I didn't think a whole lot about the neck or anything like that. I felt good and it was just football."

(On how the offense ran operationally)

"I thought it was good and I thought it was clean. We moved the ball and converted some third downs. The second drive we got in a tough situation with third and long, but I thought it was clean just from an operational standpoint. There were certainly some plays we can look at and do better and clean up, but overall I thought it was good."

Saquon Barkley, RB

(On the offense) 

"I think there was good and bad. We have to go back and watch film and learn from it. But that's what preseason is for, to try to sharpen up the tools, sharpen up the game. Whatever we didn't execute well, we have to make sure we do it in practice."

(On how he personally felt) 

"I felt good. I think our offensive line did a great job. We were able to move the ball. I was able to get a catch on a third and five to keep the sticks moving. It was a great throw by DJ [Daniel Jones] great read by DJ. My body just feels really good. So like I said, taking it one day at a time and improve off this."

(On getting into a rhythm with the blocking schemes of the offense) 

"I think we've been doing a great job, not only in the game but in practice. I think the offensive line has been doing a great job, and the running backs have been getting downfield. That's where you got to get it at in practice."

Darrian Beavers, ILB

(On the defensive scheme) 

"It was really vanilla, it was just really basic. Just to see the guys flying around doing the best they can. I feel they kept it basic so we could be able to fly around."

(On the feeling of playing in the league for the first time) 

"You want to see how you compete against other guys in the league. So when it comes down to it, you're just playing football. So I just feel like you don't have to think about those things. You just have to think about playing football. Doing your job and trying to make plays when the plays come."

Kayvon Thibodeaux, LB

(On the game)

"I was using my moves and really putting everything I have been working on and making it happen in the game."

(On playing a limited amount in the preseason)

"I didn't really know how much I was going to play. They told us a little bit, but didn't tell us what exactly we were going to play. For me it was a little bit. I mean I was sad when it was my time to stop, actually I was really pissed. But you know. I mean I tried, but they told me I was done, and I said, 'for this snap, for this drive?" and he [Coach] said, 'no for the game.'"

C.J. Board, WR

(On his performance)

"I thought I was okay. I have things to improve on. There were a couple returns I wish I could have had back. I could have made something happen. But we got the win."

(On winning on a last-second field goal)

"It's awesome, it's awesome. It is good, those guys out there, our offense, made great plays. We were able to kick it and win. That's the goal, to always win. That is our main goal."

Jihad Ward, LB

(On supporting his teammates)

"It's all good, I still feel I am into the game, just chilling and supporting the other guys. That is what it is all about. Make sure everybody comes together as one. Give a lot of support out there and everybody gets comfortable. For some, it is their first NFL game so we want to make them nice and warm and comfortable. All the things we do in practice we try to just do in the game. Sometimes guys ask, 'how am I looking on pass rush' when they come out and it is fundamental stuff, so I am just glad to be out there supporting them."

(On winning)

"I don't care if it is a preseason game, we treat every game as a game. It's a mindset. We humble ourselves and game day is game day. I don't care if we play first string, second string or fourth string, it doesn't matter. We do what we've got to do. I'm extra excited. Offseason was kind of boring for me so I am just glad to be back."

Jamie Gillan, P

(On the winning kick and Graham Gano)

"It was great, yeah, it was great. Graham has been automatic so it makes it easy. A great team win, everyone did their job. It's back to the drawing board tomorrow. We will lift some weights, watch some film, improve and then on to next week."