The Monday After: The Best Week 2 Quotes From Coaches Around The NFL

Bryan Altman, CBS Local Sports

Week 2 came to a close for all but two NFL teams yesterday, leaving fans, coaches and players alike to bask in their team's win or reel in their team's loss until next week. On each Monday of the NFL season the league's coaches get their chance to speak to the members of the media after having night to gather their thoughts about what went down on the field the day prior. 

In this space we'll take a look at some of the best quotes from coaches around the NFL on Monday mornings. Here's what some of the league's coaches had to say on Monday about their team's performance in Week 2. 

Cowboys' Jason Garrett on 105.3 The Fan with Shaz & R.J.

“Obviously it’s disappointing” said Garrett about Romo’s injury and how it can possibly affect the team moving forward. “He’s a great leader for our team and he will certainly be missed. But that’s the nature of our game.”

“Brandon’s done a nice job for us in the opportunity he’s had to play – he is calm, he has poise, he’s composed” said Garrett.

Eagles' Chip Kelly on 94WIP Philly Morning Show

“Yes. I was embarrassed,” Chip Kelly told the 94WIP Morning Show on Monday morning. “We have to go back to work,” Kelly said. “That’s the one thing we all know. No one is gonna feel sorry for you, you can’t feel sorry for yourself. That’s not gonna change it. It’s you gotta get back out on the practice field, we gotta train better, and we gotta train more deliberately and prepare for a really good Jets team. 

I think we squandered a great opportunity,” Kelly admitted. “I thought our defense played a really, really good football game. We didn’t show up offensively to support that effort in any manner and when you’re playing a team like Dallas you need to play in all three phases."

Lions' Jim Caldwell, from The Detroit News' Josh Katzenstein

When asked whether Matt Stafford will play next week in the Lions' home opener against the Denver Broncos.

“We’ll see,” Caldwell said in his Monday news conference. “He’s very, very sore. There’s no question about that. He got hit far too many times. It was a tough day for him yesterday, but we’ll see where he is as the week goes on.”

Dolphins' Joe Philbin, from 560 WQAM Sports Radio Miami

“It was brought to my attention there was a report that Ndamukong Suh was freelancing out there on the field,” Philbin said in his monday press conference. “I just watched the entire tape with the entire defensive staff. I didn’t see anything of the sort. I’m not sure where that came from.”

Bears' John Fox, from 670 The Score's Zach Zaidman

Bears coach John Fox discussing Jay Cutler's injury.

49ers Jim Tomsula, from The San Francisco 49ers

Bills' Rex Ryan, from The Buffalo News

"It ain't gonna get worse than that," Ryan said of the team's 40-32 loss to New England. "And yet, at the end of the day, we still actually had a chance to compete for the victory. So obviously there's a million negative things that we've got to get corrected, yet I love the fighting spirit of our team and the heart that our team has. So if there's one thing we've got to be able to see – it can't be worse than that, in all three phases."

"I'm not gonna put a muzzle on our players," he said. "If they want to say something, they have all the freedom in the world to say it. Just like I'm going to. We're not to say, 'well, that's why we lost the game.' That had nothing to do with why we lost the game. And that's the way it is. ... There's different ways of chatting and all that stuff. Let's face it: New England isn't exactly Boy Scouts of America, alright? So you can say what you want, but the tape doesn't lie, either."

Tom Coughlin, from The New York Giants

Coughlin on his team needing to finish games.

"We’ll continue to talk about that, we’ll continue to be positive, and we’ll continue to utilize our meeting time with positive reinforcements whether it be examples of whatever. Sooner or later, we just have to settle down and play the way we’re capable of playing when the game is on the line. I don’t know how to say it any more simpler. The information comes forth from the sideline, you have x amount of time to digest it all, but then you have to go pull the trigger. Like yesterday, the fourth quarter was 14-0, so here we are in good stead throughout, and then we had the unfortunate turnover, but the next quarter was all Atlanta scoring."

Bryan Altman is, for some reason, an unabashed fan of the Rangers, Jets and Mets. If he absolutely had to pick a basketball team it would be the Knicks, but he’d gladly trade them for just one championship for either of his other three teams.

Questions or comments? Feel free to follow Bryan on Twitter or send him an email. 

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