Opening statement:
“Evening guys, obviously we came out…let’s start with the positive first,” Coach Morris said. “I love the way the guys fought back. I love the way the guys responded for [the] two minute drive to go out there and stop and get off the field.  A couple times in that first half a fresh defense. The things we got to fix from tonight obviously are the self imposed penalties verse a big time team. You cannot have those. Those things will kill you. We obviously have a lot of work to do. This is an accountable young football team that will go back to the line and be ready to deal so we feel good about it.  We started flat…something that you got to try to avoid. It was kind of like a bad practice in the beginning and then it kind of came out of it and kind of started to play a little bit harder, but we got to avoid those flat starts at all costs because they come back and hurt you especially verses a very good team.”

“Well, obviously we did not get anything going on offense,” Coach Morris said. “Did not have a whole bunch of time back there. The New England Patriots did a great job presenting different looks and really brushing on there [and] giving them a bunch of pressure so  we did not get what we wanted there so we got to try to come out next week and get. You know good thing with practice so we got to get out here and do it again next week.” 

Did you keep Freeman in longer because having little success?
“Yes, yes you know you want to go out there and have a nice run with him,” Coach Morris said. “Give him the same kind of deal  last week give him twenty plays [and] get him out, but you know we try to get him in there [and] try to keep the first team offense in and get those guys going a little bit longer. Kept him in a little longer than you wanted…try to get something going. We were not able to. Kept the defense out there a little bit longer trying to get something going. They got something going with the two minute drive and got those guys obviously they got something to look at there tomorrow and feel good about it. We got to get it going on offense with the first team.”

Impressions of offensive line:
“I got to look at the tape,” Coach Morris said.  “Obviously I do not know if it is all offensive line. You know it could have been…some of the protection stuff could have been back stuff and issues…stuff of that nature so I will go back and look at it. We will look at it as a unit, we will look at it as a core, but they out-physicaled us up front there is no doubt about it. They won the upfront battle for sure and we will look at that and correct the mistakes.”

Case on other side of ball too?
“Both sides of the ball,” Coach Morris said. “They just won the upfront battle and I was bringing that up. They definitely won those battles early [and] they won them often early. We started to have a little bit of fight back there in the second half and I was very proud of those guys, but our time was too late. They did play their guys you know pretty deep, [but] that it is not an excuse by any means. I like the fact they played their guys because now you get a chance to really get a good parameter of who everybody is.”


Was it disturbing losing battle up front?
“It is always disturbing,” Coach Morris said. “You know, but it is something you can learn from definitely with a young football team. You know the importance is significant. You know last week we were able to dominate up front. This week we got dominated early. This week we tried to fight back there at the end..or fight back somewhere towards the middle there, but you got to start fast, you got to play fast [and] you got to come out of the tunnel ready to go and we were not tonight.”


Will your team learn more from game like this than last week?
“Well, you learn more from them all,” Coach Morris said. “They all got learning experiences. You know obviously tonight I cannot come up here and say I couldn’t see anything negative on the field like I did the following week. You are able to see some negative things right up the back that you can correct and that is always something you can learn from. Something you can be…you know have some teachable moments for when you go back to work.”


What happened on Hernandez TD over Foster?
“Na that was not Foster that was actually me,” Coach Morris said. “I called a single six down [and] I did not have enough defense in. We were supposed to carry him right there with Quinty and did not carry him that was it. You can put that one on Raheem and the second one they just did a great job of just tricking us… our safety there Sean Jones on that second one on a cover two. The first one I usually do not do that, but it was preseason and the second one was on me. I mean the second was on Sean Jones.”


On playing team like Patriots:
“No I do not think so,” Coach Morris said. “No I do not think so. I think they…the thing you got to realize when you play this game which was great to play early especially because the thing that New England does just as good as anybody [and] you know the two teams that come to my mind are New Orleans and the Patriots is their tempo. When you got a quarterback who was able to come out there and control the tempo the way he was…he never lets you settle down [and] he never lets you get going and you can see rookie play when that happens. You know you can see Clayborn turn into a rookie. Some of your upfront guys turn into rookies when you got a guy to come up and take that tempo. Especially when you are playing that type of a team that is hitting on all cylinders [and] been together for a while [like] Wes Walker. I mean I know they got a new guy in Ocho, but for the most part that team is pretty well assembled and have been playing together for a while in the same system and they knew exactly what they wanted to do in every situation [and] he was in complete control and they went out and did a great job in execute.”


Any overconfidence in first game:
“I do not know if there is a such thing as over confidence, but you play the New England Patriots and you go out there overconfident then that is your fault,” Coach Morris said. “That is kind of like overlooking somebody or something of that nature, but you know there is no such thing as overconfidence with a young football team. They have to go out and play. We started the game flat [and] did not play well at home and that is something we got to change. Something we got to work on from last year as well.”


Did tonight’s game hurt the team’s confidence?
“No, I mean it should not, “Coach Morris said. “You know this is a league of bouncing back. This is a league of next opponent is the most important. You know right now the Miami Dolphins are the most important opponent for this team and they got to get ready to prepare like that. Hopefully you can see the Patriots again…that would be a great sight for all of us.”

Transcribed by Victoria Horchak