WR Rashard Higgins (10.25.20)
WR Rashard Higgins:
On his patience during the season to produce in today’s game after being a healthy scratch for a few games earlier in the season:
“We do it at practice. It is nothing new to the team and nothing new to me. I do it day in and day out. I work hard, wait for my opportunity and make the most of it.”
On keeping his spirits up when he was inactive for games earlier in the season:
“Self-motivated. I always knew my time would come. It eventually came. Like I have been saying, I made the most of it”
On QB Baker Mayfield’s 21 consecutive competitions and game-winning drive while playing with a rib injury:
“That is our leader. We look to him to leads us, and he came up big today.”
On Mayfield’s mentality in the huddle prior to the game-winning drive:
“We do two-minute drives all the time in practice. It was a situational thing, go down and no timeouts. We needed three and got seven.”
On his situational awareness to get out of bounds on the catch in the final drive:
“Thinking no timeouts, catch the ball inbounds and try to get out of bounds. I love being a smart player. I have to be going forward for the clock to stop. I just tried my best to get out of bounds and just made a play.”
On if his instincts took over in that moment to get out of bounds:
“It is instincts and a football play.”
On WR Donovan Peoples-Jones:
“He has been in the same predicament as me. Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. It showed up. We knew once (WR) Odell (Beckham Jr.) went down, he was going to play a big part of this offense. He did his thing today. We have to go back and look at the film. There are some things we can clean up, but we did a good job of showing up today.”
On the feeling being 5-2 compared, particularly after his season last year:
“I want to get to the playoffs. I am going to do whatever it takes. Wherever coach needs me, I am going to be there.”
On his connection and rapport with Mayfield showing up late in the game:
“Playing football. That is all I can really tell you. We are playing football. He knows me, and I know him. There is nothing to say about that. It is wine poured in a cup – smooth.”
On several players’ mentality and if they feel like they something to prove:
“Nothing to prove. It is just stepping up. One of our brothers went down today, a sad moment. We hope he can come back soon, but we have to step up. (Pass game coordinator/wide receivers) Coach (Chad) O’Shea does a good job of putting us in a position to not handicap us and make sure we know everything on the field. When (WR) Jarvis (Landy) goes down, when (WR) Odell (Beckham) goes down or one of the tight ends go down, we need to be able to play four receivers. That is what we need to do so we need to know the position.”
On if this is a game he will remember forever:
“Absolutely. My boy DPJ got his first touchdown on the game winning drive. That is what it is all about.”
On the back-and-forth game adding to it being memorable:
“I just want to win at the end of the day and go to the playoffs. I have been saying 0-16, that hurts my stomach knowing that we actually went through that. It made us tough. It made me tough. It made me resilient. Whatever I can do as I have been saying, I want to do it. I worked hard in the offseason so when the time comes and presents itself, you have to make it. That is what I want to do.”
On if he is savoring every second of being 5-2:
“It is unreal sometimes and where we came from. We are not there yet, though.”
# # #