Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: How's (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito)?

BRIAN DABOLL: If we were practicing today, it's a walkthrough, he would be limited. His forearm is sore, and we'll see where we're at. We had a walkthrough right before this. It is sore, so we'll see where we're at here.

Q: Is he throwing yet?

BRIAN DABOLL: He threw in the walkthrough. I wouldn't say it's timing or a lot of depth to it or velocity to it, but he was throwing in the walkthrough. He's going to test it out here today in practice in another walkthrough. So, I'm hopeful, but it's not 100 percent.

Q: Will you give (quarterback) Drew (Lock) more snaps?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I'm going to give Drew a few snaps here and see. We'll go ahead and we've got a lot of time on task with the walkthroughs, the stuff that we've put in. We just had one earlier, but I'm going to give Drew a few of those. But if Tommy's good, then Tommy would be the guy.

Q: Did this happen on a hit or on a throw?

BRIAN DABOLL: He was sore from the game naturally playing, but it just bothered him a little bit. And right before I got out here, we were talking about it, and I was talking to the trainers about it. So just sharing with you.

Q: It's his throwing arm?

BRIAN DABOLL: It is.

Q: Was he on the injury report yesterday?

BRIAN DABOLL: It was just this morning, like today he was out there with a sleeve. I'm like, 'you good?' 'Yeah, I'll be good. I'm a little sore here'. So, I just got it right now. It was sore today.

Q: How about the other guys on the injury report that were DNP yesterday?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah. (Tackle) Jermaine (Eluemunor), if we were practicing, he would not practice. (Outside linebacker) Azeez (Ojulari) and (defensive tackle) Armon Watts. None of those guys would practice if we had a practice today.

Q: How's (tackle) Evan Neal?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, he'll be on the injury report, it's his hip. I'd say I'm optimistic that he should be ready to go. It's a little bit harder, obviously, with not doing much. I think he should be ready to go.

Q: Those three guys you mentioned, Eluemunor, Azeez and Watts. Will they be unlikely for Thursday?

BRIAN DABOLL: Just take it and let it go all the way up to the game time to see where they're at. But they would not practice today.

Q: You were playing in this game recently, obviously.

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, a bunch.

Q: I mean the last Thursday game against Cowboys, like even though that game didn't go well, at least being through that experience, could that help your guys?

BRIAN DABOLL: Well, look, it's always a little bit of a different schedule on short weeks. So, we'll do what we think is best. We've had a lot of walk throughs. We've had a lot of meeting time. That's really all you can do to get yourself mentally prepared and physically you're not going to do a whole bunch just having played a game on Sunday.

Q: Is Thanksgiving any different than any other Thursday game?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, it's a privilege to play on Thanksgiving. I remember sitting there with my grandfather and watching the games on Thanksgiving when there's only a couple of them. But I've participated in this game on Thanksgiving in my career quite a bit. It's always a privilege.

Q: Is it a sore throwing arm or a sore other arm?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, it's just throwing arm.

Q: When you have a game like you had on Sunday and nobody was happy, would you rather be in a situation where you get out on the practice field a couple of days and kind of work through things or can this work to benefit you o?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, well it's the schedule. So go ahead and do everything we can do to be as prepared as we can be.

Q: Do you scratch your head and say, 'how do we go 10 games without an interception'?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would say we got to do a better job of taking the ball away. Which there were some good things last week. We missed the one obviously right there on the goal line and we had another one where they recovered, the one that (inside linebacker) Micah (McFadden) jumped on. So, we got to continue to do a good job of trying to take the football away from a team's offense and special teams.

Q: What sense have you gotten about the morale in the meeting rooms?

BRIAN DABOLL: Well, nobody's happy with where we're at. But look, we've got a positive mindset. We've got to get ready. You control the things you can control, which is this week. But I've said this before, I got a good appreciation for the people in the building.

Q: You've done this all season, and I don't think we've asked you, why do you take (cornerback Cor'Dale) Flott out and put (cornerback) Adoree' in certain plays? What's the thought process there?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I think that (Defensive Coordinator) Shane (Bowen) and (Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach) Jerome (Henderson) have kind of a good system with what they use in terms of the amount of reps and certain situations that they play those guys in and it's a situation that they feel comfortable with.

