 }})
HEAD COACH RON RIVERA
(on why the Washington Football Team fell short in the red zone during the game) “It was disappointing. We had opportunities, and we just didn’t convert when we had a chance.” (on why they went for it multiple times on fourth down) “Trying to get the flow of the game as we go through it. Trying to get points. Listening to the analytics. Trying to make decisions.”
(on QB Taylor Heinicke’s diving touchdown attempt and if he dived too early) “It was disappointing. The interpretation is that he gave himself up. To me, when he dove and stretched, that didn’t look like he was giving himself up. Go from there.” (on the defensive line not being able to put it all together) “I think there’s a little bit of discipline and a little consistency. They fought, though. They played hard and they gave themselves a chance.”
(on what he means by discipline and consistency) “Doing your assignment. On one of the scrambles, we had a guy who was supposed to contain on the pass and he didn’t use his cop technique, and unfortunately, Aaron [Rodgers] gets out and throws across his body to Davante [Adams]. Davante catches it for the touchdown. If we’re disciplined and we do our job and we finish it, we keep them contained.”
(on if it’s the defensive line specifically that needs to improve their discipline and consistency) “I’m just saying we just didn’t do the job, is what I’m saying.”
(on the quarterback sneak attempt for the touchdown and what his point of view is) “The interpretation they gave me is: they [the officials] couldn’t tell whether he was down or not. They’re not saying the ball didn’t break the plane on the second effort, but what they did say is that they couldn’t tell that his knee wasn’t down. I just thought that he was laying on bodies, and if you’re laying on bodies, you’re not down. But they said they couldn’t see if his knee was on the ground or not. That was the interpretation I was given.”
(on the officials changing the original spotting of the ball a couple times during the game) “What happens is, it’s something the league is using that is actually working very well for us. They review it as well. If there’s any question, the league will start to review it, that way it keeps the play going, in terms of they don’t have to take the timeout and stuff like that, unless they’re absolutely sure. They did it the way they’re supposed to and that’s how it’s supposed to work.”
(on if he saw improvement with the defense, despite this being a loss) “Yes, especially against this quarterback. This is one of the elites, man, and he [Rodgers] showed it. He read us a couple times perfectly, and he threw the perfect ball. He threw the back shoulder one time and the other time he took the high ball against one of our match-ups. This is why the dude is special, man. That’s why he is special.”
(on how the secondary performed, considering they are experiencing many injuries) “I thought they held up pretty well. They went up against one of the elite receivers and one of the elite passers today, and I thought they held their own. A big part of it was, and I know I’ve mentioned this to you guys, I thought the rush and the coverage were coordinated pretty well, for the most part. I thought they were in-tune with one another. Putting the pressure on the quarterback, forcing the ball out early. A couple times he [Rodgers] beat us in terms of what he had read and getting the ball out of his hands quickly. Again, kudos to him and that’s why I said he’s one of the elite guys.”
(MORE) (on the performance of K Chris Blewitt) “I thought Chris did a nice job, I did. I was pleased to see him. He drove the ball well. Because of the circumstances a couple of times, I decided to go for the touchdowns, and we could’ve easily kicked the field goals, but that wouldn’t have helped us in terms of needing points to score to get back into the game.”
(on what happened with the blocked field goal) “He [Blewitt] might have drilled that one maybe a little low? I believe it was a 42-yarder. It’s something a first-year guy, a rookie, basically, he’ll get better at giving that ball some elevation. At the same time, there may have been a little bit of penetration. He [Packers DL T.J. Slaton] did get his hands up. We really haven’t had the chance to look at that, so that’s speculation on my part.”
(on S Landon Collins’ role) “I loved his role. I loved his role. You saw him run through the line a couple times, make plays out behind the line of scrimmage. You saw his ability to get outside and turn the ball back inside. You saw him in pursuit. I thought he did a nice job in his coverage drops. I think there’s a couple things – the more he works at it, the more comfortable he gets at it. I thought he was productive, and that’s where we see him.”
(on QB Heinicke’s performance) “I thought it was great. I thought he was very gutsy, very courageous. I know he wishes he got that one back – just keep the ball extended, that way the interpretation is you didn’t give yourself up, you were trying to cross the goal line. But again, it’s interpretation. That’s a tough one for me to swallow because there’s nobody around him, but that’s what the rule is, I guess.”
(on if QB Heinicke’s failed touchdown attempt falls on Taylor) “It’s not necessarily all on the quarterback either. There’s 10 other guys on the field. We have to go through that. There’s some things I didn’t agree with either, but you can’t count on getting calls at times, either. You just have to go ahead and go through it.”
(on why they played CB Danny Johnson) “Because Danny was the next man up. I thought he played a heck of a ball game. He made a couple plays on coverage. He was in good position. The experience of the quarterback, throwing the ball where he did, where he [Johnson] didn’t have a chance. But I thought Danny did a good job, and Danny competed for us. He made plays. That was just a tough play.”
(on if he sees week-to-week improvement) “I love the fight in these guys today. There’s no quit. They played hard. And that’s all you can ask for as a coach – that your guys come out and play hard and give themselves an opportunity. And I thought they did. I thought Taylor [Heinicke] was impressive. He did make a couple mistakes, but he’s going to. He’s a young guy gaining experience. I have a lot of confidence that he is going to be able to move us. And now we, as a football team, just have to continue to grow and get better.”
(on his team experiencing ‘quit’ when facing adversity last week and how this week was different) “I think the guys just continue to fight. They felt it. I really thought they had a good week of preparation. I loved the way they practiced. I loved the way they came to work every day. It was a point of emphasis. It was one of the things I stressed on Sunday after the game. Again, we’ll continue to do that because that’s the only way we’re going to get better. We’re just going to have to continue to work and work harder and that will help us play harder.
QUARTERBACK TAYLOR HEINICKE:
(on not being able to put points on the board in the red zone) “I don’t want to get into specifics, but I felt like I was in there (end zone) both times. I don’t want to get fined up here, so I’m not going to get into specifics, but I felt like I got in both times. And the other time, I just missed Ricky there in the back of the end zone. It was tough. I thought we did well though. We didn’t punt the ball once; we moved the ball on them. We just couldn’t finish in the red zone.”
(on how to balance not winning the game but at the same time the offense doing some good things) “Yeah, again, you want to win the game, but from the last two weeks offensively to what we did today, definitely improvement. But again, we’ve got to score in the red zone.”
(on the decision to dive toward the end zone and if he needed to dive to score) “When I was going toward the goal line I saw a couple defenders coming in and started pursuing me. And I didn’t know if I was going to take a big hit or not, so I thought, ‘Hey, let’s just dive and kind of squeeze my way in there.’ So for them to say I was giving myself up on the 1-inch yard line…it’s their decision to call that, but it is what it is.”
(on him chatting with Aaron Rodgers during the game and what that was about) “Yeah, so I went up to him and I was like, ‘Hey, what did you think about that touchdown there?’ And he’s like, ‘Same thing happened to me against Tampa last year.’ He said he was pissed off too about it. I told him, ‘Hey, go talk to the white hat and tell him to, you know, reverse the call.’ And he started laughing a little bit. But it was cool; it was cool talking to him. I grew up watching him and idolizing him, so to be on the same field as him competing and for him to kind of come out of his way to talk to me was a pretty cool experience.”
(on how well the offense moved the ball and his ability to run the ball) “I think we just had a really good week of practice, and everything we did at practice we executed out there on the field. We just stuck to it, we grinded it out. And again, when those lanes open for me to run, I think it kind of opens up our offense a little bit. But again, everyone played really well today. We just couldn’t finish in the red zone.”
(on his emotions being at Lambeau Field today) “Yeah, I was really emotional. Again, I grew up watching the Packers at Lambeau. Watching those legendary games with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers and stuff like that. And so actually to be on the field, experience it, get to play against Aaron, it was a really cool experience.”
(on if he had the Lambeau Leap planned ahead of time) “Yeah, so Coach told us on Friday what the first play was. It was kind of a quarterback-option run play. And I said, ‘Hey, if I run 75 yards, I’m doing Lambeau Leap.’ I’ve always dreamt of doing it. So when that opportunity arose, I was going for it.”
(on his play overall and the play of the offense overall) “I thought I played well. But again, I had a strip-sack there in the first series of the second half. And then that interception in the end zone. You know, it’s just little things like that. I feel like we don’t do that and a couple calls go differently and a couple calls go differently and we’re right there in it. I thought the defense played awesome. It was a really good collective effort from the team. We just fell short in a couple areas."
(on why the Washington Football Team fell short in the red zone during the game) “It was disappointing. We had opportunities, and we just didn’t convert when we had a chance.” (on why they went for it multiple times on fourth down) “Trying to get the flow of the game as we go through it. Trying to get points. Listening to the analytics. Trying to make decisions.”
(on QB Taylor Heinicke’s diving touchdown attempt and if he dived too early) “It was disappointing. The interpretation is that he gave himself up. To me, when he dove and stretched, that didn’t look like he was giving himself up. Go from there.” (on the defensive line not being able to put it all together) “I think there’s a little bit of discipline and a little consistency. They fought, though. They played hard and they gave themselves a chance.”
(on what he means by discipline and consistency) “Doing your assignment. On one of the scrambles, we had a guy who was supposed to contain on the pass and he didn’t use his cop technique, and unfortunately, Aaron [Rodgers] gets out and throws across his body to Davante [Adams]. Davante catches it for the touchdown. If we’re disciplined and we do our job and we finish it, we keep them contained.”
(on if it’s the defensive line specifically that needs to improve their discipline and consistency) “I’m just saying we just didn’t do the job, is what I’m saying.”
(on the quarterback sneak attempt for the touchdown and what his point of view is) “The interpretation they gave me is: they [the officials] couldn’t tell whether he was down or not. They’re not saying the ball didn’t break the plane on the second effort, but what they did say is that they couldn’t tell that his knee wasn’t down. I just thought that he was laying on bodies, and if you’re laying on bodies, you’re not down. But they said they couldn’t see if his knee was on the ground or not. That was the interpretation I was given.”
(on the officials changing the original spotting of the ball a couple times during the game) “What happens is, it’s something the league is using that is actually working very well for us. They review it as well. If there’s any question, the league will start to review it, that way it keeps the play going, in terms of they don’t have to take the timeout and stuff like that, unless they’re absolutely sure. They did it the way they’re supposed to and that’s how it’s supposed to work.”
(on if he saw improvement with the defense, despite this being a loss) “Yes, especially against this quarterback. This is one of the elites, man, and he [Rodgers] showed it. He read us a couple times perfectly, and he threw the perfect ball. He threw the back shoulder one time and the other time he took the high ball against one of our match-ups. This is why the dude is special, man. That’s why he is special.”
(on how the secondary performed, considering they are experiencing many injuries) “I thought they held up pretty well. They went up against one of the elite receivers and one of the elite passers today, and I thought they held their own. A big part of it was, and I know I’ve mentioned this to you guys, I thought the rush and the coverage were coordinated pretty well, for the most part. I thought they were in-tune with one another. Putting the pressure on the quarterback, forcing the ball out early. A couple times he [Rodgers] beat us in terms of what he had read and getting the ball out of his hands quickly. Again, kudos to him and that’s why I said he’s one of the elite guys.”
(MORE) (on the performance of K Chris Blewitt) “I thought Chris did a nice job, I did. I was pleased to see him. He drove the ball well. Because of the circumstances a couple of times, I decided to go for the touchdowns, and we could’ve easily kicked the field goals, but that wouldn’t have helped us in terms of needing points to score to get back into the game.”
(on what happened with the blocked field goal) “He [Blewitt] might have drilled that one maybe a little low? I believe it was a 42-yarder. It’s something a first-year guy, a rookie, basically, he’ll get better at giving that ball some elevation. At the same time, there may have been a little bit of penetration. He [Packers DL T.J. Slaton] did get his hands up. We really haven’t had the chance to look at that, so that’s speculation on my part.”
(on S Landon Collins’ role) “I loved his role. I loved his role. You saw him run through the line a couple times, make plays out behind the line of scrimmage. You saw his ability to get outside and turn the ball back inside. You saw him in pursuit. I thought he did a nice job in his coverage drops. I think there’s a couple things – the more he works at it, the more comfortable he gets at it. I thought he was productive, and that’s where we see him.”
(on QB Heinicke’s performance) “I thought it was great. I thought he was very gutsy, very courageous. I know he wishes he got that one back – just keep the ball extended, that way the interpretation is you didn’t give yourself up, you were trying to cross the goal line. But again, it’s interpretation. That’s a tough one for me to swallow because there’s nobody around him, but that’s what the rule is, I guess.”
(on if QB Heinicke’s failed touchdown attempt falls on Taylor) “It’s not necessarily all on the quarterback either. There’s 10 other guys on the field. We have to go through that. There’s some things I didn’t agree with either, but you can’t count on getting calls at times, either. You just have to go ahead and go through it.”
(on why they played CB Danny Johnson) “Because Danny was the next man up. I thought he played a heck of a ball game. He made a couple plays on coverage. He was in good position. The experience of the quarterback, throwing the ball where he did, where he [Johnson] didn’t have a chance. But I thought Danny did a good job, and Danny competed for us. He made plays. That was just a tough play.”
(on if he sees week-to-week improvement) “I love the fight in these guys today. There’s no quit. They played hard. And that’s all you can ask for as a coach – that your guys come out and play hard and give themselves an opportunity. And I thought they did. I thought Taylor [Heinicke] was impressive. He did make a couple mistakes, but he’s going to. He’s a young guy gaining experience. I have a lot of confidence that he is going to be able to move us. And now we, as a football team, just have to continue to grow and get better.”
(on his team experiencing ‘quit’ when facing adversity last week and how this week was different) “I think the guys just continue to fight. They felt it. I really thought they had a good week of preparation. I loved the way they practiced. I loved the way they came to work every day. It was a point of emphasis. It was one of the things I stressed on Sunday after the game. Again, we’ll continue to do that because that’s the only way we’re going to get better. We’re just going to have to continue to work and work harder and that will help us play harder.
QUARTERBACK TAYLOR HEINICKE:
(on not being able to put points on the board in the red zone) “I don’t want to get into specifics, but I felt like I was in there (end zone) both times. I don’t want to get fined up here, so I’m not going to get into specifics, but I felt like I got in both times. And the other time, I just missed Ricky there in the back of the end zone. It was tough. I thought we did well though. We didn’t punt the ball once; we moved the ball on them. We just couldn’t finish in the red zone.”
(on how to balance not winning the game but at the same time the offense doing some good things) “Yeah, again, you want to win the game, but from the last two weeks offensively to what we did today, definitely improvement. But again, we’ve got to score in the red zone.”
(on the decision to dive toward the end zone and if he needed to dive to score) “When I was going toward the goal line I saw a couple defenders coming in and started pursuing me. And I didn’t know if I was going to take a big hit or not, so I thought, ‘Hey, let’s just dive and kind of squeeze my way in there.’ So for them to say I was giving myself up on the 1-inch yard line…it’s their decision to call that, but it is what it is.”
(on him chatting with Aaron Rodgers during the game and what that was about) “Yeah, so I went up to him and I was like, ‘Hey, what did you think about that touchdown there?’ And he’s like, ‘Same thing happened to me against Tampa last year.’ He said he was pissed off too about it. I told him, ‘Hey, go talk to the white hat and tell him to, you know, reverse the call.’ And he started laughing a little bit. But it was cool; it was cool talking to him. I grew up watching him and idolizing him, so to be on the same field as him competing and for him to kind of come out of his way to talk to me was a pretty cool experience.”
(on how well the offense moved the ball and his ability to run the ball) “I think we just had a really good week of practice, and everything we did at practice we executed out there on the field. We just stuck to it, we grinded it out. And again, when those lanes open for me to run, I think it kind of opens up our offense a little bit. But again, everyone played really well today. We just couldn’t finish in the red zone.”
(on his emotions being at Lambeau Field today) “Yeah, I was really emotional. Again, I grew up watching the Packers at Lambeau. Watching those legendary games with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers and stuff like that. And so actually to be on the field, experience it, get to play against Aaron, it was a really cool experience.”
(on if he had the Lambeau Leap planned ahead of time) “Yeah, so Coach told us on Friday what the first play was. It was kind of a quarterback-option run play. And I said, ‘Hey, if I run 75 yards, I’m doing Lambeau Leap.’ I’ve always dreamt of doing it. So when that opportunity arose, I was going for it.”
(on his play overall and the play of the offense overall) “I thought I played well. But again, I had a strip-sack there in the first series of the second half. And then that interception in the end zone. You know, it’s just little things like that. I feel like we don’t do that and a couple calls go differently and a couple calls go differently and we’re right there in it. I thought the defense played awesome. It was a really good collective effort from the team. We just fell short in a couple areas."