Colts 10, Patriots 6
Q. Can you explain to us what the intention was on the play where you guys had no returner and it looked like Demario was kind of hanging -- what the plan was?
MATTHEW SLATER: I mean, for us, we're trying to read that play out based off what they did. We had a scheme in place that we liked, and you give them a lot of credit. They didn't recall the gunner. They zoned the protection, so we weren't able to get home.
Then as a result, they flipped the field with, I don't know, what was it, 70-yard punt, something like that.
You know, we liked the plan going in, and sometimes things don't turn out the way you'd like them to. Kudos to them for the way they picked that up and the way they adjusted to it.
Q. Do you mean they didn't take the gunner --
MATTHEW SLATER: And recall him. Different teams handle -- we call it a corner role, different teams handle it differently. I would say a lot of coordinators like to be safe and play to the protection first. I give them a lot of credit for trusting that they can zone it off and pick it up with a man short on protection, and they did just that.
I thought they had good communication all night inside, and they did a good job.
Q. You've been on the team for so long. What's your faith in Bill Belichick heading into the rest of the season?
MATTHEW SLATER: I have as much faith in Coach Belichick as I've ever had. There's no reason to be doubting who he is as a leader and a coach for this football team.
The struggles that we've had on the field this year are due to us and our inability to execute. It's got nothing to do with Coach Belichick.
Q. How difficult was it for you to adjust to (indiscernible)?
MATTHEW SLATER: Yeah, I mean, look, the one touchback I think was a 79-yard punt, so we'll take a touchback on that 10 out of 10 times. Then the other one might have been a 60-some-yarder, I'm not sure. If he's hitting those types of balls, we're not going to complain about touchbacks because we're still going to net over 50 yards.
Yeah, there were some adjustments I'm sure with the scoreboard. We saw Jake Bailey hit it last week, but I thought Bryce all in all did a good job.
Q. I wanted to ask you about the special teams play. After the field goal, you draw within one (indiscernible)?
MATTHEW SLATER: Yeah, I mean, we've got to look at that on film. It was a middle match return. It felt like it got up on us pretty quick. I'm not sure what exactly happened. I don't want to speak to it until I watch it on film.
Q. As a team captain and a very experienced player, will you talk to Mac, and what will be your advice after such a tough game?
MATTHEW SLATER: He's got to stay positive. Right now everybody is counting him out. I'm sure there's a lot of negativity. There's a lot of negativity surrounding our team. We've got to ignore all that because it shouldn't impact how we operate day-to-day, and you can't let people that don't know half of what's going on inside the building impact what's going on inside the building.
He's got to stay positive. He's got to ignore the noise, keep his head down, keep working, just like the rest of us.
Q. When you look at your stay here in Germany and especially the crowd here, what are your takeaways from the German Patriots fan base here?
MATTHEW SLATER: Tremendous experience. The support today was phenomenal, the energy. I was really surprised. But I thought it was fantastic.
We had a couple soccer whistles in there. I heard it when they didn't like calls and stuff like that. Many thanks to the German fans. Many thanks to Germany for hosting us. We almost had a phenomenal time. We had a pretty good time until the game. But we're very thankful for this experience.
Q. Matthew, you talk about people that don't know what's going on in the building and people who do know what's going on in the building. Is there something that you've heard or is there something you feel the media has gotten wrong?
MATTHEW SLATER: Well, if you know me, you know I don't have any social media. I don't listen to the radio. I just know -- I've been around sports my whole life, and I know how the media is. You guys are doing your job, and I respect that.
But it's impossible to tell or to paint an accurate picture of things that are happening when you're not experiencing them firsthand. That's just the reality.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for the job that you guys do. It's very challenging. It's very difficult. I think by and large for the most part, the media in Boston covers the game with a lot of integrity, and I appreciate that.
But without reading, listening, I know there's negativity because of our record and because of the way things have gone, and it's fair, I guess, because you guys are trying to do your job. I get it.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports