HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK

PRESS CONFERENCE
October 18, 2021

On the third-and-25 play to set up the Cowboys' game-tying field goal:

BB: It was a good throw and a good catch. Coverage was pretty good, but [Dak] Prescott made a good throw. [Ceedee] Lamb made a good catch.

On if the team had a seventh defensive back available for the third-and-25 play and if he was happy with the play call in that situation:

BB: Yeah. That's what we had planned on.

On what went into the decision to take a knee at the end of the first half instead of trying to go score:

BB: Yeah. Same answer I gave last night, Mike [Reiss]. Nothing's changed.

On the decision to take a knee at the end of the first half given the team's history of often trying to score in those situations:

BB: Sure. Every game is different.

On why they were not more aggressive at the end of the first half:

BB: Because we were going to get the ball in the second half. We went back and wanted to get settled in on the second half at halftime. Same thing I said last night.

*On why the team went away from offensive packages with bigger players:                                                                                                               *

BB: Well, when you go into the game with an alternative group, like the big people, it's not like you go in there with like 25 plays. Sometimes the shelf life on that doesn't last forever. I don't think you can just keep bringing it in and running the same play five times in a row in this league.

On how the tight ends have adapted to what has been asked of them this season:

BB: I think everybody has done a good job of handling the game plans and the multiple formations and groupings. I don't think that's been a problem.

On the decision to put Mike Onwenu and Isaiah Wynn in midway through the game after not starting:

BB: It's a little bit of an unusual situation there. We had two starting linemen that, Mike [Onwenu] missed some time and then came back at the end of the week, and then Isaiah [Wynn] wasn't back until Saturday, so we were juggling some things on the offensive line. We did what we felt was best during the game.

On Mike Onwenu's performance at right tackle:

BB: Well Mike's one of our best offensive linemen. I thought he stepped in there, and we did what we felt was best for us in that game. I thought he gave us great effort.

On what the Cowboys did to block the punt in the second quarter:

BB: It was just a force.

On if there was a communication or blocking miscue on the blocked punt:

BB: Obviously, we missed an assignment, but it wasn't even a full-out block. It was a force.

On if fatigue was an issue for the defense last night:

BB: Any time you play 91 plays, I don't think that's the same as playing 55 plays, but I wouldn't say that was, I mean, they [the Cowboys] played them, too, so I thought it was competitive.

On trying to blitz the Cowboys towards the end of the game:

BB: We mix those calls in all day. I don't think you just want to sit in one thing against the Cowboys all day. I don't think that's really a good idea.

On if he considered challenging the spot on the play before the blocked punt in the second quarter:

BB: No. I didn't think that we had it. Those are hard plays to challenge out on the field. When there's no line involved, it's pretty unusual to see those overturned. I didn't get a good enough look quickly enough. Maybe you saw it better than we did. I don't know.