Miami Dolphins 20, Las Vegas Raiders 13
Q. Aidan, Vic Fangio, the defensive coordinator, they did some things tonight they have not been doing, just did some new things to show wrinkles.
AIDAN O'CONNELL: You know, yeah, I think our first snap they did something we hasn't seen on film yet, so it was a good job mixing it up. I think we just got to execute better, can't turn the ball over. It's really on us at the end of the day to do our job better, me in particular, so, yeah, just frustrating.
Q. No first downs in the second and third quarters. What do you feel like is the primary problem there between the middle of the game?
AIDAN O'CONNELL: Yeah, I think we're learning how important every possession is and, you know, just how much we have to lock in on every play and can't go backwards and try to stay ahead of the sticks so I think we, you know, really got to convert better on third down, but before that, got to do a good job at getting the third and short because third down is hard to convert, so, yeah, just got to do a better job staying ahead of the sticks.
Q. Were they doing anything different in the second half. Obviously, played well in the first half, second half, a few turnovers. Were the Dolphins defense doing anything different?
AIDAN O'CONNELL: Um, yeah, like we said, they were switching it up a little bit and giving us some different looks but they also, on a lot of stuff, played their base stuff that we saw on film and in any game you're going to get a combination of things you have seen and for the most part, some new wrinkles, so it wasn't anything crazy. It was stuff that we've talked about before and, yeah, just got to execute better.
Q. On the interception when you were being sacked, were you trying to throw the ball away or did you see someone you were trying to get it to?
AIDAN O'CONNELL: I saw Jakobi and I was trying to throw it to him. It was fourth down, I was just trying to make a play. I drifted too far in the pocket there and I just got to do a better job of not getting us in that situation and then once I'm in that situation, got to be, you know, just make better decisions.
Q. Aidan I now you're not a dual-threat guy, but do you need to maybe trust your legs at times to take off and run a little bit? Do you think that would help for not allowing teams to just tee off on you?
AIDAN O'CONNELL: Yeah, I think I have to probably not be as predictable and, like you said, use my legs a little bit. I think, again, if I do my job better, we hope to just be in better situations and not be in situations where I need to do that. But, yeah, all around, I have to just play better, passing the ball, decision making, all that stuff.
Q. What did you see the last interception? You thought you had him or?
AIDAN O'CONNELL: Yeah, you know, it was 20 something seconds left, no time-outs. I knew at some point we were going to have to take a shot because we needed a touchdown so I saw Tre had a little step and, again, hung it up there too much and, you know, the defender made a really good play and so, you know, I think we were a little messed up in our alignment to start. I didn't communicate well enough getting into the huddle and so some better communication would have gotten to the play better and all around would have been better, so we were a little messed up on the play. But trying to take a shot, I knew we had to get a chunk at some point and hung it up there too much and he made a good play.
Q. Would you say this is a growing pain, part of the process for you as a rookie? What is your first reaction to a tough --
AIDAN O'CONNELL: Yeah, I'm learning how hard the NFL is and how hard it is to win and, you know, just kudos to our defense. Played so well in the second half, kept us in the game. I think they scored six points in the second half and obviously don't think we scored, so our defense did an awesome job keeping us in the game. It's really going to come down to our offense and watching the film to just be better all around and it starts with me. Thanks, guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports