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Postgame Quotes 1/3: Coach Joe Judge, QB Daniel Jones, DL Leonard Williams, WR Sterling Shepard, DB Logan Ryan, RB Wayne Gallman

Head Coach Joe Judge

Opening Statement: I'm proud of the players and the way they played tonight. They've had a good year, we've improved every game. I'm proud of the way they came out here and fought for 60 minutes. We knew it was going to be a game that came down to the wire, as all of our division games do. I'm proud of the way they played, the way they blocked out a lot of external factors and stuck together as a team moving forward. 

Q: Do you have any Eagles gear hanging around? What will tonight be like for you?

A: To be honest with you, I'm going to go back to the office and start watching Tampa (Bay Buccaneers). I'll have the game on in the background, and we'll see what happens tonight. 

Q: With the (Wayne) Gallman fumble, what did you see on the screen, and what were you being told by the officials?

A: We couldn't see anything on the screen. What we were relying on there was the fact that they had signaled a first down, and at that point it's got to be an obvious clear recovery to overturn that. We were in limbo in terms of what was going on with the review, they were looking more at the spot. We're talking through a lot of scenarios. I'm talking to Pat (Graham) on the headset if the defense has to go back out there, I'm talking to the offense in terms of them expecting to use their timeout, it'll give them one timeout left, and we're in victory formation, just talking through all the scenarios there. It looked like when Wayne (Gallman) went down, I still haven't seen a clean replay of it, it seemed like he recovered right away between his legs. That's what I saw from the sidelines, I don't know if that was the absolute end of it. I just know they signaled first down, so we got our offense back on the field. 

Q: On a similar play, the catch by (Dante) Pettis before the field goal, replay showed that was an incompletion, were you surprised it wasn't challenged?

A: We didn't get anything from up top, indicating from our guys looking at it from a different view that it was a challenge-able type of play. We got the field goal team out there and just executed. If they rule incomplete, we may play that situation differently. We wouldn't have been in field goal range at that point, so we would have had to make a decision to go for it or probably punt. 

Q: What did you say to your team about the idea that you guys can still win the division?

A: My words for the team at the end of the day was how proud I was that they kept playing. What they've been able to do, sticking together as a team, all the progress we've made. And ultimately, whatever happens tonight, just be ready to come into work tomorrow and do whatever we have to do. Make the right decisions tonight, make sure we're prepared that if something goes our way, that we're ready to go ahead and play next week. But we'll let tonight take care of itself. We had opportunities for 16 weeks. We came in today, it was a meaningful game, put us in position to have a chance, our guys went out and took care of business, so we'll see what happens in the other game. 

Q: How much does it tell you about this team that you were able to play well in an elimination-style game?

A: It shows we've had a lot of growth as a team throughout the year. In terms of their wherewithal and fortitude, I think it showed throughout the entire year. I keep saying this, I found out a lot more about our team when we were 0-5 and 1-7 than I did down the stretch. I think that showed what kind of team and culture and foundation we built here, the foundational pieces we have here going forward. The way these guys came to work every single day, never complained, never questioned, just came in and went to work. Again, there were times early in this season where you're 0-5 and 1-7 and the sound on the outside may be, "How are these guys going to hold up?" "How are they going to do?" "At what point is everyone going to start questioning around?" The reality was, they were probably our best practices. We had to learn to practice better as a team and be better at executing, but in terms of showing up every day to work and getting the most out of our guys in terms of energy and buy in, those were the weeks we made the most progress as a team. The thing was we could show them tape on Monday, correct the mistakes and let them understand what we have to do better to win games, and until we stop losing games, we can't win them. Those guys understood that and kept coming to work every single day. We learned a lot about ourselves in first half of the year, and that carried us through the back half to have a lot more success. 

Q: What'd you think of your defense and specifically the pressure you guys put on them today?

A: I thought they did a nice job overall. Obviously, they're an explosive offense, capable of scoring a lot of points. I thought Andy (Dalton) did a real good job playing today. He gave us a headache, pulling the ball down and creating extra yards when he saw a lane. When he pulled it late in the red zone to get the first down, that was a big play. He's a smart quarterback, a tough quarterback, he's an experienced guy. We knew he was going to make plays throughout the day, our concern was really not letting these guys make explosive plays with the ball in their hands. We knew he was going to distribute it around, find some holes in zones, and hit some matchups in man-to-man at times. We just had to do a good job tackling. There were some times where we could've done better tackling, executing as a team, but down the stretch, guys made some plays.

Q: How important was this game after the three-game skid? And also, beating the Cowboys after a seven-game losing streak to them as an organization. Did anyone say anything to you about finally beating them?

A: No, we made this about one game at a time. The last three games before today weren't the results we wanted, but we turn the page every week, and we're truly trying to go 1-0 every week and keep our focus centered on that week's opponent. Learn from last week's mistakes and put our focus on the team we have to play on Sunday and play our best game. In terms of anything that's happened here before, we have a great respect for the history of our organization, the players, the coaches, the stories, the games. That's a focus we put on, we put a priority on our players understanding what's happened before them here. But in terms of worrying about losing streaks, real simple: those were different teams. To be quite honest, next year's team will be a different team, as well. It doesn't matter if it's the same players, it's a different team, it's a different year. All that matters is what you do each week, independently, against that opponent, and how you play. There's no curse hanging over, there's no seven-game losing streak for us, we just knew this team earlier in the year played Dallas, we left plays on the field, and we had things we had to clean up and correct, and we were able to do that enough today to have success.  

Q: Did anyone from the organization since the game ended express to you how much they like to beat Dallas?

A: There were a lot of smiles and socially distanced hugs in the locker room after the game. I think everyone at this point has gone through a lot, starting in the Spring with zoom meetings, you push on forward to an unconventional training camp. These guys did a great job responding to what we asked them to do. Along the way, it was the upper management, the scouting department, the ownership, the trainers, the equipment staff. It was everybody in that building working with one vision, one direction. The culmination in what we did today, everyone was happy. The focus isn't on what may or may not happen tonight, the focus is on our goal this week was to beat Dallas, and that's what we did. 

Q: What is your perspective on the third down play where Leonard (Williams) got some pressure and the ball was up in the air? Do you see (Xavier) McKinney in position?

A: I knew we were going to have help in that part of the field because of the defense that was called. We saw the pressure that Leonard gave on it. When (Andy Dalton) threw it, and it floated, at that point in the game the balls were very slick, you saw some drops at that point. In the second half, that's when the moisture started. By the backend of the fourth quarter, that's when it started affecting receivers across the board. When you saw that ball go up there and flutter, immediately my eyes went to the back, I saw Xavier there in position, he was able to make the play and catch it. My next thought was stay in the damn endzone. We stressed that enough in that situation how to play it out. There's times when we give them the green light to run it out. But those guys are a smart group, they play well together. He was able to make the right play situationally.

Q: Sterling Shepard scored two touchdowns in this game, probably his best game this season. What'd you think of him here in your biggest game of the season?

A: In every game, we count on all of our players to give us production. Sterling is a guy that comes to work every day. We knew he's going to be a focal point in the offense. He's definitely a very competitive guy. He was very banged up this week, pushed through for practice, you saw him as limited for practice. I'd say he was limited, but he really was grinding through a lot of pain throughout the week. But when it gets to gameday, he's going to give you plays, he's going to give you production. He's a guy we missed a lot earlier in the season when he was hurt. We were happy to get him back, not only for his plays on the field but also what he brings to our team in the locker room with his leadership throughout the game. He plays tough, he plays downhill, he plays strong. Our guys have a lot of confidence with him on the field because in those crucial moments, he wants the ball, and you want to find a way to get it to him.

Q: How hard is that play by (Wayne) Gallman at the end of the game, the balance where you have the first down so you can go down and fighting for extra yards while maintaining ball security?

