Patriots

Tearful Adrian Phillips voices support for Quandre Diggs after Patriots vs. Dolphins

Plus prepping for the postseason and more from Patriots postgame.

By Tom Westerholm

January 9, 2022

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email
• Email

Patriots safety Adrian Phillips was visibly emotional after watching his friend and former college teammate Quandre Diggs suffer a gruesome injury as the Seahawks defeated the Cardinals.

Phillips — who spoke to the media briefly after the Patriots lost to the Dolphins — had tears in his eyes as he stepped to the podium, and his voice broke several times delivering a message to Diggs.

“I’m praying for you my brother Quandre,” Phillips said. “He just had a gruesome injury and just want you to know I love you bro. I hate this so much, but I love you bro, and I’m just praying for you.”

Diggs reportedly suffered a broken fibula and a dislocated ankle, according to Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

“He’ll be back,” Carroll told reporters, via ESPN’s Brady Henderson.

Phillips told the media he was ready for questions (“let’s get this over with”), but the assembled reporters encouraged him to go call his friend.

More from Patriots postgame

– Mac Jones finished 20-for-30 as a passer with 260 yards and a touchdown, but he threw a costly pick-six in the early going that helped the Dolphins build a 17-point lead, and he was part of a fumble just outside the red zone on a botched snap.

“It’s super embarrassing honestly, just from my point just how I played wasn’t good enough,” Jones said. “I can be better and it starts with me. I’m the quarterback and that’s my job is to make people around me have success, and it starts with me.”

Jones noted that he read the Dolphins’ defense correctly on the interception but he missed Xavien Howard. Meanwhile, David Andrews was out for the fumble, and Jones couldn’t handle Ted Karras’s snap.

“It wasn’t Ted’s fault it was my fault,” Jones said. “I’ve got to get the ball and hand it off to the running back. It’s not like it was some giant play that required a bunch of things so you never want those things to happen, but now we know during pre-practice, we can get more work. Just get back to the fundamentals of it.”

Still, Jones’ teammates appreciated how he bounced back from his early struggles.

“A hell of a football player,” Brandon Bolden said. “He didn’t quit. Stayed in the game the entire time. Coming from the young quarterback, a rookie quarterback, that’s what you love to see. It’s easy to get up and play for a guy like that.”

– Several Patriots expressed confidence the team will turn its fortunes around for their wild-card game next Sunday.

“It’s not over,” Bolden said. “There’s no reason to lay down and take anything. We have a lot to fight for. I know me personally, that’s how I’m approaching it. That’s how I’m going into next week.

“I’m not finished. Go into next week, going take it like it could be the last one, but I’m going to fight like hell to have more.”

Hunter Henry agreed.

“I don’t think we lost any confidence. We know what we have in there,” he said. “We just have to play great football. That’s the biggest thing.”

Still, the Patriots know they can’t afford to start slow against a playoff opponent.

“You get in the playoffs and you get down 17-0, it’s going to be a long day,” Devin McCourty said. “Everybody is a good team, everybody is fighting to play next week. You’re not going to be able to do that. Whatever it is, we have to find a way to — no matter what happens — kind of move on to the next play and try to string good plays together instead of having good, bad, good good, bad bad. We can’t live like that.”

Matthew Slater said the Patriots need to decide what this season means.

“I believe it’s important to us, I believe we care about it,” Slater said. “But the talking is not what’s going to get it done. It’s going to be execution and playing well whenever we play next.”

Are the Patriots ready for the playoffs?

“Don’t have a choice,” McCourty said. “They start next week.”

– Christian Barmore was helped off the field without putting any weight on his leg in the second half — a worrisome sign for the Patriots, especially given that he reportedly couldn’t put any weight on the leg even after an X-ray.

“I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I just told him I love him and I have his back no matter what,” Jones said of Barmore. “He’s a great player, and he’s been a great teammate to me at Alabama and obviously here too. He’s really positive, and I hope he’s okay.”

– Brandon Bolden was whistled for a questionable unnecessary roughness call — upon replay, it was clear he never touched the Dolphins punter who slid with the ball short of a first down.

“I went in there and I was trying to get the ball off of him, but I did not touch him at all,” Bolden said. “That’s just how it goes sometimes. The ball don’t bounce your way every time and they called what they called. …

“We just have to play the game of football as it’s being called and we just didn’t get that one.”