BUFFALO BILLS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE
Q: Injuries?
A: The only injury to report is Duke Williams with a head.
Q: That would possibly be your signature win with the team, right?
A: I hope we can build and continue to go, rather than me putting things on it. Obviously, it was a big win. I’m not going to deny that.
Q: Are you going to let yourself smile a little bit after a game like that?
A: I am. Honestly, I think the real story is from the guys that are in there and whatever insight I can give you, I’ll be more than happy to give you. The assistant coaches and the team, they’re the ones that got it done.
Q: How was the defense able to shut down Aaron Rodgers?
A: Obviously, they played at a very high level. We were able to go in and, early on, we took away some of the stop-nines they were trying to run and get them to the second read. I knew earlier in the week that we were going to play some coverage, two-man and things like that. They hurt us on some of the runs early on because we had to stop them with seven in the box. They did a good job of cutting us off, but overall guys stepped up; guys that weren’t even here with us in the beginning. Marcus Thigpen steps up. Bacarri Rambo comes in for Duke [Williams] and he gets two interceptions. That’s what you need. You need to do that. Obviously, we had some opportunities on offense, weren’t able to capitalize early on in the game, but to beat this team you’re going to have to play well in all three phases.
Q: Does this win strengthen your job security?
A: I never even think like that. I really don’t. I just try to win each game. It’s my job. It’s an opportunity and I really don’t do it for me. When I look at it in the beginning, I’ve said it all along; it’s about the guys in that room, the coaches, the fans, the region. When we win I’m happy for them and when we lose I feel like I’ve let them down.
Q: What was the level of concern when Green Bay took over possession with under two minutes left and Aaron Rodgers under center?
A: Well, you sit there and you keep thinking, ‘Hey, this is going to happen for them. They’re going to break a lot of records this year from a scoring standpoint,’ but you’re right. Those things go through [you’re mind]. There was 2:12 on the clock, I believe. It’s a third down and we tried to get the first down and tried to make the play. We punted it and they had no timeouts left going in there, but yeah, there’s always a concern when an offense of that caliber has the ball, but our defense had been playing well. To play that well, consistently like they did, is a credit to them because, sooner or later, with that type of offense you’re going to give something up. Our guys did a good job.
Q: Was the way your defense was playing an influence to your play calling in the second half?
A: Early on we started running the football on the first series and then we get the third-and-one and we get stopped. That’s disappointing. That’s an opportunity that goes by. Then, the next down-and-distance the next time we get the ball, we try to take a shot vertically down the field on first down and we get sacked. The protection breaks down. We were trying a lot of different things to get ourselves started. It’s not like we’re sitting in there. At halftime we come back in and the problem was that we were zero for six on third downs. When we talked about it and you looked at the drives, we weren’t doing a good enough job on first down. When we came back out there, we said, ‘Okay, listen. We’ve got to make sure we keep the sticks in our favor and gives ourselves an opportunity to make it on third.’ That’s kind of what the discussions were as the game was going on.
Q: Could you imagine holding a team this good to one offensive touchdowns?
A: I don’t know. Again, I don’t think that way. I would think that most experts say you can’t, but I feel like we just did it. I just think about winning. I don’t really think about that stuff.
Q: What are your thoughts about the feistiness in the game?
A: I didn’t see it, so I don’t know. I saw a scrum, but I didn’t see anything that happened, nor did I see any flags on either of the two.
Q: Did the scrums surprise you or is that just the emotion of the game?
A: I think there are scrums in most games that you play.
Q: Can you talk about special teams today?
A: [Ron] Brooks made a play. He had another big tackle in the game. Really the only thing was Jordan’s [Gay] one mishap. We don’t want them starting the ball on the 40. Overall, I thought that we did a good job. We got push. We got penetration. I think that we have to go back and shore up our protection on our PAT field goals.
Q: How big of an impact did the fans have?
A: I said it during the week. I thought the fans were going to be a big part of this game. I was happy that our players were able to put them in a position where they could have an affect on the game.
Q: It seemed like the guys showed some character today?
A: The guys all year have done a good job. It’s tough. You guys know because you ask the questions and I get it to. ‘Do you feel like you had a good defensive effort? Do you feel like it was for nothing? Do you feel like you guys have done a good job, but need to score points?’ Those things are all good questions and they’re the right questions. I’m not saying that they’re wrong. Where you have to do a good job is when you look at those guys in that locker room and they never pointed fingers or anything, saying, ‘Yeah, that’s right. These guys have got to pick it up.’ I think that’s a credit to character and the team. It’s tough to do in this day and age; to keep a team like that.
Q: What can you tell us about Bacarri Rambo?
