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Head Coach Chuck Pagano**
Opening statement:
"Okay, from an injury standpoint, Dwayne Allen went out with a mild ankle, did not return. He'll be evaluated, get an MRI and we'll know more in the days to come. Ahmad Bradshaw went out with a lower leg and he'll be evaluated as well, get an MRI. Obviously very disappointed, not acceptable by any means. Felt like we would play better than we did, but any time you give up the rushing yards that we gave up and can't get off the field on third down, and they go five-for-five in the red area, again, credit them, they played well and they beat us soundly. Offense and defense, we couldn't generate any kind of run game. We threw the ball, made some big plays here and there. There were some bright spots, Coby (Fleener) made some big plays. We didn't have an answer on defense. Everything's still out there for this ball club. We're 6-4. We control our own destiny. Like always, we'll look at this tape tomorrow, make the corrections, but we've got to get better. We've got to get better at the line of scrimmage. We've got to be able to run the ball and stop the run, all those types of things. Then we've got to move on, we've got to get past this one in a hurry, get ready for Jacksonville."
Were you more surprised by how ineffective you were against the run or running the ball?
"We felt like going in that we could, we knew we had to run it and stop it, and we did neither. We had 14 yards rushing at half and they had 143. I think they finished with at least 250 on the ground. Any time that happens, you're going to get beat like we got beat today."
You had some opportunities in the first half, but you weren't really able to convert. How much did that hurt this team tonight?
"Absolutely. When those opportunities present themselves, you've got to take advantage. We made a play there towards the end of the first half and found a way to make it a 14-10 ball game. Right there, as bad as we had played, you're still in a four-point game. You get some things ironed out and find a way to get a couple stops here or there, get a red zone stop. They just outplayed us. That's not us. We're going to get it fixed. Again, it's unacceptable but we've got to get over this in a hurry, find a way. Special teams, including our special teams again, they covered. They did a phenomenal job. I don't know what the field position deal was, but those guys ran hard and made plays. Kickers kicked well, Adam (Vinatieri) played well and punter was still good, coverage was good. We've got to go to work and try to find a way to run the ball and stop the run."
Can you assess your quarterback play?
"I'd hate to blurt something out at this point without seeing the tape. Again, he made some great throws, some big plays and some good catches, things like that, but obviously didn't make enough. We didn't do enough defensively obviously to slow them down at all."
How tough is it to play from behind against a team like New England?
"They're a great organization, they're a great football team. When you get behind and they make you one-dimensional, it's extremely difficult. We just couldn't come up with any answers. Again, we're going to go back and look at the tape and try to figure out exactly what went wrong as far as stopping the run and playing better in the red area and those type of things, but again, when they average over six yards a carry, I don't care who it is, especially the Patriots, it's going to be really hard to play catch up and win a football game."
Safety Mike Adams
What can you take away from tonight?
"Stop the run. Don't let them be two-dimensional. They were successful in the run and pass. Taking nothing away from Tom Brady, he threw some dimes. He threw some balls where our cornerbacks couldn't get to it and we didn't stop the run, especially on first down which makes it a short third down. It was like third-and-two, third-and-three, like six or seven times. We can't put ourselves in that hole."
How do you mentally move on from this game and mentally stay fresh?
"Mentally, we didn't get beat down. In this game, the best part about it is that we got next week. We got next week to recover. It's no quit in us. I'm not angry or nothing. I'm upset that we lost, I'm frustrated. Because I thought we should have won. I was hoping that we were going to win this game as did everybody, but it didn't happen. It doesn't stop here. We're going to move on to next week, I don't even know who we got, I don't care who we have, but we're going to show up. We have to show up."
How stunning are the numbers, 199 yards for Jonas Gray running?
"He had 199? I think that's the most all year that we've given up. That's tough, that's tough, it's hard to beat a team if you can't stop the run. If you can't stop the run, it opens up the pass and Tom Brady, like I said before, he was throwing dimes. We have to get better. We have to get better stopping the run. Not just our front seven, everybody. All 11 players, we got to swarm to the ball. We can't let teams do that to us, we just can't."
You had a couple of interceptions. Hoping that could have been more significant to the outcome of this game?
"Absolutely, now it doesn't mean anything, just a stat for me which I really don't care about. I'd rather have a "W" with no tackles and no picks anyway, especially given the implications and importance of this game. We all knew Denver lost. We all saw that so in the back of our head, I can't speak for everybody else, but I knew we needed this. We needed it bad, but we're not out, we're not down and out. We're just going to keep grinding and get back to work."
Tight End Coby Fleener
You seem to be getting more touches and getting more involved with the offense. Why do you think that is?
"Well, I think tonight specifically, their game plan was to take away some of the best wide receivers in the NFL right now and that's T.Y. (Hilton), Reggie (Wayne) and Hakeem (Nicks). Fortunately, we have an offensive line and quarterback that can make plays and we kind of understand that some nights some guys are going to be more productive than others because that's how it goes and depending on the defensive scheme it'll come out."
How costly was it not turning a turnover into points over the course of the game?
"Any time you go down into the red zone, you want to come out with a touchdown. That's why they call it settling for three. Fortunately, we have an awesome kicker who's doing a great job this year and throughout his whole career, but we'd like to come out with seven when we get down there in the red zone."
How much did you feel you had to step up once Dwayne Allen got hurt?
"I don't think it was Dwayne's injury. They wanted to take away T.Y. (Hilton) and Reggie (Wayne) and we understand that some teams are going to want to do that. Sometimes they're going to want to take away the run game and fortunately, we have guys all over who are willing to kind of show up here and there a little bit more."
Inside Linebacker D'Qwell Jackson
Getting hit with 250 on the ground is not the way to win a football game, is it?
"Not at all. I don't know what to call that performance from a defensive standpoint. I thought our offense drove the ball down the field. They were able to create points, special teams did what they had to do and defensively, we didn't do anything versus the run. We couldn't stop it. It was a horrible performance from the defense. This one definitely stings, but I'm more than confident we're going to come in tomorrow, watch it, grade it and do whatever we got to do to fix this problem because for us to get to where we want to go, we got to correct those things."
This is a game that meant a lot in the long run, didn't it?
"Right now, for us, it was a huge game because it was the next one for us and we knew it was an AFC opponent that we may see down the line, but you can't let yourself get too caught up in what could potentially happen so we want to come out, do our job and take care of business at home, but we didn't do it from a defensive standpoint. I thought from the other two phases, they played well. Defensively, we got to do a better job. It's just that simple."
Defensive Tackle Ricky Jean Francois
Giving up 250 on the ground, that's not the recipe for success for a defense, is it ?
"Not a recipe but it's not Colts football. We aren't supposed to give up 250 yards you say? 250 yards to a good team even though that is a great team with a great quarterback and a Hall of Fame coach too. That was not Colts football today, it's like the communication wasn't there. That click just wasn't there today, I can say that we will remember this feeling from this team."
There is some significance in the long run and big picture once you get there.
"It is but we can't worry about that, we can only worry about the next game that we have. We will let all that play out come January and you don't know what can happen, we have to keep taking care of the teams we have in front of us and we have to see where the chips fall."
Quarterback Andrew Luck
Playing without a running game, what's it do to you guys?
"Yeah, they forced us to be one-dimensional. It's tough. It's tough sledding. We know that going into the game. We just couldn't keep it close enough to have a fighting chance at the end. They certainly pulled away from us. They beat us fair and square tonight. They were the better team tonight."
Do you feel like this is the toughest challenge your offense has faced so far this season?
"Yes, tough challenge. I haven't sat there and thought about it if this was the toughest or not, but it was obviously a tough challenge. They did a good job of holding us down and not letting us get points on the board."
Were the deep shots down field just not there tonight because of their coverage?
"Yeah, I think they did a good job, obviously better than us. We hit a couple of those chunk plays, but not nearly enough to sort of keep momentum and convert some big third downs. An interception always hurts you versus the Patriots too in the red zone. A lot we need to clean up and a lot of work to do as an offense to improve on this performance."
Was not having Dwayne Allen out there a big adjustment for your offense?
"It obviously changes things personnel-wise. It's part of football, and if any team knows that, it's this team. You've just got to keep chugging along. I think guys stepped up in his place with (Coby Fleener) and Jack Doyle, some linemen coming in and go in and did a heck of a job."
When you look back at this one, will you look back at all the missed opportunities?
"Yeah, I think so. I think that'll be a theme that we'll take from this game. You've got to score touchdowns in the red zone. When those early opportunities are there, you can't waste them."
Should we look at this Colts team differently now in your opinion?
"To be honest, it really doesn't matter how you folks look at this team. To us, what matters is we lost a game, we've got to fix what we did wrong and go out and try and win our next one because that's the biggest one now. Thankful this is not the last game of the season. We'd truly be sick to our stomachs, very sick to our stomachs. We've got a lot to improve."