“We’ve got to be better and we will be better.”
That’s how Washington defensive tackle and captain Jonathan Allen ended his conversation with the media Monday, as he was rising to depart.
Q. “How did you feel like the defensive line played?”
JA: “Payne had a really great game. You always feel like you want to do more. So, I gotta watch the film before I can really answer that question.”
Q. “Have you seen any common themes in the struggles against opposing teams runs games in the first two games?”
JA: “Every team’s different and until I watch the film I can’t really say. Obviously we want to play better and we are going to be better. We are on to Philadelphia.”
Q. “Do you feel like the continuity (roster) has really kicked in or what do you think it will take for that to really happen?”
JA: “Continuity is good and all, but at the end we got to execute, and we didn’t execute like we were supposed to. So, gotta watch the film and we’ll see. We’ll get better.”
Q. “One player said the Lions knew exactly what you guys (defense) were going to do. Do you feel there needs to be any adjustments? Do you agree with that comment?”
JA: “Not really, at the end of the day we gotta execute. I’m not a fan of putting a lot of things on the coach. Sure, if you want to go that route I guess you can say that, but to me, that’s not something I am really thinking about.”
Q. “Ron said you played a little more than expected because of those injuries. How did you feel out there yesterday? And how are you feeling today?”
JA: “I feel ok. Obviously, I wasn’t full go. I was a little limited but I was able to go out there and fight with my team, which is what I wanted to do. A little sore today, but I’ll be good to go.”
Q. “When you are a little banged up right now so early in the season. How do you plan on managing that, when you still have 15 more outings to go?”
JA: “Just got to suck it up. Everybody’s beat up so that’s not really an excuse. You just got to keep pushing and keep fighting, take it week by week. It is what it is.”
Q. “When the offense doesn’t get first downs the first five possessions or so, how challenging is that for you guys on defense? Because you guys held up the first couple of drives and then things started to devolve from there.”
JA: “At the end of the day, no matter what the offense does, the defense has to go out there and stop them regardless of where the opposing offense gets the ball. We started off pretty good on third down. Just gave up too many explosives in the game.”
Q. “Is there any frustration from you, having a good game in week one and then coming out and not doing as well as you had hoped in week two?”
JA: “It is always frustrating when you lose. It’s the NFL; they get paid too. We’re on to Philadelphia. We’re gonna look at the film today (Monday) and see what we could do better and get ready for Philadelphia.”
Q, “You mentioned the explosive plays. Is there something fundamentally that’s key to stopping those kinds of explosive plays?”
JA: “Effort. I’m not saying we gave bad effort, but fits weren’t right. You got to give the Lions credit. They made great plays. But besides that, we got to be better, and we’ll be better,” Allen said as he rose to depart the room.