WR Roger Lewis Jr.
Q: What was that sequence like when Odell came out and you had to go in?
A: It is time to go score. It is time to go make a play. I didn't know what was going on with him, but it was just time for me to make a play and coach told me to go get it.
Q: As a receiver, what is it like watching Odell?
A: It is great. It is a great feeling. It is not just Odell, Victor Cruz, I am learning from these guys. Every rep they take in practice, I am looking at it, seeing how they break, seeing how they catch – all the little things.
Q: You had beat that guy off the line earlier, right?
A: Yes.
Q: But Eli didn't look your way.
A: Yeah, but I knew it was going to come and just keep going. I can't complain about anything. I am an undrafted guy and I just strive to be great. I am just trying to still strive on special teams and just play my role.
LB Jonathan Casillas
Q: How big was this victory?
A: It is huge. 3-3 sounds a lot better than 2-4 and dropping two at home, that would have been really tough. It is not going to get easier going down the stretch for the rest of the games, so we had to win (today). Today was a must win and I think we did a good job and we played some complementary ball today.
Q: What did you see on that 4th down stop?
A: Yeah, it was an outside toss play and they have a good fullback, the fullback cut me and I did a good job of using my hands and protecting my legs and it was one on one with me and the back and I made a pretty good play.
Q: How do you guys stay with it? You come in with a three-game losing streak and the calls were going against you late.
A: Well, we have a great group, man. We have a resilient group, we have good character in this room, we have good leaders on the team, we have great talent, 13 (Odell Beckham Jr.) had a day today and we played a collective game. It was a balanced effort on all three sides of the ball and we are going to need that to keep winning games down the stretch.
Q: What is it like to be on the sidelines for Beckham's plays?
A: We call it what it is. He is a playmaker, he is a game changer and did that, he did exactly that today. That is the 13 that I see all the time and I see that at practice and he showed it today. We all know what kind of player he is and he had one of those days today where he was just kind of unstoppable. Hats off to him, he has been getting a lot of criticism lately and he showed up.
Q: What is the key for a linebacker on the 4th down play?
A: Have your eyes in the correct place. If I had been too heavy on the tight end, I would have maybe got sealed by the fullback. I felt like I had my eyes in the right place and I did a good job in block construction and made a sound tackle on the running back.
WR Odell Beckham Jr.
Q: What did that feel like on the winning touchdown?
A: I caught the slant and didn't know how close the defender was. First of all, Eli changed the play. He had a play on and saw some different coverages that you can't mess with. He changed the play and put me in a perfect position to run a slant. I catch it and see one safety angling to the right. I know that for someone to be able to open their hips and run at the same time to run me down, they're going to be very fast. I went left and it all worked out.
Q: How good did this game feel to you after all you had to go through the first two games of the season?
A: It felt great. It's kind of an example of what God can do for you. He's put me on this platform and in position to do the things like this. He's put me there for the ups and the downs and to learn and grow from them. Really, there's going to be a lot more downs and a lot more ups. I trust in Him. Collectively as a team, we fought today, for every bit of it. First play, come out, fumble. What are we going to do now? How are we going to overcome adversity? We did that. Now you just have to keep building on it. We've had some tough losses. There's definitely going to be things to correct from this film and things to watch. You just keep it moving.
Q: The offense did start out slow, what changed it around for you guys?
A: When I was in the locker room, they told me that Roger Lewis scored. For someone to be able to come in here and just make plays, that's what we expect of everybody. One man down, next man up. He came in and started it up. This defense is playing at a tremendously high level. Us as an offense, we have to do better to give them more.
Q: How bad did you think the hip pointer was?
A: Whatever it is, it was bad. It was bothering me all game. Even on the last drive, I told Roger Lewis, get your mind right because you're going to score the game-winning touchdown. I sat there and just prayed. I prayed for strength. He placed his hand of anointment on me and He did. I was able to go out there, get enough adrenaline to make a play and put us in position. I'm very thankful that the penalty on that didn't cost us in the end.
Q: The DRC penalty?
A: The helmet off. When you take it off on the field in the field of play. It's neither here nor there.
Q: What was going on with the net today. What was the message you were sending?
A: Well, our relationship is growing. I thought we might as well make it serious. I proposed and she said yes. Me and the net are going to get married sometime soon. Hopefully it all works out. I'm 23, so I don't know much about marriage. She seems like a pretty nice gal.
Q: You'll have interesting children?
A: It'll be nice. Blonde nettish.
Q: The biggest different between being 2-4 and 3-3?
A: It's 2-4 and 3-3. You want to win every game and put yourself in the best position. That's tough to answer. I don't know, you want to win.
Q: Can you talk about your first touchdown?
A: This is a play that we've been running for a minute. It's usually not that. Eli checked to it again. This is the most prepared person I've ever been around in my entire life. He puts you in the right positions. He's making all the throws. We've all struggled early this year. He kind of took us under his wing today. He said he was going to come out and give us his all. He led us the entire way in Eli fashion. He just put me in position. He called the double move and put it right where it needed to be.
Q: Do you feel like you guys are finally hitting your stride?
A: I think we're on the way. It's just a matter. It's only one game. We have to go out next week and do the same thing. That's the only way you're going to be able to tell if you're hitting your stride. We have a tough challenge next week in London against the Rams. They're a good team. Should be a fun opportunity. Twickenham Stadium. I'm looking forward to everything coming with it.
Q: After all the analysis with some of your play and the antics that were going on in the first month, do you think you made a statement now that it's really all about football?
A: I don't know. I'm going to go out there and play the same way every time. I don't think I played any different besides me being injured. It was the same passion. I think because I was hurt I couldn't express it as much as I wanted to. I couldn't even yell to my coach and tell him something. God is good.
QB Eli Manning
Q: Going off the first couple series, it was pretty slow; then, you changed the tempo. What does it mean, offensively, that you guys can go to a quicker tempo?
A: Yeah, I thought that was what we needed. Coach did a good job to say, "Hey, we're going to go fast; we're going to get up there and get the ball snapped." I think that helps out our offensive line; it gets our receivers going. It gets us plenty of time to see what the defense is doing and get the good plays – better plays. We get some good defense, and our guys were able to hit a couple big plays. It was fun; it was fun to get out there and see our guys making the plays that we expect them to do. It was a big win for us.
Q: Eli, of course, a win comes first, but you achieved some personal history today. You joined the 300 touchdown club. You passed Elway in the process; you passed Drew Bledsoe in completions. How does it feel to have your name alongside these NFL legends?
A: You know, my focus is really just on this season – on this team; and going out there and getting a win. When I'm done playing, I'll look back and see where I stand – maybe or maybe not; I don't know. My focus is on getting this win and getting this season back on track and getting to where we want to get this year.
Q: What's it like going out there and watching the way Odell [Beckham, Jr.] played today – especially that second half he had?
A: Yeah, that was fun. That's what we expect him to do. We got some looks that we wanted. We were able to get to a couple plays that we've kind of had on the shelf for a few weeks, we just never quite got the looks that we wanted to get to them. Today, we got some of those and converted on them. It was good to see him make some bigtime plays in crucial moments. There's nothing better than just catching a slant and going whatever it was – 60 or 70 yards for a touchdown to get the game-winning play.
Q: Take us through that first one where he [Odell Beckham, Jr.] kind of sat down and spun off.
A: Yeah, just a move off a play that we run a pretty good bit, so finally got a look that we could get to it. Tried to move the safety left a little bit, came back to him; he had good patience, kind of waited for my eyes, kind of lulled the corner to sleep and then a little whirly-bird out of it. It hit him in stride, and make the corner miss and go score the touchdown; so a big play in that moment.
Q: How often do you usually run the double-move off that? You say you run that play a lot, but do you run the double-move?
A: It's just kind of one of those [plays] that we've had on the shelf for three or four weeks and just haven't got the look that we wanted to get to that, and we finally got it today.
Q: Eli, how did it feel to have Roger Lewis, Jr. get involved in the offense and get his first snap which also happened to be a touchdown?
A: Good to get Roger. He's been doing a good job; he did some good things at training camp and early on. He's kind of waited for his opportunity to get in there. We had some things where he wasn't able to get in anyway with some four receiver stuff, but today he pops in there and all of a sudden – a good job of knowing the offense and knowing the plays – not really a play we've run a whole lot, but we put it in this week. He stepped up and knew what to do and did a good job to beat man coverage and making a catch and getting a touchdown. So a big play at that time with a third down conversion and a touchdown.
Q: Eli, when you break the huddle for the one that went for the game-winner, at 4th and 1, are you just thinking he's going to sit down at that spot and just get the first down? Or do you think, when you're at the line, that it's going to be a game-winner?
A: You just try to get one yard. So you look at the defense a little bit – they were playing man-to-man, so opportunity for one on one with your best player on a slant route. He did a good job of beating the guy and making him fall down. You hit him in stride, and good things happen. It's tough to make a play on the safety – he outruns everybody and gets a touchdown. It was a huge play and the team needed it.
Q: On that play, do you have time to look away from him? Coach McAdoo said he's the first in your progression, but it looked like you might have been looking away from him, at least initially.
A: Yeah, I was just trying to see what they were doing. We had a good play to the left as well, but with the linebacker, I thought they might try to keep a guy over to the side. The linebacker and their nickel both ran with the running back, and I knew I had one-on-one at that point with Odell. The safety coming down and guarding the tight end, so I knew there was going to be a lot of space in there where he could take a little time to work, and have a great opportunity to give him the ball. He did a good job winning and hitting the play.
Q: On your second interception, did you and Shepard have any conversation after that?
A: No, just unfortunate. I probably could've hit Odell for the first down on the right side. Saw the safety kind of working that side. I knew I had Shepard working one-on-one on the corner route and maybe I got a little greedy at that point. I tried to put it up for him to make a play. His feet got tangled. Unfortunate that it ended up an interception. The defense did a good job just holding them for a field goal at that point.
Q: Why do you think it wasn't working early? It took you 20 minutes to get a first down. What were you seeing that made it difficult for you guys?
A: We couldn't convert on some third downs. Had some third and longs. Obviously the first play we had a fumble. Had a completion there. We just couldn't quite get the third down going. They had a couple blitzes and got to us. Knew we were going to have to throw it hot and get it out quick. That's just football. Sometimes it doesn't work out exactly the way you want it. We weren't sure quite how they were going to play or what their scheme was. Eventually we settled down and started playing fast and making plays.
Q: I know a lot happened after that, but the 4th and five to Cruz. The fact that you guys decided to go for it there. How big was that play?
A: Definitely, we needed to get something going. Hadn't had a whole lot. Finally had a good drive going right there and had a fourth down. Appreciate having Coach McAdoo having faith in us that we can execute. Odell goes out and put Victor over there and he ran a good route and had a big play right there to get that fourth down conversion.
Q: When you take a step back, how do you feel you did in this game?
A: I thought I had some good plays. When we had some guys open, hit the plays that we needed to. Still some things to clean up and get better but thought I made some good decisions, threw the ball accurately and made the plays that were needed to win the game.
Q: Going to London this week. What do you think you guys have to do to prepare for the change with the time zone?
A: We just have to do a great job early in the week, make sure we're getting our preparation. Once you take that trip and get over there, things are going to be off a little bit. You're not in your own facility so we have to make sure we have great preparation here in the States. Getting our sleep, getting hydrated. Do all the things we have to do because once we get over there it's going to be different. We have a good team, good leadership and we'll handle that and make sure we're prepared. But we have to know it is a work trip when we get over there. We have to do everything we can to prepare while we're here in the States.
Q: How do you think you guys stayed with it mentally?
A: That was big. That is what we have to do. We have really tough, have to stay with it, you have to believe. You have to believe that we're going to make the plays that we need to. The defense did a great job making stops. Offensively, same thing. We didn't start off great but we got a great rhythm and kept going. There were some unfortunate plays but we bounced back and made the plays that we needed to so that's what we had to do this week. It's not always going to be easy, it's going to be tough at times. There's going to be lulls when you're playing great and not playing great. But you just have to believe you can do it every time and make the plays you need to make to win the game.
CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
Q: When you were running with him, did you put your hand down at all?
A: No. See when I'm running with him, he's battling for me to get into position. I'm fighting with him and he's looking at the ball. That's legal. You can do that. That's what I always was told. That's what I know. I'm not sure what he got off that. He said he got it in the beginning. That should've been a hold or something, definitely not a pass interference.
Q: The fourth down and two, how huge was that stop?
