FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, November 22nd, 2015
ANDY DALTON SPEAKS WITH CRIS COLLINSWORTH & BOB COSTAS INTERVIEWS CARSON PALMER ON NBC’S FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA
“You can make it seem like we’re 1-8, but we’re 8-1.” – Andy Dalton on last weekend’s loss
“It’s not just another game, it’s not just another team.” – Carson Palmer on playing the Bengals tonight
STAMFORD, Conn. – November 22, 2015 – For tonight’s Week 11 edition of NBC’s Football Night In America, the most-watched weekly studio show in sports, Bengals QB Andy Dalton speaks with Cris Collinsworth, and Bob Costas interviews Cardinals QB Carson Palmer. Football Night will also preview NBC’s Sunday Night Football matchup between the Bengals and Cardinals, and will include highlights, analysis and reaction to earlier Week 11 games.
Football Night airs each Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC, with Costas hosting the program live from inside the stadium. He will be joined on site by Collinsworth, sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, and NBC NFL analyst Hines Ward.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1 in Stamford, Conn., and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy; two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison; Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com and NBCSN, and NFL insider Peter King. Paul Burmeister will report from TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., on the Packers-Vikings game.
INTERVIEWS: Below are excerpts from Collinsworth’s interview with Dalton and Costas’ Interview with Palmer. If used, please note the mandatory credit: “In an exclusive interview airing Sunday night on Football Night in America.”
ANDY DALTON WITH CRIS COLLINSWORTH
On reacting to last week’s loss to the Texans: “This team understands where we’re at. The biggest thing to take away from the loss last weekend – it feels terrible – you can make it seem like we’re 1-8, but we’re 8-1. We know where we sit inside this building and there’s a lot of confidence with this team.”
On his reaction to J.J. Watt’s comments, “Our goal was to come out here and make the red rifle looked like a red rider bb gun.”: “I don’t know how he said it, I don’t know what was asked. I don’t know any of that kind of stuff. I reacted to how it was presented to me. I probably shouldn’t have reacted off of an interviewer rather than me actually seeing what he said. You know, it is what it is. But, that’s behind me. I’m not too worried about it.”
On whether the bond in the locker room makes this Bengals team different from years past: “We have a lot of really good guys on this team, a lot of guys that are friends off of the field. I think that goes a long way. We feel like we’ve got a good team. We just have to keep showing that every week.”
Collinsworth: “A little chip on your shoulders maybe?”
Dalton: “I mean, 100%. I think any time that you don’t achieve a goal, and we’ve got another opportunity to do it, you want to go out there and prove that you’re the best team you can be.”
On how people try to link having red hair with being a good quarterback: “I feel like my hair has been a topic of conversation this year for whatever reason…I finally found a hairstyle and it’s been working for me, and a lot of people like talking about it.”
CARSON PALMER WITH BOB COSTAS
On Drew Stanton celebrating Andre Ellington’s game-winning touchdown last Sunday night in Seattle: “I’ve seen that 65 times now…I think he started around the 50-yard line and finished around the 20, and there’s a lot of different moves mixed into that one routine, and I find something different that I like a little bit better each time.”
On being fined for pelvic thrust on the team’s sideline during last Sunday night’s win over the Seahawks: “I made a mistake. It was meant to be for friends. I just was fired up and excited to see them. I meant no disrespect to the Seahawk fans. You know that environment they create there is only second to the environment we have at University of Phoenix Stadium. I meant zero disrespect. It wasn’t meant for anybody other than my three buddies.”
On whether there is any lingering resentment about the way he departed Cincinnati, where he played eight seasons and was the first overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft: “Not at all. Not on my part. I look at things positively. Obviously, it’s not just another game, it’s not just another team you’re playing in the AFC North; it’s a team that I used to play for. There’s no doubt I want to win this game and there’s no doubt they want to win this game. So, it’s not just another typical Sunday afternoon.”
On whether there is a sense among himself at 35 years old and teammates Larry Fitzgerald (32) and Chris Johnson (30) that it’s “now or never” for their careers: “I think there’s a sense of this year or nothing. The window closes so fast in this game and this league. We’re so focused on this year that we’re not thinking about Larry being 33 [next year], Chris being 31, and that next number for me. It’s all focused on this year and nothing else matters.”
–FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA–
