Patriots - 23
Dolphins - 21
Q. Mac, just a thought on what you guys were able to do as a team. Also, was that maybe your best drive of the season?
MJ: Yeah, I think it was a great day here just fighting through a lot of different things on offense. I didn't play very well in the middle of the game. My voice is kind of going, sorry.
I didn't play as good as I wanted to in the middle of the game. I thought our guys just kept fighting. We made some big plays in some big moments. That's what's NFL is all about.
Obviously defense did great job of putting us in a good spot, special teams. Obviously, at the end of the game here, special teams came up huge with Hunter getting the on-side kick.
Really proud of the guys for all the effort today.
Q. I wanted to ask you about the third down throw to Jakobi. When did that get in the playbook? What did you see on the play?
MJ: Yeah, I think it was a really good play call. Just kind of give them a little bit of a different presentation, run one of our core plays.
It was cool to be able to do that. He had a great route. Obviously had plenty of time to throw it and go through my read. That was a big conversion. We had a few big conversions.
A lot of things I'm sure we can clean up. Just going to watch the film and see what we can do better. Had to get the win and we found a way to do it. That's what the NFL is all about.
Q. It takes a lot to be a successful receiver in this league. Tyquan Thornton obviously a rookie. What have you seen from him from the beginning of the season to now, the plays he made today, his ability to run routes and be where you need him to be?
MJ: Yeah, I think he's a really good route runner, really good fast, smart kid. Works hard. Doesn't complain about anything. Just goes out there and does what he's supposed to do. We have a lot of guys like that on our team.
Just excited to grow with him. He's a young player. I'm a young player. We're working every day to get that chemistry. He's done a great job.
Definitely we're going to watch the film together. I always like to tell him things to work on, same thing with him. He's very comfortable about telling me, Hey, put it here, put it there, let's try this, try that.
As a young player, definitely impressed with him. His ability to communicate at a really high level during the games by telling me what he sees, too.
Love our receivers and all those guys. They fight hard for each other, fight hard for the team. That's what it's all about.
Q. Would you mind giving us a little bit of your view on the go-ahead touchdown. We saw Jakobi move out.
MJ: Yeah, I think we shifted and stuff. Puts a lot of stress on the defense. Been working on that play for quite some time here. Finally got to do it in the game.
Just a heads-up play. Sometimes with the shifts and motions, that's what happens on defense. Hard to communicate, all that. But definitely made a great catch. Those are sometimes the hardest 'cause you see a guy running out, looking at you, you don't want to put it on a line so they can intercept it.
Definitely made a great play. It was a good situational play.
Q. How grateful and impressed have you been with the team's defense, the fact they've been able to help you along this season?
MJ: Yeah, I think obviously when I first came here, I was really fired up because I knew that we had such a great defense, everyone last year and this year, throughout history.
All those guys play hard. Really well-coached. We have great scheme. Just great players. Definitely want to be able to produce more on offense. It starts with me as the quarterback. I know we've been saying that a lot.
At the end of the day we just got to keep trying to win games, play with each other, try to finish games strong, be able to score more points so they don't have to do that part for us.
Q. In the event that this was Slater and McCourty's last game here at Gillette, what have you learned from them and what do they mean to you?
MJ: Yeah, I think we have a lot of great older players on the team. Those guys just come to work every day and set the standard of patriot football. Yeah, I think we have a great group.
Obviously that's something that they're not focused on, we're not focused on. We're just trying to have a great week here and enjoy this one, get ready to play a really good team. That's what they want. They just want to have their best week, for us to have our best week.
Love those guys. Excited to have a good week here.
Q. What did the touchdown drive to put the team up 23-14 mean to you personally in that you executed the drive, put the team over the top?
MJ: Yeah, I think we definitely made that an emphasis this week in practice. Kind of got back to working on that stuff, making sure we were sharp on everything.
Definitely showed up in the game. We felt prepared, like always. It comes down to the execution of the plays. We're going to have to do that again here you never know when, probably the next game. You never know when that opportunity comes. You got to be ready, have a plan, then obviously go out and execute it.
Q. Hunter obviously with the on-side kick, that's a huge play.
MJ: Yeah.
Q. What is it about Hunter in that clutch situation that makes him the guy? Then on the drive before the kneel-down, take us back to that.
MJ: Yeah, I think Hunter is just a great all-around, savvy football player. He has a great understanding of not only the tight end position, but for example that right there, staying calm, fielding the ball. Not the easiest thing to do when the game is on the line.
That's just who Hunter is. He's a laid-back, easygoing guy. I love Hunter. Excited to grow with him throughout the years, all that. He did a great job.
Obviously on that fourth down play, it's just taking care of the ball. We had a play that we were trying to execute. The biggest thing is just not give it back to their team for an easy, whatever, touchdown or whatever it may have been.
Definitely going to learn from that one, see what I can do better, ask more questions, just to make sure we have a good plan there. So good learning experience, for sure.
Q. Tyquan Thornton was your leading receiver today. How have you gotten together? How has that chemistry built up over the last few weeks?
MJ: Yeah, I think Tyquan, like I said, is smart, tough, fast football player. Comes to work every day, just puts his head down and works. Like I said, doesn't complain about anything. Just goes to work.
Obviously we want to have even more production, so we're going to do everything we can to get him the ball more, make sure I can let him touch it on some of those deep balls, run underneath that. Some of that is timing that we need to get to throughout the week to make sure we're on the same page.
Definitely impressed with the receivers, offensive line, defensive backs. Everybody did a really good job. Just have to flip the page and get ready for a really good team next week.
Thanks. Happy New Year. See you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports