Opening Statement:
“Disappointing finish there today. I have a lot of respect for the way the players competed, have all year. I thought that was indicative of their competitiveness at the end. On the strip after the interception, and the recovery by [Vederian] Lowe, really gave himself up on it and just played hard. But we just couldn’t make enough plays to win. It’s a disappointing year for all of us, players, coaches, staff, our entire organization, and not anything that any of us are in any way content with. But it is what it is.”
“I’ll address some questions on the game. As far as the future goes, I’ll sit down with Robert [Kraft], as I do every year at some point at the end of the season and we’ll talk about things as we always do, I’m sure that will happen, but that’s really about all I have to say about that right now because there isn’t anything else to talk about.”
“Any questions on the Jets game, happy to take a few of those.”
On if Nathan Rourke outperformed Mac Jones in practice as the reason he was elevated to the number two QB spot today:
“Yeah, Nathan had a good week of practice so we activated him for the second spot.”
On if coming off the field today, if he had any different feelings:
“Disappointed about the way the game turned out, sure. Let’s leave it at that.”
On if he expects to be coaching the team here next year:
“Disappointed in the way the game finished, yeah.”
On his thoughts on what players like Matthew Slater have meant to him over the years:
“I’ve spoken about Matthew at length, I would just be reiterating the same positive comments about his greatness on the field, off the field, as a teammate, his work ethic, his training, his unselfishness.”
“On a daily basis, he’s just exemplary, and to watch his growth from when he was a rookie coming out of UCLA and trying to find a little bit of a position on offense and defense and ultimately becoming, I would say as good a special teams player as ever played this game, certainly has everything to back that up based on his long, sustained success and being the targeted guy every week. His leadership and presence for the team, not just the players, but the organization and the staff. I mean, he’s an inspiration to all of us.”
On where he sees Bailey Zappe and what he’s seen over the last few games, and what he’s seen in his ability to both lead the team, and where he stands in the quarterback competition moving forward:
“Well, moving forward, that’s a whole other conversation about everything. I think he’s progressed weekly in his preparation and certainly learned from the experiences that he’s had as a young player that has a long way to go and has a long future in front of him. So we’ll see.”
On if it’s his preference to come back next season and coach the team:
“I just finished the game here with the Jets, put everything I had into it, and I’m disappointed in the results.”
On the fact he’s under contract through 2024 and if it’s his hope to be back next season:
“I just finished the game with the Jets, Phil [Perry]. I put everything I had into it this week and tried to prepare our team the best I could to play in it.”
On the fact they finished 4-13 and if it was the most difficult seasons he’s ever coached and if it’s taken any wind out of his sails as far as the effort it takes to coach:
“No, I mean, I enjoy coaching. Like I said, it was a disappointing season, I covered that in the opening statement and really don’t have anything to add, that’s how I feel. But, no, I still … I like coaching the team, I like preparing the team, game planning, coaching on Sundays. But the results weren’t good and none of us are happy with those.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
