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Brianna Williams, ESPN
NFL Week 2 has been settled on the gridiron, but there’s always some action that carries over to the locker room or in press conferences.
Puka Nacua‘s nonchalant re-writing of NFL history books and career-best homecoming for a new Philadelphia Eagles star were among the topics that had players chatting.
Here are some memorable quotes from this week in the NFL.
Garrett was honest about Cleveland’s 26-22 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers being overshadowed by running back Nick Chubb‘s season-ending injury to his left knee that occurred in the second quarter:
“It f—ing hurts. That’s our brother, that’s my brother and it’s a blow for the whole team.”
Watson, who threw a pick-six on the first play of the game, was critical of his performance on Monday Night Football:
“Tonight, it was s—ty as far as that. There’s some plays we capitalized and did good, but as far as my part, it’s not good enough.”
The three-time All-Pro receiver didn’t mince words when expressing how he felt about leaving Gillette Stadium with a 24-17 win:
“Those fans are some of the worst fans in the NFL. And I’m going to stand on that; they are real nasty. Some of the things they were saying, I wouldn’t say in church. So yeah, it felt great to wave goodbye to the fans, and I’ll do it again. Bye.”
The veteran signal caller was honest about adjusting to New Orleans after spending nearly a decade with the Raiders:
“I haven’t been this happy playing football in a long time.”
In the absence of Cooper Kupp, Nacua has emerged as one of the league’s top receivers. He etched his name in the record books with a 15-catch, 147-yard performance that set the NFL’s single-game record for receptions by a rookie and the overall league mark with 25 catches through the first two games of his career.
However, Nacua was focused more on the game’s result, a 30-23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers than his stat line:
“I’m not really aware of kind of what’s going on, but my success will come when the team wins, so I’m excited for us to be able to come back and capitalize when we are able to win.”
Hutchinson appeared to be held while in pursuit of Geno Smith during the Seattle Seahawks game-winning play in overtime, but it was not called by officials. He reluctantly addressed the no-call after the game:
“I probably won’t speak on that because they’re going to go fine my ass, so it is what it is man.”
Philly native D’Andre Swift rushed for a career-best 175 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns in his Lincoln Financial Field debut. With 133 of his yards being gained before contact, the Eagles offensive line’s outright domination at the line of scrimmage even surprised a player responsible for the blocking:
“I actually have no idea how many yards he got, I only know one touchdown. … 170 [yards]? Guy owes us a dinner! I had no idea.”
