JETS HEAD COACH TODD BOWLES

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 25, 2018

On what happened in the second half…

Well, we didn't make the plays. In the first half it was a nip-and-tuck ballgame. We were at it. We let some runs out with the run fits and we didn't make enough plays on offense and we left plays out there.

On why he accepted the penalty to give New England a third-and-12 instead of fourth-and-two in the first quarter…

Third-and-12 are better odds than fourth-and-two and we knew they were going to go for it because they typically do on fourth-and-two. We had a better chance at third-and-12.

On New England's four-play touchdown drive…

That was critical. It was also critical in the fourth quarter when the run got out.

On what led to New England's explosive plays…

Some people trying to do too much and over-jumping their gaps and miss-fits.

On if there was a thought of declining the penalty and giving New England a fourth-and-two instead of a third-and-12…

No, third-and-12 were good odds for us. We've been pretty good at third-and-12. We knew they would have gone for it on fourth-and-two. We figured if we backed them up we had a chance (for them) to kick a field goal and it didn't work out.

On the offensive line's play…

It was up and down, obviously. We didn't score enough points. I'll have to see the film to assess it.

On the offense's run-pass disparity…

They were crowding everybody early. We had some success passing the football. We tried to do some things. It just didn't work out.

On if fighting hard against a good team is encouraging following the Buffalo game…

Well, we're going to fight every week. We fought the Buffalo game. We just didn't play smart. We fought this game and we didn't execute in the second half, so we've got to go back to the drawing board and we've got to finish the ball game.

On if New England blitzed more in the second half…

Nothing more than they normally blitz, no.

On if they played more zone defense than usual…

No, at times we tried to take certain things away according to what they do. At times we played the run to try to take different things away according to what they do.

On why Darryl Roberts played safety…

We wanted an extra cover guy out there. He had been taking some reps there for a while now, and he's more athletic in case we wanted to do something to get into a situation where we didn't have to substitute.

On if there were any injuries…

None to speak of, no. Everybody finished the game.

On how frustrating the five-game losing streak is…

It's frustrating losing one game, nevertheless five.

JETS QUARTERBACK JOSH MCCOWN

Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, November 25, 2018

On why the Jets had issues running the ball, especially in the first half…

I don't know. Those are hard to say until you can look at the tape and see where we weren't hitting it. It's hard to comment on, so we'll see afterwards.

On what the Patriots' biggest adjustment made in the second half was...

For the most part, I think we started moving the ball in the passing game a little bit and they played a little bit more coverage, which did allow us to get some runs in the second half. I think that was the main thing — just coverage, and then they mixed up their pressures there at the end.

On how difficult this is for the team to go through a five-game losing streak…

Yeah, it sucks. Obviously, it is not ideal. I think, individually, it's a test — it tests who you are and what you're about, and your ability to get back up (and) come back to work, work hard, be a professional. Those things are tested in these times, and when you find yourself in this situation (that) you don't desire to be there, I think the good in it is that you are tested and you can see what you're really about. So in this tough moment, it is about the guys sticking together, each man, and continuing to fight and work hard and be a pro. When you are in this situation, that is all you can do.

On how he hurt his thumb in the first half…

Yeah, I don't know. I hit it on a helmet and it was bleeding, so we fixed it up, and we'll see.

On if his thumb ever impacted him during the game…

No.

On his thumb…

I don't know if I am supposed to talk about injuries, so we'll leave that for later.

On what worked for the Jets during their first scoring drive…

Well, we had some good mixes (of) run and pass, got some completions, and I think the O-line did a great job giving us time. The touchdown to (Jermaine) Kearse, we bought a little extra time and got him in kind of the third window of that route, but he did a good job of staying alive and fighting his way into the end zone.

On the biggest difference in the Jets offensive line today as opposed to the last game versus Buffalo…

The game plan obviously helped them, and each week is a new week. We had some different parts in there, with Spencer (Long) having to step in there, and you never know how it's going to go from week to week but I think, for the most part — again, I have to look at the tape — but they fought hard and played tough today.

On what happened during his interception…

They gave us quarters coverage, and it was kind of what we wanted to try to get a big one down there to Robby (Anderson). We had some pressure up the middle, and (I) didn't quite get as much on it as I would have liked and really to have a chance to kind of see it a little bit better, but there's times when you just have to trust what you see in the coverage to try to get one down there and let Robby get up (and) make a play on it, and just didn't get that done, and it's on me.

On why the Jets didn't run the ball more against a Patriots team that had given up a lot of rushing yards to the Titans…

Well, the game kind of takes different turns. As it unfolds, if some of the stuff in the pass game is working, that's the direction we go. We got to it in the second half a little bit more, got some good runs and we'll look at if there's anything we could've done better or different.

On the progress Chris Herndon continues to make…

Each week he gets better, and that is huge for these rookies, especially, moving forward. I'm just proud of him, and it is reflective of how he works. The guy comes in every single day, is serious about his job, detailed about his job, and then it shows up when he steps out onto the field on Sunday. That's exciting for his future, and he is laying a great groundwork for himself of how he is going to have a long professional career because of how he (approaches) his job.

On if the Jets as a team had a better response to the challenge at hand today as opposed to last game versus Buffalo…

I think so. Every man competed, and obviously we didn't play as clean as we would have liked, but up until the last tick on the clock we competed hard, and I think that was much better, obviously, than last week.

On if the offense feels like they are searching for answers at times, or if they feel as though they know the answers and just can't solve the problems at hand…

No, I think obviously when you are not scoring you are always searching to try to figure that out. I think if you had the answers, then you would apply those and score the football, so yeah — the coaches work their tails off to try to put their best plan possible together to give us an opportunity to score. It is on us to go in there and execute it, get the ball down there and put the ball in the end zone. We had some shots there toward the end of this last drive and didn't get it in, so we have to execute better, and that is just part of the growth that has to take place for this team.

On the good things the Jets did with their passing attack today…

Yeah, it was good to see Jermaine get going and just to kind of move the ball around. I do think you are able to grow off of that, for sure, and continue to improve the passing game and hopefully continue to build a balanced offense.

PLAYERS IN THE LOCKER ROOM

WIDE RECEIVER QUINCY ENUNWA

On the team fighting hard the entire game...

We're always going to fight, it's going to be what we're going to be until the end of the season, no matter what the record is, no matter what the score is. It's unfortunate. We lose two weeks ago, but we came back and put up a better effort this week. Just had some mistakes and in this game with the Patriots they tend to make mistakes, but they tend to capitalize off of other people's mistakes and we didn't do a good job capitalizing off of theirs. 

On the adjustments the Patriots made in the second half...

They had some double teams, they did a good job double teaming, but I think we just didn't execute. The plays were there. The plays that we needed were there, we just didn't execute. 

On the level of frustration in the locker room right now...

I can't speak for the room. I think for myself, I'm frustrated. It's frustrating. You put your all in this game and the results don't come out the way you want them too, but I still believe in my brothers, still believe in the guys, there's no reason not to. We fight, that's something I'm proud of them for. I wish we all collectively did a better job of finishing those games and executing the game plan. 

WIDE RECEIVER JERMAINE KEARSE

On what the Patriots did differently in the second half...

I just felt like they made more plays in the second half. I don't think they necessarily did anything much different. Maybe some slight adjustments, but at the end of the day they just made more of a punch.

On his message to the team during this time...

I know this can be frustrating for everybody. You just have to keep grinding. It's really easy to just duck your head and not believe in yourself anymore but you just have to keep believing, keep having the confidence and try to see what we can do in these last five games.

On how they felt going into the second half...

We felt good about the first half and what we were able to accomplish. The second half didn't go exactly the way we wanted to, but we just have to keep pushing and look at the film and see where we can get better.

On why the offense did not perform as well in the second half...

We just have to be more consistent. I think that is the biggest thing. Just being consistent on drives, converting on third down, not having penalties that set us back. The small details. That's what it comes down to when winning in the NFL. Who's going to do the small details the best.

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN LEONARD WILLIAMS

On what the message to the team and the fan base is heading into December...

Someone just broke down the huddle and said this is a time where a lot of people typically start to go their separate ways and spread apart as a team. As far as us, this is a time where we're going to want to step it up, come together and stay together as a team. It's only a few games left and I think we just have to close them out. 

On why this defense hasn't been able to come up with the key stops…

I'm not sure, like I said it's just a matter of executing. Every time we watch film we're always like, 'Oh guys are playing fast, guys are hitting hard, guys have that want too and desire, you can tell in the way that they play.' But then it's just like instead of being in the "A" gap (they're in) the "B" gap-type of thing. Instead of having that high motor and high energy over there, do it where you are supposed to. It's just like guys are just not where they're supposed to be.

On how frustrating it is when you feel the momentum changing and then you can't get that stop...

It's really frustrating because we see a lot of times and it's happened with us last year with we've seen it all the time, we've seen it on film that the Patriots, do a really good job of scoring before halftime, they do a really good job of scoring in two minutes and this time it was us who had the momentum going into the half and score before the half. It was a big challenge for the defense to come out and get a three and out or a stop and we just didn't do that. So, it's really frustrating, we felt the momentum, I don't know, it sucks.