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Head Coach Joe Judge Opening statement: First off, give credit to the Chargers. It’s a good team. They obviously wanted to win the game today more than we did. In terms of how we played, I’m encouraged by the way the team fought. They continue to practice what they preach in terms of fighting to the end and playing for one another, you know, finishing what they started, but ultimately, it wasn’t good enough. We had a good week of preparation, we have to make sure it transfers over in how we execute on the field. There were some opportunities we didn’t take advantage of. There were some situations we need to handle better in all three phrases. Make sure we get off the field and stay on the field and capitalize in field position when we get the chance. On ‘mistakes’ today: A: Simply put, you have to go out there and execute. To answer your question about making mistakes on the field, you can’t afford that, no matter how close of a game it is. In this league and how fine a line it is between success and coming up short to go out there and make mistakes, we have to make sure that we do our best job coaching. We have to execute our best way, as players. That’s the reality to have success in this league. There are too many opportunities out there today that we didn’t take advantage of, there’s plenty of things we need to do better. There were plenty of opportunities to win the game that if we were able to capitalize on, we’re in a different position. On ‘preparation carrying over to the game’: A: We just have to keep on doing a good job, making sure to put all our players in positions leading from practice into the game and we have to take advantage when it comes our way in the game and making the plays. There are a lot of things in terms of execution in practice that does show up in games. There are some things that we’ve executed repeatedly that we haven’t executed in games that we need to capitalize on. On whether he considered putting QB Jake Fromm in late in the game: A: We consider everything throughout the game. We’re going to play our players in the game based on how they practice and who gives us the best chance of success. On the defensive performance tonight: A: Obviously those guys made a lot of plays on us, extended a lot of drives. We saw in the second half we were able to go ahead and stop the bleeding some, hold them to field goals, force them to punt. It was a little bit too little, too late at times. There were times in the first half where obviously they capitalized and made some big plays down the field and made plays in situations to go ahead and sustain drives to put themselves in positions to add points at the end of that drive. It’s a good team, they make plays, but look, I expect our guys to come out there and make plays as well. We have to make sure that we go through this tape, correct everything we need to. We have to get ready to go out there next week and capitalize on opportunities and execute. On the surprise that the practice week in Tucson didn’t yield better results tonight: A: It was a positive week. We actually had a really good week as a team. There was a lot of good prep work that happened there. A lot of good things internally with the team. I was very encouraged and pleased with how these guys worked throughout the week, how they handled themselves, conducted themselves. It was a good week of preparation, but obviously, it’s all about how you carry that preparation over and execute. On Giants QB Mike Glennon’s performance: A: We look at everything as a whole offensively. There were some things. The run game was moving a little bit better today, and we got [Giants RBs] Saquon [Barkley], Devontae [Booker], and Eli [Penny] going with the run game. The offensive line did some nice things. There are things we need to clean up. Ultimately, if you’re not making enough plays, you have to look at all 11 and coaching and see and make sure that we’re doing the right things the right way and not making mistakes. On if QB Daniel Jones will see a neck specialist: A: He’ll get an image tomorrow. I have to check with [Giants Senior Vice President of Medical Services] Ronnie [Barnes] in terms of exactly when and where that will be. He’s going to go ahead and get out of here tonight and get another image, then get back to [New] Jersey. I have talk to Ronnie, maybe back in Jersey or New York, as well. I have to check with Ronnie. I just got the update a minute ago, in terms of him getting another image. We’ll get the details about when and where that’s going to be. I know he’s going to get imaging in the next day. On if Jones will stay with the team tonight in Los Angeles: A: I believe so. Again, there’s a lot of things. We’ll make sure to get the details in a second. On what the team will do tonight: A: We’ll see. A lot of times after games, we get together as a team. We’re on the road right now. It’s some of the unique times of being on the road after the game. Guys will probably get some dinner together, kick back, have a little down time, get back on a plane tomorrow, watch some film, get back, and get ready to start working on Dallas next week. Us coaches, we’ll get back to