A: That takes away seven points or six points. It takes away seven points. That's definitely huge. It gives you what you need as a defense to just keep going out there and fighting. That's still in the down there.
Q: Despite the penalties, defensively how good to you feel after this game?
A: We feel really good. We know everything that happened was self-inflicted. Once you correct that, the sky is the limit.
Q: There's a big difference between being 3-3 and 2-4?
A: That's a big difference. You're right in the hunt of things. You just have to keep fighting.
Q: When do you start focusing on the Rams? Do you celebrate today's win?
A: Yes, but you have to get it out fast. Each week. You take it game by game. You want to just bottle it all in and get back to work.
Q: Did you think you made a good play and were you surprised to see the flag on the interference call?
A: Yes, I did think I made a good play because I held my inside position. That was critical to be inside. For the most part, I can't argue that. It was a call that was made. I have to live with it.
Q: Did you feel like you got pushed?
A: I did but in my mind, I don't think about it. There's still more ball to be played.
Q: Is that a cornerback's mentality?
A: That's been my mentality. I've been around the league a long time. I have argued a lot of calls. It has never gotten me anywhere. I understand that he made it and I have to live with it.
Q: You seem to brush it off?
A: It can't get to me. I know one thing at cornerback that if you lose your mind, it's going to be a long day for you.
Q: You saw a lot of your guys getting pretty upset?
A: Yes. I tell them to calm down. If anyone is going to do it, let me do it. I know it's a critical time in the game and we have to stay focused. Just try and hold them to three.
Q: Is that just the life of a cornerback now?
A: It's hard to come back from that. At that time in the game, you could easily go in the tank. One thing I always know is that you have to keep fighting. That's all I know.
S Landon Collins
Q: As a fellow defensive back, can you describe your thoughts on the Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie pass interference call?
A: The referee made the call that he saw. As a defensive player, we all know that you see other things and you see a different way. But the refs made the call and we have to live with it.
Q: How much does a victory like that re-invigorate the confidence in the locker room?
A: It does a lot. It gives us a momentum and a boost that we fought and won. We trusted that we have the confidence in each other to win the game.
Q: What was the biggest difference for you guys between the first half and the second half?
A: Confidence that defense was going to come out and play our best game. Play strong and come out with the win.
Q: As the game went on, the defense gained confidence. How did the (Ravens') receivers respond to that? It looked like they were more confident in the first quarter than they were as the game went on.
A: We were just trying to create a force and make tackles to make sure they (felt our pressure), make them not catch any balls. They caught a few but we were trying to make sure they didn't get any. (INAUDIBLE)
Q: On that goal line stand, what was your pressure?
A: That's what we're built for. That's the defense we made. (INAUDIBLE)…That's what we want out of it.
Q: You guys talk a lot about flushing plays that don't go your way. What do you guys do to maintain your poise, especially when you give them the lead on a questionable call?
A: Just turn the page. We have a (dynamic) offense that we have a lot of trust in. We have the confidence that they're going to march the ball down the field and get us back in the game. We, as the defense, we try to stop them (and you get bad calls sometimes). But we fight all the way to the end.
Q: You had a third down where (Joe) Flacco threw the ball and your man caught it. What'd you see on that play? You had the underneath on (Kamar Aiken).
A: When I looked back, I lost the ball because something was in my face. (REMAINDER IS INAUDIBLE)
Q: When you're on the sideline and you're looking at what Odell Beckham Jr. and Eli Manning are doing to an opposing defense, what's going through your mind?
A: That's what we expect. That's what we try to get out of offense at all times. That's a great duo and they did a great job today. Just have to get the ball in his hands and make those opportunities count.
Q: The defense played 35 minutes on the field, 76 plays. Can you talk about what the defense is talking about on the field to stick together and make those plays?
A: We have confidence in one another to make plays and make sure we (INAUDIBLE) on third down. That's our biggest key. We had problems with doing that last year and getting the ball back to the offense so they can get down the field and score. That's where our mindset it. Make a play and get off the field.
Q: Early on, on third downs, you guys had problems. What changed?
A: The mindset of our defense. We knew what we had to do and we knew the kind of dashes on the couple third downs from the first quarter. We could not have that, because we knew what kind of defense we are and that we had to get off the field.
