Denver Broncos - 18, New England Patriots - 12
Q. I wanted to ask you, on the final play, did you expect N'Keal to turn on the outside?
CN: Well we didn't execute the way we're suppose to and that's a lot, that was contingent upon me. I knew I was going to get hit.
So I just tried to find a spot to give him, so he could make a play on it. There was a defender on the interior part stealing the field, so I still tried to give him an opportunity. So that's what it came down to.
Q. How much has it felt like the time off impacted your performance in terms of did you feel rusty, did it take a little while to get going?
CN: Oh, without a doubt, but, yeah, we're still professionals and we're expected to do our job and play at a high level and we didn't do that today. But any time you turn the ball over that many times, the success rate is extremely low. But yet we still that opportunity to win and we just got to find ways to do that.
Q. How are you feeling with everything and how did you talk the news that you tested positive? What was that experience like for you and how was the illness for you? Did you experience symptoms or anything?
CN: Honestly for me right now I'm just trying to move forward, obviously respectfully that was two weeks ago, still bitter over the game and just trying to focus on ways to just get better. Obviously everybody knows what the situation was and it is what it is and I just know for me here moving forward I just got to play better football and that's what I'm going to try to do.
Q. I know you want to look forward but it's kind of the first time we have had a chance to ask anything about it and I think that's why we're just sort of interested in how it felt to be back kind of how much you missed your new teammates and how tough it was for you to have something like that take the game away from you for a little while there and just what it felt to be back and I guess then in light of that if it took a little bit to kind of get the engine going a little bit today?
CN: Yeah, I know exactly what it is, it's just respectfully for the sake of where we are right now I don't think it's beneficial for me to speak on that being obviously the performance today it showed a lot of much needed -- the time off showed, but yet like I said, I have to be better and I will be better.
Q. It seemed like you guys obviously had difficulty on the offensive side finding a rhythm today. And that's I guess to be expected given the lack of practice time, but how do you go about trying to find that rhythm moving forward and build from here?
CN: Well I think for us the first thing the number one thing is protecting the football. That's what it comes down to, from the turnovers, that's, those are drive killers and those are game killers. And it starts with me, I'm extremely frustrated in myself am my performance moving forward. I'm here for one reason and that hasn't, it hasn't got, I didn't get the job done today. So you can just imagine how I feel, but, yeah, I don't want this to be a pity party. We do have another opportunity here coming up, we have to follow this up with great practice this week and I look forward to it.
Q. How do you find that rhythm in practice do you think? Did you like the direction you were heading in with your new teammates prior to the COVID situation?
CN: Of course. But yet nobody cares about what the it was or what the reasons were and to be honest with you I don't care either I'm not expecting people to care. My job here moving forward is to find ways to win football games and to put this team in the best situation and it just starts with protecting the football. That's what this game came down to, no matter what the sputtering was on the offensive side the defense gave us opportunities by holding them to field goals and that's what we got to, that's what we can only ask for as an offense we just let this game slip away by the lack luster performance of protecting the football.
Q. It looked like in a couple of the sacks that you took there you were holding on to the ball a little bit longer than you would have wanted I was wondering how much of it was a function of Denver playing different defensives or showing you something new you might not have seen before?
CN: No, I felt prepared for the game. I felt like we had a grasp of what they were doing, we had prepared for it. Obviously it being two weeks away from the initial last time we got to see them play, so there may have been a small type of wrinkle, but they were true to who they were on film and what the film that we did see. So, needless to say, it just comes down to production on the offensive side, execution on all cylinders and we just have to do that, no matter who is out there, no matter what the substitution is, no matter what the situation is, just get the job done at all costs and then we'll worry about everything else later.
Q. I know you don't want to make excuses but with the lack of practice time did you feel like you were your throwing mechanics were any different than what they were before the layoff and was it hard to kind of stay sharp in that regard without being out there at practice?
CN: Just have to be better. That's all.
Q. The last play of the game what did you see there, it looks like your throw went outside, N'Keal runs the opposite direction, so what happened there, with as it a miscommunication or something else?
CN: It wasn't a miscommunication, I tried to anticipate where he was going to be, I let the ball go prior to him breaking on his initial route. I knew I was going to get hit and I tried to give him a chance.
Q. You mentioned that you can't turn the ball over obviously on the offense what did you see particularly on that first turnover on the screen pass, obviously they made a great play to dive and catch the football but just from your perspective what were the turnovers like and how frustrating were they for you today?
CN: Speaking for me personally, the interceptions came off of tipped passes. One early on in the first quarter, which led to points and that another one, you know, me trying to flatten a receiver out, it got tipped as well. And that also led to points. So collectively offensively we knew what the keys were going into this game and we didn't up hold our end of the bargain to say the least.
Q. How much now do you look forward to getting back in the room and practicing again but knowing you guys are 2-3 and you need to get it going in a hurry here starting with San Francisco.
CN: Yeah, there's no need to panic. But we for sure have an opportunity here that we just can't, we just cannot allow ourselves to just go through the motions and expect, us being who we are is going to take care of itself, because that's not the case. We're not that good at that particular point yet and we need, obviously, practice and hopefully everything else is halted from the COVID situation and which will allow us to do that. But yet even if, whatever the situation is, we know we're not going to be the only team that's being faced with it and we just is have to be ready to go here moving forward.
Q. Last month you said that the answers at the receiving positions or the pass catchers are in the locker room. I'm just wondering what your confidence level in your pass catchers are at this point.
CN: Extremely high.
Q. And just one follow-up, you were talking about the batted passes, how do you avoid some of those in the future?
CN: Those guys get paid too, they watch film just like we watch film and that was just a headsy play by those guys of seeing an opportunity and making the most of it. So it's nothing, if you had to point a finger, obviously it's for me, but yet those guys just made a great play at the ball.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports