On what he saw and tried to do on the last play of the game:
GRIFFIN: We had a certain concept with running and nobody got open so I was backing up, and in the situation where you get a sack there, it ends the game. I was trying to throw the ball to the back of the end zone. It didn't get to where I wanted it to go. Obviously I was on my heels and it's something I can definitely learn from, but at the end of the day, for us to claw back the way we did—it sounds cliché and we always talk about character. The guys in that locker room are family and they fought hard. It's tough to swallow something like that but we have to digest it and move on and there are still games to be played and we need to go play them.
On whether either not starting quick enough or not finishing is getting old, and what he plans on doing to fix it:
GRIFFIN: It takes us going out there and doing it. I think we had -4 yards passing in the first half or something like that and that just can't happen. We have to just be better. I know we say it time and time again but there's no other way to say it. Players make plays, coaches have to coach. We just have to make it happen.
On why the plays to win aren't being made:
GRIFFIN: Philly did a good job. Let's give credit where credit is due. They did a good job coming out in the beginning of the game and shutting down a lot of the stuff that we were trying to do. Obviously we ran the ball well, but when it came to the passing game, a lot of times they were tit for tat. They were there where they needed to be; they were taking away the routes we were trying to run. That's disheartening, but we have to make sure we come up with something to counteract that.
On whether he had a split second on the last play where he could have made a better decision than throwing an interception:
GRIFFIN: I just thought maybe towards the sidelines, but right there a guy comes straight at me. I'm just trying to throw as far as I can and me backing up, trying to throw it out of the back of the end zone, the distance that it was, it was something I shouldn't do. It's something I'll learn from. Like I said, we'll get better from it.
On re-evaluating the fourth quarter and if that last play will haunt him the most out of several bad plays:
GRIFFIN: To be 0-24 in the fourth and come back the way we did and put the points up and the big plays that we had, that's something to say. But for me personally, yeah it's tough to swallow. You don't want it to end like that. It's going to hurt. That's why we're all competitors, that's why you compete for 60 minutes and we did do that, so I'm proud of my guys and I'll go to war with these guys anytime. They are family. As long as we're here—as long as I'm here, as long as the coaches are here, we'll always be family.
On whether he can put his finger on why the team was struggling so early in a must-win game that was so important:
GRIFFIN: Like I said, you have to give credit where credit is due to Philly. They did a good job of scheming us up. Obviously, we were able to run the ball effectively, but in the passing game; they kind of had us. They kind of knew what was coming before it was coming and like I said, that is disheartening. But we still have to find ways and that's what I told the guys—no matter what's going on out there, we're the players, we have to make the plays work. We just weren't able to do that during that first half.
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On whether he knows why there were so many broken down plays and scrambling from the beginning of the game:
GRIFFIN: Like I said, they kind of had us schemed up pretty good. It's something that you go back and you watch on film and everybody will learn from it. Like I told you, there were a lot of broken plays, a lot of scrambling around trying to make things happen. It's not what you want when you come out in the beginning of the game. You want to get those plays to work for you, you want to get the positive yardage, convert third downs, and all that stuff was not working.
On whether he agrees with WR Santana Moss' comment that the touchdown by FB Darrel Young was the game-changer and made people click and believe they could start making plays on offense, and what he could do to spur that feeling in his teammates earlier in the game:
GRIFFIN: Guys just have to believe and I think that play was a spark. We weren't playing well in any phase of the game, so when you have your fullback run a touchdown like that, catch a touchdown like that, it's going to spark your team. We just needed that in that moment, we needed a quick score. And we came back and got another quick score. We can sit here and cry over spilled milk, but the past couple games, we started fine. So what was it in this game? I don't know what to tell you. I just know we have to go out and execute better. It's not like it's like the beginning of the year where it's game after game after game. We've started well and we've put up good numbers the past few games and been effective on offense. We weren't able to do that this game.