Q: With (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers), and (cornerback) Deonte Banks earlier this season when his effort was questioned. You always say that you keep your conversations in those situations private. That could be perceived by a lot of people as 'hey you're enabling these young guys. They can sort of do what they want'. What do you say when you hear that?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I'd say we have good, open conversations about it with whoever that may be, whether it's one of those guys, somebody else. I'm confident in those young players and we'll keep developing them.

Q: Do you feel like they're learning from their mistakes? I mean, I don't know if you view it as a mistake. But with Malik obviously, came out publicly with his comments. I think that's a pretty strong comment.

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, look, I think our conversations are very productive, not just with them, with veterans and things like that, and you're always continuing to grow.

Q: Is there a balance having a rookie speak out and speak their mind versus (inaudible)…

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, look, I think I'm very confident in the relationship I have with our guys, whether they're rookies, whether they're veterans, and we have good, productive conversations. We look to improve, you every day.

Q: You know how it can be perceived. Why do you personally choose that? Instead of to come up here and say, 'he needs to do better; we're not happy with what he did'?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah. I just think it's important to have open and honest communication with the players or the coaches. I have a lot of faith in those guys teaching them the things that I think that need to be taught and I have confidence in them.

Quarterback Tommy Devito

Q: How's your arm?

TOMMY DEVITO: Sore. My whole body's kind of sore. First time playing in a while, took a couple shots. It's not even 48 hours, so things are still kind of just settling in.

Q: Do you think you're going to play on Thursday?

TOMMY DEVITO: The plan is to play, yeah. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. Hopefully wake up feeling a little bit better after I get some more treatment today. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Q: How much did you do in today's walkthrough? Were you able to throw routes and stuff?

TOMMY DEVITO: I mean it's a walkthrough. We don't really throw intently or urgently or anything like that, so I wasn't able to get a great gauge of that, but tomorrow I will.

Q: Do you think you can throw at this point full velocity?

TOMMY DEVITO: We'll see. I'm not sure. I haven't really tested it. I'm kind of still just recovering. It's like a bruise. You don't want to aggravate it too much.

Q: When did it happen?

TOMMY DEVITO: In the game.

Q: Was it one of the last couple plays?

TOMMY DEVITO: Towards the back end, yeah. I don't really remember a specific play. It's kind of just adding up all the hits.

Q: Was it significantly worse today than yesterday?

TOMMY DEVITO: Yeah, but I think that's my whole body. Even my neck is pretty stiff. It's kind of the same thing.

Q: What are you limited with, specifically with your forearm, with it being sore? Aside from just hurting, what does it prevent you from doing?

TOMMY DEVITO: I'm not sure. I haven't opened it up. I haven't tried yet, no.

Q: You said your whole body, your neck. Are there any other body parts a concern or is it just the arm?

TOMMY DEVITO: Probably just my whole body is sore. That's all it is. It's just like a bruise.

Q: If this was a regular week and it's a Tuesday, is this what you would expect to be your normal soreness? And is the only reason why you're thinking about Thursday or it's not 100 percent is because it's a short week?

TOMMY DEVITO: 100 percent. I think if it was a regular week, it's Tuesdays usually when things settle into your body, when you get hit on Sundays. Usually Mondays, a little sore. Tuesdays are usually the worst day. So, having an extra four or five days after that usually help. But obviously this week it's very different, so that's why I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Q: Before all the fun times started last year, you played at Dallas. What do you remember about that game and what's the memories of that day like?

TOMMY DEVITO: The memory of Dallas is my first start being backed up on the one-yard line, my first snap. That's my memory of that game.

Q: How far can you put into context how far you've come going back to Dallas since the kid who was playing in that game?

TOMMY DEVITO: A ton. I mean I've said it week in and week out a lot mentally, but so much has happened from then. That was my first start. A little nervous, a little going into it, so I've kind of been around the block now, kind of played in that stadium before, in that crowd. Obviously, Thanksgiving's a little bit different, but I look forward to another challenge.

Q: Because you've played them once before, the fact that (Cowboys linebacker) Micah Parsons has been such a dominant player in this league, does it help that you've already seen him before, you've faced him before? Are they using him differently maybe this year than they did last year?

TOMMY DEVITO: For sure, definitely being used differently, but same respect that you have for all the other dominant players that are on the field. There's a lot of respect for him and I look forward to the matchup on Thursday.

Q: After the game, (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) has said he needs to get the ball earlier in the game than when it's the start of the third quarter. Obviously, that's defense, game planning, quarterback. How do you handle getting him the ball, not forcing it, but also knowing that he's a guy who you need to get involved early?

TOMMY DEVITO: Yeah, for sure. When the play calls, the reads, and the defense, when all of that plays into it and the read is there, the ball goes to him. Obviously, he's been a really talented player for us, a young guy but has done a lot throughout this year so far, so looking forward to getting more reps in with him, and whenever that look and that read and that play and everything is designed to where it opens up and it goes to him, the ball will go to him for sure.

Q: Is there any part of you, forcing it is probably the wrong word, but is there a part of you that needs to force it to him? Like I said, that's probably the wrong word, but because he wants the ball so early because you know that he'll be more in the game, is there a part of you that maybe you make a throw to him that you wouldn't make to somebody else?

TOMMY DEVITO: I think he's a really talented player. Obviously, his intangibles are off the charts, but again something we always talk about in the quarterback room it's aggressive, not reckless. Yeah, we can be aggressive trying to get certain people the ball in certain places based on how our reads are, but we're not going to be reckless with it by any means.

Q: Did you think there were opportunities when you went back and looked at it to get him the ball or was it just a situation that kind of didn't allow it?

TOMMY DEVITO: Yeah, me personally, I think I could have maybe two other times I could have probably gotten out to him on a third or fourth read, getting out there, just didn't end up happening, but besides that I think the ones that were there were there.

Q: What's your read on where this locker room is right now? You're the starting quarterback. Obviously, some guys said the team played soft after the game. Other guys said it didn't. Some guys said effort. Some guys didn't. Where's your vote on this locker room being on the same page with each other?

TOMMY DEVITO: Yeah, I think after that everything was discussed. Everything's obviously being kept in-house, but I think that after the conversations we had and watching the film, a lot of emotions are tied into when you're talking, especially right after the game. So, really just honed in on this week and looking forward to this next opportunity, but I think everybody's in a good spot.

Q: It's a short week. Did you guys have a players-only meeting or anything like that?

TOMMY DEVITO: No.

Q: Did you sense a sort of different attentiveness maybe afterwards? Like you said, everything was kind of put out there. Did you sense anything different from the group after that?

TOMMY DEVITO: No, not overly done. I think because of how short of a week it was. It was kind of normal, just went through, watched it, correct what we needed to correct and then we're on to Dallas obviously now because we only have – we leave tomorrow. So, it's happening fast, nothing too crazy.

Defensive Lineman Dexter Lawrence

Q: How do you feel like you guys have responded this week after veterans were critical of the performance?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: I think it starts with the leaders, honestly. We've been handling things with a positive mindset in here. We went out today and walked through. It went well, good energy, talking a lot, loud, which we wanted to be on defense. It was flowy, I guess you can say. Not many mistakes for it being the second or so walkthrough.

Q: How do you keep it where if things don't start perfect against Dallas, guys don't get the, 'Here we go again,' mindset? How do you prevent that from happening?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: At that point, I think it's more just understanding your, 'Why?' Why you play this game. It's a pride thing. Understanding who you do it for and why you do it. I think that's the most important thing. You can easily, at this point in the season, give up, per se. But I think it's goals that you have in life that you've got to obtain and think about.

Q: We know you believe in your message. Do you feel like it's being heard and how do you make sure that it's being heard by everybody?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: What message?

Q: You have these expectations for everybody. You thought the effort was soft. That you expect more from other guys. You don't you don't want to lose…

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: Well, about the soft thing, I think you guys need to be held accountable for how you put it out there. I didn't say, 'We are soft,' as a team. I think I said we 'played' that way. We lost 30-7. That's not okay. We're in the NFL. So, for you all to put the message out that way is not okay, as well, and should be held accountable for that. But I think, like I said, we came out today with good energy. We came out today embracing this moment that we have and that we get to go play on Thanksgiving. So, we're excited about that.

Q: When you went back and watched the film, was it still just as troubling as what you experienced out there on the field about especially the missed tackles and some other things?

DEXTER LAWRENCE II: Tackling, yes. Everything else, like effort, looks fine. We've just got to finish plays. I think we've got to stop beating ourselves on critical downs. When we're backed up, we've got to win those, third and shorts and third downs. We've got to win those. Just those, 'Got to have it,' plays, we've got to get.

Wide Receiver Malik Nabers

Q: Did the coaches say anything after your postgame locker room comments?

MALIK NABERS: I had a talk with (Head Coach) Dabs (Brian Daboll), had a talk with (Senior Vice President and General Manager) Joe (Schoen) and we talked about it. That's just about it really.

Q: What was their message or what did they say?

MALIK NABERS: I'm not going to share it. But just know we had a talk about it.

Q: You were obviously upset right after the game, after two days later and watching the film, do you feel any different about what went down on Sunday?

MALIK NABERS: After watching the film, I wish I would have used different words to describe the game afterwards. I don't think it was really soft. I think it was just a lack of technique. We were playing our butts off, we just lacked technique. There were a lot of things that just wasn't us, as an offense. At practice, we had great days at practice. Got into the game, just didn't do the things that we did at practice. So, when you don't go out and do the things that you did at practice, you come out a little short in the game.

Q: Is that just the competitor in you talking, though? I mean, nobody likes to lose.

MALIK NABERS: That's the competitor that they want in the locker room. You want a competitor. You don't want somebody who is just happy with losing. That's just the competitor in me. That's just how I'm wired. That's just who I am. I just don't like losing. If I feel like if I had an opportunity to help the team win, I'm going to express that.

Q: You said, ''Ask (Head Coach) Dabs (Brian Daboll) about that,' when asked about the targets in the first half. When you talked to him about that, what was the explanation that you got?

MALIK NABERS: Like I said, when I look at it, we tried to give me the ball a couple times in the first half. Just had a lack of communication. Like I said, when I take a look back on the game and on the plays that we called, there was opportunities for me to get targets, for me to get the ball. We just lacked technique. We were just out of sort as an offense. We only had, I think, 15 plays in the first half. They had 40-something. So, there's not a lot of plays you can get when you can call 15 plays in the half. So, if I had an opportunity to go back and change the words that I said, I would. But I still stand on what I said. I said it. I don't have no regrets with what I said. But, after looking at the film, we just lacked technique.

Q: You said lack of communication. Is that on the receivers? Is that on the quarterback? Where do you see that coming into play?

MALIK NABERS: As a whole, as an offense. We're a whole team. It's 11 guys on the field. It wasn't just the receivers. It wasn't anything. It was just the whole offense, as one. We are the whole offense. So, if anything falls back on receivers, on the linemen, it's on us. It's the offense. So, I would just say a lack of communication all around, lack of technique.

Q: The not getting the ball till the third quarter stuff, though. That's not just the last game. That's been a thing where you haven't gotten the ball early in games, quite a bit. Why do you think that is? Not just that one game where you only had 15 plays in the first half.

MALIK NABERS: I don't really have an answer for that because that's just what it is. That's just what it's going to be. I can express the way I feel about it. Only thing I can do is continue to do my job, continue to run my routes and get open. Like I said, just do my job and do my part.

Q: I can remember. I think the whole world saw on Hard Knocks where you said you're pretty hard on not getting the ball early in games. Why is getting involved early so important for you?

MALIK NABERS: Because it creates… It's just a start. If you start later on in a game, it's like your body's not ready. Your body hasn't been… You come into the game prepared, right? If you take one quarter off, two quarters off, your body just starts lacking. It's like you don't even want to play no more. I'm not saying that's how I feel. I'm just saying that's your body. You're not getting involved early then you're not getting the feel of the ball, you're not getting hit. After football plays as an offense, after you get hit, you're like, 'All right, I'm ready to go.' So, that's how I feel. I haven't been feeling that way in the first or second quarter. So, I get in the third quarter and I'm not as energetic as I was before. That's all I was saying. I need to get the ball early so I can make a change on the game early on instead of just later on in the game. That's all it really was.

Q: What did Joe (Schoen) and Brian (Daboll) say to you when you met with them?

MALIK NABERS: We talked about it. They know I'm a competitor. They said, just after watching the film, they don't think that we played soft, as I said after the game. After I looked at the game, it wasn't soft. It was just a lack of technique, lack of communication and we just didn't have the authority to go out there and win, I would say. We didn't have the grit to go out there and win the game.

Q: Do you think that's changed? I know it's a short week for Thursday. Do you think this locker room, this team is in a place where you guys can have that grit and authority for Thursday?

MALIK NABERS: I don't know. We're going to have to go out there and see. I can't tell you how everything is going just off of two days getting back after a loss.

