Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Pats Interviews - Super Bowl Week - Tuesday

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

QUOTES FROM NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS PRESS CONFERENCE
S RODNEY HARRISON

(on if this Super Bowl is more special because the start of his season and coming back from injury)  “I think it’s probably a little bit more special for me, for the simple fact that the older you get, you understand that your time playing football and having this opportunity really wears down. For me to have this opportunity at this point and stage of my career, 14th year, is pretty special.”

(on NFL players and problems with steroid and substance abuse not getting the same scrutiny as baseball players) “That is none of my concern. I’m just here looking forward to and planning on beating the Giants and preparing for them. That’s none of my concern.”

(on only three teams reaching the Super Bowl twice throughout his career and those being the Rams, Giants and Patriots and his role on Rams getting here for his hit on Trent Green and if he thinks about his place in history) “Not at all. I was a teammate of Trent Green’s and was very disappointed that, that hit actually occurred. He turned out to be a terrific quarterback and did some wonderful things, made a lot of money. He really doesn’t have anything bad to say about his career. But, I don’t really focus on (my place in) history. There’s a time and place for that, and it’s certainly not right now.”

(on if he felt bad to see Green suffer another severe concussion to end his season this year) “No question. He is a quality guy. He’s a great person, a great football player, and it’s frustrating. We, as competitors, are out there trying to compete and stay healthy, and sometimes the game won’t allow you to stay healthy. Sometimes you get a shot on your knee, you get rolled up on, you get a concussion and those are things you can’t control. I don’t care how many weights you lift or how much working out you do, but that’s why we signed up for it.”

(On his pride in the 30 sacks and 30 interceptions) “Well, I mean that is something I really haven’t reflected on yet because I don’t feel like my career is over yet. When I’m done playing and am relaxing with my kids, that’s probably a story I’ll tell my two boys. But right now, that really doesn’t have any relevance to the game.”

(on if the loss to the Colts last year in the AFC Championship sparked a more aggressive off-season for the Patriots) “I don’t know. You would have to ask Bill Belichick that but obviously we made some great moves this off-season, bringing in some guys. His number one reason for bringing in guys is to help this team out and really get us to that next level, and that next level is where we are at right now. Last year was last year, and we were very disappointed about that but we came back very strong and we worked extremely hard since March preparing, working hard, lifting weights, meetings, two-a-days, just everything to put it all together for this opportunity right now to win one football game, and that’s the goal.”

(on the kind of pressure it puts on opposing secondary given the Patriots free agent wide receiver acquisitions) “The analogy I use is in ’03 when we played the Colts, unstoppable. It seemed like they were unstoppable, and it seems like for our offense, it’s like going against the ’03 Colts, with so many different weapons – the wide receivers, the running backs, the tight ends, just so much talent – and that’s what we have.”

(on beating nine teams with winning records) “We can’t control who we play or who is on our schedule. We go out there and try to win a football game. At first it was, ‘you guys are putting up too many points.’ Now, it’s come around where we are only winning games by three points, and you guys (media) started complaining about that. We are just happy to be here.”

(on if it’s a point of pride to beat the best teams in the League) “I really haven’t though about it. I don’t think many of my teammates have thought about it. I think ever since I’ve been here in ’03, wins and losses have been put on the shelf. We learn from them and we move forward.”

(on what his reaction was when the Patriots signed Wes Welker) “I was ecstatic. I was so excited. I told my brother. I was just ecstatic, because he was probably the toughest guy (to cover) because no one could stick him man-to-man. When we went against the Dolphins, he was just so quick, so tough, and he wouldn’t mind coming and crack blocking on you. He could just do so many different things.”

(on if he was surprised that a guy like Welker was even available) “Yeah, it’s shocking because he’s a great talent. He can hurt you in so many different ways, so if he comes available, you’d be crazy not to take a shot at getting him. But, that just shows you once again, (Bill) Belichick and doing Scott Pioli doing a great job with personnel and grabbing guys who people overlook, whether he’s 5’6” or 5’8”, or a free agent, it doesn’t matter. They know football, and they know football players.”

(on if he was concerned about Randy Moss’ ability to adapt to the Patriots Way) “I really didn’t know the exact situation coming in with Randy. I didn’t really know Randy personally. I played against him for several years when he was in Minnesota, so of course, I think everyone probably had…they were pretty skeptical. Can he really fit in and do the things that we wanted him to do? But you look back at his situation with the Raiders, and he’s always played hard. He’s always been a productive receiver, so being in a situation like that, I can understand why he was frustrated – losing, not getting the ball, wanting to win. He’s a very competitive guy, and a very intelligent guy. Being here, he’s been the ideal teammate. He’s been working hard. I mean, he looks like he’s 27 or 28 years old out there. He’s just a fun guy to be around.”

(on the journey of Tedy Bruschi) “Every time I see this Patriots symbol (pointing to the logo on his hat), it reminds me of Tedy Bruschi. That’s what Tedy Bruschi is – he’s the heart and soul of our team. He’s a guy who demands respect, a guy who has the respect of all of his teammates and peers and the organization, and a guy who really symbolizes what it’s like to be a New England Patriot. He’s one of my best friends on the team. So, he’s a guy who they looked at and said he’d probably never walk, let alone play football, and for him to come back and make that tremendous journey, and to show the heart and resiliency to get back on that field, that’s inspirational.”

(on if Bruschi is the embodiment of the Patriots Way) “That’s what it’s about. It’s not about guys parading themselves and trying to draw attention to themselves. We have a lot of talented guys and the first thing people said when I first got here was that they were a bunch of blue-collared guys who did things a certain way, but we have some good football players on this team, and the reason why maybe we don’t get the attention that other individuals get is because we don’t parade ourselves. We don’t try to say how good one individual person is. It’s all about the team. It’s all about the team, and nothing else matters. You can have a bunch of great individual players, but it’s something special to have a great team, and it takes a bunch of special individuals to make up that team.”

(on Asante Samuel) “He’s the best corner in the League, hands down - the best corner in the League, hands down. I’d put him up against anybody. He’s consistent, very smart, and he can do it all. He can tackle, knock balls down, and he can match up on the best receiver. He’s the best cornerback in the League.”

(on if coming to New England was the best decision he could have ever made) “Yeah, I had a choice. I had a choice and an opportunity to sign with the Denver Broncos or the Oakland Raiders. I prayed on it, and someway, somehow, God led me to New England. I had on shorts and a t-shirt and I never imagined I’d play for the Patriots, but it was a great decision and a true blessing for me to be able to experience what I have experienced. I’ve learned more in five years here than in nine of my previous seasons in San Diego.”

(on what it is about Bill Belichick that makes him so special) “He’s smart, well prepared, he has knowledge of all three areas – special teams, defense and offense. He’s a guy who doesn’t overlook any detail. That’s Bill Belichick. He just pays attention to every single aspect or detail about this football team, and that’s the thing that really separates Bill Belichick from others.”

(on Junior Seau talking about this team having chance to be in the greatest ever category) “We have an opportunity to do something special. First and foremost, win a football game, win a world championship. Then, whatever records you want to look at, whatever history you want to make out of it, it can last forever. I think that’s what Junior means by that situation. It’s an opportunity. I think Tedy Bruschi summed it up. He said, ‘we’ve won one game, 18 times in a row.’ Now, we have to try to go out there and win one more.”

(on if the spy issue served as extra motivation) “No. You step on the field and you are already pissed off enough. You don’t need added incentive. You are doing it for your job. You are doing it for your teammates. The media of course always has something to say, so of course you like to spit in their face by going out and winning and playing hard, no disrespect. You are always going to have critics, people looking at you and saying different things, but if you can’t find motivation going out on that football field, you need not play.”

(on the fine line between being aggressive vs dirty) “I don’t know because football is a dirty sport. You look at the receivers out here, how linemen cut block, and how receivers intentionally go at your knees and try to take you out, which I was taken out last year by Bobby Wade. Is that dirty? I mean, I missed the AFC Championship and he could have ended my career. But, they look at me and say I’m dirty. It’s all good. I’m not going to change who I am, the way I approach the game, or the way I play.”

(on seeing Tom Brady out at practice) “He’s the leader of our team. He’s special, and to have your number one guy out there working hard and just being out there with his spirit, of course it brought a smile to our faces. Tom will be there Sunday, don’t worry about that.”

(on how he gives out his allotment of Super Bowl tickets) “It’s a tough situation because you have had so many people who have supported you throughout your career. For me, I’ve been fortunate because this is my fourth Super Bowl, and I’ve been able to really share in this special moment with so many people. I think when I was a rookie, I got 30 tickets. Now, I’m only getting 15 tickets. Now that I’m married, my wife helps out and you just find the people who have supported you and been there for you, whether you are a professional athlete or an ordinary guy, and you just go with your heart.”

(on if Junior Seau needs a Super Bowl win to validate his career) “I don’t think he needs a Super Bowl. I think what he does speaks for itself – 12 consecutive Pro Bowls, how many all-Pros? Just what he meant to me in my life and other young guys around the League, that’s something that you cherish and you really hold near to your heart. I don’t think he really needs that, but I think there’s nothing wrong with having that. For him, I think it’ll just put that stamp of approval on an already successful career.”

(on dealing with the death of Marquise Hill) “What I promised myself was that the way I approach my life was going to be the way I was going to honor Marquise. I get up every day and as I walk past his locker, I remember him and I just thank God for the opportunity for me to wake up in the morning. It’s the small things, like saying ‘I love you’ to my wife and my mom and my kids, not taking anything for granted or letting a day go by where I don’t really bust my butt. He was a young guy, 23 or 24 years old, and he was tragically lost. So for me, and I think most of my teammates, we really honor him by just looking at his locker and working every day and appreciating things in this life.”

(on getting back on the practice field on Monday) “It was fun today. Just getting off that long flight and resting last night and being able to get on that football field and see the sunshine and being out of that cold weather, it was just enjoyable. You never know when you’ll have another opportunity like this, and I’m cherishing each moment and each day. It’s truly special. This is the biggest sporting event in the world and little Rodney Harrison from Markham, Illinois has an opportunity to play in this game once again, and I’m so blessed by it.”

T MATT LIGHT

(on the Patriots’ wide receivers blocking) “I think all of our receivers have done an excellent job of getting into the secondary or getting on some of the guys that are tight to the line of scrimmage, some key blocks to free the running backs to get to the second level. As a lineman, when you have a guy like Wes (Welker), who is not the biggest receiver we’ve had around here, flies around and throws his body in front of people. That’s a lot of fun. Our crew has done a great job all season.”

(on if the Giants will bring more pressure because of Tom Brady’s foot situation) “They’re a type of defense that wants to get to the quarterback regardless of what’s going on. They’re very good up front. With the combination they have on the outside with Osi (Umenyiora) and (Michael) Strahan, you team that up with the guys that they have on the interior, who are pretty quick guys, that’s a combination for disaster for an offensive line. They don’t make it easy for you. Their goal this season, and they’ve been very affective doing it, is getting to the quarterback and I’m sure they’re going to try it quite a bit in that game.”

(on his concern over Brady’s mobility) “I never concern myself with anybody that we’re playing with, whether it’s Tom or anybody else. Their situation is their situation. Nobody knows what’s going on other than him and he’s the only one who can answer those questions, as to how he feels. I’ll tell you one thing, if he’s out there he’s going to be giving you everything that he’s got. I don’t worry about that at all. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

(on how Brady looked in practice) “I try not to look at him too much. You guys do enough of that. I’m concerned with what’s right in front of me and I really haven’t paid much attention to it.”

(on the Patriots’ offensive line receiving accolades) “If you do your job and play hard and try to improve what you do every time you go out there, especially in our case, we’ve gotten recognition this season. Whether it’s due or not, we’re not the judge of that. It is a great honor. I think it was said best by Tommy (Brady), that’s a team achievement. If we didn’t have success as a team then no would be looking at us. That’s probably a good way to look at it. These postseason awards, the opportunity to go the Pro Bowl, or All-Pro and all of that, it’s never just about the guy that got the award. There is usually a lot of other people that play a role in that too. I think we’re all pretty humbled by it.”

(on protection in the last Giants game) “I think those guys played really well. Russ (Hochstein) has played a backup role in a lot of big games in New England. I don’t think we really missed too much by not having Nick (Kaczur) and Steve (Neal) out there from the standpoint that these guys know what to do. All of our backups know what’s expected of them. They all know the system. I thought they did a really good job of stepping in there and playing well against a really good defense. When we look at that game, there are a lot of things that we need to do better. There are a lot of things that we didn’t do very well. At the end of the day we did win that one. But those guys present a lot of challenges for us up front. They do a lot of different things and they’re very good at what they do. We’ll have our hands full. It will be nice having Nick and Steve back. I know they’re very excited to play in this one.”

(on if he’s notice a change in Head Coach Bill Belichick) “He might have joked with you guys but we’re pretty serious in our meetings. I try not to analyze him too much. I think we’ve done a great job of staying focused and doing what we do. I don’t think that he’s really changed from that standpoint.”

(on how Brady’s quick decision making helps the offensive line) “It’s a lot easier for us, obviously, whenever you have a quarterback that can see everything that the defense is doing, make the adjustments, step up here and there. I think a classic example of that was in our last game against the Giants. Osi got a good step on me and he was barreling up field. Tommy took a step at the last minute to avoid a potential strip sack. Those are the kinds of things he does. He has great awareness in the pocket. He knows when to step up and get rid of the ball. He makes it a lot easier for us up front.”

(on how Brady has grown) “I don’t really rate what he does but there is nobody that prepares better than Tommy. I’ve never been around a guy that takes each moment of practice and preparation as serious as he does and can stay as focused as he does when he’s out there. He’s obviously one of the great quarterbacks in this league and deservedly so. I think it comes down to a great work ethic. Every game means a lot to him. I don’t know how much more you can rate a guy, other than that. Anytime you have a guy out there doing what he does, it pushes everyone around him. He leads by example. When you have somebody like that it helps you pick up your game a notch. Every game you’re playing for perfection. That’s what he’s doing and it trickles down to everybody else.”

(on what separates coach Bill Belichick from other coaches in the league) “I think one of the biggest things he does is he doesn’t accept any excuses. He tells it to you like it is. You have to have thick skin at times. The one thing I can tell you for sure is that he’s going to demand everything out of you. He’s going to give you, in turn, everything that he’s got. There’s nobody that spends more time in that building than him.”

(on if Belichick yelled at him during a Pro Bowl) “He challenged me. That’s the downside to losing the AFC Championship Game.”

(on New England’s success with handling distractions) “I think what happens when you have so much attention, all the media stuff, understanding how to deal with that, some of the younger guys get to see how you react to that. It’s tough to deal with all the things that go on during the season but it’s probably magnified even more so. The No. 1 thing you can do is focus on what’s going on immediately. There’s no real remedy to dealing with distractions.

(on how they built the ‘one-at-a-time mentality’) “When we come to work, our schedule, we don’t have down time. We just stay so focused on what we have to get done and never being satisfied. I think that’s the other thing too. We’ve won some games and we’ve won them by a large margin. When we go back and watch that film, we don’t focus on the things that we did well. We focus on all the things that we have to do to get better, to prepare harder, that’s what helps you stay focused.”

(on Brady remaining humble) “We don’t have to do anything. Tommy is Tommy. He’s got a great personality. He doesn’t need to be humbled. He humbles himself. I don’t think anybody is any harder on him than himself. That’s nothing for us to take care of.”

(on Brady at practice) “I try not to study him too much. I have guys in front of me that I’m dealing with. I’m sure he’s doing alright.”

(on the offense expanding with Brady) “It’s clear that anytime you have a quarterback that knows the system as well as he does, it’s going to make it easier on everybody around you. You learn something every time you go out there and play. He’s proven that you can win the close ones and you can win by a large margin. It all comes down to how hard you prepare and how hard you work. That’s something we talk about.”

(on if there is a bigger playbook than five years ago) “Honestly, what we do up front, blocking and how we dissect a defense, and how we go about blocking them, those things really don’t change a whole lot. I think what’s changed more for (Brady) is his relationship with his receivers. Obviously, having a new cast, a new crew in this year, they’ve had to do a lot of work and they’ve had to put in a lot of extra time together to really get to know each other. Things might change more for him with routes, sights and adjustments, things that he’s very good at. There is a learning curve with the new guys but they put in so much time. They meet together more than us as an offensive line, probably.”

(on never losing a Super Bowl) “We’ve been fortunate to not be in a position to play a game of this magnitude in front of the world and lose. If you don’t give everything that you have in this game and you don’t walk away with your heads up as a World Champion, then whatever we did during the regular season is not as meaningful. I know New York is doing everything they can do to prepare themselves for this game. We’re doing the same. There’s nothing like winning a World Championship. There’s nothing like being on that field celebrating a victory. That’s what’s on the back of everybody’s mind right now. That’s why we’re working so hard and that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

(on Osi Umenyiora calling him a dirty player) “I’ve heard the comment on that. I finally watched that. I don’t think it’s what everyone wants to make it out to be. I don’t think that anybody that’s watched film with me would say that. I sure don’t talk out there. I try not to play in any other fashion than what everyone else is doing out there. I’m sure most people would say that.”

(on how his spirituality has helped him) “Before we go out on the field, we get together and say the Lord’s Prayer. Almost every guy in that locker room takes time out of their day to thank God for the opportunity to play in that game, to make sure that He watches over them and keeps them healthy, not only themselves but everybody that walks on that field. I think your faith is what gets you through. Anytime you have a hard day, everybody looks to God to get them out of that situation. It works the other way. Anytime you win, you look to God and thank him. Faith has been a big part of everything that I’ve done in my life.”

(on the Patriots being secretive with inside information) “The average person doesn’t say publicly what’s going on in their family and we try not to do that as a team. There’s no need to talk about anything, especially if you don’t have anything to do with it. 90 percent of the things this season haven’t dealt with me so luckily I haven’t had anything to say about it. That’s about as easy as it gets.”

(on not giving opponents bulletin-board material) “I try not to say anything. You just open yourself up to criticism. For some they can say whatever they want to as long as they go out there and play well and prove what they’re saying is true, they look great. I don’t want to say something and not go out and deliver and look like a fool.”

(on not going for a big free-agent contract) “I don’t think for every guy in this league money is the main factor. There’s a point where you say enough is enough. I enjoy the New England area. I enjoy playing for Mr. Kraft and his family. I enjoy the coaching and I enjoy every guy in that locker room. For me, that decision was an easy one.”

LB ADALIUS THOMAS

(on being focused as a team)  “Whatever it is that needs to be done to bring focus to the task at hand, we are willing to do, no matter what it is.  We just channel all of our focus on our opponent.”

(on playing his cousin Justin Tuck on Sunday)  “It’ll be a little different because he’s not on offense.  If he was on offense, then there would be little bit more smack talking.  I wish him luck anytime except for this Sunday.  It’ll be different.  His family is here and my family is here.  It’ll be bittersweet for one family.”

(on if he and Justin Tuck have played against each other before)  “I think we played each other in pre-season.  It’ll be our first time facing each other.  I’m sure we’ll get together the next couple of nights and talk on the phone.”

(on motivation as a team and trash talking)  “One thing I’ve learned this year more than anything else is none of that matters.  Nothing that you says matters.  Nothing that you do in the press conference matters.  None of that matters.  The only thing that matters is how you play on Sunday.  That’s the only thing that matters.  All the other stuff, the talk and who did this, doesn’t matter.  People talk.  They say what they want to say and none of that matters.  The only thing we do is show up on Sunday and be ready for the kickoff.”

(on the differences between playing this Super Bowl and the one he played in with the Ravens)  “There’s a big difference.  I got deactivated my first one.  They took my helmet, but I was going to run on the field.  Being a rookie and being so young, I don’t think you understand on how hard it is to get here.  Being that young, you’re like it going to be easy to get back and this is it.  Now, here I am seven years later back at it and understanding how hard it is to get here.  Right now you really enjoy all there is with the press conferences.  I’m pretty sure I’ll get some silly questions between now and tomorrow.  It’s really all in fun and you really just try to remember everything.  You’ll never get a chance to do this again.”

(on having the attention on him now)  “You have to deserve that attention.  Hard work and dedication is what went into earning the right to be on a podium like this.”

(on Coach Bill Belichick being one of a kind for what he’s done this year)  “We’ll see.  It’s something that we’ll just have to wait and see.  He’s done a great job with us this year and we have one more to finish up.  He’s totally different that any other coach I’ve had.”

(on Belichick’s motivation)  “Humble pie.  That’s the thing.  Just keeping us humble.  You hear from the media how great you are and when you get in the team meeting, it’s totally different.  You are only as good as your weaknesses.  You go out there and work on things that you aren’t good at.  When you do that, it helps you get better as a team.  You may not necessarily see it right away, but it will come back up.”

(on QB-Tom Brady’s ankle injury)  “I’m not concerned.  I have a job to do, so my job is to be ready to do my job.  Tom (Brady) said he will be ready.  That’s what he said in the press conference.  He has a job to do and I’m pretty sure he’ll do it.  My focus is really on the offense of the Giants and what we have to do as a defense.  Whatever Tom (Brady) gives us, I’m sure he’ll give us all he has.  It’ll be a true team effort.”

(on his upbringing and that being a factor on his career)  “It played a lot as far as being humble.  People recognize how you treat people.  Before you are football player or a celebrity, you’re a man.  That’s the one thing you can never hide.  You can hide behind the jersey and the face mask all you want, but sooner or later, you have to be a man.”

(on when he gets nervous before a game)  “Right before kickoff.  You try to hold it off and I try not to get excited, but you get nervous.  It’s not a bad nervousness and if you don’t get them, then you probably aren’t human.  After the kickoff, and the extra lights are on with the cameras, you settle down and get back to normal.”

(on being prepared for the game)  “When you’re prepared,  teams still come out with new wrinkles and new things all the time, so you just play the things that you’ve seen as best you can and go from there.”

(on his recording setting deal for a linebacker he signed)  “The market always sets itself.  You just take that with a grain of salt.  Next year, it’ll be somebody else.  If that helps someone else get a new deal, I’m happy for them.”

(on playing QB-Eli Manning and the Giants running game this week)  “A good quarterback.  He makes all the throws.  He’s very efficient.  We have to stop the run game and (Ahmad) Bradshaw will be back this time.  It’ll definitely bring a change of pace between him and (Brandon) Jacobs.”

(on the way the Patriots defense will play the Giants)  “You just have to take what they give you as far as that goes.  I’m sure they (Giants) are saying the same thing about us.  The game will set it’s tone through the first quarter and we’ll have to come to the sideline and make adjustments.  We just know he (Eli Manning) likes to sit in the pocket and throw the ball.  We have to get pressure on Eli (Manning) just like you get on any other quarterback.”

(on what it takes to be a linebacker in the Patriots defense)  “It takes someone that’s willing to work hard and that’s smart to play in this defense as a linebacker.  We have a lot of smart, tough, physical guys that come to work hard everyday and that I think that shows up in the games.”
DT TY WARREN

(on the nice weather today) “It’s good.  It’s nice to have a change of scenery.  It was a beautiful day out there today, and we enjoyed it.  My joints definitely felt that I was on grass today.  It felt good.”

(on if his contract extension motivated him) “It had nothing to do with anything on the field.  It’s just another aspect of the game, as far as what’s on the field.  I come out there to play football, and I work hard.  That’s what I do.”

(on if the extension gave him any security) “It’s all great.  It felt good that the extension happened, but at the same time, how are you going to see that extension if you’re not working hard?  Work is still very much a big part of it.”

(on the loss of Marquise Hill) “I think with all the controversy, and allegation, and finger pointing that has happened during the season, that’s something that’s been overlooked, as far as the season is concerned.  I think everybody in that locker room is not only playing for themselves, or their family or this organization, but I think a lot of them are playing for Marquise.  We all went down, prior to the season, went down to his wake and his funeral, and we got to meet his family.  We got to know him more than we got to know him in the locker room.  I think that motivated us every time we walked by his locker to not take things for granted, things like going out to practice or days when you’re so banged up and you’ve got bumps and bruises everywhere.  When you feel like you can’t make it through the day, you just look over at that locker, and that’s motivation.  I think that’s something that’s been overlooked this season with everything that’s gone on.”

(on if Marquise Hill’s locker is still in tact) “Yeah.  Anything we receive from sponsors like Reebok or anything that gets sent to the team or anything like that, we put it into his locker like he was there.  Everybody always pays homage when he walks by his locker.”

(on Marquise Hill’s sense of humor) “Marquise always made light of any situation.  That’s what people loved about him.  He could go up and down that locker room and make anybody laugh, no matter what their personality is.  He was a very social person.”

(on the role of faith in handling Marquise Hill’s death) “I think faith plays a big part.  A lot of it is just moving so fast in this occupation, but you lose sight of life in general.  It’s times like this—cherish each and every moment.  It’s been great, but it definitely puts everything in perspective.”

(on players who have constantly improved) “I think James Sanders is a guy that sticks out to me that’s always working to get better, always asking questions, always doing extra stuff.  We have a saying: it’s one thing to go through the front door and everybody’s seeing you working, every time you come into work and break a sweat, everybody sees you.  But, it’s another thing when you slide in through the back door, and you’re doing stuff when people aren’t watching.  That’s the type of player and person that James Sanders is, and that’s the kind of player who gets better every year and wants to get better every year.”

(on what drives him to constantly improve) “I think just keeping everything in perspective and staying humble, and knowing you can get better, never getting too high, never getting too low, and just knowing there’s always room for improvement, no matter what.  Perfection is something that’s so far fetched.  It’s something you’ve got to work for but you can’t be perfect.  You just try to get as close to perfect as possible.”

(on the run defense the last time they played the Giants) “I think there were a lot of miscommunications, front seven-wise and in technique, where it wasn’t played at times the way it needed to be played.  That led to some of the big plays in that game, as far as the running game is concerned.  They got some big runs in the first half, then it slowed down in the second half.  We’ve just got to tighten up our technique.  We’ve come a long way in playing a lot of running teams, like Jacksonville and San Diego.”

(on if you can do more in practicing in nice weather) “I definitely felt like I could run around all day.  It was fun and a warm time.  Maybe it has something to do with me being a Texas guy, I don’t know.  But I definitely felt loose.  It was a beautiful day, a change of scenery, no snow on the ground.  I think it’s definitely good for each and every person.”

(on if he can get more work in with nicer weather) “Well, my job is pretty simple.  I just put my hand in the dirt.  I guess, when you ask that question, I think of guys like (Tom) Brady and throwing the ball and stuff like that.  I think things pretty much looked like they were running smoothly today.”

(on the sense of pride of being with the Patriots) “As far as me being able to don a New England Patriots uniform and helmet and be a part of this organization, it builds up to being a wonderful foundation along with Bill (Belichick) and his staff.  I thank each and every moment I’ve been in this uniform.  I love the team.  I started out on this team, and I want to end my career on this team.  It’s been a privilege and an honor, and I’ve been fortunate to be able to be on a team that’s been as successful as this team has.  We continue to do great things, and I definitely want to be a part of it.”

(on how much he keeps in touch with Texas A&M) “I pay attention to what goes on there.  I’m in touch with a lot of the old coaches, like (R.C.) Slocum.  I’m aware of a lot of the things going on there.  I’m friends with a lot of people down there, and also grew up five minutes away from the university.  My ties are deep there.”

(on how going there impacted his career) “I think it impacted me a lot.  The Big 12 is pretty much a running conference. People run a lot, other than Texas Tech and Oklahoma, when they got (Josh) Heupel and all those guys and ran the Florida system.  It was definitely a running conference, and as far as coming to the New England Patriots, the priority is to stop the run.  I think it definitely impacted my career.”

(on Kevin Faulk’s value to the team) “I think Faulk is the unheralded hero on this team.  I think you look back on this last game, and his play highlighted a lot of the things that he does that are important to this offense’s success, things like catches on third down, picking up a blitz.  He’s definitely overlooked, but that’s the kind of player he is, too.  He’s not looking for any affirmation from anybody.  As long as he’s doing his job, he’s cool with that.  That’s the special thing about Kevin, and everybody respects him.”

(on how to describe Bill Belichick) “A perfectionist, a realist.  He’s a guy that believes in ‘no stone unturned.’  I can give you a long list of things, but those things stick out, that he’s a perfectionist and he’s a realist, in the sense that he doesn’t give any special treatment to any one player, no matter what their so-called status is on this team.  He doesn’t believe in entitlement or things like that.  Everybody gets the same treatment.  If you do your job, you get a pat on the back.”

(on what Bill Belichick said after the contract extension) “Well, Bill’s not a man of many words.  He basically said, ‘Congratulations, get back to work.’  There wasn’t a big celebration with balloons and confetti or anything like that.  It was just done and we went on about our business, and now, here we are.”

(on if that’s how he wanted it to be done) “Yeah. Even though my occupation kind of highlights things like that at times, I never wanted that to be the main focus of anything, and that’s probably why you didn’t hear a lot of talk about it during the spring and during training camp.”

(on if he noticed any change in Bill Belichick during the season) “Not really.  I think Bill has pretty much been the same, as far as the laughing and joking and things like that.  We’re winning, so he hasn’t really much reason to frown or anything like that.  As long as we continue to do that, you’ll probably see smiles.  But I mentioned before he’s a perfectionist, and any little glitch or anything like that which could go wrong, he’ll highlight that deal and go over it a thousand times.  Things haven’t been all the way right this year, but we have been winning.”

(on the Patriot way) “I think it’s a lot of veterans that schooled me, and now I’m schooling younger guys.  I can’t really speak for any other organizations, because I haven’t played for any other teams, but when you come in here, the way you work and you prepare on a week-to-week basis, and in the offseason, people look upon that as motivation and as a sign of respect.  People respect that in this locker room.  If they see you loafing and not doing much, just going along for the ride, then you don’t really get that respect, whether you’re a young guy, a veteran, anybody.  You earn your respect in this organization.  It’s not just you get this contract and you’re the guy, or whatever the case might be.  It doesn’t work like that.  You’ve got to earn your respect.  I think that’s something that, through the locker room, is looked upon as a sign of respect.”

(on the role of spite in the perfect season) “I don’t think it had much bearing on the season.  I think it’s something that might have drawn some attention early on in the season.  I don’t think it helped us get to where we’re at right now.”

(on if it was discussed earlier and put away) “All Belichick said was, ‘I’ll deal with it.’  He wanted to continue to focus on football and help the organization focus on that at the time.  It’s nothing that’s talked about now, or even Week 3 or 4 for that matter.”

(on if anyone ever got mad about “asterisk” talk) “Well, I’m not going to sit here and say no one got mad when things like that came up, because we take pride in the work that we do.”

(on if constantly beating the top teams in the NFL was a proving point) “It definitely was something that was good in the past, but I think the challenge that we have coming up this Sunday is a whole different challenge.  New York is a team that’s playing really well.  They played very well in the course of the playoffs.  Even during the season, they played well.  You can never overlook those guys because of the success we had in the past.”

(on if he ever thought the perfect record was in jeopardy) “The one real scare where I thought it might have been over was Baltimore.  Those couple of penalties that happened, I was like, ‘Here we go again.’  I felt like we had a chance after those penalties.  With those penalties, they let us back in the game.  It gave you a chance to go down and do what we did.”

(on if he was relieved to see Tom Brady back on the practice field) “Of course it’s good to have Tom back there.  He’s a professional.  He keeps it light.  He always comes out and brings his A-game on the table.”

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Stallworth + Welker Interviews Friday 1/25/08

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

WR DONTE’ STALLWORTH

Press Conference

January 25, 2008

Q: Six years in the league. I assume this is what you came here for?

DS: Yeah, this is it. This is the biggest game of the best sport in the world and this is what you fantasize about growing up as a little kid, playing in your backyard and things like that. This is it. [We’ll] try to get a good week of preparation this week and go down to Arizona with a plan and be all about business once we get down there.

Q: Thinking back to your rookie year, you mentioned your team was on the verge of making the playoffs and then lost five of the last six.

DS: We started off the year 7-2 or 6-2 and we had to win one of our last four, and those lost four games were against - record-wise-against the worst teams, all the worst teams in the NFL, and we lost every game. I’ve always understood after that year taking it [the] one game at a time approach that Coach [Bill] Belichick preaches here so much, as it’s paid off for us up to now.

Q: Following up on that, yesterday and today is just scratching the surface of what Super Bowl week is about. What’s your anticipation of going
through that for the first time?

DS: I’ve always been a big football fan, NFL fan, since I’ve been a little kid, so I’ve seen the whole circus that goes on. It’s all fun and good, but we all understand what’s really at stake here and what’s most important. Guys have family issues, as far as tickets and getting your family down there and hotel rooms and all of that stuff. We’ve tried to get all of that stuff taken care of before we even leave to go to Arizona. The most important thing is just focusing on the game, especially, like I said, this week during the game preparation of this week, and then once we get down there it’s definitely all about business. I’m focused. I already left a voicemail on my phone, in the locker room after the game, after we won the game here Sunday, saying, “Hey, I don’t have any tickets. Don’t call here asking me.” And I haven’t gotten any calls, so that’s good. I guess they got the point.

Q: When other teams scheme to take away Randy Moss, how do you and the other receivers react to that?

DS: You just have to step up. You know that Tom’s [Brady] going to find the open guy every time, so you just have to know that whatever situation it may be, if it’s first down, first series, or it could be late in the game on third down, Tom’s going to find the open guy. Every play, you just have to do your job and try to get open. 

Q: Seeing as how you studied psychology, can you define what pressure is or what psychologists would say pressure is?

DS: You know what? Bill made a great point about this about five, maybe six weeks ago. I’m trying to remember exactly how he described it. He said, “Put a 2x4 on the floor and walk across it. Do you feel any pressure? No, you don’t. You put it 300 feet up in the air [and] walk across the same 2x4, do you feel any pressure then? You shouldn’t, it’s the same 2x4, but your mind is letting you know, hey, if I slip or I fall, any miscalculation of a step, that’s it for you. You stay focused on walking across that 2x4 and then there’s no pressure.”

Q: Why do you suppose it is - and some people in the locker room have said this - as the season goes on and you perform well and have accomplished more, that pressure actually increases. Why does the pressure go up when you perform well?

DS: It starts with the media. I think with us winning every game this year, which hasn’t been done before, people were talking about it midseason, as far as us being able to go undefeated and all this other stuff, but I’ve always felt like pressure is what you allow it to be. It’s pretty good - a really great description, I would say, what Bill gave us a couple of months ago about that 2x4. Pressure is only what you allow it to be, and these guys here have played in… I think it’s 109 Super Bowls now. So I don’t think they’ll be worried about any pressure. They’ve done a good job here of just keeping distractions away. We had a couple days off after the game to get all of that stuff out of the way and most of the guys were able to do that. Like I said, right now we’re focusing on the game, focusing on our preparation. 

Q: Yesterday Plaxico Burress had a press conference in New Jersey and he said they felt their wide receiving corps was just as good, if not better than yours. Do you have any take on that?

DS: No. Plaxico is a really good receiver. I know him personally. He’s a competitor. He’s a great player, and he’s out there to make plays for his team, just like we’re trying to do for our team. We’re not playing against those guys. I’m not going to be covering Plaxico or anything like that any time soon, so comparisons don’t mean anything right now.

Q: Is this the best receiving corps you’ve played on, though?

DS: Yeah. Obviously when you have a guy like Randy [Moss], and Wes [Welker] is being able to work the slot really well, and Jabar [Gaffney], it’s not only the receivers. It’s the whole team. We wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing if the guys up front weren’t giving Tom a whole lot of time, and obviously Tom getting us the ball, so it’s not only receivers. But talent-wise, we’re pretty deep in talent.

Q: Was there ever a time when you had to reconcile the expectations you had when you came in as a free agent and then the role you had with Wes Welker and Randy Moss?

DS: No. No, I think that whatever role it was that I was going to have to play here, I was fine with that. I knew that the main objective was I was tired of being home for New Year’s and being home for the holidays. I’ve been playing pretty much up to this point, as far as through the holidays and things. Now I’m in the big show, so everything that’s gone on, I’ve had a good time. I think now is the ultimate payoff, so [you] just continue to work hard and try to study your opponent as well as you can and try to leave Arizona with a good feeling.

Q: Are you guys the least bit concerned about Tom Brady and his ankle?

DS: Well, Bill actually brought me in his office earlier this morning and asked me if I wanted to move to quarterback, and we’re going to put in a whole new offense. He wants me to run the option. We brought in the coach from Nebraska, Tom Osborne, so I’ve met with him and we have the option going. Tom’s going to go ahead and let me take the reigns for this game.

Q: On Sunday you said you weren’t sure if you wanted to bring Nikko with you to the Super Bowl. Have you made a decision on him yet?

DS: Yeah, I’m going to leave him here for awhile. He’s the one that goes out and plays in the game. I’m not really an overly aggressive person, but he is, so I’ll let him handle the game. I’ll take care of the preparation and let him play in the game.

WR WES WELKER

Press Conference

January 25, 2008

 

Q: After the AFC Championship game a lot of guys said if you don’t complete a perfect season, it was all for nothing. Do you feel that way?

WW: At this point, yeah. We’re down to our last game and we need to make sure that we’re coming out ready to play and make sure that we’re hitting [on] all cylinders.

Q: When you were on the Dolphins and looked at this organization from afar, was coming here what you expected?

WW: Yeah, absolutely, and probably more so. The organization has been great, the coaches, the players, everybody works together. Ultimately, it’s gotten us to this point and we just have to keep it going for one more.

Q: Do you ever reflect and think of what the record was there and what it is here?

WW: Not really. I think I get asked more about it than I think about it. I don’t really think about it that much. I just concentrate on the here and now and make sure I’m ready.

Q: What has it meant to you personally, the way you’ve emerged as a player with a new team here?

WW: It’s been great. Anytime you can come into a new team like this and be able to get the confidence of your teammates and go out there and make plays week in and week out, it’s been great. I feel like the offense really suits me, and having Tom Brady back there doesn’t hurt, either.

Q: Was a season like this something you though you were capable of earlier in your career?

WW: I don’t think so. I was in my first year in my career in the NFL returning kicks and punts. That was it, so I didn’t even have a playbook or anything like that. It was get back there, return kicks and punts. I thought I’d do that for the rest of my career and then I just worked hard and tried to develop the rest of my receiving skills, and it’s kind of come to this.

Q: People point to you as not the biggest or strongest guy in the word, but given a chance… Do you mind that at all? Does that shortchange you at all?

WW: Nothing really bothers me. I know my capabilities and I think the coaches know. We try to play to those strengths and from there I just go out there and execute my plays. I don’t really worry about the size, the speed, anything else. It’s a matter of me going out there and executing, and making sure I’m doing my job.

Q: When teams try to take away Randy Moss, do the other receivers enjoy that at all?

WW: Yeah, I mean, anytime you get singled up out there as a receiver, you want to win, so that’s a great opportunity, whenever you get singled up like that.

Q: In some respects, you stand here as a rookie - a Super Bowl rookie. What are your thoughts and anticipations going into this experience?

WW: I tell you, I think it’s been a media hype around here all season, so I don’t think it’s anything new for us. I realize it’s kind of picked up a little bit, but to tell you the truth, it’s kind of been a circus around here all year. We just have to take it in stride and remain on the same course we’ve been on all year, make sure we’re concentrating and focusing on the game and are ready for our execution out there on Sunday.

Q: With all of the experience in that locker room of people who have been through this before, are you picking anyone’s brain?

WW: Yeah, a little bit. Really, not so much about the game as much as, hey, you know, even after we won the AFC Championship, how many tickets do we get. Talking to the guys, what do you do about families? What did you do before? Stuff like that, and just try[ing] to get that stuff settled and taking care of it as early as possible so I can just get ready for the game.

Q: I remember talking to you before about what you expected for the playoffs and you said you’d never been in a playoff game. Now that you’ve played in a few, was it what you expected?

WW: I think it prepared us really well. I feel like even towards the stretch of trying to keep on winning games here towards the homestretch, it was pretty intense games. We did have a lot of teams [who] it was kind of their Super Bowl and we were making sure that we had to bring it each week. It’s no different in the playoffs, and it’s definitely stepped up some. You can see guys flying around and putting the extra effort [in] out there on the field.

Q: Donte’ Stallworth said he’s taking over at quarterback and you guys are going to run the option. What are your thoughts about having him play quarterback?

WW: Well, actually, Coach pulled me into the office and told me I was going to be the quarterback, so I don’t know where he’s hearing that from. I think he kind of overheard our conversation, and that’s actually going to be my role.

Q: So now there’s a quarterback controversy?

WW: A little bit.

 

Friday, January 25, 2008

Belichick interview Friday 1/25/08

Courtesy of The New England Patriots

COACH BELICHICK

Press Conference

January 25, 2008

 
BB: How is it going this morning? Good, huh? OK, well, we’re plugging along. The Giants are a tough team to get ready for. They do a lot [and] they do a lot of things well. This is probably one of those games [where] if we had a month to get ready for them, we’d still be working on them, but we have to schedule, kind of pace our way through it. We’re going to try to do the best we can, but they do a good job in a lot of areas - really, all areas - so it’s a lot to get ready for, but we’re underway. It was good to be out on the field yesterday and we have a couple more days here before we take off on Sunday.

Q: Is their defensive line comparable to any you’ve faced already?

BB: They’re pretty good. They’re pretty good. They’re strong, they’re athletic. The two ends are real good and they’re good inside. [Barry] Cofield and [Fred] Robbins do a good job. [Justin] Tuck goes in there. They bring the linebackers up inside quite a bit, too, so you have to deal with them. One time you’re blocking a big, 300 pounder, the next play you could be blocking a real athletic, quick type of athlete in there, so it’s a real challenge for our linemen and certainly the two ends do an outstanding job in everything, not just the pass rush. They’re very good in the running game. [Michael] Strahan is… We could stand up here and talk about him all day. For a guy that’s not that big, he has exceptional power and he’s a great leverage player, good technique player, smart… He’s a hard guy to block. So is Osi [Umenyiora].

Q: Can you say whether Tom Brady will practice today?

BB: Not now. We’ll see. [I’ll] let you know after practice - Or does everybody have a deadline before then?

Q: Is your experience going through Super Bowl games more important to the actual game itself or handling the hype and pacing yourself?

BB: Probably both. It’s a process. The whole thing is a process. I don’t think you want to not utilize - Well, I think you want to maximize everything you have. Whatever time you have available, you want to maximize it to be efficient and productive toward your goal, which is playing well and winning, and not get distracted, not get burned out, not get… To have your timing right so that when the game starts, that’s when you’re at your peak. You don’t want to be there before. You certainly don’t want to be there after. You want to be well prepared and well rested both physically and mentally going into the game. Getting to that point is important, doing it during the game is important. I mean, one could offset the other, so I think they’re both up there.

Q: Can you talk about what makes Kevin Faulk such a unique player?

BB: Well, Kevin has a lot of versatility. He’s smart, he’s very instinctive, he has a very good feel for the game. He understands really all part of the game exceptionally well - pass protection, route running, receiving, the running game, blocking schemes, play action - all of those things, and he’s a good football player. He has good balance, he’s quick, he’s hard to tackle, catches the ball well, he has a good combination of quickness and power and he’s very instinctive. He usually puts himself in the best position or the best advantage to deal with whatever it is he has to deal with, and then he certainly has plenty of skill to execute a lot of different things on the offensive side of the ball and on special teams as well.

Q: Did Rodney Harrison practice yesterday and are there any players you think won’t practice today?

BB: I’d love to answer that. Maybe we can give you something after practice.

Q: Why not answer now? Everyone’s here.

BB: We haven’t practiced. I don’t know. We’ll see how things go at practice.

Q: What’s your best guess?

BB: I’ll let you know after practice. That injury report will be out next Wednesday, though, so it’ll have everything on it then.

Q: As durable as Tom Brady has been at his position, how durable is your center? I know he had the one injury.

BB: Right, two years ago, but Dan’s [Koppen] been great. Dan’s been very durable inside and he’s given us a very consistent level of play, really pretty much since he’s been here his rookie year, which is impressive, for a player to be able to come in as a rookie and handle all of the things, both physically and mentally that we ask an offensive lineman and especially a center to do. He’s been great pretty much from day one, and day in and day out he’s one of our most consistent, dependable players. He doesn’t make very many mistakes. He gives you a very consistent high level of performance.

Q: I know all of those guys up front are pretty much the unsung heroes, but is he the unsung hero of that group?

BB: You’d have to ask whoever… I don’t know exactly where that’s coming from. You’d have to ask them about that. I think they’re very good football players and they play well, so I recognize it. I don’t know about everybody else. Dan does a great job. Steve [Neal] and Logan [Mankins] are outstanding. Logan’s had a terrific year, and so has Steve. He’s missed a few games, but he’s played very well. Nick’s [Kaczur] been solid for us at right tackle and so has Ryan [O’Callaghan] when he’s hand an opportunity to play. I think Matt’s [Light] had a very good year at left tackle. And he’s had several before. They’ve done a good job and when Russ [Hochstein] and Billy [Yates] and Ryan and Wes [Wesley Britt] have had an opportunity to play, they’ve done a good job as well. I think we’ve had a good level of performance there and good depth.

Q: When you look at Eli Manning, are there similarities to Peyton or are they completely different?

BB: They’re in different systems, so that’s a big difference right there. But Eli, he’s done a good job for them. He’s god some mobility in the pocket, he’s able to avoid the rush, he’s an accurate passer, he’s made some tight games, especially - The Green Bay game was - The way he threw the ball last week was exceptional, given the conditions and the tight coverage that Green Bay had on him. There wasn’t much space to get some of those passes in there and he threw the ball very accurately, both on the intermediate and down the field routes and the receivers made some good catches. I think he brings a lot to the position. They do a lot of different things with him - screens, play action, downfield passes, intermediate passes, some moving pocket passes, like they scored on us against the sprint-out play and some bootleg plays, things like that. He does a good job in the things that he’s asked to do and they ask him to do quite a bit. He does a good job with it.

Q: Osi Umeniyora said yesterday on HBO that Matt Light might have done a few things he shouldn’t have, some dirty plays after the whistle.

BB: You’d have to talk to him about that.

Q: Does that go both ways, though, usually in the trenches? If one side is doing it, the other side does?

BB: Yeah… Can’t help you there. Really, honestly, when the play gets cut off - When we watch the play, the play pretty much ends when the guy gets tackled, so when they’re walking back to the huddle and all that, whatever does or doesn’t go on, to be honest with you, I don’t really get a very good look at. I guess you’d have to ask Osi about it for more details. I’m a lot further from that play than they are.

Q: But is it motivating to have these types of remarks?

BB: We’re playing in the Super Bowl. I mean, I hope there’s some motivation to win an NFL Championship.

Q: How do Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs compliment each other and what kind of challenges do they present?

BB: It’s a big challenge. Both of them are good. Jacobs is an outstanding back. I think we’ve all seen plenty of him. He’s a big, powerful guy with good quickness and speed and he’s broken plenty of long runs. He’s not a fullback, he’s a running back. He’s very elusive in the secondary and he’s made plays for them in the passing game, and so has Bradshaw. Bradshaw has shown it on kick returns earlier in the year. I think he did a real good job of that when he had an opportunity. He has good quickness. He’s probably a little - maybe a little quicker than Jacobs. Jacobs is obviously a little bigger. They have good complimentary styles, but they’re both good. I don’t think they really care. It’s not like one guy runs these plays and another guy runs those plays, or one guys runs those routes or another - It looks like they don’t really care who’s in there. They do both things with both players, and they look very comfortable with the assignments they have. And I think the coaches are very comfortable calling plays, regardless of who’s in there. I don’t think it really matters to them. Maybe it does, but it doesn’t look like it, because I think you have to defend the whole variety on both players. They do have different styles, and I think that’s important for us to know which back’s in the game and be ready to play him accordingly.

Q: Obviously the magnitude of this game makes the preparation different than if you were playing the third game of the regular season, but can you think of anything in the last three Super Bowls you’ve been to where you said, “That wouldn’t have happened if we’d had our normal time to prepare.”?

BB: Not right off the top of my head, no. I think we have plenty of time to prepare. I think what you have is, you’re playing an opponent that has plenty of time to prepare, too, and a lot of times they’ll throw a wrinkle in, as we will, to try to break a tendency or do something that’s a little bit different than maybe what you think they’re expecting, but still something that you feel you can do effectively. The toughest situation was the first one, against the Rams, on a short week. That was more challenging, but we had played that team in midseason, so at least we had some familiarity with them and that was - in terms of preparation, that was a plus. I think we did, as a coaching staff and the players, we did a lot better job of coaching and playing the second time we did it than the first time. But I think when you have two weeks you have plenty of time to prepare and do what you want to do, but even though you have a whole season’s worth of information, that’s way more than any team can do. You really have too much information. You have to boil it down and decide what areas you want to focus on, but at the same time it’s a little bit of a moving target because you know they’re going to make a few adjustments and changes, too, probably to something you haven’t seen or that you would spend very little time working on and then you have to adjust to that during the game. From that standpoint, I think the game is challenging because of the changes that the opponent makes in their attack of you, given the extra time they have.

Q: But the event aspect of it doesn’t really have that much of an effect?

BB: I’d say it’s like any other big game. I’m not saying it’s like - I’m saying when you have a big game, one of the things I think you have to guard against as a coach is that the focus is on the assignment and the execution, not the magnitude of the game, so when you’re playing those types of games, as you said, it’s a little different than playing the third game of the regular season and sometimes players might have a tendency to think more about the overall - the big picture, instead of just doing their job. It always comes back to that. Each of us has to do a good job of doing what we’re supposed to do during the game and not worrying about what everybody else has to do. Just get our job taken care of.

Q: How does this compare to the last three Super Bowls you’ve been in?

BB: They’re all special and they’re all different.

Q: How is it different?

BB: We didn’t go to Arizona before, we didn’t play the Giants before and we have a lot of different people on our team from the last time we went, so there are a lot of things that are different.

 

 

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Seymour, Thomas, Vrabel Interviews 1/24/08

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

DL RICHARD SEYMOUR

Press Conference

January 24, 2008

Q: Ready for the madness?

RS: Absolutely. I think this is one of the reasons that you play the game, obviously to be in a situation like this. We work hard all year and we’ve put ourselves in a great position. Now it’s about finishing it.

Q: What kind of advice do you give the guys who have never been to the Super Bowl before?

RS: Well, I mean, I don’t want to give too much away because obviously our opponents will be listening, but I think in-house, I think we understand what we have to do in order to be successful in this game, and we know what we shouldn’t be doing as well. I’ll just keep that in-house, and talk to me after the game. I’ll give you all our tips.

Q: Seeing Tom Brady walk around New York in a walking boot, are you at all concerned?

RS: I think that’s something you have to talk to Brady about. I have just as much information as you, so I’m really not sure about that issue.

Q: You know it’s the heat of the moment in games, but are you distressed at some of the words that have been aimed at you in terms of being a dirty player?

RS: First of all, it’s not true, so I think the facts are the facts. Secondly, I can’t control what others say or think. The only thing I can do is control my actions, the way that I approach the game [and] the things that I’m able to do throughout the week. For me, that won’t change and I think the people that know me best know that’s something that’s totally bogus.

Q: From your experience, these couple of days here, are they the most important days in terms of preparation before you get to the Super Bowl site?

RS: I think it’s a combination of both. I think you have to be pretty balanced. I really can’t say one is a little bit more important than the other. Obviously the most important is Sunday, but we have to do a good job preparing for this team. I think they do a good job. They’re obviously road warriors and they do a lot of things well, and it’s the reason that they’re in this game. They went into some hostile environments [and] beat some really good football teams. Even when we played those guys, they played tough, they played hard, they play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. From a fan’s perspective, me and a couple of my buddies had our picks for the week, and I rode the Giants all the way there. I’m off of their bandwagon now, though.

Q: What did you personally take from that last game?

RS: I think obviously they’re a tough, physical football team and they’ve gotten better since that point, and we have, too. If you look at early in the year, Green Bay beat them pretty handily and they came back. It wasn’t the same team that played early in the year, so we understand that. And even from the last game of the season, those three games that they played in the playoffs, they’re a better team now than when we played them, and we are, too. We understand the magnitude of this game, but at the same time it’s still a game and you have to go out and have fun in doing it.

Q: In what way are you better since that Giants game?

RS: I just think recognition of plays, I just think a better tackling team, I think our red zone defense. I think we’ve stepped up in a few areas and we’ve made plays that we needed to make when we needed to make them.

Q: The New York/Boston rivalry is well documented, obviously, from a baseball standpoint. How much do you recognize it now from a football standpoint?

RS: I think it’s two cities that put a lot of pride in their sports. The fans are tremendously supportive in both regards, Boston and New York, and rightfully so. They pull for their teams. I think as a player you want to play in an atmosphere where people care. The fans that we have here, they definitely care, and I know the ones in New York do as well. We’re definitely excited about this match up.

Q: Can you add to Nick Hardwick’s thing yesterday that you head butted—

RS: I just addressed it.

Q: The head butt thing?

RS: I just addressed everything I’ve - I mean, I can’t. Yeah.

Q: OK, but this one specific thing. He claimed you head butted a coach, although the tape—

RS: I don’t - A coach? A coach that was out on the field? I mean, so…

Q: When you look at Eli Manning, in the game against you he threw four touchdown passes. Do you think he’s used that as a platform?

RS: Anytime when your quarterback doesn’t make turnovers and he has some targets to throw the ball to as well, and they have a good running game and also play well defensively - I think all around the board they do a good job. We’re excited about this match up, to say the least. I think if we just do our job individually, I think collectively as a group that we’ll be fine.

Q: On your picks with your buddies, you picked the Giants.

RS: Right. I rode the Giants.

Q: Based on your game with them, did you have inside information?

RS: Yeah, I mean, because I played them. I wouldn’t call it [an] inside scoop. I mean, I played them. I knew they were a good football team and it was just something fun. Me and my buddies got together and did that, but they play the game the way the game is supposed to be played. Defensively, they’re tough. They can stop the run, rush the passer, [they’re] good on special teams, they’re well-coached. They have really good players over there, so we understand what they have and I think that’s what makes this match up intriguing.

Q: What kind of challenge do you face with the running backs?

RS: I think obviously in [Brandon] Jacobs, he’s a big, pounding, bruising-type back. He also has the speed to take it outside and hit the home run ball. It’s a change of pace when the other back comes in. He cuts the ball back and gives us a different look defensively, so we definitely have two running backs in practice this week getting us prepared.

Q: Did it surprise you the intensity that they brought to that last game of the regular season?

 
RS: Well, we knew they were a tough, physical team, just watching them all week and it was a playoff atmosphere when we played down there. The sidelines were filled with people - I mean, it was a circus. They came out and they performed. It wasn’t a surprise. We saw all week long what they were capable of.

Q: For standings, they were locked into their playoff position, so why would they go about it that way?

RS: Well, they get paid to play. They get paid to play and the coaches get paid to coach, and that’s what they did. Obviously they made those decisions and we showed up and did the same thing.

Q: With Adalius Thomas coming in over your shoulder, is it that unspoken thing you had with Rosevelt Colvin, where you instinctively know what’s going on behind you?

RS: I think defensively it’s probably a little different than offensively where quarterbacks can look at the receivers and they kind of know, etc. I think defensively we all have a job to do and the coaches put the guys on the field that they feel like can get it done. Adalius has been doing a great job for us - all of our linebackers have. If you need your best game, this is the game to do it. If you want to be one of the best to ever do it, this is a primetime opportunity. The world is watching and [hoping we’ll] bring another championship back here.

Q: You’ve often been cited for being a size/speed combo that’s rare, and so has Adalius. Beyond that, what strikes you about him?

RS: He’s very athletic. He can go out and cover and do a lot of different things for us. He can rush the passer, he can stop the run, he can do some of the things that defensive backs do. He’s a guy that can move around for us defensively and also he’s a smart player. He knows how to break down defenses and understand what they’re doing in certain situations. He’ll be out there giving calls and making calls and, hey, watch for this, look for that, etc., etc. He’s an instinctive player. He’s a smart player. We’re definitely going to need him next Sunday.

 

LB ADALIUS THOMAS

Press Conference

January 24, 2008

Q: Can I ask you to reflect on your hometown of Equality, Ala. and how well you know Justin Tuck?

AT: Actually, it’s funny you say that. [We] went to the same high school, our parents went to school together. [It’s a] small town. Most of the neighbors are either your aunt or your uncle or your grandparents. His sister is in the class with my sister now - I think that’s right. I know Justin very well. [We] grew up together. Again, he went to church down the street from where I went to school. I talked to him this week. They’re calling it the Coosa County Bowl instead of the Super Bowl where we’re from. It’s so funny, though - two guys from the same area, which is a very rural part of Alabama to play in the Super Bowl, so one family will be happy and one family will be kind of sad.

Q: Richard Seymour talked about making picks with his buddies and he chose the Giants straight through, based on the fact that when he played them he thought they were a solid team. Do you think that?
                                     

AT: I really didn’t know who would be here, because in the playoffs it’s always some kind of twist or something like that, but I knew that they had a great chance because of their road record, first of all, and the way that they played at the end of the year. They were starting to play well at the right time. A lot of times teams hit their all cylinders at the wrong point and then have a lull at the wrong time of the year. In the playoffs, you can’t have that, that lull at the wrong time of the year. They’ve done a great job of going on the road [and] playing games, winning on the road against very good teams, so they have the momentum right now. Eli’s [Manning] playing great. Their defense is playing well. Special teams is playing great, kicking off and making a short field for them. We definitely have our challenge cut out for us.

Q: When you talked to Justin Tuck, can you give us a little bit of the flavor of it?

AT: First of all, we congratulated each other. I congratulated him on his new deal, whatever, and we said we would just talk later on in the week and get together. But, you know, it’s not like we play against each other. Both of us are on defense, so I think it would be a little bit different if he was a running back or a wide receiver or something like that, but just hoping each other stay healthy. Other than that, [that’s] pretty much it.

Q: You came in here and got basically immersed playing inside and then all of a sudden got shifted outside. Was there any impact?

AT: No, it helps you learn the defense as a whole when you’re playing inside and then you go to outside. You understand now as you go through the calls what you may have to do at Mike as well as Sam or Will or Jack - whatever it may be. It just helps you understand the defense, which helps you as an overall player. I think that’s the biggest thing that it does for me.

Q: Knowing that now, having played both, is it easier to shift outside or would it have been harder to go inside?

AT: I don’t know. It really doesn’t matter when you’re dealing with a new system, because you have to learn both of them either way it goes, so being that I was the Mike I think it’s easier now to go outside, because you do know a lot about the calls because when you’re at Mike you deal with both sides, vs. when you’re a Sam or a Jack you deal with just one side.

Q: The Patriots’ Super Bowl wins were all by three points and the red zone becomes very important in the Super Bowl. Last week you had three red zone stops. Do you think that puts you right on schedule?

AT: It is. That’s definitely a momentum shifter, especially when you can give up three points. You don’t want to get them down there, first of all. You don’t want to major in red zone defense, but if something goes down and they’re down there - a long drive, a turnover or a kickoff or something that got them to that point, whatever it may be - you want to always be able to stand up and hold them to three points, and I think that is a big thing, vs. three points, you give up two scores, which is the same thing as one score - it’s six points. So I think that definitely helps as far as that goes. They’ve been great in the red zone, and so one of them is going to have to give. Hopefully we can continue to bring focus to that point and continue to play strong to that point, because that will definitely help us on Sunday.

Q: When you were thinking about signing someplace when you were a free agent, was this in your mind why you signed here, the opportunity to be here and talk about the Patriots in the Super Bowl?

AT: I knew it gave me a great chance to be here. Did I think it would be the first year? I really didn’t know, but I knew you had a great chance of being there. That’s all you can really ask for in this game, is to have a chance to play - to get an opportunity to get to the playoffs and play for a championship and go on to the stage that we’re on now. So that definitely was a big part of why I signed here.

Q: Their two running backs are different styles. What kind of challenge does that present?

AT: It represents a big challenge. Both of the guys run hard. [Brandon] Jacobs is a more downhill, big guy, run you over, but at the same time he has good speed. [Ahmad] Bradshaw is a cutback, cut - He can bounce outside. He’s a very, very hard runner, always keeping his legs pumping, and so you just have to gang tackle both of them. That’s the key. That’s the only common thing that they do have, is you have to gang tackle both of them because they’re very good backs.

Q: Were you surprised at all the coverage Tom Brady and his walking boot got the last few days?

AT: I didn’t know anything about it until I think yesterday. It was what it was. Tom gets enough coverage. I don’t know.

Q: Do you feel pretty confident you’ll have him at 100 percent? Is this a non-issue for your team?

AT: I’ll let Tom answer that. I don’t know anything about a boot or a cup or a shoe. I don’t know anything like that. I don’t know anything - slippers, I don’t know. His slippers cost more than my shoes, I don’t know.

Q: Could you address the development of Eli Manning and what you’ve seen in him in the last month?

AT: He’s just taking care of the ball. No turnovers in the playoffs. If you don’t turn the ball over, you give yourself a greater chance to win. He’s throwing the ball very well. Running the ball has been taking a lot of pressure off him as well, and Plaxico [Burress] has been running big, and when not throwing to Plaxico, the other guys have stepped up. [Amani] Toomer, [Steve] Smith and [Kevin] Boss. You really can’t just focus on one guy because he really is going through his reads and delivering the ball where it’s supposed to be delivered.

Q: Some people grow up in certain areas and wish they were from somewhere else. Are you grateful for where you came from?

AT: Of course. That’s what made [me] who I am. I don’t have any regrets. That’s one thing you can’t choose, is your parenthood and where they live. It’s a great I think motivation or encouragement for the kids that are from rural areas that are small areas. Nobody really knows where I’m from and it goes back to the old cliché it’s not where you’re from, it’s where you go. I think Justin and I are just two prime examples of guys that came from middle class families that worked hard. The one thing that both of us really had was great support from our parents, our mother and our father, his parents as well as my parents. I think that just goes to show a lot about the character that he has and I have as well.

Q: You were injured for a short time this season—

AT: What injury are you talking about?

Q: The ankle injury that showed up on the injury report.

AT: I think everybody could be on the injury report at some point, but I don’t think it’s really impacted - To a certain extent - I’m fine, as far as that goes. I didn’t miss any games, [or] anything like that, so I don’t think - It’s a non-issue.

Q: You guys are pretty heavily favored in this game.

AT: That doesn’t mean anything. It’s not like - Favored? Just like I guess Green Bay was favored. That doesn’t mean anything. The only thing that matters is when the ball is kicked off, when it’s time to play, you make more plays and go out there and play good defense and good team ball and try to win the game. That’s the only thing that matters. That favor doesn’t do anything but motivate the other team.

Q: Has this season been more of a learning experience than you anticipated?

AT: I knew it was going to be a learning experience because, again, you come into a new system, new players, new environment, it’s always a learning system, learning how things work on and off the field. It’s been a learning experience and I’ll continue to learn. Just learning from the guys, from Junior [Seau] and Tedy [Bruschi] and Vrabes [Mike Vrabel], those guys really showed me the way and so I continue to lean on those guys.

Q: But here where the system is so complicated to play?

AT: I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s very complicated to play. I mean, I think it’s a good system to play in.

 

 

LB MIKE VRABEL

Press Conference

January 24, 2008

Q: Richard Seymour picked the Giants to get here in a pool with his friends. How about you?

MV: We’ve been there. We’ve had those season before where you play well, you flash it and then it kind of goes away for a few weeks. Certainly when we played them the last week, they played their best ball when they needed to to do well in the playoffs in the National Football League - after Thanksgiving and on the road in the playoffs.

Q: Is that how you judge your team, after Thanksgiving?

MV: Well, there’s a few things I’ve learned from Bill [Belichick] and that’s one of them. Kind of take a look and see what teams do after Thanksgiving, see what kind of shape they’re in, what kind of plays they make, how they play, how tough they are. A lot of those early season number - I guess you want to win every game you play, but you can make a lot of hay after Thanksgiving.

Q: Their toughness was demonstrated in that game. They didn’t need to beat you to make the playoffs.

MV: It’s a physical football team. They’re built like that and I think Coach [Tom] Coughlin wants them - That’s the type of team he wants. That’s the type of team he had in Jacksonville and certainly with the Giants. Right across the front, they have big running backs, they have physical linemen, big receivers that’ll block, so we have our hands full.

Q: What advice do you have for the guys that haven’t been to the Super Bowl?

MV: I just think the biggest thing is when you come off the field for pregame warm-ups there’s about 50 minutes to where you’re just sitting there, as opposed to maybe 10 minutes in a regular season game. There’s a lot of time. I remember in 2001 Bill had been through it before and said don’t go out there and kill yourself in pregame warm-ups because you’re going to come back down and you’re going to cool off, then we’re going to have to stretch again and we’re going to have to get warmed back up again. Just little things like that, where you take it for granted where you think it’s a normal game, but really there’s a lot of logistical things that factor into the Super Bowl with TV and the time that we’re out on the field and coming back in. Then when you finally leave, then it’s two minutes. Then it’s the national anthem and they’re kicking the ball off.

Q: Anything about the week itself?

MV: I think everything with the hotel, it’s a road trip for us, really. We’ve actually stayed at this hotel, so it’ll be nice knowing the surroundings. When we played Arizona, I think we stayed at this hotel, so not too much [is different]. Practices are going to be the same, meetings are going to be the same. You’ll meet with the media, your day is done at 5:00 or 6:00, after you’re doing watching film and have watched practice.

Q: Can you talk about how your relationship with Bill Belichick has evolved since you first came here?

MV: Yeah, I think obviously I have a lot of respect for Bill and what he’s done with this football team and the decisions that he makes. I certainly don’t always agree with everything that he says or does, but I think ultimately the end result is very positive. I just think that he’s given me - He gave me an opportunity to come here. He said I won’t ever promise anybody a spot, but there’ll be an opening for you to compete and be an every-down player. And then from 2001 on, it’s kind of evolved. My role on the football team has kind of evolved, where the first year I just played first and second down and then the next year I played on third down and did a lot of other things. I just think it’s just expanded since I’ve been here. He’s not really caught up in the guys that are supposed to be good player or allegedly good players. He wants guys that are going to go out there and work, be smart and are dependable and consistent. Those are the kind of guys we have on this football team.

Q: You’ve been able to joke with him - you have a good relationship. Has it been like that from the beginning?

MV: I think that any time you have a certain comfort level with somebody, I think that certainly if he’s able to give it to us, I figured why not give it back to him.

Q: You’ve been around long enough to understand the way fans think. Talk about the fact that it’s Boston/New York for the Super Bowl.

MV: It’s no Yankees/Red Sox, but it’s going to be determined out on the field. It will be fun for the fans to go out to Arizona and to enjoy some good weather, I guess, and leave the east coast and go out there. I think the fans will have a great time. I know the players will enjoy it and, most importantly, I think we’ll have to go out there on the field and prove and fight to see who will be the champions.

Q: All three Patriots Super Bowls were won by three points and the red zone becomes much more important in the Super Bowl. With three big red zone
stops last week, is that something you hope to carry over to the Super Bowl?

MV: Obviously it’s something we want to carry over. It’s something that just doesn’t happen. You just don’t go out and hope you’re going to stop them after you’ve given up an 80-yard drive and just hope that you’re going to stop them down in the red zone. So you have to put some time in it and work at it. You have to look and see what they like, what they had success with in the first game - which they did, and that was a big thing. It was the reason the game was so tight, I think, was their ability to convert on third down and their ability to score touchdowns in the red zone.

Q: You talked about when you first came here and Bill Belichick calling you. Do you ever think about how close that was?

MV: It was just between Pittsburgh - It was either going back to Pittsburgh and resuming the same role that I had with the Steelers, which Coach [Bill] Cowher welcomed me back. He said, hey, I totally understand you looking somewhere else and seeing if there’s an opportunity there. If not, give me a call and you’re welcome back here.

Q: Adalius Thomas shifted from inside to outside. Can you talk about how he’s handled the role?

MV: I think with AD, I think the expectations that everybody had of him coming in here were so great because he was such a sought-after free agent in the offseason, but he came in and I think just became one of the guys in the locker room. [He] put everything else aside and just learned kind of what we do here and how we do it, learning every position - learned inside, learned outside, and certainly in his flexibility, I think his talent has enabled us to do a lot of things. It’s enabled me to be outside and it’s allowed him to play inside and outside and also cover. He’s a great coverage linebacker. He doesn’t get enough credit for it, but he does a great job. He’s just a big athlete that we can put a lot of different places.

Q: How fine a line is it between tough, hardnosed football and the dirty play that some fans or some people think they’re seeing?

MV: It’s just like, you know, for a player or anybody, you just can’t throw out accusations. A guy - You come off the field and you win or you lose a game, emotions are very high. There are plays that happen to me, that happen to everybody out there that if you wanted to spin it another way, you could say, man, that was a dirty play. But, I mean, it’s football. There’s going to be some things that happen that aren’t by design, maybe certainly you didn’t want to do, but they happen. And so guys can come in after the game and if they say this guy’s a dirty player, then red flags go up. That’s a you-problem; that’s not our problem.

 

 

 

 

Belichick Interview 1/24/08

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

COACH BELICHICK

Press Conference

January 24, 2008

 
BB: We’ve spent the past three days looking at the Giants. Even though we just played them a month ago, I think that they’ve certainly improved dramatically as a football team. The number one area I would say is in the kicking game. They’ve really done a good job there. I think they’ve pretty much had the edge in that phase of the game in all three of their playoff games, and not turning the ball over, offensively. That’s been very impressive, especially against the defenses they’ve gone up against. Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay are all outstanding defenses and they protected the ball perfectly, really, in those games and of course came up with the turnovers on defense. [They’re a] real good football team. We had a great game with them a month ago, roughly, so we have a lot of get ready for and I think it’s a team that’s playing its best football at this time of year. Tom’s [Coughlin] done a great job with the team and he’s an outstanding coach. They have a great organization. They’re physical, they do everything pretty well and this will be a big challenge for us. Hopefully we can have a real good week up here in terms of our preparation and getting a lot of things done - not everything, of course, but getting a lot of things done so that when we do head down there on Sunday we’ll be familiar with a good chunk of the game plan, what we want to do, and then be able to just polish it up a little bit in Arizona. That’s kind of the plan for this week and we’re excited to get started. I think the players really had a good attitude this morning about coming in and getting on to business. We know we have a lot of work to do and we’re anxious to get started on the preparations.

Q: The familiarity of having played them a month ago - The coaches obviously have an advantage, but what about the players?

BB: Sure. Yeah, I think it’s sort of like a division game when you’ve played the team once earlier in the year and you’re familiar with your opponent more so than a team you haven’t played. I don’t think it’s an advantage for either team - both teams are working from the same point - but it’s just more familiarity so there’s a little bit of, we did this the last time. Do we want to change it up? Do we want to stay with what’s been successful? Do we think they’ll adjust to it? There’s a little bit of that game that you go through anytime you play a team a second time in a season - actually, this is the third time, counting the preseason game. There’s a little bit of that, but I think the familiarity, it helps the coaches, it helps the players, it gives you a higher starting point in your preparations, but I don’t think it favors either team. It’s just more information.

Q: Can you comment on Tom Brady’s foot and any concerns you may have?

BB: No. I don’t have any comment on it.

Q: Is he going to practice today, regular practice?

BB: Well, we’ll go out there. I don’t know. The injury report will be out next Wednesday and we’re excited to give that to you. That form will be filled out completely and I can’t wait to give that to everybody. I know you’re anxious for it, so when it’s due on Wednesday, we’ll have it for you. Don’t worry about that.

Q: Can you comment on the historic nature of the game coming up, the Super Bowl? It’s been one game at a time for you and now this is it.

BB: I think there’s always a time to reflect back on the season; this isn’t it. Right now the time is to focus on the Giants and prepare for this game, so that’s what we’re doing. Later on after the season or whenever, some other point in history, looking back is fine, but we’re not anywhere close to that right now.

Q: You kind of make it sound like it’s just another game, like any old game.

BB: Well, it’s the championship game. That’s what it is. Last week was the AFC Championship game, this week is the championship in the National Football League, and the most important thing for us is to prepare for the game and do the best we can in it, so that’s where we’re going to put our time and energy.

Q: Does it make it more special for you given your personal history with the Giants, to be playing them?

BB: I don’t know if I would use those words, but certainly I had - My 12 years with the Giants was a great time in my career. I enjoyed really everything about it. It was a great organization, with Wellington Mara. We had good teams. I was fortunate enough to be a part of an outstanding defense. We had a lot of great players there and we all had a lot of success. We had a great coaching staff. That period of time was a good one for me and so I have very fond memories of it, particularly the two championships in ’86 and ’90. But that being said, that’s all in the past. We’ve moved on and whoever we’re playing this week, it’s the biggest game of our lives and we’re going to put everything we have into it. But [I am] familiar with the Giants and what’s on the other side of the field to a degree, more so than probably pretty much any other team.

Q: Because of the undefeated season, if you win the Super Bowl, will this one be more special than the others?

BB: Right now we’re just thinking about doing the best we can on Sunday against the Giants. That’s all we’re thinking about.

Q: Can you talk about Tom Brady’s toughness? Even at different points in his career, when he’s been banged up, he’s had the ability to play through it.

BB: I think Tom’s one of the toughest players on our team, mentally and physically. He works hard and he can be focused on his job regardless of what’s going on in all of the surroundings - the crowd, the game, the - whatever it is, stuff flying around him, but he’s very calm. He’s a great competitor, but he’s very calm.

Q: What has been the difference with Eli Manning?

BB: I think as usual it goes to the entire team. And Eli’s done a great job, I’m not taking anything away from him, but the coaching staff, the offensive line, the protection, the receivers - last week against Green Bay he made some excellent throws but the receivers made some great catches against tight man coverage in certainly less than ideal conditions. His offensive line has given him good protection. They’ve done a good job with the running game, which has kept defenses off-balance so that they have to play everything. [Ahmad] Bradshaw and [Brandon] Jacobs have done a nice job of balancing the offense. They’ve been productive and have gotten plays out of the tight end, [Kevin] Boss, which I don’t know how much was expected there when [Jeremy] Shockey got hurt, but he’s stepped in and done a good job. [Steve] Smith’s stepped up, so I think they’re getting contributions from everybody. They’re playing very well as a team, offensively, and again, I think that starts with the coaching staff and the quarterback but it certainly extends to all the other players on the field as well. And Eli’s done a terrific job, I’m not taking anything away from him, but I think it’s not just him. It’s the entire unit.

Q: You mentioned the Giants’ kicking game. How significant is that in your mind?

BB: Very significant. I thought they - really, they killed us in the last game. They returned kickoffs and that was the big equalizer in the game. We had a few more yards than they did, but they more than offset that with their kickoff returns and their good field position. They return kicks well. Of course, David Tyree I think is one of the best special teams players in the league. He’s outstanding and everything. He’s a threat to block every punt, he’s a gunner, he’s outstanding on kickoff coverage, so he’s very good. Their specialists are good. They’re a very physical team. [Chase] Blackburn, Tyree, [Gerris] Wilkinson, [Reggie] Torbor - they’re a big, physical group. [Madison] Hedgecock - they’re 240, 250, 260 kind of guys and they’re hard to stand up to in the return game and they’re hard to get around into coverage. And they have outstanding skill players. [R.W.] McQuarters has done a good job for them, and of course we’ve seen the kickoff returns. Nobody saw it better than we did. That’s held true in the playoffs as well. That was a great play that Tyree made in the Tampa game, downing the punt on the 2-yard line. Just like it was a big play for us against San Diego when Kelley [Washington] did it. Those are almost like scoring plays. They don’t go down as scoring plays, but they result a lot of times in scoring plays. They’re good. They’ve done a real good job. 

Q: The fact that Tom Brady has been able to start 126 consecutive games, does that speak to his toughness, or is that just luck that he’s been healthy?

BB: Well, Tom works extremely hard. He trains hard, he’s a well-conditioned athlete and he does everything he can to be ready so I think that certainly has something to do with it. On the other hand, I’ve seen other players that have trained hard that have had bad breaks and have missed games because of injury. If I had the answer to that question, I wouldn’t be standing here; I’m sure there’d be something else I could do. But he trains hard, he’s in good condition. There’s no question about that. I’m sure that helps him.

Q: Ahmad Bradshaw seems to give them a significant spark in limited touches. What does he bring?

BB: He gives them a spark when he touches the ball. You just answered your own question. He has good quickness, he has good power, good vision, he’s a good cutback runner. He made a huge play there in the draw play against Green Bay. I known it got called back, but they had him for no gain, he broke a couple tackles, used his quickness to break out of there and went the distance - 50 yards or whatever it was. He’s done a good job for them in kickoff returns. When he missed out game, they replaced him. He really hasn’t gotten back in there, but I know he can do that as well. He was very productive doing that earlier in the year. Bradshaw is a good back. He’s quick, he’s fast, he catches the ball well, he has good vision and he’s a threat to go anywhere on the field. He’ll hit the hole and he’ll cut it back.

Q: After the last regular season game, could you see how dangerous the Giants could be in the postseason?

BB: Well, we saw it going into the game. You’re the only ones that didn’t think that was - that there was some kind of mismatch in the game. You never heard that from us and you never saw it from us. They’re a good football team. We felt like that was a playoff caliber game when we played in it, and they’re a playoff team, which obviously they were. They had already qualified and didn’t need to win that game to get in the playoffs, but they’re physical. They’re a good football team. They’re physical, they can run it, they can pass it , they can stop the run, they can rush the passer, they’re good in the kicking game. They’re a good football team - and they’re getting better. They’ve gotten better through the entire year. Just look at their series with Dallas. I think those three games are a good example of their progress as a team from Week 2 or whenever they played them early in the season to the postseason game. They started behind, but by the end they passed them up. I think that’s where their team is.

Q: What’s the common denominator on a team like that, that gets better as it goes along - confidence? Your 2001 team had that.

BB: I’m sure confidence is a part of it [but] I think playing good football is a bigger part of it. I think you’d have to ask them that question. I’m sure they’d know more about it than we would, but they’ve done a good job and they’ve played their best football in the last month.

Q: Does having as many players as you’ve had play in Super Bowls and big games - Can you measure that at all?

BB: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with experience. I don’t think that’s a negative, but I don’t think it really does anything, either. I think the team that plays the best is the team that’s going to win. We went into the 2001 Super Bowl in New Orleans with a lot less playoff experience than the Rams. It didn’t seem to make any difference in that game, so I don’t have any reason to think it would make any difference in any other game. I think the team that plays the best, that’s the team that’s going to win, not the team that has the best statistics or the most experience. I don’t think those are negatives, but I don’t think that really does anything, either. You have to go out there and prove it.

Q: If you were in our position, would you be portraying Brady’s injury as a non-issue?

BB: Portray it however you want.

Q: How do you depend on your veterans to guide guys who haven’t been to the Super Bowl before, and will your team have a curfew?

BB: We’ll handle the team the way we feel like is best for…the best way to prepare for the game, in everything we do, whatever it is. Whatever decisions we make will be what we feel like is best for our football team. Again, I think experience is good and I’m glad we have players that have experience, that are veteran players, but in the end each person has a job to do and I don’t think anybody can do anybody else’s. Whatever everybody has to do, they have to do it themselves and we all have to depend on each other and we all have to do our own job. I mean, I can’t play, they can’t coach, the receivers can’t play defense, the defenders can’t block. That’s the way it is. Everybody has a job, everybody has to get ready, everybody has to play well, so each person’s accountable. I don’t think it hurts to have experienced players, but at the same time each individual player has to go out there and get ready to do his job next Sunday. That’s the challenge we all face, whether they have experience or not.

Q: How important is it to stay away from some of the stupid penalties?

BB: It’s always important to stay away from penalties. Penalties, obviously, they can’t help you. All they do is give your opponents other chances or give them extra opportunities or take away positive plays that you make. You want to have as few as possible. Our goal is always to have no penalties. I think it’s unrealistic to go through a season with no penalties, but from game to game we try to do that. Some weeks we do that, or we hit it in certain phases, you know, no penalties in this phase or that phase and maybe we get them somewhere else, but that’s always our goal. The only time we’d ever take an intentional penalty would be a delay of game penalty, something like that, if we wanted to lose some field position, but that’s it. We try not to have them. Are we perfect? Far from it, but we’ll keep working at it.

Q: How personally pleased were you to see a guy like Tom Coughlin reach a Super Bowl as a head coach?

BB: Tom and I have a good relationship. We go way back to the ‘80s there at the Giants. We worked together closely, as a secondary coach and a receiver coach would. He’s a good personal friend, and Judy and his family. We’ve spent time with them away from football, whether it was at BC, Jacksonville and so forth. I respect Tom. I think he’s an outstanding coach and wish him well in every game but this one.

Q: Did you try to reach out to him after the NFC Championship game?

BB: Again, I think whatever personal relationships or conversations we had, we’ll keep that at that level.

 

Monday, January 21, 2008

Belichick Interview Monday 1/21

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK
Press Conference
January 21, 2008

BB: Good afternoon. How are we doing? It’s great to be here and to be coach the team that’s going to Super Bowl XLII. It’s a great privilege and honor to be a part of that. We’re certainly looking forward to it. We know what we’re dealing with, with the Giants. We had a great game with them last month and it looks like they’ve done nothing but get better. Today we’re just trying to get a lot of our arrangements and stuff like that out of the way and we’ll really start digging into the Giants in the next couple of days. We know that will be a big challenge for us but [we’re] certainly thrilled to have the opportunity to meet it and we look forward to having a good week of preparation here before we head down to Arizona. It was a great win yesterday for our football team and our franchise. [I’m] happy for everybody, for Robert [Kraft] and the ownership. The players certainly played outstanding and stepped up and made big plays in the fourth quarter, especially when they had to. All the other people that have contributed to our success this year, all the support people and the assistant coaches, all of them have done a great job. It’s given us the opportunity to try to do it one more time. We’re excited about that, looking forward to it and at the same time [we] understand what a huge challenge this will be playing the Giants. Unfortunately, it counts as a road game for them. I guess we’re the [designated] home team.

Q: How much of a help is it, from a time frame stand point, the fact that you played this team just a few weeks ago?

BB: It definitely helps. It makes it go a lot faster. If it had been Green Bay we would have spent a lot of time just getting the material ready to analyze and start to look at it. Since it’s the Giants, we did a lot of work on them, as you mentioned, and we’ll certainly look very closely at the last four games—our game, you know, break that down, and then their playoff games against Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay and look closely at those four. A lot of it at least we have a good recollection of and we did have most of the match ups that we’ll have [in this game] occurred in our game in December, so that’s good. We’ll have something to work from. It’s not an advantage. Both teams are working with the same information, but there’s a lot more familiarity then there would be with a team that we hadn’t played all year. Actually, this will be our third game against the Giants this year counting the preseason game.

Q: Can you talk about Eli’s [Manning] development?

BB: He certainly played well against us. We saw that first hand. He had a great night. They’re an outstanding football team. They really are. They can do it all the way across the board, especially on offense. Good backs; very productive passing game; good offensive line. So they can run it; they can pass it; they score points. They take care of the ball well, they’re a physical team and Eli has done a terrific job managing that team and particularly playing on the road and winning big games and winning playoff games.

Q: Did you spend some time addressing the team today on what to do this week in terms of organizing their logistics?

BB: Yeah, a little bit. Most of it wasn’t done by me, we’ve had people in our organization who have done a little bit of advance work on that and we have the information from the league and schedules and so forth and we have a little bit of a history of doing this. Most of that information was presented to the players and a lot of it is information they have to give back to us and it all has to be put together and so forth and so on. It’s not really my area of expertise, but we have other people who have done a good job on that. Our organization has been in this game before, so we have a little bit of history on how to do it and what some of the things that work well are and what maybe are some of the things are that we don’t want to do.

Q: Having been in this situation before, is that an advantage for you?

BB: Right now, it’s really just each individual person has to handle their own individual situation. Friends, family, tickets, rooms, whatever travel logistics there are, and we want to try to get those out of the way in the next couple days. We got the process started today and I’m sure everybody got a lot of calls last night, we all did, but we’ll take care of that in the next couple of days, particularly the players and coaching staff of course, we’ll be busy preparing for the players when they come in on Thursday. We’ll try to get the information ready for them, but that’s really what these next couple days are for the players and the organization. [When] we go on Thursday, we want to be ready to really focus and get down to work on the Giants and we’ll need all the time and preparation we can get with them.

Q: Are you leaving on Sunday to go to Arizona?

BB: That’s the plan. Weather permitting.

Q: Will you do the late morning press conferences?

BB: I don’t know - whatever - I’m sure Stacey [James] will announce that, whatever it is.

Q: What sticks in your mind about the last game you played against the Giants?

BB: It was a tough, hard fought, very physical game.

Q: What is different, standing here right now today versus the other three times that you went to the Super Bowl?

BB: Every game’s different; every year’s different. As I’ve said before, I have three children and they’re all different. They’re all special. This game’s special; the other ones are special. They’re all different.

Q: What’s different about this one?

BB: Everything. It’s a new opponent; it’s a new year; we have different players; we’re playing the Giants [who] we didn’t play before in any of these games. Everything is different.

Q: What about the perfection carrot, dangling out there?

BB: It’s a one-game season. We’re just trying to beat the Giants. That’s all that matters. It’s not what their record is or what our record is or what kind of car anybody is driving or anything else. It’s about who plays better in two weeks and it’s preparation for that game. That’s what these two weeks will be about for us.

Q: What does it say for the Giants that they have been able to play so well on the road this season, especially these last three games?

BB: Yeah, it’s awesome. You have to give them all the credit in the world. It’s like Pittsburgh two years ago. Pittsburgh did the same thing two years ago, went on the road and won as a Wild Card team and as we always say, now’s the time when you want to be playing your best football, in January. The Giants, I think, have certainly done that. Again, similar to the Steelers in ’05—they did the same thing. They’re the best team. We’ll have to play our best game against them. They’re the best team we’ve faced all year. They’re on a hot streak right now, playing great in all three phases of the game. They’re well coached, I think Tom’s [Coughlin] done a terrific job and the general manager, they’ve put together an outstanding football team and we certainly had our hands full in a very competitive game down there. It could have gone either way with a play or two, so we know what we’re in for, it’s… this will be a tough one.

Q: The players have been emphasizing the 60-minute theme this year. Did that come from right after the Indianapolis game last year?

BB: No. It’s always been like that.

Q: The players this year have, maybe it’s just us, but they reiterated that over and over again this year like it has been…

BB: I’m not disputing what they’re saying. You’re asking me if it’s been an emphasis point more this year and I’m telling you no. What do you think we said in ’01? Just 45-minutes today fellas, that’s all we need. Just give me three good quarters. Don’t worry about that first one or that fourth one. Of course not. We’ve always said [60 minutes]. I respect what the players say. Maybe there has been more of an emphasis, but it’s not conscious on my part. It’s something we always talked about and it’s something we’ve always emphasized.

Q: Do you think they executed that better this year?

BB: You can’t argue with the record. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect. I don’t think we’ve gone out there and played 60 minutes of good football, no. We didn’t play 30 good minutes in the second half against Miami. There’s always things we can improve on and do better. I don’t think we’ve played a perfect game,—not by any stretch of the imagination—but that’s still our goal. We still want to go out and play and it goes for the coaching too. I think I’ve made plenty of mistakes in every game and made them yesterday and made them in all the games before that too. We can all do a better job. That’s our quest every week, to prepare and then go out and perform as well as we can every week, or in this case every other week, but go out there and perform as well as we can and get our best product out there. I don’t think we’ve done it yet. Maybe it’s not realistic that we will do it [but] we’re going to keep trying.

Q: Can you talk about the role that Kevin Faulk has played in the offense?

BB: We’ve talked about it time and again. Kevin, he’s an awesome football player and he’s one of the most unselfish players I’ve ever coached. He’s a great team player that not only does his job but helps everybody else do theirs, and he’s a very versatile player, in the kicking game, running the ball, catching the ball, blitz pickup, making adjustments. He’s a smart instinctive guy and he’s been a very valuable player since the day I got here. He’s been used in a lot of different roles but nobody works harder than Kevin, nobody’s more conscientious and nobody has a better attitude then Kevin Faulk. He’s a pleasure to coach, he’s a great competitor and he’s a great producer. I know everybody’s happy when he’s out there on the field. That’s not taking anything away from any other backs, Sammy Morris or Laurence [Maroney] or anybody else because those guys have played great for us this year, too, but Kevin’s - everybody has a lot of confidence when he’s out there and they should because he’s been very consistent and very productive.

Q: When you view the final drive that you’re offense had, even though it didn’t result in points, do you consider that drive as important as a scoring drive
because it helped you win the game?

BB: Absolutely. Without a doubt. Again, it’s situational football. It wasn’t about scoring points at that point in the game; it was about maintaining possession of the ball and running out the clock. Offensively, we did it. We got good execution. We were in a couple of long-yardage situations that we didn’t want to be in that we kind of dug out of. We had some good blocking, some good running, good running after the catch and good decision making—guys staying in bounds—and good blocking by the offensive line, tight ends and full back, all of those things. It was the way you want to end the game, with the ball possession. Kneeling down—that’s the way you’d like to win every game.

Q: Do you personally take pride in the success of this franchise and this team the way things have gone over the last seven years?

BB: I take a lot of pride in this organization and the fact that I’m a part of it. I’m proud to be a New England Patriot. I’m proud to work for Robert Kraft and I’m proud to wear our insignia. Absolutely. That being said, right now I don’t think is a time to sit and reflect and go back over what has or hasn’t happened in the past. Right now we’ve got a huge challenge ahead of us and that starts with the whole preparation for the entire event. The travel, the logistics, the scheduling and so forth and we have a huge challenge in terms of facing the New York Giants. That’s really were I’m focused and where our team needs to be focused right now. There will be a time and a place maybe to do that at some other point but not right now. Not for me anyway.

Q: How much does the NFL’s Super Bowl schedule inhibit your preparation?

BB: I don’t think it inhibits you at all. We’ve done it before. I think really it’s pretty well organized. There’s a lot going on but it’s the way it is every year and we’ve been fortunate to be through it in the past. There’s certain obligations, but there’s plenty of time to do what we need to do, to meet and to practice and our families come down there at the end of the week prior to the game. I think everything is done as well as it can be done. It’s a week that everybody wants to be a part of. That’s what you work all year for is to play in this game, so we’re all happy to be playing in it. At the same time, this isn’t the end, there’s still more to climb on this mountain and the Giants are a huge obstacle. We know we’re not going down there to have fun. It’s a business trip. We’re going down there to win and we’re going to prepare to win. I think the event is a great event. I think it’s well run and it’s an honor to be a participant in it.

Q: Chargers center Nick Hardwick called Richard Seymour a dirty player. What’s your reaction to that?

BB: I’m surprised. That’s the last thing I would say about Richard.

 

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Junior Seau Interview after Pats win AFC Title

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

     
JUNIOR SEAU

JUNIOR SEAU:  To start, to fill in the question that was mentioned earlier, about [Kevin] Faulk not being a headliner; he is a headliner.  He is a headliner.  And the third downs in which he played were one of the reasons why we’re here today.  So I heard that question and I just wanted to make sure that we understand that everybody has a role, and if there’s a role for a player to play one down, and it’s third, that’s a “money” down.  Trust me.  He’s special.

Q.  Why was this win so emotional for you, Junior?

JUNIOR SEAU:  Every game’s emotional, every game’s emotional.  You know, to talk about the history of myself and San Diego
Chargers, I am always a Charger.  That’s my home.  You know, I took the scenic route to get here.  I took the scenic route.  But we played and experienced it together.  That’s how I look at it.
Emotional?  I’m always emotional.  I can’t get up higher for one game over the other.  It’s not going to work that way.  It never will.

Q.  How special was it in the very first play of the game, you’re making the tackle, you have a sack later on and now 13 years back in the Super Bowl?

JUNIOR SEAU:  We’re going out there and performing.  We have a lot of great guys, a lot of great players in front of me.  If you look at the depth chart, [the defensive line], they are like policy, an insurance policy.  I feel like a running back back there, I’m able to do the things we are able to do because of them.  I credit a lot of that to them.

To go to the Super Bowl, obviously the first Super Bowl we went to, it didn’t pan out the way we wanted it to.  We’ll work on the
Super Bowl, but for right now, right now, we’re going to embrace this time, this moment.

Q.  Could you describe your stop on the third and short, did you go off when the guy pulled?

JUNIOR SEAU:  It was a combination of a lot of things.  Obviously the D linemen did a great job of taking up the two guys.  The call
that was made was basically a call that could shoot the gap.  I don’t know if he called it because he knew I was going to shoot it anyway or he called it because he felt something, but it was a great call.  I just ran it through the hole and Mike [Vrabel] was there and I wrapped him up.  It was a combination of a lot of things that happened.

Q.  What does it mean for you to share this moment with Rodney Harrison?

JUNIOR SEAU:  It’s special, it really— Rodney Harrison is one of the better safeties that has ever played this game.  We have shared a lot of years in San Diego and to have the latter part of our careers meet across the country, and to be able to be part of this special moment with a great coach here in New England is special, it really is.

Q.  Tedy Bruschi had said earlier in the year during all the blowouts that sooner or later it is not going to be that easy; did you expect that at some point?

JUNIOR SEAU:  It’s hard to play in the playoffs.  Everyone, the game is up in the air.  We don’t take anything for granted.  You know, we never will.  And that stems from the head coach, the Kraft family and the coaches that they have here.  It’s one day at a time; we grind.  We try to position ourselves every day to position ourselves for game day to give ourselves a chance, and it’s been working.

Q.  What did you think when you did not see Ladanian Tomlinson come back?

JUNIOR SEAU:  We obviously knew going in he was a little dinged up.  Mike [Turner] and [Darren] Sproles, those guys are dangerous running backs, as well.  So we prepared for all three of them.
You know, obviously LT is the best running back in the league, and not to have him in there was definitely a positive thing for us.

Q.  How is this day different from that day in Pittsburgh in 1994?

JUNIOR SEAU:  Well, we don’t have yellow flags flying all over the place.  We don’t have the Super Bowl Shuffle being taped prior to the game.
Going in there and really not finishing what we set out to do, which is to win the AFC Championship is definitely special but in terms of difference, it was basically we are now looking forward to the next opponent.  As you can see, we are not having a parade.  We don’t have the confetti in the locker room.  We are not jumping around.  Everyone’s gone.  Everyone went home.  Special.  Special.

Q.  Did you think it would take this long to get back?

JUNIOR SEAU:  I didn’t have a time frame.  No one ever does.
You know, coming here to New England with the Kraft family and the Belichick family, all anyone wants, I don’t care if you’re a rookie to an 18 year vet, I don’t care if you’re a third grader; all we ever want in life is a chance, just a chance.  Does that mean a chance to win the Super Bowl?  No; a chance to win.
And when you win often, it leads into greater things.  And you learn that during the course of life.  It’s just give an old man a chance.  (Laughter).

Q.  When you came here last year, did you think that was it for you?

JUNIOR SEAU:  I was surfing.  I was surfing.

Q.  Was it having a chance?

JUNIOR SEAU:  Belichick called me and he said to me   it wasn’t an assistant coach, it wasn’t anyone in the PR department.  Belichick called and he said, “I’ve got a position for you.“  He didn’t say, “Would you like to come and play?“  He said, “I have a position for you.“  That’s the world champion coach calling a guy that had just gotten in surfing.  I’m going to answer that call.  I’m going to answer that call.

Q.  That’s the proverbial offer you couldn’t refuse?

JUNIOR SEAU:  I knew that there was a chance for me to do something for him.  For him to even do that, for the Kraft family, for them to even embrace me, I’m going to give you all of me.

Q.  Where were you surfing?

JUNIOR SEAU:  Right in front of the house.  You want that, too?  No, I can’t give you that.

Q.  Being involved in the game for so long, as a student of the game, put it into perspective, the first Super Bowl in more than a generation to go to the Super Bowl undefeated.

JUNIOR SEAU:  The only thing you can say is it’s special.  Number one, a lot of hard work.  To stay humble, to be able to be hungry, to be able to persevere during those close games that we’ve had along the journey, we now have one more game, one more game to be part of that forever.  That’s special.  That’s special.  You cannot refute, if we happen to go in there and do what we need to do, separating is key in history, we have a chance.  And that’s all we ever need.  All we know is that, you know, we work every day, position ourselves to have a chance on game day, a chance, and we do.  We have that chance now.

Q.  Can you talk about who you want to play?

JUNIOR SEAU:  We have a chance.  (Laughter) We have a chance.

Q.  Does that mean it doesn’t matter?

JUNIOR SEAU:  We have a chance.

Q.  This is one of the older defenses in the NFL; do you see that as a strength?

JUNIOR SEAU:  You know, we can say that it’s a strength.  But at the same time, what you have to do is you’ve got to work hard.  You’ve got to persevere and you’ve got to pray a lot.  Because it could easily have turned against us.  You know, it’s too easy to just kind of sit here and say, you know what, it’s a strength.  But I can’t answer that.  But we’re here now and we have an older crew, a wise crew, but a crew that cares.

There is a difference between caring, and just wanting to play the game.  There is.  There’s a difference between want and need.  A want person   let me tell you about the want person.  Now I’ve been around the league a lot, a long time.  The want person will justify why he didn’t get it done.  The need person, there is no choice.  And it takes years to understand the two.  It takes years to understand the two.

Just on top of everything, I’d like to congratulate the City of San Diego and the San Diego Chargers for what they have been able to do.  The last game against Indianapolis was just a blessing to see them grind it out and get to where they are.

Tom Brady Interview after Chargers Win

Courtesy of The New England Patriots

     
TOM BRADY

TOM BRADY:  (Turning to Junior.)  He’s always a tough act to follow.

Q.  Last week we talked about your two incompletions and today you had three interceptions.  Was it just the pass rush or  
TOM BRADY:  I think it was a good team.  I don’t think we executed as well as I thought we were capable but we got the win and we were able to put together some important drives.  Have to try to make some corrections and move on.

Q.  Do you ever lose confidence or start to question yourself?  I know the answer to this, but I’ll let you—
TOM BRADY:  No, I’ve been in a lot of games.  They made a great play on the first one.  Kind of got in between what I wanted to do. The second one [I was] just trying to get the ball to Donte and got his hand on it, it popped up in the air and [Drayton Florence] made a great catch.
The third one, I just lost track of [Antonio] Cromartie.  That’s what they do, they make you pay.  It’s a difficult defense to play against.  I think they challenge you in a lot of ways.
But at the same time I thought we made enough plays to win and I thought the defense played outstanding.

Q.  What does it mean to be going back to the Super Bowl, for you and for the team?
TOM BRADY:  It’s exciting.  It’s exciting.  You know, there’s been so much energy expended each week with the expectations and the pressure our coach puts on us.  [I’m] glad we have the week off here, regroup a little bit and try to elevate our game for one last performance.  Whoever it is, it’s going to be the toughest game of the season.  I’m glad it’s warm weather but weather won’t be a factor.  Should be exciting.
Every time I’ve played in the Super Bowl, I’ve cherished that and it never gets old and standing up there and accepting the Lamar Hunt Trophy for the team for the fourth time is pretty outstanding.

Q.  As tight as this game was for a while, is there a comfort that you’ve won a lot of these kinds of games?
TOM BRADY:  It’s nice to know you can win the close ones.  It’s nice to know you can win the ones when you face some adversity and you’ve got to be mentally tough.  It’s nice to have the blowouts, too.
Any way you get the win is great.  I think you come into a game like this, you want to play your best and I don’t think we necessarily played our best but at the same time, you have a chance to redeem yourself and play in the biggest game of the year.
It was so disappointing last season.  I remember leaving the bus at Indianapolis and just reflecting on how close we were and how disappointing it was knowing that there was another team that was going instead of us.  And now we can look at where we are now and be proud of what we’ve accomplished thus far but realize there’s a greater challenge ahead.

Q.  What does it say about you and your offense that you can bounce back from a tough day and pull it out when you have to?
TOM BRADY:  I think we have really found ways to overcome some adversity in the season.  We’ve had some games come down to two minute drives.  I don’t think we played as well as we were capable.  We couldn’t just get drives going.  It just felt like everything was a struggle today.
They made some plays early and really got some momentum, and I think we got a better feel.  We really ran the ball well, especially late in the game.  I don’t know how much time we had when we got the ball there at the end, seven minutes or eight minutes   9:13, to not let them get the ball back is pretty impressive to do against a defense that has been playing great all day.  They are a very physical defense, and Kevin [Faulk] made some huge third down conversions.  Laurence ran the ball extremely well.  That’s what we needed.

Q.  Can you talk about the tight formations in the second half, why that worked well?
TOM BRADY:  We were just trying everything.  We were struggling a little bit early and I think we put the big guys on the field, tried to run the ball and got Laurence going a little bit.

Q.  How about your defense and what they did to keep them out of the end zone, especially after you turned the ball over a couple times?
TOM BRADY:  Yeah, a great performance by the team and the defense.  To hold the Chargers to field goals was extremely important.  We always had the lead there, and the mentality is that when you’re always winning, you just don’t feel like you need to press when you go out there because you have the lead, and I think the defense was just exceptional today.  I hope they play that way in a couple of weeks.

Q.  Before CBS signed off today, Phil Simms said he didn’t think he would ever see the day when an NFL team went 18 0.  Did you ever think you would see that day?
TOM BRADY:  You know, I never really thought about that.  I think you enter the season and you’re hoping to put together a bunch of great wins, and you realize there’s challenges every step of the way.  And to not have a letdown like most teams have   we had a few letdowns or times where we didn’t play our best but we overcame them.  18 0 is a great feeling.

Q.  Talk about Junior [Seau] and what he brings?
TOM BRADY:  Junior is 100 percent emotion, I wasn’t in here for most of what he said but I’m sure it was emotional.
I think he’s got a lot of wisdom and a lot of experience, and he’s an extremely mature man who has been through some tough times.  And the excitement of getting to the Super Bowl early in his career   he sets the tone in practice.  You would think he’s trying to find his way on to the active roster the way he practices.  It’s exciting for us to be around a guy like that, to learn from him and to understand what it takes and to do everything you can do to help the team win.

Q.  What is it about the their defense?
TOM BRADY:  That’s just what they do.  The balls   I don’t know what [Quentin Jammer’s] vertical is, but he got up there on that one and made a great play on the first interception.  And then Cromartie, like I said, any time you throw the ball in his area, he has great ball skills and intercepted that one.  When the ball is in the air, they usually get their hands on it and when they get their hands on it, they usually don’t drop it.

Q.  Can you talk about the context of the year and all of the things coming up around the team, does it make the win mean more?
TOM BRADY:  It’s been an emotional season coming down the stretch, it feels like it just builds and builds and builds.  We clinched the first round bye late in the season and still had to find ways to motivate ourselves.  The Giants game was an extremely emotional game and one that [we] won at the end, then we had to wait two weeks to play Jacksonville and then another long week to play this one.
I think everybody could use a little bit of rest and just to recover a little bit and try to get as ready as we can for this last one.  This will be a very emotional game, I can promise you that, and then we’re all looking forward to a vacation.

Q.  Did you sense the team was a little flat, your team?
TOM BRADY:  I just don’t think we executed as well as I thought we were capable.  I thought the energy was there, the emotion was there.  We just didn’t perform the way that I thought we were capable.
But, you know, we found ways to put the ball in the end zone, got some turnovers from our defense and they played extremely well.  I know the defense wasn’t flat.  They played great.  The special teams played great.  Offensively we just couldn’t really get the drives started and that became a bit of a problem.  But we made enough plays in the end.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports ...

Pats win AFC Title!

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

GAME NOTES—PATRIOTS vs. SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

AFC Championship Game - January 20, 2008

PATRIOTS EARN FIFTH CONFERENCE TITLE OF KRAFT ERA
The Patriots have won their fifth conference championship since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994. New England’s five conference titles over that span are more than twice as many as any other NFL club over that span. Denver, Green Bay, Pittsburgh and St. Louis are tied for second with two conference titles apiece since 1994 (pending the outcome of tonight’s Packers-Giants NFC Championship Game). Since Kraft purchased the team, the Patriots lead the NFL in overall victories (162), overall winning percentage (162-85, .656), Super Bowl victories (3), conference championships (5), playoff victories (17), playoff games played (23) and playoff winning percentage (17-6, .739). Dating back to the 1996 season, the Patriots have now won five conference championships in the last 12 seasons. New England has won four AFC titles in the last seven seasons (2001-07) and three AFC Championships in the last five seasons (2003-07).

PATRIOTS’ FIVE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP BERTHS SINCE 1994 ARE SECOND HIGHEST TOTAL IN MAJOR AMERICAN SPORTS
The Patriots will go to their fifth Super Bowl since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994, marking the second highest number of league championship appearances over that span among all NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL teams. Among those major American sports leagues, only the New York Yankees, with six World Series trips over that span, have made more league championship appearances than the Patriots since 1994.

PATRIOTS WIN SIXTH AFC CHAMPIONSHIP

With their victory in today’s AFC Championship Game, the Patriots have won their sixth AFC Championship and will go to the Super Bowl for the sixth time. New England’s six Super Bowl berths tie the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos for the second highest all-time total, trailing only the Dallas Cowboys’ NFL-record eight Super Bowl trips. Over the last quarter-century, the Patriots’ six Super Bowl appearances are more than any other team.

ALL-TIME SUPER BOWL APPEARANCES

(Since 1966)
Team   Conference     No.

Dallas Cowboys N     8
New England Patriots   A     6
Denver Broncos A     6
Pittsburgh Steelers   A     6
Miami Dolphins A     5
Oakland/L.A. Raiders   A     5
San Francisco 49ers   N     5
Washington Redskins   N     5

SUPER BOWL APPEARANCES IN LAST 25 YRS

(Last 25 years, 1983-2007)

Team   Conference     No.
New England Patriots   A     6
Denver Broncos A     5
Buffalo Bills   A     4
San Francisco 49ers   N     4

PATRIOTS TIE ALL-TIME NFL RECORD FOR OVERALL VICTORIES IN A SEASON

The Patriots improved to 18-0 this season, tying the NFL’s all-time record for most overall victories in a season (regular-season and playoffs combined). New England joins the 1984 San Francisco 49ers and the 1985 Chicago Bears as the only teams in NFL history to win 18 games in a single season. The 1984 49ers and the 1985 Bears both went 15-1 in the regular season and won three playoff games to earn Super Bowl championships. The Patriots’ 18 wins have set a franchise record, surpassing the 17 overall victories by the 2003 and 2004 Patriots (14 regular-season wins and three playoff victories).

PATRIOTS IMPROVE TO 11-1 ALL-TIME IN HOME PLAYOFF GAMES

The Patriots improved to 11-1 (.917) in home playoff games, improving upon the best home playoff record in NFL history (minimum three games played). The Green Bay Packers rank second with a 14-2 (.875) record, pending the result of tonight’s NFC Championship Game. The Patriots have won their 11th consecutive home playoff game, extending the second longest home playoff winning streak in NFL history. The Patriots trail only the Packers’ NFL-record 13 straight home playoff wins from 1939-2001.

PATRIOTS IMPROVE TO 6-1 ALL-TIME IN AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

The Patriots improved to 6-1 (.857) in AFC Championship Games, giving them the highest conference championship winning percentage of any NFL team in the Super Bowl Era (minimum five appearances). The Washington Redskins rank second with a 5-1 (.833) record in conference title games. The Patriots improved to 3-0 at home in the AFC Championship Games, with today’s victory over San Diego joining a 20-6 win over Jacksonville at Foxboro Stadium on Jan. 12, 1997 and a 24-14 win over Indianapolis at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 18, 2004.

 

PATRIOTS IMPROVE TO 21-12 ALL-TIME IN PLAYOFFS; SAME AS TODAY’S FINAL SCORE (21-12)

The Patriots improved their overall playoff record to 21-12 (.636), the second best playoff record in NFL history (minimum 10 games). Green Bay ranks first with a 25-14 (.641) overall record, pending the result of tonight’s NFC Championship Game. New England’s 21-12 all-time playoff record mirrors the score in today’s AFC Championship Game, where the Patriots beat the Chargers 21-12.

BELICHICK WINS FOURTH CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP AS HEAD COACH

Bill Belichick has won his fourth conference championship as a head coach and is the eighth head coach in NFL history to lead his team to four Super Bowls. Only Don Shula (6) and Tom Landry (5) have directed their teams to more Super Bowls. Belichick has won three Super Bowl titles as a head coach and is one of four head coaches to win three or more Super Bowls, joining Chuck Noll (4), Bill Walsh (3) and Joe Gibbs (3). The Patriots’ victory over the Chargers in the AFC Championship Game was Belichick’s 15th career playoff victory, a total that ranks fifth all-time. Belichick’s career playoff record of 15-3 (.833) is the second-best in NFL history, trailing only Vince Lombardi (9-1, .900).

 

COLDEST PATRIOTS GAME SINCE 2004 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP

The temperature at kickoff of today’s game was 23 degrees with a wind chill of nine degrees. It is the coldest kickoff temperature for a Patriots game since the 2004 AFC Championship Game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, when the kickoff temperature was 11 degrees with a wind chill of minus-one degree (Jan. 23, 2005). Today’s kickoff temperature marks the coldest Patriots home game since the a 2003 divisional playoff game against Tennessee, when the temperature was four degrees with a wind chill of minus-10 (Jan. 10, 2004). Today’s kickoff temperature of 23 degrees ties a Dec. 27, 1992 game against Miami as the seventh-coldest home game in Patriots history. With their victory today, the Patriots improved to 16-1 since 1993 when the kickoff temperature is 30 degrees or less.

BRADY RECORDS 100th OVERALL VICTORY

Tom Brady recorded his 100th overall victory, including regular-season and playoff games. His overall record now stands at 100-26 (.794), including an 86-24 (.782) regular-season record and a 14-2 (.875) playoff record. Brady’s 14-2 (.875) record in playoff games ranks second all-time among signal callers who have made at least 10 playoff starts, trailing only Bart Starr’s 9-1 (.900) mark for the Green Bay Packers.

WELKER SCORES SECOND TOUCHDOWN IN SECOND CAREER PLAYOFF GAME

Wes Welker scored on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady with 12:15 remaining in the game to give the Patriots a 21-12 lead. Welker, playing in his second career playoff game, scored his second career playoff touchdown. Last week against Jacksonville, he also scored on a 6-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter. Welker caught a career-best eight touchdowns in the 2007 regular season, a total that ranked second on the team. Entering this season, Welker had caught one career touchdown pass in 47 career games.

GAFFNEY SCORES THIRD PLAYOFF TOUCHDOWN IN FIVE CAREER PLAYOFF GAMES

Jabar Gaffney gave the Patriots a 14-6 lead on a 12-yard touchdown reception from Tom Brady in the second quarter. The touchdown reception was the third of Gaffney’s playoff career and his first of the 2007 playoffs. Last season, Gaffney caught one touchdown pass in each of the Patriots’ final two playoff games, including a six-yard scoring grab in last season’s divisional playoff victory over San Diego. In the 2007 regular season, Gaffney totaled a career-high five touchdown receptions.

MARONEY SCORES TOUCHDOWN FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT GAME

Laurence Maroney scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 7-3 lead. The touchdown was Maroney’s second in as many playoff games this season and marked his fifth consecutive game with a touchdown, including the final three regular-season games of the 2007 season and both of this season’s playoff games. Maroney’s five straight games with a rushing touchdown tie the third longest such streak in team history. Only Curtis Martin (seven straight games in 1996) and Robert Edwards (six straight games in 1998) have scored rushing touchdowns in more consecutive games for the Patriots.

SAMUEL INTERCEPTION SETS UP TOUCHDOWN

Asante Samuel intercepted a Philip Rivers pass intended for Chris Chambers in the second quarter and returned the interception 10 yards to give the Patriots possession on the Chargers’ 24-yard line and set up Jabar Gaffney’s 12-yard touchdown reception that gave the Patriots a 14-6 lead. The interception was the fifth of Samuel’s 13-game playoff career. His five playoff interceptions rank second in Patriots history, trailing only Rodney Harrison’s team-record seven playoff interceptions. Samuel has five interceptions in his last seven playoff games dating back to the 2005 season.

SEAU RECORDS SECOND CAREER PLAYOFF SACK, FIRST SINCE SUPER BOWL XXIX

Junior Seau sacked Philip Rivers for a four-yard sack on third down in the first quarter, forcing a San Diego punt on the next play. The sack was the second of Seau’s eight-game playoff career can was his first playoff sack since Jan. 29, 1995, when he sacked San Francisco’s Steve Young in Super Bowl XXIX while playing for the San Diego Chargers. In the third quarter, Seau came up with another big play when he stopped Michael Turner for a 2-yard loss on third-and-1 from the 4-yard line, forcing a Chargers field goal.

HOBBS RECORDS FIRST CAREER PLAYOFF INTERCEPTION

Ellis Hobbs intercepted a Philip Rivers pass in the second quarter, recording his first career playoff interception. Hobbs’s first playoff interception came in his seventh career playoff game. His only interception of the 2007 regular season came in the finale against the New York Giants, and Hobbs now has two interceptions in his last three regular-season and playoff contests.

QUICK HITS

·    Tedy Bruschi played in his 21st career playoff game today. He has passed Troy Brown (20 playoff games) for the most playoff games
played in Patriots history. Jerry Rice holds the NFL record with 29 career playoff games played.

·    Randy Moss recorded a 14-yard rush in the first quarter. It was Moss’s first rushing attempt since 2003 and was the first rushing attempt of his 10-game playoff career.

·    Tedy Bruschi broke up a pass intended for Antonio Gates at the goal line with San Diego facing a second-and-goal in the second quarter, helping to force a field goal two plays later.

·    Kelley Washington leapt into the air and saved a Chris Hanson punt from going into the end zone for a touchback in the second quarter, allowing Kyle Eckel to down the ball at the Chargers’ 4-yard line.

·    The Patriots improved their all-time record to 16-1 when leading at halftime in the playoffs.

·    Kevin Faulk led the Patriots with eight receptions for 82 yards. His 82 receiving yards mark the highest total of his 16-game playoff career. His previous playoff career high was 45 receiving yards, achieved on Jan. 7, 2006 in a wild card round victory over Jacksonville.

SUPER PERFORMANCES

The Patriots will play in their sixth Super Bowl, joining three other teams (Dallas, Denver and Pittsburgh) with at least six Super Bowl appearances. New England’s six Super Bowl are tied with Denver and Pittsburgh, trailing only Dallas’s eight berths for the most all-time. The Patriots are 3-2 in their previous five Super Bowl appearances

PATRIOTS IN THE SUPER BOWL (3-2)

Date   Game   Opponent     Site   W/L   Score

02/3/08 XLII   GB/NYG Univ. of Phoenix Stadium     ?    ??-??

02/06/05     XXXIX   Philadelphia   Alltel Stadium W     24-21

02/01/04     XXXVIII Carolina     Reliant Stadium W     32-29

02/03/02     XXXVI   St. Louis     Louisiana Superdome   W     20-17

01/26/97     XXXI   Green Bay     Louisiana Superdome   L     21-35

01/26/86     XX     Chicago Louisiana Superdome   L     10-46

 

 

 

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Brady, Watson, Thomas comments Pre Chargers

Courtesy of The New England Patriots

QB TOM BRADY

Press Conference

January 16, 2008

Q: Can you talk about Randy Moss and the things that have surprised you about him this year?

TB: I’ve said over and over again that I think he’s an incredibly smart player and I think that’s what separates him. He’s got great awareness on the field in terms of what he sees, and he’s obviously gifted physically, there’s no doubt about that. I think everybody can see that. For someone to have his size and his speed and his ability to stop and cut and track the football, [and to have] incredible hands—But I think the thing that—There’s a lot of guys like that, but I think he takes it to the next level because of his awareness and anticipation of when the ball is going to be thrown and timing the routes and how defenses are choosing to play him and how to set defensive backs up. There’re a lot of things, a lot of things that it takes to be a great receiver, and he has a lot of those traits.

Q: During the offseason, anybody could have had him for virtually a song.  Were you guys at all apprehensive given his reputation?

TB: No, I wasn’t at all. I wasn’t. I had met Randy on a few occasions and always had a very pleasant experience with him, so I try not to prejudge anybody or stereotype anybody because that’s what someone else might think. I kind of let the relationship develop as it has and we have a great relationship. We have a lot of things in common even though we’re from very different backgrounds. We both enjoy playing football and I think that’s the overriding characteristic with a lot of players in this locker room, and that you fit in real well here if you listen to your coaching and you do your job and you play hard and put the team first. So anybody can really fit in here if that’s what you choose to be about.

Q: After one of Laurence Maroney’s good games late in the year you said you hoped he used it as a springboard for confidence. Do you think he’s done that?

TB: He played a great game last weekend and I think he has played really well down the stretch. I think anytime, as a second-year player, everyone expects such high expectations for him because you can see his ability to carry the football and be explosive in the running game like he has been at times throughout the past two seasons. I think he’s just got more leadership now, I think he’s got more awareness as a player, he’s grown up a little bit. I think that always helps for all rookies. He’s been in and out a little bit this year and he’s finding his rhythm now, so it’s an important time of the year to do that when the weather is colder and it’s a little more challenging to throw the ball. Especially with the threats I think that we have on the outside of the field, Laurence can really take advantage when we get those one-on-one match-ups in the run game.

Q: After last week’s win you mentioned last year’s AFC Championship game. How many times in the last year have you let yourself think about that?

TB: I think it comes up throughout the entire offseason every time you’re thinking about the season before, that’s all you really have to go on. The nice part is once the season starts and training camp starts and we get into the regular season, you kind of put your focus where it needs to be, which is on the opponent you’re facing. Hopefully, we learned some valuable lessons from that game last year. This is the fifth AFC Championship game that we’ve been in in the last seven years, so there are players that have been a part of lot of those teams and we’re going to try to use what we’ve learned in the past to our advantage, wins or losses, but it’s going to be very challenging. We’re playing probably the best team in football over the last eight weeks of the season, so we’ve got to play our best game.

Q: As cold as it’s supposed to be on Sunday, how much does that affect the passing game?

TB: I think anytime the cold weather—It’s fortunate, I think, we practice in it and we get used to hand warmers and wearing extra gloves and shirts and clothes and long johns and stuff like that. We just try to dress warm and deal with it and be a little more mentally tough than the weather. The opponent on Sunday is San Diego. It’s not the weather and it’s not the referees and it’s not the crowd; it’s San Diego. And the only thing we can really control is our preparation.

The weather is what it is and it is for both teams, and I think that we’ve come to expect that late in the season with cold weather conditions. Hopefully we’ve been in it long enough that it’s not much of a factor. We just have to go out and play our best against a good defense.

Q: You have always been very confident in yourself, but have you exceeded even your own high expectations?

TB: I think each year has been very different, and this year has been different than the previous years I’ve been here.  [I’ve] been surrounded by great teams since I’ve been here and great coaching, and the way the receivers have played this year and the way the offensive line has played—As a quarterback, it’s great when you just have to worry about you, and I’ve said that over and over again. I just have to have to do my job. I have to drop back and find the open guys and throw it to him and I know that the guys around me are going to protect [me] and the receivers are going to get open. And the running backs will keep us in manageable down and distances on early downs, so even when we get to third downs and they know you’re going to throw…it’s not like it’s third-and-12 all day. I’ve got great confidence in the players around me and I know we have confidence as an offense that we can score points. It’s a very challenging defense that we’re going to face. They’ve got 48 turnovers this season, averaging three a game, they’ve got five in the playoffs, [they’ve] given up 13 points a game in the last eight weeks, and have been undefeated since Thanksgiving. They’ve got 22 sacks between [Shawne] Merriman and [Shaun] Phillips and I think 42 sacks as a team. [They’re] number one in turnover differential. They’re very healthy on defense; they’ve got everybody there. They’ve got depth at corner, they can rush the passer, they’ve got linebackers who are athletic and powerful to stop the run, one of the best nose guards in football, so this defense will challenge you more than any defense we’ve faced all year. They’re a very different team than we faced, whenever it was, in week two, and I hope we play as well as we can. That’s the only way I think we’re going to be able to advance through this round, is to play our best football.

Q: Is there anything in particular you’ve noticed about Laurence Maroney in the last three or four games that you would attribute his success to?

TB: I think he’s probably just had more opportunity. I think he’s gotten the ball more and I think there have been chances for him to run. We had a few weeks there without any tight ends, so if you try to draw up a bunch of plays with no tight ends, running the ball, it’s challenging. He’s got much more of an opportunity now when you can have a tight end in the game and you can have kind of your full menu of runs, and he’s taking advantage of that. He’s making a lot of guys miss, too. He’s running with power, he’s running with quickness, he’s running—-he’s always had very good vision, so he’s been a huge help to this offense in the last half of this season. He was early in the year, but like I said, now I think he’s especially getting the touches that we all want him to get.

Q: Can you talk about Ben Watson and what it’s meant to you to have him in there?

TB: Every time Ben’s in there, he’s making plays. He had two touchdowns last week and he’s one of those guys that’s been in and out for the last half of the year. [He] hurt his ankle early in the season against Dallas and he’s been fighting that all season and again [against] Pittsburgh. He’s a very mentally tough player and I think his role in the offense is what he makes of it. When he has the opportunity to make plays, he does, and he’s dangerous as a player—He’s dangerous because he’s got speed to run faster than most linebackers and he’s got enough power and strength to run through most defensive backs. I think that’s how you create mismatches at the tight end position. And to work the middle of the field, like I said, when you have Randy and Donte’ [Stallworth] and Jab [Jabar Gaffney] on the outside, you need those inside players to complement that and Ben certainly does and Wes [Welker] does too, so that’s a good tandem to have in there.

Q: How tough has the Chargers’ pass rush been the last few times you’ve played them?

TB: Yeah, last year’s divisional game, that was as tough of a game—I remember firing the ball in there for three-yard gains. There was one series if the first half that I had—We completed three balls and gained like eight yards, just trying to rifle it in there and not gaining any yards. I thought early in the year we executed better against them, but it’s a very dynamic pass rushing team and I think all these guys can pass rush. They blitz half of the plays and [with] a 34 defense it’s hard to figure out where they’re coming from and they rush safeties and they rush—all those linebackers are good blitzes. They do a bunch of things defensively that challenge you and we need our best week of preparation.

Q: Can you talk about the job the offensive line has done this year? You seem to have a really good relationship with those guys.

TB: Yeah? It appears that way? They’re a great group and I think the thing that has been so important to us this season is that they have been healthy, and they have played each game. [Dan] Koppen and Logan [Mankins] and [Matt] Light have been there and Steve [Neal] has been healthier and Nick [Kaczur] has done a great job. We have great depth and great coaching; so the longer they’re together the more they communicate. Ultimately I think that’s the better—That where you find the better units throughout the league. The teams and the guys that are together to kind of stand up to those difficult tests each week that we face.

Q: It seemed like you tried to help them out against Jacksonville.

TB: No, I ‘m just trying not to get killed out there.

 

 

TE BENJAMIN WATSON

Press Conference

January 16, 2008

Q: Can you talk about the guy who just left?

BW: He’s been talking to you already for a long time. What can I say that you don’t already know?

Q: Just his play last week - He’s just elevated it again and again.

BW: Since I’ve been here, four years, he’s the leader of this team, the leader of the offense. You see how he carries himself. The number one thing to me is he cares about each player individually as a person. It’s not just always football - although that’s a big part of it. But he’s a great leader and you see how he plays. We’ve come to expect him to play well and to perform well, and he never lets us down. He’s always calm, but you see him on the sideline when he gets kind of riled up, encouraging us an offense to get in the next series.

Q: Can you talk about the year you’ve had?

BW: It’s been a great year. It’s been fun playing with these guys every Sunday - sometimes Saturday. [I’ve] had a couple of injuries with the ankle and everything—those are always tough to work through, but it’s been a great year and it’s not over yet, which is the main thing. We’re still pushing. We still hopefully have a few weeks to go, so we’ll focus on this week.

Q: This was a record-setting season for the passing game, league-wide. One of the big things is yards after catch were stronger this year across the league. As an offensive player, is that because of the kinds of defenses that are being played or the rules?

BW: It’s probably a little combination of both. We like to think on offense we’re becoming better athletes on offense, I don’t know, so we’re breaking more tackles. I don’t know, but it’s probably a combination of the zone coverages, of players just getting that ball and turning it upfield. [It] may be some of the rules, but I think if you look over the history of football you’ll see where sometimes there’s more yards after catch, less yards after catch, more passing, more running, depending on the year, depending on the team’s strength, depending on weather that year. You might look next year and it may be more of a running year.

Q: If you play the way you did against Jacksonville, will that be enough to get you past the Chargers?

BW: If we play better than we did. The Chargers are a great team and that’s why we’re playing them in this game. They deserve to be there. They do all of those things - rushing the passer, run the ball well, throw the ball well - they do a lot of good things. We know as a team we’re going to have to play better than we did against Jacksonville in order to beat them.

Q: While you were out and hurt and so was Kyle Brady, was it strange to watch an offense running without any tight ends?

BW: It was, but I think that’s a tribute to the guys we have in the locker room and the coaches. There’s no one person that, as an offense, we can’t move the ball without. Somebody goes down, somebody steps up and the coaches formulate a new game plan so that we can keep going. It’s always tough to watch a game when you’re not playing in it, especially when there’s no tight ends, since that’s my position, of course, but the show goes on. The train goes on and the guys did a great job while we weren’t in there.

Q: You guys have a lot of championship game experience. How much does that help the week before, just knowing what to expect?

BW: It helps a great deal. We talked about Tom earlier. He’s been in this situation a lot of times before [and] he’s not the only one that’s been in this situation. Just knowing how to prepare [helps]. We have a coaching staff who’s been in this situation plenty of times, so they know how to motivate us, how to prepare for big games. It definitely helps being there before, but at the same time this is a new season, this is a new team we’re playing at this point in this game in the playoffs. [There are] new players on both teams, so it’s going to come down to whoever performs the best on Sunday and whoever prepares the best during the week.

Q: What’s a good example of what your role can be in this offense when teams look to take out other guys?

BW: As far as my role, it changes every week and I think everybody’s does, to a certain extent, depending on the coverages, depending on the game plan. There’s obviously players that you expect that are going to put up certain numbers, but if you look at our team since I’ve been here there’s always been guys that have had lower production games, higher production games - it just kind of changes. Defenses are different, teams we play are different, so the main thing is always be prepared so when your number is called, when it’s your time, you’re ready to make the play.

Q: Because of the stakes this week, because this game is for a trip to the Super Bowl, is it easier to put 17-0 aside?

BW: Yes, because now it’s just 1-0 and they’re, what, 2-0, so they have a better record than us, actually. But this is a totally new season. The end of that was the Giants game and that’s over. We’re moving on. This is a totally new season. We’d better put it behind us or else we’ll be done on Sunday, so we have to go out there and just take it one day at a time and not worry about the past.

Q: As cold as it’s going to be Sunday, does that make it harder to catch the ball?

BW: How cold is it going to be?

Q: 15.

BW: Oh, gosh. I’m praying that the lord changes the weather. It makes it tough, but everybody has to play in it. It’s going to be two teams out there playing whether it’s 100 degrees or zero degrees, so you kind of throw the weather thing out. Both of us have to deal with it.

Q: Have you talked to Laurence Maroney about expectations at all? Has he come to you to ask you about that?

BW: Not myself personally. He hasn’t come to me to ask about the expectations, but I think as a group, as a team, as an organization we kind of - one of our main things is managing those expectations, so if any individual player is projected to do more than he does or does more than he’s supposed to do, we always try to keep a level head about things - not get too high, not get too low no matter what happens. That’s the thing - with football there’s always a new game, there’s always a new week, there’s always another chance for you to do well, so you just wait for that chance to come.

Q: How much do you guys think back to last year when you had the same opportunity? Is that motivation for you guys, that you didn’t finish the job?

BW: You definitely remember. It seems like it was yesterday we were at Indy and we all know how that ended up, but you kind of put that out of your mind and realize that this is a totally new team we’re playing, a totally new year, a totally new situation. We kind of brush that to the side and hopefully we’ll come out better this time.

Q: On the first touchdown you scored last week, it looked like the coverage was pretty good. Can you talk about the adjustment you and Tom Brady had to make on the fly to make that work?

BW: A lot of times, especially when you get in the red zone, there are tight windows to get the ball in and it comes down to a familiarity with the guy throwing the football. Sometimes when you’re covered, you can look back at the quarterback and he gives you a nod or a wink or you just kind of know what to do if you’re covered for a certain amount of time. Basically it was just I knew I was covered and just kind of uncovered, and Tom put it in a spot where only I could get it.

Q: Instinctively, how did you know to all of a sudden turn that way?

BW: I can’t even really explain it. Some things just kind of happen during the course of a game. It’s just one of those time clocks you have in your head. You know he only has so much time and so then when you look back if he hasn’t thrown the ball yet, you know it’s time to uncover and get open. That’s basically what happened.

 

LB ADALIUS THOMAS

Press Conference

January 16, 2008

 

Q: Can you talk about the magnitude of this game, the game before the Super Bowl?

AT: Really, it is just the next game. You don’t really look at it as the game before the Super Bowl or anything. It is a big game because of the implications that are on the game, but you just go about it the same way.  Same thing that won in the regular season and last week; it will be the same thing this week, playing good defense and special teams and good offense.

Q: A lot of people think part of the reason you were brought in was because the Patriots didn’t get the job done against the Colts last year in this game. What are you thoughts about this team? Is not getting the job done last year motivation?

AT: I only speak for myself. I know that is motivation. To be at the same point you were last year, I have never been in that situation or to lose an AFC Championship game. I know that it is heartbreaking; that is tough because you work so hard to get there. And so again, you are in the same position as last year, this being my first year. So you leave nothing unturned. You make sure you study and do all the things that you can do that are possible and you just go from there.

Q: You talked about this as “just the next game” and you guys have talked about that all year. Do you think treating each game the same is what separates this team from other teams?

AT: I really don’t know how other teams approach it, but I know that is one thing that we do here. We put all of our focus and energy on the team that we are facing, regardless of who it is and regardless of what their record is. We never overlook anyone and we never disrespect anyone, so the fact that you go in and put all your focus on the task at hand and not worry about the next week or last week or anything like that—I think that gives you the best chance to win.

Q: Sort of like you’re approaching every game as a playoff game?

AT: Kind of. I guess you could say that because there is nothing that you can do about last week or next week. The only thing you can really do is go out and prepare and practice today and practice will worry about itself tomorrow, and I think that is just the way we go about things. We aren’t in practice or in the game talking about next week. You cant really do that because your focus and energy are not channeled in the right direction. I think as a team effort, guys coaches and all are just really focusing on the task at hand because it is win or go home. So you if you are worrying about next week, next week will worry about itself. [We’re] just really focusing on the Chargers and the challenges that they bring to us and they bring a lot of those.

