Patriots 45, Browns 7
Q. You guys fell down 7-0 and then you went on a run. How much fun did you have with that offensive explosion of 45 points?
MJ: Overall, great team win ask that's how you want to play the game of football. I think it starts with the offensive line, they deserve all the credit in the world. We did hear a lot about obviously Cleveland's front and they have a good front and we have a really good offensive line, and I'm proud of them. And then obviously everyone making the plays that they were supposed to make, they did a great job and that's what happens when you play football like that.
You score a lot of points and it becomes way more fun and you're scoring touchdowns and the defense is going out, they are getting stops. Special teams is making their plays, so it's just a three-level game and when we click on all cylinders, we can be pretty good.
Q. You mentioned about their front you heard about all week long, and there were a lot of long drives, but in particular you had a 99-yard drive. How much confidence did you have after that drive to say, okay, we can play with this and we can do what we need it do?
MJ: I think it just goes back to practice, execution and we do that every week where we start way backed up and push it down the field in practice. When you get in the game, you just have to execute the mays that are called and you can't look at where you are, you can't look at the scoreboard. You can't worry about external factors.
You just have to focus on all right, here is what I'm supposed to do and when 11 guys do it together, the product will be really good at the end of the drive. We did that multiple times on those long drives and it just shows the mental and physical toughness that we put together and we just need to keep doing that on a consistent basis.
Q. How would you describe the connection you have right now with Hunter Henry, and when you guys are deep in the red zone there, we've seen you guys obviously connect on a few different types of plays. Does he have some freedom? Do you guys have some freedom together to run some different options depending on what the defense has thrown at you?
MJ: I think just with the red zone, we always have a good plan with Josh, and he does a really good job scheming everybody up. My job is to get it to the person that's supposed to get the ball, and Hunter does a great job getting open and he has a really good feel for red zone offense and running routes and blocking and finding his little spot in the zone or in the end zone.
So he does a good job of that and all our guys do. We have great receivers and at some point, we just have to figure out ways to spread the ball around and continue to get points in the red zone and that's the most important part is getting the six points versus kicking a field goal and getting three.
Q. Can you walk us through the play with Kendrick? What did you see and why did it click?
MJ: Yeah, we called it and it was another red zone play that Josh did a good job of putting together and the line gave me plenty of time and KB ran a good route and he was my read and I threw him the ball. He also made a really about catch. There was two guys right there and he just said, that's my ball and made the play.
So that's how we want our receivers to play, and all of them to do that. So it's really fun when you can throw it and know that they are going to attack the ball in the red zone.
Q. It looked like you were one of the first ones to see him in the end zone. How good did it feel to see Jakobi get his first touchdown reception?
MJ: I told him today, I was like, you're going to score before the game -- I didn't know it was going to come from Hoyer (Laughter). It was great. I was super excited. We were out together and the ball -- I was so concerned about the ball. I was like, we've got to find the ball. I guess they found it. That was good.
But I think Jakobi is a great teammate and he's a great team player and that's much deserved and he's going to get more. From here, hopefully we just keep stacking them up and there will be a bunch. He's a great teammate, like I said, gets to the red zone, does his job, sometimes when he's not even getting the ball, he's in there knocking people down and just being really physical. We are really happy to be able to play together and hopefully we'll play together for a long time.
Q. After starting off 2-4, what has been the key to this stretch? Has there been a common denominator?
MJ: I think just practice, doing the little things right. I think here we do a good job every week of preparing for what we want and it just comes down to practice, execution, becoming game reality, and when we practice well, we play well. When we don't practice well, usually we don't play as well. And so it's pretty much that simple and we just have to keep doing that.
Q. Curious if you can remember ever leading a 99-plus-yard-drive at the high school or college level?
MJ: I think close but not 99. That's a long way to go. We did a good job, like I said, of not focusing on where we were and just going back to what we did in practice. We do that every week. So we start way backed up and then move the ball forward.
So yeah, that's pretty much it.
Q. What did you think of the way Josh McDaniels called the game, especially early on when you guys were in some third-and-longs? You had a first-and-long and seemed like you mixed things up pretty good.
MJ: Yeah, did he a great job. We talked about, like I said, practice and we saw a lot of those looks, and we just have to do it well in the game. It's his job to call plays and it's my job to execute them and everyone's job to execute them.
I think we are on the same page, and it's great, and Josh has been a lot of fun to work with. He's really competitive, like everybody in our offensive room, and we have a great group of coaches top to bottom, and we just have to keep doing what we're doing.
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