NEW YORK JETS HEAD COACH JEFF ULBRICH

Postgame press conference
Sunday, October 27, 2024

Q: Just talk about that last series defensively, them driving down, not being able to make a stop.

JU: Yeah, we talk about being at our best when our best is required, and that was not it. That's on coaching, first of all, and then second, we've got to execute, and we did not execute in critical moments. We say that's not who we are, but it's who we are until we demonstrate otherwise.

Q: Are you at a loss right now, just kind of what's going on with this team?

JU: I'm pissed. They're pissed. I'm hurt. They're hurt. We are not executing in critical moments, especially down the stretch right there. We had opportunities to win this game, should have won this game, and we didn't. So give credit to the Patriots; they took advantage of a team that didn't execute as well as they can.

Q: You talked about how you felt like this was the best week of practice you've had in a long time. Do you feel like that translated to the field today?

JU: There were spots where it might have, but just overall it wasn't good enough. We've all got to take a hard look at ourselves, starting with me, and the process, practice, meetings, walk-through, all of it, and make sure everything is right and make sure everything is being done at the highest level because right now, the product that we're putting out there on game day is not the product that's conducive to winning and building a culture that we're trying to establish here.

Q: There was a lot of talk about Davante Adams speaking to the guys after the game last week and put that culture in the right direction. How much of a step back is it to lose in this fashion to a team like this?

JU: Yeah, it hurts, and it's hard. You get the process right and you get the energy right, and when it still doesn't produce the results that you want, it's just not the feedback that you want to give your players, your team, your organization. This was more than energy because I thought the energy was fine. That was not where we fell short. Where we fell short was in the execution, especially in the critical moments of this game. So we've got to get that right. Until that gets right, nothing else really matters.

Q: What happened on the delay on the two-point conversion? What led to it?

JU: We've got to be better from an operations standpoint, just overall, and that's every single player, every single coach. That's Aaron [Rodgers]. That's all of us.

Q: In the first quarter you had to burn three time-outs –

JU: Yeah, same answer.

Q: Is that just guys not knowing where to line up?

JU: We've just got to be better collectively. Every single human being out there has got to be better. Aaron has got to be better. Coaches got to be better. All of us got to be better.

Q: I don't mean this in a rude way, but it's not a young offense up there. There's a lot of veteran players. How do mistakes like that happen when you have such a veteran team, specifically on the offensive side of the ball?

JU: They shouldn't happen, first of all, whether you're veteran, rookie. It doesn't matter. Inexperienced, experienced, doesn't matter. The operation of our offense, it should not do that. Does it happen every once in a while, every couple games, maybe. But to happen as often as it did tonight, it's not good enough, and it's got to get fixed.

Q: Do you regret sticking with Greg Zuerlein?

JU: No, I do not.

Q: Is there anything you would do differently if you could rewind those last few seconds of the game?

JU: I'll take a hard look at the tape and there's probably some calls that I could have adjusted and maybe done some different things, for sure, and there always is, but it's my job to put them in the best position to be successful, and I obviously didn't do that.

Q: Greg Zuerlein obviously missed a number of kicks. Are you committed to him long-term or is it something you're going to look at?

JU: Yeah, we've got to take a hard look at everything that we do, everything. It's not just on Greg, it's on all of us. We'll do that this week.

Q: What was your message to the guys in there?

JU: This is a moment of darkness, and we understand that the outside world is going to get really loud right now. But the only thing I know in life is that when it gets dark and it gets hard, that you work and you point the finger at yourself and you look inward and you figure out what can I do better from an individual standpoint. If we do that collectively, which I believe we will, that's your only opportunity to dig yourself out of this. That's your only opportunity to improve and fix some of these wrongs. That's where we're fortunate, that the character of this locker room, I think they're going to demonstrate who they are.

Q: You haven't had a lot of guys that have been through coming out of darkness. The guys have been through some tough seasons. How challenging is it for them to do it when they don't know what that looks like?

JU: Yeah, there's a part of it that's some blind faith when it comes to that, and understanding that all I can do is work, and you stack enough work up in a productive way that it results in the results that we want. At the same time, we're going to have to lean on some of these veterans that we have in this locker room, some guys that have been through it and some guys that have rebounded. It's going to take every single human being in there, coaches, players, support staff, everybody, to get this thing turned around.

Q: What did you think of the way Haason Reddick played and what happened to C.J. Mosley?

JU: Honestly, it's really hard for me to see exactly what Haason was doing. I'll take a look at the tape and let you guys know. But he was dialed in. He was focused. I felt his energy and I felt all of that, so it'll be interesting to see the tape. C.J. in pregame, he had a neck, so he was unable to play unfortunately.

Q: Do you think maybe – I know you want to keep doing it, but do you feel like maybe trying to be the head coach and also calling the defense, that your responsibilities are just being stretched too thin at this moment?

JU: Like I said, I'll take a hard look at everything, and if that's one of the things that can help us, then it'll definitely be on the table.

QUARTERBACK AARON RODGERS

Postgame press conference
Sunday, October 27, 2024

Q. What are the emotions after a game like that, especially the way it played out and all the talk you guys had this week?

AR: Yeah, frustration for sure.

Q: What were some of the first quarter – with having to use the time-outs, what were some of the issues that were going on?

AR: I'm not exactly sure. On one of them, we were lagging out of the huddle, one I was trying to get the protection right. One I felt like we could have gotten off, but it was fine to take it there. Yeah, our operation was a little slow at times.

Q: There's been other games that are close like today; are you seeing a difference in the first half versus the second half of the game, losing energy?

AR: No, I thought the energy was great today. I thought guys were engaged. I thought we played with some passion. We just execution-wise didn't do enough. Offensively we set our sights on scoring 30, and it was right there for us. We had 2nd and 1, couldn't convert, there's points, missed a field goal, so there we are right there.

Q: I think you discussed the operation and some of the issues, the pre-snap penalties, using the time-outs. I think some of those problems you expect with a young team where you lack the experience. Is it more frustrating that this is happening with a team that collectively on that side of the ball has played a lot of football?

AR: I mean, it's not just – you can't objectively say this is the reason why. There's a lot of – we had some substitution stuff at times. We were laid back in the huddle. Sometimes after a big play, that can be a slow operation. We have shifts and motions on plays after some of those. We were trying to get lined up, trying to get the play off, trying to get the perfect call. There's a lot to look at.

Q. After the first time you played the Patriots, Drake Maye was very excited to get to meet you after the game. Up until he did go out, what were you seeing from him as a rookie quarterback?

AR: I think he was doing a nice job on his feet. He's obviously super athletic. He made a nice run for a touchdown. I don't know what happened to him. But he's been playing good the last couple weeks. It's tough on a rookie quarterback coming in, but it seems like he's getting more comfortable.

Q: I don't think anyone would look at this roster and say it's a 2-6 roster. I'm sure you would agree with that. So what's missing? What isn't happening?

AR: Well, we're not playing complementary football. We haven't put it together really since the last time we won a game where all three phases played really well. Same thing today.

Q: I know you knew this was going to be an undertaking when you came here to the Jets. You talked about changing things, the Lombardi Trophy. But has this even been harder than maybe you expected? You knew it would be challenging, but even harder than that?

AR: That's a little dramatic of a question, even for you. The NFL is hard. It's hard to win. Harder when you make it difficult on yourself. Offensively we can't worry about what else happens. We've got to be efficient. We've got to make the most of the opportunities. Again, there was yards left out there, opportunities left out there. Can't leave it up to – we've got to score touchdowns. Can't leave it up to Greg [Zuerlein] or try and pin it on Greg. We had a lot of opportunities to score 30, to make it a two-score game at times and didn't do it.

Q: On the two-point delay penalty, what happened there?

AR: Well, they start the clock at 20, and we had a shift and a motion, and by the time it came down to it, the defense they were playing wasn't good for the play that was called. I figured let's just move it back to the 7, not that much of a difference. I liked the play that we called, but they brought zero pressure, and I guessed wrong, they guessed right.

Q: You guys kicked a field goal on 4th and 1 from the 11. Did you have much input into that and did you agree with the decision to kick?

AR: I always back Brick [Jeff Ulbrich].

Q: What would your message be to your team at this point?

AR: I'll tell them.

Q: There's a lot of guys on this team that haven't been a part of a lot of success before. Is it hard to keep the belief when guys haven't seen struggles turn into success?

AR: Yeah, I imagine it could be, yeah. Not for me, but I imagine it could be. That's why the guys that have had success got to lead to pull us out of this.

Q: Brick called this a moment of darkness for this team. Is that how you see it, and how do you get out of it? You could just stay in it just as well.

AR: Yeah, I've been in the darkness. You've got to go in there, make peace with it. Offensively, our goal has just got to be to score 30. Doesn't matter what the other two sides are doing. We have trust in our defense and teams, but if we're not scoring 30, we're underachieving. This offense can do that every single week.

ADDITIONAL PLAYERS

Breece Hall, RB

(On the thoughts and emotions of the game)

"Frustrating, another game of shooting ourselves in the foot. Offensively, we have to do a better job of getting in and out of the huddle. We need to let Aaron [Rodgers] be Aaron and give him time to see the defense and make his adjustments. As far as the offense, I have to personally play better. I felt like I left some meat on the bone out there so it is frustrating and this one hurt because we shouldn't be losing this game."

(On the energy at practice this week and in the game)

"I felt like we had spurts of it. You know it just comes down to the little things. Like I said, I felt me personally left some meat on the bone out there and had a few mistakes that cost us some drives. I think I have to do a better job of just helping out the offense, personally I put this one on me. It just sucks and I think I am my biggest critic, so it just doesn't feel good to feel like you're the reason that you lost the game."

(On to keep from derailing the season after being 2-6)

"Just by being a competitor, you know regardless of who we are playing and what their record is. Every time I step on the field I'm going to want to win. It's tough right now but one thing our coaches and my peers is that we pride ourselves on seeking the truth, and telling the truth. We are going to come in tomorrow and watch film, and take the good with the bad, make adjustments and get ready for Thursday."

Quinnen Williams, DL

(On how he would sum this game up)

"It's up there, it is definitely up there. I feel like we had a great week of preparation, a great mindset, and great execution this week and to come out and fall short on the execution on the last drive, especially on defense, is super disappointing. Just because we did have a great preparation, great mindset, and great energy this week with the executing. We definitely have to get back to the table and be critical on ourself and be hard on ourself, and really look in the mirror to see what we can do to turn this thing around."

(On allowing the long quarterback runs)

"There was definitely a difference, especially the last one with [Jacoby] Brissett getting out and getting the big, huge gain. We have to have a rush lane and we have to be disciplined in our rush lanes. We have to execute at a high level knowing that quarterbacks can run, mostly every quarterback in the NFL is super athletic and able to run now so we have to be disciplined of the rush lanes of the defense line, and do better."

(On the team's energy and urgency)

"I think today, we had a lot of energy, but the urgency definitely has to go up. It is the win-now mode and that's all that matters, winning football games. No matter how many losses you got, no matter how many wins you got, you have to win football games to get to the ultimate goal. We have to find a way to win and that's the main thing right now."

Sauce Gardner, CB

(On the five straight losses)

"It's hard to believe. Obviously I'm still stuck on that play [to Kayshon Boutte]. That's a play that can't be made. That's on me, maybe I got to be better. Especially when it comes to knowing our fire-zone coverage. I didn't know he had an issue where he got a leader post to help somebody out with an over route. Maybe I got to be better when it comes to knowing the coverages or something like that."

(On the defense)

"I feel like we have to be better. We started off fast. Individually, I know the one thing I wanted to do better is tackling. I know I had quite a few tackles, and I was just trying to bring the energy. I don't know what happened in the second half. We've got to be better. We're definitely not playing up to our standard."

(On put this behind them for the next game)

"It's a Thursday night game, so it's a quick turnaround, and we've got to put it behind us. It's just something we have to do, and we're more than capable of doing it."

Tyler Conklin, TE

(On his touchdown)

"It was just a play we had in, and I had to find a way to get to a spot in the back of the end zone. It was a high/low with a stick underneath and me getting to the back of the end zone. There's a small window and Aaron [Rodgers] being Aaron, he just zipped that thing in there."

(On the game)

"It really comes down to just shooting ourselves in the foot. Not doing the little things right is probably the easiest way to sum it up. Not executing the little things and not doing the things you have to do as a team to win games like that. It never feels good to lose. I don't think it matters if you have a good game. If you have a bad game individually but you go out there and win you're not really worried about the bad game. I don't think the good or bad matters too much it's if you won or lost as a team."

Isaiah Oliver, S

(On the difference in the game)

"Execution. Execution late in the game. Something that we talk about all the time. Being in a crunch time moment when your best is needed. That's when you need to perform and we didn't do that today. Defensively, I'm speaking. The offense goes down, scores, and gives us the lead. This defense, our standard for ourselves is to get off the field right there and win us the game. That's the standard we hold for ourselves. As far as we're concerned it's on us, on the defense. We didn't execute on the last drive and we lost the game because of it."

(On if the Patriots offense did anything that surprised the Jets defense)

"Not a single thing. Not a single thing. Honestly, we felt they did what we expected them to do gameplan-wise. Even after [Drake] Maye went out and [Jacoby] Brissett came in, we still felt like we had a pretty good idea of what they wanted to do and how they wanted to attack us. I have to see the film to be sure, but from the top of my head, I can't think of anything they did that we didn't expect. It was simply a matter of execution. It's something we talk about in here. The coaches prepared us. It's not on the coaches for us to play better in this aspect, in this game. We felt we had a great week of practice. We knew everything we needed to do, defensively and we went out there and on that last drive there were four or five plays where we did not do what we were supposed to do as a unit and it cost us the game."