Q: Do you think your team could handle another performance like Sunday?

MALIK NABERS: We don't go out there thinking we're going to perform that way. That's just the outcome after the game. But nobody wants to go out there and get booed and play like they're not supposed to be playing. So, we're not trying to go out there and just play pathetic. It's not like we just go out there like that. We don't practice every day just to go out there in the game and not play good. That's the NFL. You got to have technique. You got to be smart. You got to know what you're doing. Because, if you're not, then the other team is going to beat you. That's how it is. You've got to be on point every time that you call a play. You got to be on point.

Q: What do you think about that idea that, you're a rookie in this league and a lot of people think that you don't have the clout to be saying the kind of things that you said after the game. You kind of have to earn that and build up to that.

MALIK NABERS: Why not? Just because I'm a rookie, I'm a part the team. I got added to this team to be a resource, to be somebody that can change the game. I'm not going to just sit back just because I'm a younger guy and not speak on how I feel. They want me to speak up. They feel like my energy helps the offense, in a way, to be explosive. So, of course, I'm going to speak up if something doesn't go my way. That's just how I am. I'm not going to just sit back and just let it go down just because I'm a young player. Clout don't mean nothing. I still play football. I play it at a high level. So, whoever is saying I don't have the authority to be speaking up, that's on them. I don't care.

Quarterback Drew Lock

Q: How was practice different for you today than normal?

DREW LOCK: More than zero reps. Got a couple reps. Just taking it day by day.

Q: We asked you last week what the week was like for you, but then adding this in and talking to you, what's this been like for you?

DREW LOCK: Just typical of the job. Always got to be ready. No matter what the week, no matter what the situation is, just playing like you're going to go in there and play. My mindset didn't change this week, and we'll see how the rest of the week shakes out.

Q: What do you see when you look at the Dallas defense? They've had a lot of injuries on offense, but defensively I think it's pretty much the same.

DREW LOCK: Yeah, they've got (Cowboys cornerback DaRon) Bland back, (Cowboys linebacker) Micah (Parsons) is back. So, if they had injuries, they don't have them anymore. They've got their guys back, played well last week. Flying around. Aggressive defense. It's a good spot, it's a good defense. Got to go out there and play our A game. Move the ball, go down there and score points in the red zone. Just be ready for a fight.

Q: What makes Micah so good?

DREW LOCK: Versatility. Explosive off the edge. They can move him inside, do a three. When you get a d-lineman that can play multiple positions and produce, that makes it something that you've got to look at, you've got to be ready for.

Q: What did you think of the way (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito) played?

DREW LOCK: He fought. I was proud of the way he played. Went back, watched film with him. Obviously, there's a couple plays he wants back, but I thought he played well.

Q: What did you see when you were breaking down the film with him? I guess what are you guys talking about?

DREW LOCK: Obviously, a little bit from last week, a little bit of protection stuff. Timing with his feet, just normal quarterback stuff. Again, I thought he played well. He was seeing the field well, even regurgitating it on the sideline, what he was seeing, what he was thinking, what he wanted to do. I thought he was playing smart, playing fast. I thought he played well.

Q: You've played with (Seahawks wide receiver) DK Metcalf, with other number one receivers who want the ball all the time probably. How do you handle, or how does Tommy handle, I know your advice would be, (wide receiver) Malik obviously wants the ball as early as possible in games. How do you do that without forcing it, so the other guy jumps it for a pick six on the first play of the game?

DREW LOCK: No, you can never take it personally. Go through your reads how you would go through it every other play. Take it play by play. (If) he gets the ball the first one, he gets the ball the first one. If he gets the ball the 20th, he gets the ball the 20th. That's how we've got to think. Now, man-to-man matchups and we do have a route that we like with him on it, yeah, go ahead and take it, but you've got to go through your reads.

Q: Was it strange going in for one play last week?

DREW LOCK: That was the first time in my career that that's happened, yes. Head on in there and Tommy comes back in. Yeah, it's strange. That's not something that normally happens, but again, that's what I'm here for. Head on in there if they need me.

Q: Do you ever get the feeling like, 'Okay, you all go deep, and I'll (inaudible)'?

DREW LOCK: Yes, it's hard not to fight that urge. Maybe if I knew he was only going to be out for one play, I would have told him that (laughs), but no. You've got to stick to the rules.