Cowboys 35, Patriots 29
Q. Can you just talk about the emotional night, especially late in that game, throwing the pick, then coming back, the 75-yard touchdown, what it was like for you, the highs and lows?
MJ: Yeah, I think that's the ebbs and flows of football. You've just got to play the next play and do your job to the best of your ability. I left some plays on the field, but it is what it is.
In the NFL it takes maybe three or four bad plays and you lose the game. The margin of error is very slim, and I guess when I have that feeling that something might be going bad, just throw it away, call a time-out or figure it out and just try not to make a bad play worse, so I could have done that tonight better. I think the people around me played really well and we fought really hard, and sometimes you fall short.
Q. Do you feel like you were affected by the strip sack at all? Looked like you guys were moving the ball pretty well before that moment, and not being able to get it going until late in the game.
MJ: Yeah, I think just you want to try and get in a rhythm. We did that sometimes during the game, but we've got to just play complementary football better, and the offense has to complement the defense, and special teams has to be involved in it, as well. I left a lot of plays on the field, but we did fight hard. When you look at the big picture, you never want to say you're close, and it's hard to do that, but the games that we've lost we've been two or three plays away, and I guess it's just how the NFL works, and I'm learning that the hard way.
But we can't hang our heads, we just have to come back tomorrow, get up early and come back to work.
Q. You throw the pick six, then the next play you come out and hit Kendrick born for the touchdown. Kendrick said you have the ability to forget. How tough is it to forget and go forward after a play like that?
MJ: Yeah, I think when I watch the film, I always want to find ways I can do something better, and I'm sure there was something I could do better on a lot of plays, and that play was one of them. You've just got to play the next play and you're only as good as your last play.
At the same time you've got to move on and just execute the play that's called. I could do that better, and I will, and we can't just hang our heads. We've got to keep working, and no one is going to feel sorry for ourselves because that never works. You can get humbled every week, and you've just got to move on to the next week, and we'll be ready to play next week.
Q. You mentioned earlier it's good to get in a rhythm. It looked like early on you guys had some bigger people on the field, it looked like you guys were in a pretty good rhythm offensively. How comfortable did you feel in those situations, and would you like to maybe even use those packages a little bit more over the course of the game?
MJ: Yeah, I think that's just Josh doing a great job scheming them up. He's a great play caller and he puts us in good positions where our numbers are in our favor. We've just got to execute the game plan, whether it's whatever personnel we put out there, just do a good job of executing, and I think it just goes to show that it's one or two plays or maybe a little bit more than that that if you slip up, whatever the situation is, then you'll lose, and I think we're learning that the hard way, but we can't hang our head. We've just got to keep playing and stay positive and try not to focus on results and just learn from every experience we have and not feeling sorry for ourselves.
Q. Can you take us through that 3rd down play in overtime, the ball on the outside to Mack? What did you see on that play?
MJ: Yeah, I mean, they overloaded. They tried to bring a little overload look. I've just got to stick to my rules and read out the coverage. When I look at the tape I'll really digest it and see what happened, but at that point you just try and make a smart play and give whoever has the one-on-one a chance when it's a little bit of a funky look. In the moment maybe call a time-out or whatever the situation may be, just figure out how to make a positive play, and we'll look at it and watch it and make an adjustment there.
Q. It looked like the defender got a facemask on Nelson. Were you expecting a penalty to be called on the play?
MJ: Yeah, it's football, it's bang-bang, but when it's one-on-one, things happen, and it's not my job to throw the flag. You know, you've just got to stick to my rules and stick to my keys, and sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn't. You can't blame everything on the refs or anything. They call their game, and we have to execute our game plan. It's an it-is-what-it-is situation and we just have to move on and find ways to not be in that position where we can be ahead and we don't have to be in that position.
Q. You said earlier you just have to -- you execute the play that's called. When Josh called that play after the pick six, were you excited when you got the play call? Did it show you something that here's the ball, go for it right away? Walk me through a little bit if you can what that was like.
MJ: Yeah, I think you hit the reset button and stick to my rules and stick to what I've been taught. You can't feel sorry for yourself, and sometimes it's out of your control or sometimes it's completely your fault. I wish I could have done things differently to where we weren't even in that position. I just have to watch the tape and learn from it. It's not the first pick six I'll throw and it's not going to be the last, so I have to learn how to bounce back and play the next play.
Q. But you did that; were you excited? You had to at least in that moment feel pretty good about doing that.
MJ: Yeah, I mean, just like I said, next-play mentality. Whatever they call, I execute it and give everybody a chance to execute the play. That's going to happen a lot more hopefully in my career where you have a bad play and you come back and you make a good one. So it's not always going to be perfect. You've got to dodge the ebbs and flows and just play the next play.
Q. On the strip sack, was that the hardest you've ever been hit in your career? What was it like trying to get up and compose yourself after that?
MJ: No, it wasn't, and I've just got to get up and jog off the field. That's part of the game. I could have got the ball out quicker, and that's on me. I'll watch the film and figure out ways I can, A, get the ball out quicker or figure out ways to get it out or change the play or whatever. I'll talk about that with the offense and find ways to where if I know it's a look that we don't want how we can change it or whatever, but it's part of the game, and I don't think that hit -- of course it hurts, but you've just got to get up and play the next play. It's part of football, and that's the fun part.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports