Coach Bill Belichick 12/18: "We have to execute better"

Andy (0:00)

Bill, I just want to ask you about Mahomes and Kelsey's comments after the game. They both talked about how playing against the Patriots had made them better players. They appreciated, obviously, you meeting with them after the game. What do those comments mean to you when you hear from a couple of the best players in the game saying how your defenses made them better?

Bill Belichick (0:21)

Yeah, well, I have a ton of respect for the Chiefs organization, Andy.

Mahomes, Kelsey, and they're both great players. They're hard to coach against, hard to defend. And so, I mean, I have a ton of respect for the way they play the game and how good they are, how consistent they are, and the job they've done.

Andy (0:50)

And on Bailey, you said you needed to look over the film before offering an assessment on Bailey's performance. What did you see, and why do you think there's a difference between how he performs in the last couple of weeks at the start of games versus in the second half?

Bill Belichick (1:06)

Yeah, I was still working through it, but like any game, there's some good plays, there's some plays that could have executed better overall as an offense. That's each guy, but just offensively, there's some things that we could have done better.

SPEAKER_3 (1:33)

Hey Bill, I want to ask about what you've seen from players that have been thrust into more prominent roles throughout the season as a result of injury, you know, as a next man up mentality, but what have you seen from players throughout the year that have been put into bigger roles in a game, especially those where, you know, even minutes before a kickoff, they weren't expected to have this big of a role?

Bill Belichick (2:01)

Well, I mean, that's a lot of players you're asking about there, but just in general, you know, the players work hard and you know, look forward to getting an opportunity. You know, Kevin Harris worked hard all year. He's really done a good job for us on the scout teams and not just offensively, but they run special teams, and then got an opportunity to play yesterday and did a good job of stepping in there and giving us some solid play.

So those players that wait for that opportunity, work for that opportunity, and then they get it. And you know exactly how it's going to turn out, some turn out better than others, but that was certainly a really competitive performance by Ketton.

SPEAKER_3 (2:55)

Still, followed by Sophie Rowan.

Andy (2:59)

Gordon Bill, any update on JC.

SPEAKER_3 (3:01)

Jackson this morning?

Bill Belichick (3:04)

No.

Andy (3:07)

Do you envision him being with the team next week and through the rest of the season?

Bill Belichick (3:12)

Yeah, I've said all I can say about it, so I don't have anything to add.

SPEAKER_4 (3:27)

Hi Bill, I was just wondering kind of what's your message to Chad Ryland among a few of the struggles he's had this season?

Bill Belichick (3:33)

Yeah, pretty much the same message to everyone.

We take a look at what we do, we correct our mistakes, we work to improve them, and go out there next time. That's me, the coaching staff, the players, everybody.

Andy (4:02)

Bill, you touched on the guys who got roles, you know, late in the process, so to speak. What did you see from Alex Austin yesterday? It seemed like Kansas City might have been targeting him a little bit early in the game. How do you think he performed?

Bill Belichick (4:17)

Yeah, again, kind of the same thing. You know, we all had some good moments, and there are certainly things that we can learn from and do better. I don't know if they were targeting him as much as that's just the way it kind of matched up on some of the plays, but a couple of under routes there that his guy was on the under route, but that's, you know, those are always good plays, tough plays to defend in man coverage. So, or certain man coverage is, I should say, not all of its own, but.

And I thought he played competitively.

SPEAKER_4 (5:04)

Hi, Bill.

Andy (5:07)

I know he's dealt with some injuries throughout the season back to the summer, but how much progress have you seen from Cole Strange before yesterday's injury?

Bill Belichick (5:18)

Yeah, a lot, the more he's been able to stay on the field, the better he's gotten. I think he's played better through the more recent weeks in the season.

He missed quite a bit of time there early in the year in the training camp, which slowed him down. But I think he's been playing his best football lately.