FRANK REICH: Obviously, a good team win, total team win, really all three phases. All three phases. Defense really played stout.
I think it allowed our offense to get in sync a little bit. Obviously, we weren't in sync early on offense. We didn't have great field position, but we couldn't fight our way out of it. Defense held us in there and played really good football.
Then offensively, we got it going a little bit, played good on special teams. Really good complementary football against a good football team who we have a lot of respect for, Coach Flores and his team, obviously a strong proven track record.
What we talked about in there is we've got to learn from this. It obviously was far from perfect. We've got to get a lot better. I believe we will. Hopefully, we can use this to get some traction and get things moving in the right direction.
Q. Does Jonathan capitalize at all on his knee injury? Outside of that, how big was it he had those two big runs?
FRANK REICH: That was big. I felt like he's been right on the precipice of breaking out a couple times. So O-line did a good job. We started off a little bit shaky but just hung in there with the defense playing the way it was playing. We were able to keep calling runs. Jonathan just did a great job and really had another long one called back.
We've got to build off of that. Happy for Jonathan, happy for the O-line, the way they played, but we've got to build off of it.
Q. From an emotional standpoint, how much did you guys just need to win a game? Going back to last year.
FRANK REICH: Yeah, it was time. It was time. This was a big win. On the road against a good football team. We know what our formula is. We've got to hang together. It's about how we prepare and then carrying that with us into the game and playing for 60 minutes one play at a time.
Q. There's been a lot of circumstances with Carson and his injury and the offensive line, et cetera. What have you learned through four games? Can you fully evaluate?
FRANK REICH: I know we have a good football team. I think we saw from Carson a little bit of the player we were expecting. He had a little bit more mobility today. You saw him extend a few plays and make some really big time plays, but then he also did it from the pocket as well.
I feel like that's where it's going. That's where it's going. Just continue to fight and get better, but it's not just him. It's got to be our whole team. We've got to be able to carry each other's back because every player is not always going to be happy. They can make a ton of plays and get some good stuff, but we've got to keep fighting.
Q. On the third down, you called that bootleg for him. How confident are you calling that play? He pulled it off. What did you think?
FRANK REICH: Really, I called bootleg, and I said, if it's not there right now, take a short sack, right? We'll let the clock run, punt it.
I had a few words with him over the headset. I said, hey, what happened to the short sack? He said, well, I wasn't down. I was prepared to go down, but he knew he could get away.
Those are the kinds of plays that he can make that really help lead clutch ball games. It's plays like that when you're playing good teams like the Dolphins, those are the kinds of plays you need to win games. So that was a good indication, I think, of what he's capable of.
Q. Was that the kind of play that makes you want to refer to? You talk about a couple times where he was able to break free, take a couple steps, and then found guys up the middle. Even getting the play to Zach across the field. Is that what you kind of envisioned? Take what the defense gives you without trying to do too much?
FRANK REICH: He did a phenomenal job of doing exactly what you're saying. Didn't put the ball in harm's way, was accurate, made good decisions. I can't emphasize enough that that really comes because of the total team effort. It's just the confidence that we can play with when the defense is playing as well as it was playing.
I mean, the defense was lights out today. So that's a big factor in the overall success, even for the quarterback.
Q. Where are you guys getting better, Frank? Four weeks into the season.
FRANK REICH: I hope we're getting better in every little aspect, in each group, in each phase. We've said from the beginning we believe we have -- we understand this is only one game. So it's a good win. It's a big win for us. We've got a tough one next week.
We did some things on offense. We ran the ball a little bit better, made some plays in the pass game, the kind that you need to make to win games. Defensively, I thought we played a great game. Then special teams, our specialists were money. I think we're headed in the right direction.
Q. What still gives you concerns? If there's penalties, there were sacks, there were open touchdowns you gave up? What's still bothering you about it?
FRANK REICH: I'll go and watch the film. Obviously, the eight penalties for 86 yards, we've got to clean that up. I'm not happy about that. There were some things in the first third down in the game, we had a miscommunication on something. We were supposed to get a chip on that guy, and it didn't happen. We knew he was a force. We knew early in the game we wanted to get a chip on him, and somehow that didn't happen, little things like that.
We had the long run. We had penalties. So we've got to clean those things up. In really tight games, as the season goes on, those are the things where we can't beat ourselves.
Q. Big Mo's first two touchdown game. What will you tell him?
FRANK REICH: I really felt like it's been coming all year, and he and I have had those conversations once or twice. Every week in practice, we're looking to get him the ball. We really think Mo's a good player. There's been a lot of stuff in the game plan for him over the first four weeks, and for whatever reason, the ball just hasn't gone to him as much as I would have thought it would at this point.
So for him to have that game today, that was a lot of fun. Happy for him he's an excellent football player.
Q. There was a point early last year when the offense had good moments, bad moments on the field. It took a little while to get going. Do you feel like the offense is going through that now in some of those ways and starting to take off?
FRANK REICH: Yeah, definitely felt that today. No excuses. We know we've had some unique circumstances with a lot of guys out. It's not really getting an opportunity to gel together playing good teams. We're in a spot right now where we've got to prepare every week and keep guys practicing as much as we can so we can continue to get better in practice and then carry that over into the game.
Q. In that first half, you get a fresh set of downs off the punt. What's your mentality when you get a second opportunity like that, and how important was it in the grand scheme of things?
FRANK REICH: It was a huge deal. I just feel like that can break a team's back, but you've got to capitalize on it. We were able to do that. That's an example of the way to capitalize and take advantage and take control of a game when you're given the opportunity.
Q. 1-3, 0-4, there's a huge difference over the history of the game with those two marks. Were you thinking about that heading into day?
FRANK REICH: No, I was not. I really was just geared in on this game. I felt like we were going to play well. I felt like we had a really phenomenal week of practice. I just felt like we were really ready to go. I felt like the guys were dialed in.
It showed in practice. I think we practice well all the time. I thought there was a little special edge to practice this week, and it showed.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports