Q. What did it feel like to get a victory and to do it with Interim Head Coach Romeo Crennel, a guy that you guys obviously have strong feelings for as a coach and as a person? What was this like?
MICHAEL THOMAS: "Man, first off, I'll just say everybody has much respect for OB (Bill O'Brien), and anytime you go through a coaching change like that, especially this season, I've been through that before, you wish them nothing but the best. Got respect for him, everybody in the locker room has respect for OB. But to answer your question, it felt good to get out there and get a win because everybody felt loose, felt relaxed, and they know 'RAC' (Romeo Crennel), who was just trying to put us in the best position knowing that we were amongst the storm and knowing we had some big changes this week, but he just kept everybody focused, he kept everybody loose at the same time, like hey, these are the fundamentals you need to focus on to get a win. All we were focusing on was getting win one and he made sure that was everybody's main goal. And to see everybody fly around out there today was fun. Everybody was smiling, making plays, feeding off each other, even when something bad might happen, interception here, we have a big play here -- offensive players, we got y'all's backs; defense, we got the offense's backs. Special teams was trying to force those missed kicks, and then to hear 'RAC' (get the big boom calls in the locker room after the game and we presented him with the game ball, that was amazing, man."
Q. How much did it mean to the defense for the Jaguars to start two series and you're into the field, you didn't give them a point?
MICHAEL THOMAS: "Right, oh, man. Like that boosted a lot of our confidence, man. It probably gave us that momentum to really believe in -- like it doesn't matter what happened, it doesn't matter the situation, we've just got to take the field and try to close it as an opportunity to have the rest of our team's back, to have the offense's back, to have the special teams' back. Like it's on us to go out there and get a stop, and I think that was huge. I think that was what sparked us just really having that belief that we were going to go out there and win that game, stopping them when they get to the goal line. You know, the first field goal that was missed, then we throw an interception, we're less than a minute, 30 seconds left, go out there, get a stop, hold them, and then they miss the field goal again. I think that was huge, that was big for the momentum of this team. It was big for the defense to understand like look, we've got the confidence to go out there and stop them every time we get on the field."
Q. In what ways do you feel the defense was a bit more efficient this game versus the previous four games?
MICHAEL THOMAS: "Yeah, I think we just had it -- put it on ourselves that we had to go out there and execute. We had to finally go out there and believe in the game plan. We had to believe that -- what we said the other team was going to do that they're going to do and this is the defense that we need to be in and execute that and stop them. I think that's what happened. We finally believed in the game plan. We finally went out there and executed at a high level. When the plays were there to be made, players made the play. Whenever you had to set the edge, players set the edge. If you had to make the tackle, players made the tackle. I think that was the difference in this game, and with that there was more energy, guys fed off each other. We had a couple injuries, so some new guys that stepped up in roles. I think Tyrell Adams played a hell of a game today. That's my brother, especially we've battled it out on special teams a lot, so it was great to see him flying around out there making plays, and everybody just fed off of each other today."
Q. Can you talk about what K Ka'imi Fairbairn has done this year?
MICHAEL THOMAS: "Man, Ka'imi (Fairbairn), he's having a hell of a season. Proud of him. Obviously we've got a close-knit group with this special team unit. Even when guys go down, we have some young guys step up, and it was great to see them fly around there today. And Ka'imi, he's focused. We see it every day at practice. He doesn't feel like the pressure. He's just going out there trying to execute and get points every time he steps on the field. We're right behind him. We're rallying with him. That's our kicker, and he knows that this team is depending on him to get points, and he's executing every single time he's getting out there. Shout-out to Jon Weeks and 'Banger' (Bryan Anger) for going out there and having great operation time."
