Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: Players were frustrated after the game; they were angry after the game. Do you welcome that venting by your guys in what becomes a public forum?

BRIAN DABOLL: Look, these guys put a lot of work into this, as does everybody involved, and certainly not something that we wanted yesterday. We work hard every week to not have that happen, and that was a tough one. So, there's frustration that comes with it, understandable. And we communicate, I think we have good leadership in our locker room. I think we communicate on a daily basis. But certainly, a frustrating game, no question about it.

Q: (Wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) and (defensive lineman) Dexter (Lawrence II) both called the team's play soft. How do you feel about that choice of word in describing the game?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I thought our guys played hard. Go back and evaluated the tape. There were certain plays that you want back. We talked about some of the missed tackles that happened. Offensively, some of the negative plays, particularly in the first half. We had 17 plays. That created some third-and-longs that we didn't pick up. Didn't control the time of possession. But the guys played hard, they played with effort. Just didn't do enough.

Q: I know you're saying your guys played hard. What do you say to people who think that the team kind of quit on you guys with the performance that they put out there?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I mean we went back, we evaluated the tape this morning. Look, we didn't play well enough. Some things, whether it's execution stuff, call stuff, that we just didn't get the job done. But in terms of running to the football, giving effort at the line of scrimmage, those didn't stand out. What stands out was three sacks early on in the first half, 0 for 4 on third down, a variety of missed tackles that caused some big plays. And the missed tackles weren't a lack-of-effort missed tackles. Give Tampa Bay credit. They did a good job, and we didn't do a good enough job.

Q: Do you have any update on how (quarterback) Tommy's (DeVito) doing today?

BRIAN DABOLL: I don't, sorry. I don't have any update on any of these guys yet.

Q: Do you expect him to be able to play on Thursday at this point?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I obviously got to talk to the training staff, I'm hopeful. But I don't know, I haven't talked to the training staff.

Q: It's three days before the game. You didn't check in on your quarterback?

BRIAN DABOLL: I have not talked to the training staff yet. So, I'll wait until they give me the update, then we'll see where we're at. But I'm anticipating he'll be ready to go.

Q: You just made that case on not having issues with effort. So how do you square that with a veteran like (tackle) Jermaine Eluemunor who said unequivocally he saw a lack of effort yesterday?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we're going to watch the tape here as a group in a few minutes. And we're going to go through the plays like we normally do. And I think that as a coach you make the corrections that you need to make. And I think the players will see what we see as a coaching staff.

Q: But even if that's how the coaching staff sees it, does it concern you that a player is publicly saying he's not seeing it? Like that doesn't concern you. That's not something you feel like could be an issue.

BRIAN DABOLL: Look, we have good communication. We'll talk about what Jermaine sees. And we'll talk about what we see. We'll watch it. It's right on tape. But again, I have confidence in the guys in the locker room. And again, when you lose a game like that, the way we lost, certainly everybody's frustrated.

Q: With so much going on and the offense struggling, any consideration to giving up play calling?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, we'll stay status quo here in terms of how we prepare, particularly on this short week. But certainly, got to do a better job.

Q: In times like this with a big losing streak coming off that game, what is the inclination to stay the course versus 'I got to change something. It's a desperate time. I know it's a short week, but I believe in what we do. We got to stay the course' when what you do is not working'?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, it's a great question. Again, I believe in what we do. Obviously, the results have not shown themselves. I believe in the people, and we'll continue to work as hard as we can. But certainly, you think about things that you need to change or whether it's plays, whatever it may be, you're always thinking what can you do to do better. And obviously there's a lot of things we can do better.

Q: The phrase is always out there. 'Lost the locker room', 'He lost the locker room'. Can you say for sure that that is not the case with you and your team right now?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I feel good about our communication with the players, with the coaches. Certainly not happy about the results but I expect a lot from those guys, and they should expect a lot from me. And again, there's a good communication process. But when you lose like that, it's a frustrating thing.

Q: (Wide receiver) Malik Nabers said the problem with the offense isn't the quarterback. He said it was the same problem when we had DJ (Daniel Jones) at quarterback. He said to talk to you about the issues and about his lack of targets early. So, that sounds like he's blaming the game plan, the strategy, the play calling on your end. How did you interpret those comments?

BRIAN DABOLL: Leek (Malik Nabers) and I talked last night. We talked this morning. He's a very competitive individual. Again, you want to get the ball in his hands, and I got to do a better job of getting the ball in his hands, early. He's a smart, young guy that is very competitive. When you lose like that, it's a frustrating thing. But we've had good communication, as we always have.

Q: Do you think it's a problem that he feels free to speak that freely and that critically about you, the Head Coach, and about the operation?

BRIAN DABOLL: I'll keep our conversations private, myself and Leek's (Malik Nabers), and look forward to getting ready on Dallas.

Q: You're saying you don't feel like there were effort issues, but I feel like the tape speaks for itself. How do you reconcile… Obviously you want to present a good front as a leader of the team, but how do you correct the jogging and the lack of pursuit by some of these players? How do you avoid those frustrations from happening the next time the team steps on the field?

BRIAN DABOLL: I think you go through the tape, you make the corrections. It's not all going to be perfect, no question about it. But you tag certain plays that you want improvement, whatever area that is, technique, chase the ball, whatever that may be. It wasn't up to our standard in terms of overall execution of play, but there wasn't a lot of guys that were not giving effort. We looked at that with a fine tooth comb this morning.

Q: There were a lot of injuries and things went the wrong way last year. There was a lot of praise for how the locker room did stay together down the stretch. I'm curious, what is the trick when there doesn't seem to be any hope to message these guys that there is hope? If that makes any sense.

BRIAN DABOLL: You get ready to play another game, obviously on Thanksgiving. You go through the things you got to get better at and you show confidence in your players and your staff and you make adjustments that you need to make. Again, I've got a lot of confidence in the guys in that locker room and would say we have good communication. We're going to work to do everything we can do to make it as good as we can.

Q: You mentioned communication, I know we've talked about this the last couple of weeks. But the idea of when you either hear the comments that were made last night from individual players, or they are brought to your attention, are you surprised that you're hearing this sentiment or is this something that you anticipate as a coach because of your conversations that you've had with the players with a continued process to be in touch with them?

BRIAN DABOLL: When you lose a game like that, there's frustration. Certainly, you'd like to keep it in house. But you understand them and I've been doing this for a while. There's conversations that you have to have if comments like that are made. I respect the opinions of the players and of the coaches. We'll work as hard as we can to get this fixed.

Q: Do you feel like you can find any positives or anything to grow from or show progress with this team because of those comments and because of these opinions are being shared, maybe not behind the scenes, but publicly?

BRIAN DABOLL: Progress to improve?

Q: Yeah. Improve this team.

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah. That's what we'll do. That's what we try to do after every game. Obviously, the results, they have been what they have been. So, obviously we've got to do a lot better than that.

Q: How do you close what seems to be a pretty big gap between what the leaders on this team continue to say and have been saying for a couple of weeks, (defensive lineman) Dex (Dexter Lawrence II), (outside linebacker Brian) Burns, even (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) to a certain extent, (tackle Jermaine) Eluemunor now, between what they are saying and what the rest of the team is hearing and how they're reacting to it? Because it seems like they're saying the right things, but it's not being enacted on or heard.

BRIAN DABOLL: We all got to do a better job. That starts with me and that's what we'll do.

Q: Do you think there's enough good, experienced leadership in the locker room or do you think that some of that is missing from previous years?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, I got a lot of respect for the guys in the locker room and the leaders in that room. It's not just the veterans. It's the young guys coming on as well.