A: We liked him. I think the scouting department did a good job. We brought in a bunch of safeties, worked them out. Coach [Donnie] Henderson and Coach Samson [Brown] worked them out, made a choice to go with him and then during the practices we saw someone that was really athletic and can be physical. Even though we weren’t in that type of practice mode, he looked like he could break and do a lot of things. We made good choices as we were switching some people out of the roster. He’s someone that, at one point, I remember we talked about him and said, ‘Hey, listen. We don’t want to lose this kid. We think he can play and sure enough, I’m glad everything went that direction. He came up big with [Da’Norris] Searcy being out and then Duke has the injury and then here you go. Credit to him. Let me tell you, there’s a lot of stuff going on out there formationally, the checks, the things that are going on. You can’t sit there and just play normal stuff against an offense like Green Bay.
Q: What was going through your mind when you saw Jordy Nelson running wide open with the ball in the air?
A: Miss it. It was a matter of time. We did a good job with all of the routes and he ran a double move and got by us.
Q: Where does your defense rank with other ones you’ve seen in the NFL?
A: They’re right up there. They’re right up there. Fortunately or unfortunately, we’ve seen all of them. The only one we haven’t seen is Seattle. When you look at the top ten, we’ve probably seen seven or eight of them.
BUFFALO BILLS SAFETY BACARRI RAMBO
Q: So, did you anticipate having that big of a role in this game today?
A: No. I just got in there. I’ve been preparing like I was starting this week. Just watching film, watching film, watching film and just studying these guys. It really came down to the 10 other guys. They got in there and did their job and made my job a whole lot easier. Also, I want to thank the Bills organization for giving me a second a chance because I got released from the Washington Redskins and they gave me a chance and I just took advantage of my opportunity.
Q: How many reps did you get this week in practice? What was this week like for you in practice?
A: I was going in for plays. At some point, I knew I was going to go in. I go in on the dime package but I was the backup safety if Aaron (Williams) or Duke (Williams) would have went down, I was going to go in. I’ve been preparing like I was starting because you never know when your chance is going to come.
Q: Can you take us through the day? Like you said, you were preparing to play and Duke (Williams) is out and you’re now in the game against one of the most intimidating, prolific offenses in the NFL.
A: It just came down to studying film, man. Just reading my keys, and doing what I do best. Like I said, the 10 guys in front of me: the rest of the secondary, and the d-line and our linebackers, they make my job a whole lot easier. And also Coach (Jim) Schwartz: that was a great play call by him, and he put us in good position to make plays, so it all comes down to the other guys.
Q: Would you take us through the interceptions? How those plays broke down for you?
A: Me and (Nickell) Robey just communicated, studying film and just talking to those guys. We knew once 18, (Randall) Cobb, once he ran that route, I was going to take him and he was going to free up. When it happened I was like, “Oh, here it comes.” And I just saw (Aaron) Rodgers eyeing his guy, and I just broke on the ball and made a play.
Q: And then on the tip? That’s right place at the right time.
A: Yeah. Just, going through my keys, reading my keys. My man went away and I just freed up and watched the quarterback. It was kind of like a layup, he threw it right to me.
Q: How does it feel, Rodgers has five interceptions and that was the only clean one he threw all year.
A: It feels good. Just going against a lot of guys. I’m going to say he’s the best quarterback in the league in some guys’ opinion. Just going against him, having my first career interception and my second career interception off him, it’s just a huge, huge confidence boost. Just, that’s going to allow me to play even faster and build confidence in myself, that, hey, I can do this. I belong in this league.
Q: Can you talk about the confidence level of the defense in general? Who would have thought you could have done this? Did you guys think you could hold Rodgers like that?
A: Well we believed in each other all week. The coaches, the team, the players, everybody just believed in each other. We knew that we could come in here, do the right things, and do what the coaches ask us to do, and we could stop this team. We believe in each other, throughout this whole week. We still believe in each other. This is just a huge confidence boost for the whole defense. To not allow not one quarterback, but two of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL to no passing touchdowns, this is a huge, huge confidence boost for us.
Q: Bacarri, when Washington released you, what did they tell you at that time? What was your mental state in the days after that?
A: They just released me. They said I wasn’t in on too many plays and I wasn’t participating on special teams. I was out in Denver with my wife and my kid and her family. I was working out with Brian Dawkins. He was a huge, huge inspiration to me this time that I was unemployed. He was teaching me things, and giving me tips and advice to help me play faster once I got my chance. And he stayed in my grill, once you got your chance just go all out. I was just thankful for a second opportunity, man. You never know what will happen. Once you get that second chance, you just have to go all out like it’s your last play.
Q: Why Denver? Was it to work out with him (Dawkins)?
A: My wife and her family is from out there so I was staying with them. They introduced me to him, which I’m a huge fan of, so they introduced me to him. So, we linked up and just started working out together and he was just teaching me stuff.
BUFFALO BILLS QUARTERBACK KYLE ORTON
Q: Everyone though that it might be lopsided if the team wasn’t on point early, but your defense made it a tight game. How did you seem to think it was unfolding?
A: It was a great all around win, especially for our defense to go out against an offense like that with a quarterback like that. I’ve got more respect for Aaron Rodgers than probably anyone in this league. To go out and turn them over like they did and just play good defense, it obviously gave us a good chance to win this game.
Q: Can you talk about the field position special teams gave you?
A: We had some great looks. The punt return for a touchdown was a huge momentum swing to give us the lead. We really had good field position for most of the day. We battled, and I thought going into the second half that the offensive line did a great job running the football and playing physical with those guys. They knew we were going to run it. They just kept moving the line of scrimmage and getting yards.
Q: With the run game, it seemed like you guys had a nice rotation going between Dixon, Jackson and Brown. Can you talk about the specific plan with the run game today?
A: I think we always want to get all three of them involved. We did a good job of that. [Fred] Jackson had a good game in pass game. Bryce [Brown] had a long one down the sideline. I thought all three of them just ran really hard in the run game; found the holes, took everything they could get, and fought really hard for the extra two or three yards.
Q: Can you talk about Dan Carpenter’s performance, specifically getting 51 and 48 yard field goal kicks into the wind?
A: In those conditions it was tough throwing the ball down there. To be making 48 and 51 yarders in that is something special. He’s been there for us all year and made some really big kicks.
Q: What do you feel this offense needs to do to get to a level to finish the job down the stretch and get to the postgame?
A: We’ll just keep on getting better. I think that’s the only focus that you can have. Feel good that we got the win, but realize there are a lot more things we can do to get better. It’s a battle every week of execution. The good offenses just execute play in and play out. We’ll work our butts off to get to that point.
Q: How do you feel being in the hunt still with two games to play?
A: It feels great. It’s what you play for; to have these games. Next week’s as big as it gets. We’ve got to go all the way out in West Oakland and play a tough football team. We’ve got to celebrate and get over this, then move onto the next week.
Q: Do you get a sense that Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay may have overlooked the Bills?
A: You’d have to ask him that, I guess. I saw two good football teams on the field playing a hard-hitting December football game. That’s how its supposed to look.
BUFFALO BILLS RUNNING BACK, FRED JACKSON
Opening Statement
Everybody in this locker room believes in ourselves, and we made plays in every different phase of the game. That was what we needed to do to get a win, as long as you keep believing in yourselves and believing in the guys in the locker room, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.
Q: Did you imagine not scoring an offensive touchdown today and beating them?
A: Not at all, you know what type of offense they have, we have a great defense. We know that those guys are going to make plays for us and we’ve got to take advantage of them. We didn’t get in the end zone which is something you need to do to win games but as long as our defense keeps us in the game like that and keeps making plays we have an opportunity to win.
Q: Fred, what does this mean to you personally? Obviously it’s the first time in 10 years that you guys are going to get to .500, what does it mean to you personally as being one of the guys who has been here longest?
A: Not much right now, we’ve still got two games left in this season, granted it’s a great thing for us to be able to say we’re going to finish that. We’ve got to look at Oakland, that’s a team that’s not going to lay down for us, we’ve got to travel out there and beat them. At the end of the season you can look back on stuff like that but right now I’m focused on trying to win these last two.
Q: Knowing that your last two games are away, what kind of moment was it for you guys and all the fans after a win like that coming off the field?
A: It was a great moment. That crowd was in the game the entire game, to be able to finish it against a good team like that, finish in our home stadium and give (the fans) something to be excited about. You want to celebrate with them, a lot of guys did that, we had a lot of fun with them and we just wanted to show them we appreciate the support.
Q: If you had to pinpoint something before you watch the film, what was the problem on offense today? There were struggles.
A: Same thing, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot. That’s something we cannot do especially against good teams. We did that again today, we’ve got to get that fixed. We know that, we’re well aware of it and that’s just what we’ve got to get done.
Q: You were wide open on the third down play.
A: It’s one of those things though when you see Sammy in one on one coverage you want to try and take advantage of it. At the same time you’ve just got to run to win, (Orton) didn’t get the ball to me but we were still able to get the win today.
Q: Any concern when they went out on the field for that last possession?
A: It’s Aaron Rodgers, you’ve got to be concerned about it. He’s the best quarterback in the game. Like I said, we’ve got a great defense so we had all the faith in the world in them. They did what they do. They went out and made a play for us and essentially ended the game.
Q: It was nice to get it on the first play too.
A: That’s just it, you just start celebrating after that. Granted, we had to get the onside kick, we’ve got great guys out there that have hands, Chris Hogan is one of the best and he got the ball for us, it was all smiles after that.
Q: Does part of you feel good for Coach Marrone, he’s been through a lot this year. There are always questions it seems about job security.
A: Without a doubt, we feel good for him. We love playing for him. He’s a guy that gives us everything so we want to give him everything when we get a chance to. This one was big, not only for us but it was big for him. We wanted to show him how much we appreciate it.
Q: Do you think it will be enough for him to stick around?
A: It was a quality win against a quality opponent and he got us prepared to do so. That’s all you can ask for in a coach. We love playing for him and we’ll continue to fight for him. As long as we do that we’ll see what takes care of itself.
Q: Is this the biggest win of your time here?
A: Yeah, it’s right now. We’re still fighting for a chance to get in the playoffs. We need every one of them, we’ll go next week into Oakland and that will be big for us. We’ve just got to keep fighting and keep focusing on every team.
BUFFALO BILLS WIDE RECEIVER SAMMY WATKINS
Q: You don’t want to throw around the word statement game but this is probably one of your biggest wins of the season, does that set the tone for you guys going down the stretch here?
A: Yeah of course, we just came out today and focused on our thing, we didn’t focus on anything else. That’s what we have to do every week, and this was a statement game for us. We can’t lose, we have to win out so every game we play from here on out is going to be a statement game.
Q: Do you think you sent a message to the rest of the NFL?
A: I think they should respect us regardless, I think we come out every week and play hard and give every team a fight. We’ve just got to keep doing the same thing, and maybe everybody will start believing in us.
Q: The offense kind of moves along all season long, it’s almost like you guys know that if you just hang in there your defense will be there to make plays and give you guys a chance at the end.
A: Yeah, great defenses win games. That’s what teams win off of and we have a great defense. Anytime we go a three and out we know our defense will have our back. We’re going to take credit and step it up and we have to get better on offense. But we’re going to enjoy this win and we’re proud of the defense, we’re proud of the offense, we’re proud of everybody.
GREEN BAY PACKERS QUARTERBACK AARON RODGERS
Q: Just give us your assessment…
A: It was frustrating. They did a good job on defense, kind of slowed us down a little bit. We had some opportunities and didn’t execute very well on them.
Q: What was the defense doing that really…
A: The protection was great. There was not much of the pass rush that bothered me I was able to move around the pocket. They were physical outside with their receivers and we were able to get away with it all day. We had some chances we missed out on, some bad throws, and some missed opportunities. They played like we thought they were going to play.
Q: Did they push the boundaries of the rules a bit?
A: Well, I would say that it will be interesting to see when we go back through. Yeah, we’ll see.
Q: People who watch this team are used to seeing you carve teams up. What do you think was going on there?
A: They were very physical with the receivers down the field and we just kind of missed on a few opportunities. We had some chances, missed a few throws, and missed a few open guys.
Q: Did you feel like you were out of sync today?
A: No, I felt pretty good. The pass rush was contained, and the line did a great job blocking back there. They played a lot of two shoving and a lot of pressure. Just a couple snaps and we didn’t execute very well.
Q: Was the crowd disruptive to you?
A: No, the crowd was good. It was a good crowd, but it wasn’t disruptive.
Q: Did they play up on your receivers more than you expected?
A: Not more than we expected. They were physical and got away with it more than we expected.
Q: How do you anticipate responding as a team?
A: Well I mean everything is right in front of us. I mean we went out and we still win the North. It’s a tough team, good football team and we just didn’t play very well on offense. Our defense held them to 12 points; you expect to win those games
Q: Is there a lot of pressure on you to play at the top of your game for your team to win?
A: I don’t think about that kind of stuff. I just think about playing at the top of my game regardless of what happens, and any other phases. Obviously, today was well short of the mark, definitely some throws that I usually hit that I missed and I have to play better for us to win.
Q: What was your mindset going into that final drive?
A: Just get a couple first downs, get it going, we’ve done it before. I had a good play call, I had Randall (Cobb) open for a first down and guys not getting out there and we lost it and then there is that craziness of that rule that you can’t advance by your own team only by the fumbler under two minutes. Disappointing.
Q: On the interception, did you on the sidelines get a look at the pictures?
A: Yea I saw that Jimmy (Starks) was wide open, they blew the coverage.
Q: So you don’t see him on that play but he’s wide open, Jordy [Nelson] who hardly drops the ball ever drops it on a potential 94 yard touchdown, how are you guys feeling offensively when no way are you getting it the way you expected it to be?
A: Some days are going to be like this, we set the standard pretty high, and we like to live up to it every week but this week preparation was good practice, we just didn’t execute very well. They had a good plan but nothing that we didn’t expect a lot of two high or helping out with Jordy [Nelson] or single safety kind of shaped Jordy [Nelson], they were physical outside, we threw some contestant throws, didn’t get in throws and because of that we weren’t able to keep drives alive with our execution. So, it’s just bad execution and a rough day.
Q: Did you not see the guy that would have had the pick six had he held on to it, the one going to Jordy [Nelson]?
A: Yeah he just kind of was reading the formation there he just kind of ran up, it was an instinctive play by him. I kind of got hit by John [Kuhn] on the play and didn’t put it where I wanted to.
Q: Aaron when you went in at half time were you just thinking and discussing that your personal performance needed to be better or were you thinking that you needed to make some adjustments?
A: Yeah, I think we made some adjustments. I mean we got our backage with Randall [Cobb] as a single back and we had some effectiveness there, but the injury to Bryan [Bulaga] didn’t help there as we tried to just go back in our zebra personnel to kind of give some presence there for JC [Tretter] on those first couple plays but we just didn’t execute very well. We just some missed chances, we had some contested throws and some open ones that I just didn’t hit or didn’t see. I didn’t play my best today by any stretch of the imagination and I have to play better for us to win and I expect more from myself. The line did a great job blocking today, it went really well. We had a couple rough calls there with the holding calls, but overall we moved the ball decent we just did a bad job on third down conversion drives and we needed a touchdown there for some more momentum at the end of the game there.
Q: Coach said, he wanted to put a different play in on that one that got knocked away from you just to give JC [Tretter] a little more help. Would you have agreed with that?
A: I mean we had a two-by-two; we switched it to a three by one. They were playing Tampa two and ran it down for a first down so I like the play call.
Q: Fuzzy Thurston died today. Any thoughts on that?
A: The initial reaction is that it’s pretty sad. I got to know Fuzzy [Thurston] over the years and I met him at I believe the ’06 Fan Fest and he was great. He was a Packer legend and that’s rough, we lost a great one.
Q: I don’t want to be the silver lining guy but what comes potentially out of this? You guys were rolling but it would have been tough to win eleven in a row and go to the Super Bowl. Was there anything that allows you guys to refocus and look at yourselves with the outcome of this game?
A: Well I’m going to spin that differently and say that this is an important time for us to see what kind of chemistry we have on our team; if adversity like this tears us apart or if we can stick together. If we can stick together we have a great list of guys and the opportunity to do something special. But if we let this tear us apart it’s going to be something that sticks with us for too long.
GREEN BAY PACKERS RUNNING BACK JAMES STARKS
Q: Was it weird for you? Being from Niagara Falls? Being a visitor at the Ralph today?
A: No. It wasn’t weird. Football is football. Competition is competition. It’s all the same.
Q: Did you ever play in any of the high school playoff games?
A: We lost to Gronkowski and Williamsville North, I think to make it to Ralph Wilson. This is the first time I played at Ralph Wilson.
Q: …since then?
A: Yeah. We never played here.
Q: Just being from Niagara Falls, being from here, how did it feel?
A: Felt good. Family and friends out there watching.
Q: How many family and friends did you have here?
A: I don’t know. Can’t count.
Q: A lot of tickets?
A: Yeah.
Q: Did you take the team out last night anywhere for dinner?
A: No. I told a couple teammates about Scotch and Sirloin and a couple guys went.
Q: Is that where you guys went?
A: A couple guys, yeah.
Q: This was obviously a very difficult loss. How would you sum it up?
A: We just have to be better as a team. Do better as a whole. That’s about it.
Q: I know obviously you don’t want to reminisce on things like but just talk about being back in Buffalo and what you took away from the game.
A: It was fun getting to see my family. Play in front of family, friends, you know the school…that was the good thing about this whole situation.
Q: How many people did you have here?
A: I gave away 20 tickets but people from Niagara Falls and Buffalo, I really can’t count.
Q: Why do you think your offense was out of sync today? It just seemed like you really couldn’t get that rhythm going.
A: Things happen. We just have to catch the ball. As far as myself, I really don’t know. We probably have to look at film to see how everything went.
Q: How about the crowd? How loud did it seem to you?
A: It was loud.
Q: Compared to Lambeau?
A: They loud too.
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