Here's what Bill Belichick had to say following the Patriots loss to Carolina:
OPENING STATEMENT:
"Well it was obviously a tough game, came down to a few plays here and they made a couple more than we did. We had our chances, we've just got to do a better job, came up a little bit short today. Just have to go back to work and do a little bit better job."
On what he saw on the final play of the game:
"I saw the same thing you saw."
On if playing from behind hurt them tonight:
"No, we just didn't make enough plays. They made a couple more than we did. Game came down right to the wire on both ends of the field and we just couldn't make enough plays."
On the fact he said earlier this would be a low possession game and if there was any urgency on the sideline about having to take advantage of each one:
"That's what we always try to do. We always try to make the most of every possession."
On if he had to tell Aqib Talib to settle down earlier in the game after his altercation with Steven Smith:
"You know, it was two competitive guys, two good football players. Guys were both competing."
On the fact they played a team with a lot to prove in a pretty good atmosphere:
"So what's the question?"
On how he feels about his team's performance overall:
"That we came up short. It wasn't good enough. We just came up short. We have to do a better job. We just didn't make enough plays."
On if he got a sense of what the flag was for on the final play:
"No."
On if he had any idea of what the flag was for:
"There was no explanation given to me."
None whatsoever?
"No. The officials ran off the field, and I didn't see anything. I've gone through that before. The last time I tried asking an official a question about a call, that was the wrong thing to do. So I have no idea."
On if he thinks he's owed an explanation on what it was for:
"Like I've said, we've been down that road before. Didn't get one tonight, didn't get one at the Baltimore game. Guess that's the way we do it."
On the fact they ran the ball a lot to start the second half and if that was an adjustment that was made at half time:
"I thought we ran it O.K. in the first half. Thought we had decent production in the first half running the ball too. I don't know, what did we run for in the first half? Anyone have a stat? I mean, seemed like we had, I don't know, 80, 90 yards in the first half? What did we end up running for, 160? I don't know."
On the fact they had 47 yards rushing at the half:
"We had 47 yards rushing? And what did we end up with?"
107 yards:
"I mean, I thought we were balanced. We got sacked out of field goal range, we fumbled, and we got a personal foul penalty. So those hurt our three drives in the first half."
On if he got any official notification on the flag in the endzone being picked up:
"I saw what you saw Tom [Curran]."
On if he thought it was uncatchable, or anything like that:
"I can't answer that question."
On if he's curious and if he'll follow up with the league:
"Sure. It was the last play of the game, I don't know what happened. There was a flag thrown, and then the game was over. I don't know."
On the return of Shane Vereen:
"He was in in some passing groupings. Thought he did some good things. Obviously missed some time and there's some things he's got to work on. We weren't as consistent as we needed to be in the game, overall, in any phase. But it was good to have him back."
On the absence of Ridley:
"What about him?"
On why Ridley didn't carry the ball after the fumble until later in the game:
"Because all three of our backs contributed. We got production from all three of our backs."
(Someone coming in late) On if he got an explanation from the officials after the game:
"Yeah, that's the fourth time on that."
On how big an issue Carolina's speed was:
"I don't know. I mean every team in the league has fast receivers. They have good receivers. We're going to see good receivers next week, we saw good receivers last week against Pittsburgh. I mean, there's good receivers every week."
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