the hotel, start watching tape, make corrections and plow forward. On Herbert’s 59-yard touchdown pass at the end of the first half: A: Like I said, there were a lot of things we prepared on this week that we have to carry over from the practice preparation to game execution. Guys did a good job pushing forward and working hard this week. That was something specifically, that exact move that you saw, the roll and throw back, we worked on that this week. Obviously, we’ve got to carry that over, got to keep coaching it better, got to execute it better, and we’ve got to make sure we can make that play. But those big shots, those guys did a good job of making plays down the field. On how the first half ended: A: Of course that was a position we should have capitalized on. We get the field position, hold them defensively, get the ball back for the offense in good field position. We weren’t far from field goal range at that point right there. We had a couple of plays on that drive that we needed to make more of. We’ve got to make those plays in those situations, and ultimately, we didn’t do it. You come up short right there. On the team’s overall performance: A: I am the head coach and everything in this program reflects on me. I will never shy away from that, I do not make any excuses and I do not hide from that either. I am not a finger pointer. I am not an excuse maker and I am never trying to deflect anything. In terms of the direction the program is going, there is a lot of things that I see week after week with our players and where we are going that I am encouraging all the way. Sometimes that is tough to see externally, but these are the key foundational pieces that are being put in place and we are making lots of progress going forward. My scope is always big picture. I look to every week, week to week, but ultimately, my vision goes beyond that. I am looking long-term. First time I got in front of the microphone in front of you guys, I talked about putting a foundation together, pushing it and building it the right way. I never talked about taking a shortcut or wanting immediate gratification. We need to put guys in the right position, we need to execute plays and we need to finish games. I am not going to shy away from that, this is a production business. In terms of the big scope of where we are going, internally we are seeing a lot of pieces being put together. A lot of things are moving in the right direction and are being solidified. On ‘reasons for optimism’ for the remainder of the season: A: I expect the players to fight through these last games of the season the way they fought to finish the games out. That’s what I expect to see. I expect to see them come to work, I expect them to be positive, I expect them to be good teammates, I expect them to take coaching, I expect them to make plays on the field. As coaches, I expect guys to have the best plans prepared for the players and put them in a position to be successful. We want to finish everything, guys, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re not going to give up, we’re not going to stop fighting. I say it all the time: if we watch the tape, the results and scores are irrelevant. Correct what you have to correct and build on what was positive. At this point of the season, we’ve got four games coming up. They’re all important. They’re all important. Game One through 17, they’re all important. So we’re going to take advantage of every opportunity we get as a team, because the reality is you work the entire year-round for truly 17 Sundays, used to be 16, 17. We’ve earned the right to have extra Sundays beyond that. You can’t go and shortchange and think, ‘ What are we doing now?’ We’re getting stronger as a team, we’re going to keep on pushing forward. Our focus is to be the best team every week we can be and to be an improved team every week. That’s where our focus is. On Giants DL Leonard Williams’ injury status: A: Not much. He is going to get an MRI and we will see what that is. He wants to play every game and I know that hurts him beyond the pain of the injury to not be out there with his teammates, but we will see where he is at. Hopefully, it is something short-term. On Herbert: A: This guy is a talented player. He is a very, very talented guy. He is big, athletic, has a strong arm to make all the throws. I mean, it isn’t a surprise. We can’t let that one play define the entire even flow of the game. There are good players on every team in this league and they are going to make plays. We need to make sure that we go out there and play the game the right way even through the adversity.Running Back Saquon Barkley Q: There are four games left in the season, you guys are 4-9. How disappointed are you about where this season is at right now? A: Obviously, we would like to have a winning record and be in a better position. But like you said, we have four games left. We’ve got to stick together and finish the season strong. Q: What did you think of the effort today overall? Not just the effort you gave, but the overall performance? A: I don’t really know what the question is. Can you ask it again? Q: What did you think about how you guys played today? A: Obviously, we lost the game, so at the end of the day we’ve got to go back and watch film to see what we could’ve done better. Obviously, there are plays out there that need to be made that we didn’t make as a team. We’ve just got to be better. Q: What do you think of how you played? A: Got to go back and watch film before I just give myself an honest grade. I felt a little more explosive today, getting comfortable getting a rock. But yeah, that’s it. I’ll go back and watch film and be able to give myself a better answer. Q: Did you think there would be a better result coming off of what was a pretty positive week? A: I think we all would agree that we had a great week, great week of preparation, great team bonding, but it’s the NFL. Their team came out, had a great game plan, and executed and got the job done. So, hats off to them. Q: They’ve been a lower ranked team in terms of stopping the run defensively most of the season. How did you find rushing against that defense today? A: I know coming into the week everyone was saying what their ranking was as a defense. I said earlier in the week this is the NFL. They’ve got some studs over there. Obviously, some of the guys were banged up and weren’t out there, but I think our O-line did a really good job. We were able to get the run game going between me and (Running Back Devontae Booker) Book, but at the end of the day we didn’t get the job done. Q: How difficult was it? You guys had the ball in their territory at the 41-yard line with a minute and 40 to go with a chance to dig into their lead in the first half. You guys go three and out and then they get the ball, (Chargers Quarterback Justin) Herbert throws the ball 60 yards and it’s a tough turnaround going into halftime. That whole sequence there, was that tough? A: Yeah, we’ve got to be better in that sequence as a team, play better complementary football. As a team, that’s kind of been the message and the theme all year. But at the end of the day we went into halftime, said it’s a 0-0 game. We’ve got to come back, fight, show some effort and try to come out with a dub. We didn’t do that. Q: You guys have been outscored 59-0 in the last two minutes of the first half. You go into halftime a lot having given up a score and not score. Do you sense that in these games, that you go into halftime and it’s like, ‘We just did something bad here’? A: No, I don’t sense that.Quarterback Mike Glennon On his performance today: A: Not my best. Did not feel as affective as our passing offense usually can be. Offensive line played well against one of the better pass rushing defense’s in the league and I believe we only gave up one sack. We ran the ball well, but now on to the next week. On ‘the struggle’ of not getting Giants FB Eli Penny ‘involved more’: A: We are continuing to work on getting him more involved. Penny is a talented player and it is on all of us to do a better job of utilizing him as an important piece to this offense. On when Giants QB Daniel Jones will return from injury: “A: That question is not for me. On ‘lack of execution’ by the offense: A: It was disappointing for me because we get the ball back on the 45-yard line. That is on us as an offense. We need to get points in that situation whether it is a field goal or touchdown, it has to be something. To go three and out and give the ball back to them, that falls on me. It situations like that, we need to get points. On Giants Quarterbacks Coach Jerry Schuplinski missing today’s game: A: Daniel [Jones] & Jake [Fromm] did a great job today of taking on that role that Jerry usually does. Do we miss him? Of course. He provides great insight. We would have loved to have him. D.J. and Jake did a great job filling in on that role. On QB Justin Herbert’s 59-yard touchdown pass: A: I did not see it live because I was on the bench, but I have seen plenty of him on film make some unbelievable throws. You see that he is going to be one of those quarterbacks in the league for a long time. There is not many guys on this planet that can throw the ball like him. He is a fun and young quarterback to watch.Defensive Back Logan Ryan Q: Can you start on what happened on the touchdown pass at the end of the half? A: Third-and-9, third-and-10, something like that. We were in a cover two, two-high defense, pretty safe defense. I saw they had (Chargers Wide Receiver Jalen) Guyton in the slot, speedster. (Chargers Quarterback Justin) Herbert’s got one of the strongest arms in the league and the ability to role to his right and throw it across field. It’s an opportunity there and we practiced it and you saw it in practice. We prepared for it. It was an opportunity there for me to go – if someone’s running down the middle to try to go steal it from the back side. We don’t want him to get out of the pocket there and I felt like I had a good shot at it at about 50 yards where I felt like the ball was going to go based on that play and that crow hop, got it an extra 10 and I felt like I just didn’t track the ball well. He kind of threw it down the middle of our defense between me and (Safety Xavier McKinney) Zay. It’s just very frustrating. I’m frustrated with myself. As a pro athlete you have to make split second decisions and you get judged on them and I didn’t make the right one there. I’m frustrated for my teammates. I’m frustrated for the coaches. We practiced that play, and we were prepared for that play, and I just didn’t make that play. That’s on us. That’s on the players there. That’s on me. Very frustrating, but the kid’s got arm talent and he ripped it down the middle of our defense. We’ve done a good job all year of preventing plays like that for the most part and unfortunately today, he got that one in. Q: How much does it play into it that maybe like 95 percent of the quarterbacks can’t make that throw? A: Yeah, no, 95 percent don’t. It’s rare. Like I said, I felt like I was in a good spot to go steal it. The ball just carried, and he put it on a rope. He put it 59 (yards) on a rope. You don’t see that every day and at the end of the day I get paid to make that play, so I’ve got to go make it. I’ve got to go steal that and help our defense and be an eraser there and I didn’t. I wear that one heavy. It’s on me. I’m not too happy about that, but you don’t get to have them back in pro sports. You don’t get to. You get judged on one play at a time and that one didn’t go in my favor. Q: How frustrating is it in general that you guys keep on giving up those scores right before half time? I know that’s been an issue all year. A: I think in the beginning of the year that was the case. I think recently we’ve been getting those two-minute stops, game-winning drives making some stops, so I think that’s improved. I think that was a one-off. I think that was just a play that between me and Zay, we’ve made, and we just didn’t make it today. You’ve got to give credit to Justin Herbert, and you’ve got to give credit to their staff for throwing it 60 yards on third-and-9. They took a shot there and just off the formation, I had good awareness that that could be the play and that’s the most frustrating thing that I had some awareness that that could be it and I played for it, I just didn’t make it. So that’s the most frustrating thing. I wasn’t caught off guard by it. I don’t know about the whole year or what not. I’m frustrated for the fans that travel. We’ve got a great fan base that made it a trip. They traveled to Miami, as well. My fans, my family back at home who are supporting, I just really feel like I let a lot of people down with that. But that’s just the weight you bear when you’re a captain in this position. You care about your job. You care about your livelihood. You care about it for the franchise. I felt like I’ve got to get it back.Fullback Eli Penny Q: How did it feel to score a touchdown the same day your brother got two himself? A: It felt good. It’s a good day for the both of us. A good day for our family just seeing us play football and enjoy the game. Q: When your coach talks about making progress and he says he sees the building blocks for laying a foundation, but then you’re not getting wins or short-term results, is it hard to hear that as a player or believe that as a player if you’re not getting wins and results? A: I think when he says that, I think he means like glimpses of the game, like a lot of good stuff that we do, is really good. Then obviously, the bad is just bad. When he says that in the locker room, I think he pretty much means, when he sees good things throughout certain drives and certain moments throughout the game whether it was special teams, defense or the offense. Q: Did you think the week in Tucson, which everyone said they thought was good for the team, would help produce better a result today? A: Well, the week in Tucson for me and for the team, to me, we all kind of just bonded well. We bonded well together, we enjoyed each other, we had a great time out there in Tucson. I know for some guys we enjoyed being back on a college campus, getting that kind of atmosphere, I know I did. It kind of gave me a certain type of juice when I was back there. I would just say it was more so the team bonding that we kind of enjoyed while we were in Tucson. Q: Why wasn’t that able to translate to a better performance? With all the positivity that you had in Tucson, why didn’t we see any of that on the field? A: It’s just the NFL. They’re good. The Chargers are a good team. I feel like we’re a pretty good team and they were just better today. They made more plays, they executed better and they just played better than us today. Q: Is it strange to you when (Running Back) Saquon (Barkley) on a third-and-2 doesn’t get it and then slips and falls. He’s trying to come back, he hasn’t been on the field a lot. Is it odd as a fellow running back and as a teammate to see him trying to get there but not quite? A: I think just as far as what he’s been through the last couple of seasons, injuries and stuff like that – he’s human. Sometimes, I’m not going to lie, I expect...I think he’s all world. But at the same time, he’s a human being and he’s another guy on the roster just like us. He’s not a robot. I understand what he’s going through. I’m with him every day. He’ll bounce back. He’ll be alright.

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Transcripts

Postgame Quotes: Coach Joe Judge, RB Saquon Barkley, QB Mike Glennon, DB Logan Ryan, FB Eli Penny