How Did The New England Patriots React To Losing To Denver?
By Cyrus Geller
Rob Gronkowski
On the challenge moving the ball against the Broncos defense
“We definitely had sometimes tough tasks moving the ball. Every time we get the ball, we want to put points up on the board. You’ve got to give credit to Denver. They’re a good team. They’re a very solid defense. They’ve got great players on their side. They just made more plays than us, but we’ve just got to do a better job.”
On if he was cramping during the game
“Yeah, I was cramping. I was actually just kind of disappointed in myself at that moment. I don’t know exactly why I was cramping. I prepared for this game like I have for every other game with hydration and all that, but it just got to me. I had to fight through it. The trainers did a great job. I had to just pound a couple of bottles of water on the sidelines. I felt really full at some point, but I battled back through it. As an athlete, you just don’t want that to happen. I’m definitely going to take that consideration down the road to make sure stuff like that doesn’t happen again in games, but it just did this time. It was freaky that it did. It didn’t happen all year but battled through it, came back and I was fine after I pounded a couple of bottles of water.”
On getting into Denver territory and not catching the ball
“It’s always frustrating when you have an opportunity, we’re in the red zone and you just don’t capitalize. What else can I really say about that? Definitely is [frustrating] so we’ve just got to go out there and just make more plays.”
On the Patriots struggles in the red zone today
“It’s football. They have a good defense. It’s not like we were going out there and playing some defense that has nobodies on it. They’ve got great players, and they just made more plays than us when they needed to.”
On how physical Denver was at the line of scrimmage
“They – as a defense, when I was lined up more inside – definitely jammed me a little bit. I haven’t seen it all the time, but they did a good job at it and we’ve just got to figure out ways to get off it, but I did sometimes. You’ve just got to deal with it. That’s football.”
On the Patriots fighting until the end of the game
“I’m proud of this team. The defense, you’ve got to give them credit. They did a great job today. Just throughout this whole season, throughout this whole game, you’ve got to be proud to be on this team. Everyone fought, everyone battled and everyone gave it all they got. I’m proud to be part of this season. It was a great season overall, and it just came down to that two-point conversion. Like I said, Denver made more plays than us.”
On Patriots K Stephen Gostkowski
“Stephen does a lot for this team. I’m proud he’s part of this organization. I love playing with him, and he definitely shouldn’t put the heat on him. It’s a team game. You win as a team; you lose as a team. It’s not just one individual’s fault. Like I’ve said, Denver just made more plays than us. That’s what it came down to, but you can’t put it on the hands of Stephen. There’s no way.”
On if he was held throughout the game
“I’ve been used to that all year. It happens. That’s football, but I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to get open. They called one or two penalties of holding. It was a good call on the one – he had my jersey – but overall, you’ve just got to go out and execute as an offense and not really worry about holding penalties and all that. You’ve just got to go out and execute.”
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On if he was held on a potential TD catch
“Was I held? I don’t know. I felt like I was because I couldn’t even jump. I felt like [CB] Aqib [Talib] had me. He’s probably going to be texting me later and be like, ‘Yo, I was holding you, bro.’ I felt like he was but sometimes you go back and you look at it and he wasn’t. It is what it is, though. I think the ball was going out of bounds on that anyways, too, but we fought on the next drive and we did what we had to do to score.”
On the coverage he faced on his fourth quarter TD
“I think it was double [coverage]. They had a guy outside, a guy inside. Just made a move. I had a route to go either way, and when I saw the guy inside, the guy outside, I was just like, ‘Screw it. I’ve got to go whatever way it is.’ I went out. [Patriots QB] Tom [Brady] just threw it up in the air and just had to go up and make a play.”
On being close to going out of bounds on the TD
“I was aware of the end line. Definitely don’t want to get that close to it in a situation like that because that’s the last thing you want – you catch the ball but you step out of bounds so it doesn’t count. I was definitely aware of it. I just knew I had to come down and not be out of bounds on that.”
Danny Amendola
On his immediate reaction to the loss
“Props to the Broncos. They played hard. They’re a tough team. We battled our [butts] off, and I’m proud of our team just for the whole season.”
On the Broncos’ defensive pressure
“Regardless of the pressure, we’ve got to do our best to make plays and score points, and we just didn’t get it done.”
On if the Broncos played differently than in the Week 12 game
“No, they didn’t. They played a lot of man coverage. We’ve just got to make enough plays to win, and we didn’t do that.”
On the halftime discussion
“We just wanted to concentrate on doing our job, doing our job and not necessarily worrying about the score, try to make as many plays as we can and get the ball in the end zone. We just couldn’t get it done.”
On Patriots K Stephen Gostkowski’s missed extra point
“We fought our [butts] off so I’m proud of our group. At the end of the day, we didn’t get where we wanted to go, but like I said, I’m proud of everyone in this organization.”
On the game’s final drive
“It came down to the last play. It came down to the last play of the game – fourth quarter, game is on the line. It’s what you dream about, and it hurts, for sure.”
On assessing the Patriots’ 2015 season
“It’ll take a couple weeks to do that, but I’m proud of our guys.”
On if the loss is more emotional because the game was so close
“We knew it was going to be a fight. We knew it was going to come down to the end. They’re a good football team, and we knew what we were in for.”
On if he thought the Patriots would tie the game on the final drive
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight, and that’s what it was.”
On Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski’s performance
“He’s a great player. He’s the best teammate, and he’s all you can ask for.”
On how proud he is of his team
“I’m definitely proud. We’ve got a bunch of fighters in this room. It sucks we couldn’t get it done, but we’re going to hold our head up high because we’re all proud of each other.”
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