On being in a tough spot and being concerned that the season may not have meaning anymore, even in a division nobody is running away with:
GRIFFIN: The season is always going to have meaning. There will always be games to play until the end of the year if you don't make the playoffs. I know the guys. I know the character in that locker room. We'll keep fighting. Each week, we're trying to win games. It doesn't matter what your record is. And you never know what's going to happen at the end of the year. All we have to do is make sure we continue to take it one at a time and not ever tank a season. You don't ever give up on what you have going because we put too much work into it in the off season and guys sacrifice too much and risk too much out there every other Sunday for us to not do that. I think if you're going to do things like that, then you shouldn't be here. I think that's real cowardly and I don't think we have any cowards in the locker room.
On the challenges in the passing games today, especially with the difficulty of losing top options to injuries during the game:
GRIFFIN: It's tough. It's a motto you have to live by. There are no excuses for that kind of stuff. Guys have to step up. Yeah, it's unfortunate [TE] Jordan [Reed] goes down. It's unfortunate that [WR Leonard Hankerson] Hank goes down and it's unfortunate that [CB] Josh [Wilson] is sitting this game. There's nothing much more to say about that. I feel like the guys out there, I'd still go to war with those guys. I have trust and belief in those guys as well, but we just can't have those kinds of injuries happen and it's unfortunate. That's probably the theme.
On whether the offense's plays has become predictable, and Philadelphia knew what was coming so they were able to get a beat on them:
GRIFFIN: I don't think it has become predictable. [LB] DeMeco [Ryans] is a pretty good linebacker and they do good things with him and the other guy— his name is [LB] Najee Goode. They allowed DeMeco the play-pass first. A lot of times they were trying to hit those play-pass holes behind him and he can run to those holes. I think on the back, he did a good job of running to the holes as well, kind of scheming stuff and knowing what type of holes we're trying to hit on those three level holes, or whatever you might want to call it. I don't think we've become predictable. I just think they had the right call in the right situation and they lucked into some pretty good recoveries.
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On the state of Baylor football with a win last night and another huge game this week:
GRIFFIN: I get to talk to Coach Art Briles every now and then, and that's a somber moment for us right now as the Redskins, but I am proud of what Baylor is doing. Like we've always said, take one at a time, and they've got a chance to get to the national title. So I'm proud of what they're doing and it's about time they get some national recognition.
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On the impact of WR Aldrick Robinson in making a key catch and helping them get back into the game:
GRIFFIN: I'm proud of him. He can be a weapon out there. He's got world-class speed playing receiver, and he caught the ball today and did a good job for us. He made a big play on that touchdown, makes a big play on a simple out route. That's what we have to do. We have to have guys step up. And Al's one of those guys and he knows it. I've talked to him a lot about it. He's too good to not go out there and contribute for us and it was good to see him when he got his chance to make the most of it.
On what he makes of having streaks throughout the season where the offense and defense play well together, streaks where the offense and defense have both played bad for an entire half, and huge streaks of points run against them:
GRIFFIN: We just have to play better team football and to give you the explanation—if your defense is struggling, your offense has to play well. It's that simple. If your offense is struggling, your defense has to play well. And then your special teams has to play well as well. That's what we talk about. We just have to play better team football. It's not just about the offense or just the defense or just the special teams. It's about everybody picking each other up and that's what's happened in some of these games where we have the onslaughts of points and get down because the offense isn't clicking and staying on the field, the defense isn't clicking, and then our special teams isn't either. I mean, I don't know what to explain for that, I just play offense. I just know that we can do better.
On having his share of adversity in his career so far and how he personally takes on the challenge now in guiding this ship with the division losses so far, because a lot of it falls on him:
GRIFFIN: It's tough. This game is tough. The game of football at any level is tough when you're losing. And you have to make sure you don't let that fatigue make a coward of you. They always say that fatigue makes cowards of men. And for me, for this team, we have to come out here every week prepared. We can't get down on ourselves. We can't look at our record and say there's no chance. All we have is the next week. It's all you have. And I know the guys in there, like I've said, we'll keep fighting. We'll keep fighting. We'll keep pushing forward. If you can come out of something like this, that adversity only makes you better. It's when you let it break you down, when you let it change who you are, when you let it change your attitude towards the game, that it really can kill your career. It's seasons like this, or a streak like this, where we're sitting here at 3-7 that can make guys give up. I don't believe the guys will give up. I believe, and that's all we need. We need guys to believe to have success.