A: The priority is that we always have to have ball security, I don't care if it's the first or last play of the game. Obviously, Wayne is a guy we trust, he gives us a lot of production, that was a heck of a job by the line blocking there and him running. It put us in a position there, at that point in the game, under a minute. They had two timeouts, it secured the win for us to go ahead and get in victory formation. It was a good run. We'll continue as a team on ball security moving forward, that's always a priority for our team no matter what time of the year it is. We were fortunate to get the ball back, and Wayne helped us do a lot of positive things today, and he's a key part of why we won the game today.

Q: Leonard Williams had three sacks today, how important was it for you guys to get that type of performance out of him today?

A: We needed our guys to make plays. We challenged our defensive line. We talked about it the last time we went down to Dallas, and quite simply, we needed to have a better performance up front. And we did on both sides of the ball today. Leonard is a guy who is a tremendous player, we love him in the building, he's a great teammate, he's fun to coach. He makes your job a lot easier in terms of coming to work and enjoying your job, and then also making plays on the field. Players make coaches good or not, you can't be a good coach with bad players, that's the reality of it. He's a good player, so he makes all of us look better. We needed to get plays from him, he stepped up, and he's been a blast to coach.

Q: What was the message to Evan Engram after a couple tough drops, one of which became an interception?

A: Real simple: the ball is slick, let's get our hands closer together, we're going to keep throwing to you, so get ready to catch it. 

Q: What has Dante Pettis shown you in these past two weeks?

A: Dante has continued within our schemes and systems of having production. He's shown he can get open and make some plays. He made a couple for us today, he keeps showing improvement, and that's all we ask from all of our guys.

Quarterback Daniel Jones

Q: Hey Daniel, I think you finished with nine rush attempts. I've got to ask you, were you trying to do some misdirection this week or what was up with that?

A: Well, that was Wednesday when we talked last and through the week, I felt a lot better. By the time we were here on Sunday, I felt good about running and we did it. They defended it well but felt a lot better and felt good here today.

Q: Hey Daniel, what will the next several hours for you be like? You're either going to put the footballs away for the season or prepare for a playoff game. How itching are you to get back out there and get this team at 6-10 to the playoffs with help tonight?

A: Yeah, obviously we'll be watching closely and anxiously seeing what happens in the game. Every single one of us wants to be back to work tomorrow and back out on the field next week, so we'll be pulling for Philly no doubt. We were focused on what we were doing this week and giving ourselves an opportunity if Philly wins, so we'll certainly be watching closely.

Q: Do you know all the words to 'Fly Eagles Fly'?

A: I don't, I don't. 

Q: Daniel, 6-10 is not a traditional playoff team record. Does this feel like a playoff team to you?

A: We certainly had our share of ups and downs this season and didn't start as well as we could've and should've by any means, but I feel like through the season we've battled and won close games. The record or how it looks or what's typical in the NFL, I'm not sure we're focused on that, but we're certainly proud of what we have accomplished and certainly aware of what we need to improve and what we need to work to get better. 

Q: What was your thinking when [Running Back] Wayne [Gallman] put the ball on the ground there at the end?

A: I knew he recovered it.

Q: Right away?

A: Yeah.

Q: Daniel, in terms of tonight, I mean we know what you guys need, we know what it's like, but have you ever been a part of something like this where it's essentially season over if one team win or you win the division and you go on? What's that going to be like watching this game tonight knowing it's an either/or situation?

A: Yeah, you know I can't say I've ever been in a situation quite like this. We're certainly going to be watching closely on the edge of our seats and hoping for Philly to win. We'll see what happens. Can't say I've ever been in a situation like this, but not much we can do now but watch.

Q: Hey Daniel, what would it mean to you to make the playoffs?

A: It'd certainly mean a lot. Like we said, we've battled some ups and downs, we've played well, we've struggled at times and we've continued to improve throughout the year, so an opportunity to play in the playoffs, an opportunity to continue this journey with this team would certainly mean a lot and we'd all be excited for the opportunity.

Defensive Lineman Leonard Williams

Q: Hey Leonard, obviously you guys are waiting to find out what happens next, but now that you've completed this season how do you feel like this season went for you? Obviously, the numbers are what they are, but how do you feel like this season was for you?

A: I think this was a great season, one of my favorite seasons of my career not just for the way I played, but for the guys around me. I mean, playing with incredible guys on this defense, playing with incredible coaches, overall team just overcoming adversity and finishing strong right here in a division game and winning like we did and controlling what we can control. I don't know what's going to happen tonight, but we did what we can to control. I think whether it happens tonight or not, I think it was a good way to close the season for this team.

Q: How badly do you want to play in the playoffs next week?

A: I mean, really badly. I've never been in my career and this is my sixth year in the league, so it's been a long time coming. It would be fun to play in a playoff game especially with this team that's overcome so much. I feel like we deserve it. 

Q: Hey Leonard, you talked about your motivation to play in the playoffs and all that. Was that on your mind going into today? I mean, you had three sacks, looked pretty dominant out there and also the fact that this had the chance to be your last game in a Giants uniform. Was that on your mind at all going into this afternoon?

A: I think pretty much less playoff, but more just wanting to finish this season strong with my team. Whether we win tonight or not, we still are relying on another team and that's not something that I went into the game thinking about, you know relying on another team. I just more wanted success for my guys, success for our team and finishing strong on the season and I think we did a good job of that.

Q: Leonard, we've asked you a million times about blocking out the criticism from the fans and you said you've been able to do that. I'm wondering if you're aware of all the heat that [General Manager] Dave Gettleman took for making the trade and if any part of you is satisfied with showing that the guy who took a chance on you maybe made the right call with your performance this year.

A: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I've definitely seen a lot of the criticism and the hate and stuff like that in the press and the media and by the fans. It feels good to prove them wrong, but also show why Dave Gettleman took a chance on me. He obviously took a chance on me and it feels good to show him that it was the right choice. At the end of the day, we had a good season and it was all a credit to all the guys that we played with this year.

Q: Hey Leonard, double-digit sacks, it's the first time in your career. What does that mean to you?

A: I mean, that definitely feels good. The win feels great, feels good to be contributing to that win. For the first time in my career, I got double-digits and I feel like that's an elite group of guys that's been in that double-digit sack category. Feels good. 

Q: Was that a goal at any point?

A: No, I don't think it's ever been a goal. I think just being as disruptive as possible is always my goal, whether that's batting down passes, just making the quarterback hurry up with his passes, anything like that. Just being disruptive as a D-lineman is my goal. I never really have numbers in mind. 

Q: How much do you ever think about the idea that these kinds of numbers are going to equate to a higher salary, more money when you get to that point?

A: I'm not going to lie, going into this season, throughout the season, at the end of the season, today it's never been about money for me. I was kind of drafted high, made a lot of money already in my career. I feel like I was smart enough and I could retire now and still have enough money for the rest of my life, but it's never been about the money. I think I just more wanted the respect and to show guys the reason why I'm in this league. Like I said, it's just more about the respect to me than the contract. 

Q: You guys celebrated pretty good on the interception in the end zone. Seemed like that was going to seal the win and then [Running Back] Wayne [Gallman] has that fumble. What was it like on the sideline waiting for that replay to come through?

A: You know what, one thing about this defense that I love is no matter what situation we're thrown in I feel like we always take the field ready to win the game. The defense just had a great stand and stopped the offense on that long drive late in the game. If the fumble would've went their way, we were willing and ready to take the field and stop them again. We have a prideful defense and a proud defense, and I love playing for them.

Wide Receiver Sterling Shepard

Q: Can you talk about what this win means to you and to the team as far as coming in to win a big game at the right time?

A: This was the biggest game of the season. I'm just proud of the guys and the way that they prepared throughout the week and the execution in the game. I feel like the offense, we started off hot, and I would've liked to see us carry that over through the second half as well, but I'm proud of the guys and the way that they fought. It was definitely something to see. 

Q: Regardless of what happens tonight, how satisfied were you with this teams preparation? Right from the jump you guys got on the board and got the job done.

A: It goes back to right after we got home last week. We had a team meeting and we knew that we were still in it. We all locked in. We were able to get the film that day and guys locked in throughout the week. We watched film nonstop. I knew that we were going to come into the game prepared and it was all about execution. We were able to do that on all cylinders. I'm proud of the guys, like I said.  

Q: Two questions, first of all about you. You've been playing hard all year and we all know that. It sounded like you were a little more banged up this week than previous ones. What was your mindset in this game? What did you want to set out and accomplish when you took the field today?

A: Just make plays. It's as simple as that. We're a skill group that is out there to make big plays. That's all I wanted to do. Whatever I could do to help the team - that was the mindset of all of the receivers. We were able to get out there and make some crucial plays for the team. It worked out well for us. 

Q: My second question is what was it like on the field after the (Wayne) Gallman fumble there at the end - well, then he recovered it - what did you see was going on?

A: I saw him get it back so I wasn't too worried about it. When it initially hit the ground, my stomach dropped a little bit, but he got back on it and it was all good. 

Q: Sterling, what do you think in general of the growth of the team this year and how proud are you to come back from the adversities you guys had early on with the multitude of losses in a row?

A: I've been on teams where you let things just go downhill from there, when you start the season off the way that we did. That's the reason why I'm so proud of this team because we never had one guy hang their head and just throw in the towel. We're going to fight and we're going to try to win this next game. We took it one game at a time and we got on that winning streak. Nobody got too high, nobody got too low. We just stayed at an even pace and I'm proud of everybody for having their head high.

Q: We talk a lot about how you're the only guy here who has played in a playoff game with the Giants and how you're the longest tenured guy in the locker room. That might not be true after next week about the playoffs, but do you feel a sense of responsibility to start this game off right yourself?

A: No. I mean we have a lot of guys with playoff experience. That wasn't really my thought. My thought was simply just to make plays. I just kept it as simple as that.  

Q: You've never been in this position before. Your regular season is over. You don't know if tomorrow is clean out the lockers or get ready for a playoff game. What will the next several hours be like for you? Do you have any Eagles hats that you own? How thirsty are you to continue playing?

A: I won't be caught dead in an Eagles hat, but I will be rooting for them. I'll be with my family at home watching the game. However it shakes out, I'm proud of this team. We did what we had to do today and to give ourselves a chance to win this thing. Whatever happens happens from here. 

Q: One more, how about just beating the Cowboys? It's been several years.

A: It's been since my rookie season. I was super tired of that. Going into the game that was actually going across my mind ,'Man, it's been a while since we beat the Cowboys. It's about time for us to get a W'. We had a close one. That one where Beasley, what year was that, a couple years back - Beasley caught that last second touchdown on us. That was a heartbreaker. That was running through my mind. Let's just finish this game out and we were able to do so.  

Q: What does it say about this organization if you guys can make it back to the playoffs considering it has been a while since you've been able to get to that point?

A: We're doing things the right way. Coach Judge has us preparing the right way and we have a great group of guys. That's what it really comes back down to - the group of guys that we have in the locker room. They're guys that are going to work hard and regardless of the circumstances, they're going to give it all they got. If you haven't seen that over the past few weeks, I don't know what you're looking at, but that's what it is. 

Q: What do you say to the people that say, if you do make the playoffs, they're naturally going to go, 'Oh, 6-10, you don't deserve to be in the playoffs'?

A: It doesn't matter; we're in the playoffs. It doesn't matter what it looks like, we're in there.

Defensive Back Logan Ryan

Q: What are these next six or seven hours going to be like for you?

A: It's going to be great. The work is done. We did all we could do at this point. We took everything that we were given and made the most of it at this point. I know this time last week we were talking about an embarrassing loss and hopes are down and devastation and I told you guys that you have to believe; you have to keep sticking together. The locker room never folded through bad times. Regardless of what happens tonight, I feel like we run the division. I feel like we swept Washington. I feel like at the first Cowboys game, they had a great play at the end of the game to get them in field goal range and we kind of let that happen. We came back and avenged that with a great play on our end. The Philly game, it was a similar thing; we failed in a dramatic fashion in the end. Our two-minute defense was being questioned. Our third down defense was being questioned and we came back and pretty much handled Philly the second time. I can't talk too bad about Philly because I'm a Philly fan today. I need all my South Jersey people to flap their wings tonight, so I won't beat up Philly too bad. Other than that, I feel like we're the best team in the division. We definitely deserve to represent the NFC East. We controlled what we could control today. 

Q: What would it mean to you saying all that for this team to make the playoffs?

A: It wouldn't mean anything different honestly. We won our last game. We did everything we could. I'm not going to hang my head if it doesn't happen. It doesn't make me think any higher or any lower of this team. It was an odd year for everybody. It's an odd year for this division but we fought our division well. I feel like we're the best team in the division. We didn't handle the games outside of the division all the time, so we'll see what happens. Whether we make it or not, I know that's great for the fan base, it's great for the franchise, it great to have a division matter, but I'm not going to think about this team any differently based on the results tonight. 

Q: What were the emotions there late in this game? You get the pick and you're hoping to run the clock out and then you have to wait and see what the officials are going to say about the fumble with Wayne [Gallman]. From your perspective, what are you seeing? What are you feeling? And then when you get the ball back and kneel it out, how does that emotion come out?

A: As a defense, we were preparing as if our offense didn't get a first down, to how much time they would have left - 15 or 20 seconds - what defense we would run, so we were prepared to go back out there. If we did go back out there, I was prepared the game winning interception to seal the game. I was looking forward to that opportunity. I wanted to slap Wayne in the back of his head for fumbling, but he got the ball back. I've seen that call go against us in other ways when it felt like we came out with the ball and then they gave it to the other team. Bonehead stuff happened this year, so hey, it is what it is. We had that call go against us plenty. I think we earned the right for that call to go to us and Wayne made up for it. But, I was definitely looking to slap Wayne and then go out there and seal it on defense like we did the previous drive. 

Q: You guys had a couple of dropped interceptions – [Xavier] McKinney had one earlier that was negated by a penalty. To seal it defensively with that interception, what did that mean to Xavier and what did it mean to the defense?

A: I'm so happy for that kid. I love X. I understand the media that I signed up for in this market. Them signing me when X was injured, him being out of the program and not practicing with us for 10 weeks. How are we going to play Logan Ryan and Jabrill Peppers and X? Who's going to go to corner? What's going to happen? We found a way to get us all on the field. I actually told him, 'I feel like you're going to make your first pick today.' He's been practicing well. He was part of the game plan heavy. We relied on him. We leaned on him. We put a lot on James Bradberry's plate. We leaned a lot of coverage from James Bradberry. When you're the top corner, you're allowed to do that. We put everything on James Bradberry's plate. We pushed all the defense away and dared them to throw at James Bradberry and they still didn't. X made the plays he was supposed to make because that's where the coverage went. That's what a big-time player does. It stepped up in a big moment and I'm happy for him and I'm happy for his career because everybody tries to crack it apart. When you have three talented safeties, who's going to play who? Who is going to be the odd man out? I don't think we do it like that. I think we were very selfless secondary. You have Julian Love who moved to corner. You have Ike Yiadom who seemed like he got benched this week. He comes in on that key third down and he comes in the game. I think his only snap played was on that gain when Jabrill Peppers was cramping. Ike had to be prepared. Julian Love had to be prepared. He looked like he was up for the Thorpe Award again today, like he was at Notre Dame. It was like his old Notre Dame days again. There was a lot of him. JB we asked him to be an All-Pro today and he did that. Darnay Holmes didn't play as much as he wanted to but we needed to find a way to get all of our guys out there and that's what makes this group special. That's what makes this group stick together all year. No matter what the job is, no matter what the game plan is, it might not be the best for you, but it's the best for the team. I think that's why we deserve to be in the playoffs. That's why we're the best to represent the NFC East and that's why we beat every team in our division this year.  

Q: What would you think about facing [Buccaneers Quarterback] Tom Brady in the playoffs again if that's what happens?

A: I texted him already. I look forward to it. I envision it happening, I'm ready. He beat me once in New England, my first year in Tennessee I beat him, last year in Tennessee. We obviously played this year. It's not me versus him, but I'm ready for round three, I'm ready for it. It would be the greatest challenge; he's the greatest test at that high-level quarterback play. No matter what the stats say, he's the greatest test when it comes to IQ of the game, so I'm looking forward to it and I think he'll look forward to that, too. It'll be good for the fans.

Q: Did he text you back yet?

A: Well, let me see. He's a busy man – uh-oh, no, not him. Okay, it wasn't him. If he's listening to this, which he's not, text me back. 

Q: Logan, what can you say about [Defensive Lineman] Leonard Williams not only with his performance tonight, which was obviously pretty dominant, but all season? He seems like he's been pretty consistently the best pass rusher on this team. How much has he impacted this defense since you've been here?

A: Our defensive line is the strength of our team. I've said it time and time again, they make the job easy back there, they're dominant. A key to Dallas with all their receivers is [Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott], held him under 1,000 yards running – think he needed 60 yards, didn't get that. Those guys stopped the run without committing many to the box. They do a great job. Leo's as good as it comes at that position, going to command that salary, he definitely deserves it. I think [DL] Dalvin [Tomlinson] and [DL] B.J. [Hill] and Sexy Dexy [DL Dexter Lawrence II], all those guys, they're just dominant. They really allow us to do the disguises, to run the two-high stuff, to do everything we have to do. It has to all work together and they're very selfless. They're a special group, they have a lot of fun and they're very violent, physical, big men down there in the box. It's great to watch their camaraderie and their bond, and I definitely hope to build a secondary to look like that and continue to have that bond that that defensive line has because they have something special.

Running Back Wayne Gallman

Q: Can you take us through what was going through your head there on that fumble at the end there? What happened and the emotions that you were going through as you waited to find out what was happening there?

A: I had the opportunity to break and pretty much take it to the 1-yard line. At that time, situation-wise, I have to go down. I have to be better. It's something that you work on each and every day at practice. I'll do better. 

Q: Wayne, did you realize you already had the first down at that point or did you think you were still trying to get the first down?

A: I honestly didn't. I felt it and I was ready to go. With that being said, same thing goes. With that situation, you have to go down. You have to treat it right. I'll be better on that.  

Q: Did you actually recover the fumble with your arms after you sat on it or you just sat on it made sure you didn't get up?

A: I sat on the ball first and then I picked the ball up and then I put it in my arms on the ground. 

Q: Can you walk us through it? As you put it to your arms the officials first signal you guys, then they signal Dallas, then they say you had the ball. What was that 15 to 20 seconds like? It looked like all of Dallas thought they had it and then you were yelling at them. I just want to know how that went in your mind and how it went on the field?

A: I'm sorry I caused drama. It was just a big pile. The refs were - I wouldn't say they were late - but of course they saw no. 54 (Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith) had the ball. He took it from me when I was down there in the pile. I had the ball already. I already knew I was down. I was just waiting for the right call to be made. I was stressing that, very vaguely on the field. 

Q: How much do you want your Giants career here to continue for at least one more game?

A: I love the Giants and I love my time here. Right now, I'm focused on this game tonight with the Eagles and Washington Football Team because we might be in the playoffs. I'm not very sure about all that right now. I'm just focused on playoffs. 

Q: Have you ever rooted for the Eagles before?

A: I have not, but my best friend since third grade has been a diehard Eagles fan, so I've had one in my ear all my life.

View photos from the Week 17 matchup between the Giants and Cowboys at MetLife Stadium.

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