TRANSCRIPT: Robert Spillane Postgame Press Conference
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Here’s what New England Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane had to say following the Patriots’ 16-3 win over the Chargers Sunday night.
On how excited he was to come out on the football field for the first time in a month in play, and how proud is he of this defense, and what does he think they did well tonight against the Chargers:
“Yeah, a lot of questions there, but first and foremost, I’m just so proud of this defense. We’ve really come together, and to hold an offense like that to three points in a playoff game is huge for us. It’s another boost of confidence for what we have already been doing all year. We’re just going to continue sticking to the game plan that we’ve been on and take it from here.”
On going back to start when they had the interception they had the sudden change and what does he remember about that:
“Early in the game, you know you need a stop. It’s first and 10 on the 10-year-old line. For us to come out of there only giving up three points was our defensive goal. If we didn’t get a turnover there, we wanted to hold them to three. For us to get that done was such a huge start for us early in the game. Eventually keeping them out of the end zone altogether, this game was huge.”
On thinking back to that sequence, how much does he think that helped the defense build from there and continue on:
“You look at Marcus Jones tackle on a 6’7” quarterback who’s running downhill on the two-yard line. For him to be able to get him down on the ground, such a huge play that ultimately changes the game for us.”
On the fact it seemed like Zak was dialing up the blitzes pretty well tonight, and as the guy that’s getting that call from the sideline, what was it like from his vantage point:
“Zak has been great all year. He keeps the dials spinning. He keeps offenses guessing. All year, he’s been doing that. Just after the game, talking to a few of the guys on their team, they had no clue what we were doing. They came up and said that, ‘We had no clue what you guys were in all game.’ So, for him just to be able to build those packages throughout the week, our back-end players to know how to disguise the different defenses, really keeps quarterbacks guessing.”
On the fact they made Justin Herbert uncomfortable look like all night and how much does he relish the opportunity to just get into that pocket and not enable him to make plays:
“Yeah, our D-line did a phenomenal job. Milton [Williams], KC [K’Lavon Chaisson], guys that are called upon in big situations, coming up with big-time plays, so I couldn’t be more happy for those guys. Marcus Jones coming off the edge. He’s always a feisty blitzer, and he gets the job done. So for him to be able to come out and Milt with that game-winning sack just to seal it, it’s huge for us. We’re just going to continue to build on what we already know works.”
On if it was fitting that Milton got the last play there, given what he’s meant overall, and what has he meant in terms of leadership for a guy that’s been a winner before, that’s been there before, that helped bringing them to that level:
“You look back at how our season started, and it started in Miami with the Milton Williams’ game-winning sack. For us to be able to be in the playoffs and him to come up with a huge play like that, I’m going to just go tell him we’re going to need more of that. Everything that you’ve given us, just give us some more. I know he will because he’s a hard-nosed player that comes out and works every day.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This transcript was done based on the available footage and is subject to typographical errors. If you spot anything, please let me know in the comments below.)
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