Coughlin: Very disappointing, very disappointing loss. Any way you want to look at it. We fumble the ball after a nice drive that possibly could have been points, we don't score from the one-yard line. We give up big plays in the second half. We don't really stop the run, they had all kinds of yardage, we had little or none. We gave ourselves a chance there at the end of the game, it just took way too much time for us to score. And then obviously 3rd and 11 or 12, whatever that was, we couldn't stop it. We had trouble stopping the slant all night long like we've never seen a slant before. Very, very frustrating. It hurts to come in and be playing at home and playing a game of this nature opening the season to play the way we played, and we certainly are capable of playing a lot better.
Q: Did the fumble by [David] Wilson alter the way that you were going to use him tonight?
A: Probably a little bit. Sure.
Q: Do you think you wore down a little bit defensively?
A: They didn't have that many plays. I didn't see the final totals, but I saw somewhere before maybe our last drive or something, they had 50 plays and we had 45. So I don't know but I'll take a look at the tape and be objective about it but I don't think that's the reason there.
Q: In the game plan, did you expect the performance from Ogletree?
A: He's played well against us before, whether it was Ogletree or whoever else it's going to be. He is their third receiver and he has played well against us before.
Q: What's your message to your team after this?
A: Take a bite out of humble pie is basically what it is. It brings you right back to earth. There won't be any blowing smoke up their rear ends as far as that. Last year is last year and this year is this year. Every team is a new team, every year is a new year, we have our work cut out for us, it's a great challenge for us now. I think Michael Coe injured a hamstring again, so there is another corner we're staring at being down. But we've rubbed salt in it right now and I think that hopefully the competitive nature of our guys comes out and we come out swinging.
Q: Do you have any concerns about the short yardage game?
A: I don't know. I have to take a look at that, too. We have been very good in goal line situations against Dallas, but I don't know if the scheme flattened us out or whatever, but obviously the football was intended to split it and it didn't. It got flattened out and, of course, we lost two yards on it. So that wasn't a very good start.
Q: With that bite out of the humble pie, was it logical to think that there was some…?
A: No. I didn't see a whole lot of that. I'm not going to tell you we didn't feel good about ourselves. I think especially our defense felt pretty good because of their preseason, they played pretty well and they had every right to feel that way. But Dallas neutralized some of our big weapons tonight, and they would try to run the ball and they had nice balance. So we have got to give them some credit as well.
Q: How disappointing is it with Corey Webster, one of your reliable guys, tonight?
A: You know, he's better than that. He's strong-willed, he got beat and he came right back and competed. He conducted himself like a pro. It's just a shame that he got beat on a double move and he just got beat on a go route. I don't know if it was a lapse or not, whether he was thinking that they weren't going to throw the ball down the field. But it was a very accurate throw, and the receiver [Dez] Bryant got himself in position. But he'll bounce back.
Q: What did you see on the drops by Victor Cruz?
A: Victor, on occasion, has had some concentration drops where he tries to run before he catches the ball. It's something he continually has to work on and he'll work on it again.
Q: Are you surprised they neutralized your big pass rushers?
A: I don't know if they totally neutralized them but we expected more obviously.
Q: Did you think Cruz was held on that third down?
A: Oh, for sure. I think there was more than a hold. There's another word for it. But you have people in a position, and they're trying to do the very best they can. We can yell and scream on the sidelines all we want from the sidelines but that's the nature of what we have in front of us right now and they try as hard as they can. They're very vocal, they're very easy to work with and they come to you and talk to you about the way it needs to be to be controlled and called. That part of it is just part of the game, anybody can miss a call, but I just felt like in a situation like that, a key situation, where it becomes a first down again, it would have been nice to get that call.
Q: When you say you were neutralized, do you think your defensive linemen were held?
A: I don't know. I'm sure everybody will tell you that but there aren't going to be any excuses here. They beat us, they ran the ball, and they got the ball in position on us. They had a lot of yards tonight and no matter what, if you want to break it down to just minutely, it's not going to solve anything. We've got a lot of work to do.
Q: What is your assessment of Eli?
A: He had tremendous pressure. We didn't do much in terms of really solidifying and allowing him to step up and throw. Certainly he would be the first one to tell you that we want more, expect more and certainly have more. But we've got to do a better job of protecting him and we've got to do a better job all around in terms of that and then maybe we can expect to have some better performances than the past game.[