Q: Is it a challenge to have the possibility of facing either Billy Volek or Phillip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson or Michael Turner?

AT: No, I don’t think it is a challenge from the standpoint that they run their offense. It’s not like it’s a totally different offense if Volek comes in or Turner comes in. Both of those guys did a great job last week. [They] came in and didn’t miss a beat, didn’t miss a beat. They came in and Turner ran the ball well, Volek did the things that he needed to do to get them to win. [He] drove them down, got the winning score, scored a touch down. So that right there within itself shows that they have got a lot of confidence in those guys and they get the job done if they have to get in and get it done.

 
Q: Are there certain things you are fixing or fine-tuning on defense?

AT: We’re always fine-tuning. That is one thing about it and I think that is kind of the humble pie thing that you talk about. You get all the praise from the media or your friends and family, but when you go to work, when you come to practice, you work on things that you really need to work on. If something wasn’t done right you correct it, and I think that is any way that you go. You work on your weakness but you are only as good as your weakness, so I think that is one of the things that we do well.

Q: The Chargers have clearly played better in the last eight weeks. What have they done to get them to that point?

AT: First of all, it is new coaches, so that is totally different, and it was earlier in the year.  A lot of teams probably wrote them off along with a lot of other teams that were probably written off, but in September you can’t tell who is a good team or not because it is the beginning of the year, the timing is not down with quarterback and receivers, dealing with a new coaching staff, you may not have the logistics of the scheme.  This team has done a lot of things; Rivers done a great job at quarterback, defense has got the concept of what Ted Cottrell is doing, so they present a lot of challenges and really have stepped up their game and improved these last couple of weeks, since Thanksgiving.

Q: I know you take it one week at a time, but do you at all allow yourself at any moment to just think this is why I am here, to play in a game like this?

 

AT: You definitely savor the moment. I won’t sit here and lie to you and say you don’t think about that. You savor the moment because you never know
when you will get a chance to come back. I did that rookie year: [I] got to this point and haven’t been back since, and so you definitely understand from me going there as a rookie and understanding it now because as a rookie, you are like, “is that all this is?” It’s kind of like, “that little thing?” but now you understand that it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get here, so you definitely want to do all you can to make the most of your moment.

Q: Can you talk about how the linebackers work together, especially the perception of Tedy Bruschi and Junior Seau as being older linebackers?

AT: We work together; it’s ‘backerhood. We sweat with each other, we work hard, we do whatever we need to do to make each other better, communicate, whatever it may be. As far as perception, all the perception I really care about is at the end of the game the score. The perception that the media has or whatever somebody else has, it doesn’t really bother us. We care about what each other thinks in the locker room, how we feel about each other, because those are the people that are on the bandwagon from day one, not jumping on and off. So that’s the only perception we really care about. As long as we are winning, the perception doesn’t really bother us.

Q: Have the dynamics of the linebacker group changed at all since Rosevelt Colvin got injured?

AT: The dynamics? I went to outside, other than that, I don’t think the dynamics—It’s not like we do anything differently since the transition took place, so I don’t’ think the dynamic has changed.

Q: Did you watch Merriman and Phillips last week against the Colts and what can you lean from what they did?

AT: We’re not playing the Colts.

Q: Just, when you look at them, what do you see from those two guys?

AT: They’re two good outside linebackers. They play very well, get a lot of pressure on the quarterback ad make a lot of of big plays, so the offense will definitely have their hands full with those two guys.

Q: When you came here last year, playing in a game like this must have been a part of your thought process.

AT: I didn’t have New England on my radar at this time last year. Again, if you watched the game, then you really don’t know, but after you come here and visit and see the interest, yeah you do think about that, so that is one of the thoughts that you get.

Q: Usually in the playoffs great players come up big in big games. This is the biggest game LaDainian Tomlinson has ever played in, so even if he is injured, does that make him the most dangerous player on the field for San Diego?

AT: I don’t think the game makes that, I think just his ability to break open a game [does]. He can take a screen pass and take it the distance and they have numerous guys who can do that, not just LT. So a lot of times they may use LT to get your attention and do it to [Darren] Sproles or someone else. LT is definitely a great back, so his injury, as far as that goes, I don’t know how that goes, but I’m sure he’ll play. Other than that, I think that he’s going to come and play just like he does every Sunday, not just because it’s the championship game.

 

 

 

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Seymour, Welker, Faulk Interviews pre Chargers Tues

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

DE RICHARD SEYMOUR
Press Conference
January 15, 2008

Q: Can you talk about how good San Diego’s play has been, especially in the second half of the season?

RS: [They’re] definitely one of the best teams in football the season half of the season. It’s definitely not the same team we saw earlier in the year. It’s not the same team that played early in the year. They’re playing their best football at this point and I think if you want to be successful in this league, I think that’s when you have to do it. You have to do it in November, December, January, and they’ve done that.

Q: How impressive was their win over the Colts, especially considering how many guys went down?

RS: I think the Colts said it best: It was a gusty performance and I think when you look at their football team, they’re a team with a lot of depth. They can do a lot of different things. If a guy goes down, they have another guy that can step in and keep the train rolling. We understand the type of football team that we’re facing. We have a lot of respect for this team. They have a lot of good players over there and they’re well-coached.

Q: I’m not going to ask if you’re surprised that San Diego beat Indianapolis, but I am going to ask if it reinforces that on any give day any team can put together a performance to beat any other team.

RS: Absolutely. But, I mean, they’re one of the best teams in the second half of the season, so it doesn’t surprise us that they’re in the AFC Championship. We’re not surprised by what they’ve been able to do. If you just go back and look at the film and look at what they’ve been doing, there’s a reason why they’re here. It definitely can go either way. We’ll tell Sunday who is the best team in the AFC.

Q: Does it mean a lot to you to be playing this game at home as opposed to last year when you played on the road?

RS: Obviously anytime you play, you always want to be at home. You don’t have to travel and just the little things. We’ve put ourselves in a position where we’ve set this up through our play during the year, so that’s definitely a plus for us, but we have to take advantage of this workweek. We have to try to out-prepare this team throughout the week and understand what we’ll be facing come Sunday. This is the game that can take us to where we want to be, to the ultimate goal, so we can’t leave any stone unturned this week. We have to understand what we’re facing, understand the team that we’re going against and do everything in our power to be prepared on Sunday.

Q: You guys have been talking about how San Diego is a different team and they’re much better than when you played them, but how much different are you guys?

RS: You’ve seen what we’ve done. I think everyone has seen what we’ve done, but I think what you’ve done in the past really doesn’t matter. I think when you look at San Diego they’ve made those steps and we’ve made some steps as well. Obviously defensively I think we have to do a better job. We’re going to have our work cut out for us. They’re putting points up on the board and they’re not allowing a lot of points, so if you can put points up on the board and you can have a lot of turnovers defensively, you give yourself an opportunity to win. That’s how they’ve been winning - they create turnovers, they don’t turn the ball over and they put points on the board. They have a lot of talented guys on this side of the ball, so we have our work cut out for us.

Q: The injuries to some of San Diego’s offensive personnel, how does that change your preparation?

RS: Who’s injured?

Q: LaDainian Tomlinson, Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates…

RS: I don’t know who’s hurt. I don’t know who’s injured. I don’t know anything about that. I think who’s hurt are the teams they’re playing against. We understand what we’re facing. We’re not looking at this team and saying are they hurt and this and that. We’re not buying into that. We have a game to get ready for and that’s what we’re going to do.

Q: What would another Super Bowl trip mean for Tom Brady’s legacy?

RS: We’ll have to wait and see. To be determined. To be continued. We’ll see what happens.

Q: This was a record-setting year for quarterbacks. There were more quarterbacks with 4,000 yards than ever before. Do you think the rules—

RS: Yeah, the rules are set up for the offense. Absolutely.

Q: Is it that simple, or…?

RS: It’s that simple. The rules are set up for the offense to put points on the board. They can stiff-arm us, they can do hands to the face, whatever they want to do to us. They can chop-black us, but it’s going to [come] a time where we’re going to have to put a flag on a quarterback. That’s just what it is. That’s what sells this game - points on the board. But defense wins championships. We’ll have to see how it all shakes out.

Q: Did you have a day off yesterday?

RS: I mean, some guys came in and worked out.

Q: What did you do?

RS: I worked out. I worked out, I ran, watched some film, did a little yoga. I try to keep myself ready to go.

Q: So there’s no such thing as a day off at this time of year?

RS: No. You can’t have any days off. I mean, you can rest and kind of mentally enjoy, but no days off right now.

Q: Going back to what you said before, you honestly didn’t know if any of the Chargers players were injured?

RS: I didn’t see anybody hurt.

Q: Did you watch the game last week?

RS: I saw the game last week.

Q: And the Chargers were playing their back-up quarterback.

RS: Yeah, he came in and played.

Q: And it didn’t occur to you that he was hurt?

RS: The only team that’s hurt right now - with all due respect to the Colts - is the Colts, so we’re not buying into “they’re hurt”. Trust me, they’ll be there,
and we expect them to be there. And we’re going to be there, too.

Q: Do you think they’ve put more on Phillip Rivers from earlier in the year, given him more responsibility?

RS: I mean, you can see where his growth as a quarterback - He’s looking guys off, he’s doing a lot of things to give them an opportunity to win. They’re well-rounded. I don’t think you can just put the emphasis on one guy. They’re a total team. Obviously LT [Tomlinson] gets a lot of respect, and rightfully so, but I think every guy that comes in has the opportunity to make you pay. We’re aware of the type of talent that’s on this football team. I think as far as talent is concerned and depth is concerned, they’re one of the elite teams in the league.

Q: The offense and defense on a team usually work together. Sometimes the offense is a kind of defense, as far as ball-control. You have a fast-strike offense. Does that present challenges for you as a defense?

RS: Anytime they get the ball and they can go down and score, that’s what it’s all about. We put them out there to go out and score and our job is to keep other teams out of the end zone. I don’t think we’ve done as… We obviously could have done better, but our offense has done tremendous things for us throughout the year. We’re definitely going to need that come Sunday, because when you look at what we’re facing, you’re facing a really good defense and we have to understand that as a defense ourselves, what our offense is going against. We have to do a good job. This is the game that can put us where we want to be.

Q: How big of a factor is championship game experience? This is your fifth in seven years and you have a lot of guys in that boat.

RS: Yeah, five in seven years.

Q: How much is that a factor?

RS: Obviously I think we have a lot of guys that have played in a lot of big games, but I think it can be overrated as well. I think you have to prepare throughout the week and put in the work and do the little things that it takes to be the champion. I think we have a lot of elements and a lot of guys that understand what we’re up against and I think throughout the week that’s what’s going to be key for us.

Q: What’s more motivating, the success in four of those or the failure last year?

RS: I think a combination of both. I think we understand what happened last year and obviously we want to avoid that. We put ourselves in a good position to do some good things, but we have to wait and see how this thing shakes out.

 

 

WR WES WELKER

Press Conference

January 15, 2008

 

Q: Can you give your thoughts on San Diego’s defense?

WW: They’re a very athletic group. They run around the football really well [and] get to the quarterback really well. They have big, fast, strong defensive backs and we’re definitely going to have our hands full with all of them.

Q: It seems like Antonio Cromartie has made a huge difference there with his play-making. Can you see that on film?

WW: He’s definitely a great player back there. He has great ball skills, he’s really fast and he’s done a great job of shutting some guys down. He’s a ball hawk and he’s definitely making a lot of plays out there for them.

Q: Does the cold weather on Sunday present any special challenges?

WW: I don’t think so. We’ve had some practices where it’s been pretty cold and we’ve gotten some work in those areas, so we just have to make sure we’re out there focusing and looking the ball in, and make sure we’re securing it.

Q: How much pride do you take in the fact that you guys have the fewest interceptions in the league this year?

WW: I think as far as the season goes, it’s something that we wanted to be good at this year and we were able to do it. We just have to keep it going throughout the playoffs.

Q: As far as Tom Brady and his interception rate, what makes him so good about avoiding interceptions? Is it that he’s throwing it to places where only you guys can get the ball?

WW: He’s a smart player. He knows the defenses, he knows where guys are going to be and if we’re not in the right place he’s going to let us know about it and make sure we’re hitting on all cylinders and making things happen.

Q: What do you see about them that caused them to be so good at forcing turnovers?

WW: They’re a physical group and they have a great rush. Their front seven is one of the best out there and on top of that they have defensive backs who get around the football really well and know that they’re going to get a good rush, know they’re going to be able to make some plays on the ball and do a great job of doing that.

Q: Considering where you were at this time last year, what does it mean to you to be in a game to get to the Super Bowl?

WW: You know, I really don’t think about that too much. I’m just kind of concentrating on where we’re at right now and trying to focus on getting ready for this week and making sure I’m doing everything I can to prepare in that regard.

Q: The fans and media nationally are surprised it’s not the Colts this weekend, but listening to you guys and the coach, you guys aren’t surprised that the Chargers beat Indianapolis, are you?

WW: No, not at all. They’ve been the best football team, especially this latter part of the season and they’ve done a great job of winning some games. They’ve blown a lot of people out, especially later on in the season, so they’re playing their best football right now and that’s what you have to do, especially in this league, is play well in December and January.

Q: They are different from the last time you faced them, but how are you guys different? How have you grown as a team?

WW: I think as the season goes on you get more acclimated to the offense or defense or whatever side of the ball you’re playing and you just make sure you’re getting better. That’s what it’s all about. I think every player on every team gets better as the season goes on and hopefully that’s enough for us to be able to come and play well this Sunday.

Q: You played with him in Miami. What can you tell us about Chris Chambers and what he brings to their offense?

WW: Chris is an extreme talent. He goes up and gets the ball really well. He’s going to be ready to play. He’s definitely a force, he has great feet, great hands and [is] a great guy. He’s going to do a great job for them and I know we’re going to definitely have our hands full with him.

Q: How did you spend yesterday? Were you here working out?

WW: How did I spend yesterday? Actually, I was snowed in, so I was back at my house just relaxing and trying to get the body feeling right and get ready to go.

Q: How important is it at this time of year to have those days to have just to yourself?

WW: I think it’s pretty important. Any time you can kind of get away a little bit and just kind of relax and turn off ESPN and everything else - Just kind of chill out and just get away from it all and watch a movie or something, it’s good to have. [It’s] good mentally, really.

Q: The Patriots gave up more to get you than they did Randy Moss - and rightfully so.

WW: You’d be the only person to say that, probably.

Q: The perception of Randy and what you had heard, to a guy who’s happy to get one catch and be able to go to the AFC Championship—Can you talk about that?

WW: Randy’s a complete team player. He understands the game, he understands coverages, he understands everything going on out there and he passes that wisdom down to us. I think he wants everybody to do well. He wants everybody to make plays. It’s less plays that he has to make, when everybody else is. Plus, I think it will open up him whenever other guys are making plays. They can’t put a safety over the top of him all the time when other guys are out there doing some good things out there.

Q: Did you wonder about what he was like when you got him, given the reputation he had?

WW: I mean, I wasn’t trying to pass judgment on anything. You hear what you hear and what the media kind of puts out there, so you don’t really know. As I’ve gotten to know him, he’s been nothing but a great teammate and a great player for us, and he continues to do a great job and continues to want to get better and do great things for the organization, for the team.

Q: How would you describe Tom Brady’s leadership out on the field?

WW: I don’t know, perfect? The guy - In everything he does, it’s to perfection and he kind of holds everybody else to that standard just by the way he works hard and the way he goes and prepares for games. He makes sure that everybody else is pulling their own weight and he does a great job of pulling everybody together and making sure we’re all doing the right things out there.

 

 

RB KEVIN FAULK

Press Conference

January 15, 2008

Q: What are some of the things the Chargers have been able to do to play better in the second half of the season?

KF: Getting turnovers on defense. They are doing a real great job of that. Guys are playing with a lot more intensity—you can tell by the ways guys are moving around on the field. And just the games that they’ve won.

Q: Even though you have led the league in fewest turnovers, is that something you still have to emphasize?

KF: I wish you were in the meeting this morning with Coach. It was the emphasis. He [emphasizes it] every week, the same thing: protecting the ball. Each and every game we go into, the first thing is protecting the ball [and] not giving the other team opportunities to make plays. At this time of the year, everybody is good and everybody wants to capitalize on your turnovers.

Q: (On pass protection)

KF: It’s your job. It doesn’t matter what it is, what you have to do to win. You just do it. I think I said it three or four months ago, it’s just trusting, trusting each other, believing in what the coaches say, believing in what we have to do as teammates and knowing that your teammate is going to do his job.

Q: (On if we are in a golden age of passing offenses)

KF: That’s a hard question. I really couldn’t answer it. It’s a copycat league. Teams see other teams doing other things and they try to copycat a little bit, try to get it done, try to make their team successful. At the same time, guys are getting better, guys are getting smarter, they’re breaking more tackles. There are a lot of different variables with that.

Q: (On the team’s growth process)

KF: Knowing that each and every game that we step into, it is a playoff game, no matter who we’re playing, no matter what team we’re playing, it is a playoff game, because they’re going to give 150 percent to try to beat us as a team.

Q: (On playing at home versus on the road)

KF: It’s always good to play at home. You always want to play in front of your own fans. But at the same time, it’s your job, no matter where the game is, you still have to play it. They’re not going to cancel it because it’s not at your home.

Q: Having been through AFC Championship games, does it help you prepare, knowing what’s ahead?

KF: A little bit. But at the same time, you know as well as I know, the game is played between the lines, and you have to be ready for any and every situation.

Q: How did you spend yesterday?

KF: With my family, my wife and kids.

Q: You didn’t come in?

KF: I always come here. There’s just something about being here. You have to be here.  I come in early every morning, get a couple of things done and just go home [on an off day]. I [live about] three minutes away, so it’s just a hop, skip and a jump.

Q: Is it important to have those days at home this time of year?

KF: It all depends on how you situate yourself, how you evaluate yourself as a person as well as a player. Sometimes it is the best thing to get away for some players. For some players, they love being here. I’m one of them that just has to walk into the locker room, even if there is no one there.

Q: (On what the motivating factor is to win and advance to the Super Bowl)

KF: I think it is more so getting there. I think it’s just getting to the game, knowing how hard it is to just get to that point in the season knowing it is such a long season.

Q: (On Tom Brady’s leadership)

KF: I don’t know if there are enough words to speak about it. Just how hard he works during the offseason. During the season you see it on the field, but during the season we see it a lot. We see it in the weight room when he is conditioning. It all starts during the offseason with Tom.

Q: (On if there is a sense of pride with how well the offense has protected the ball)

KF: The thing about that is, we’re not going to talk about it. It’s just something that we have to do. It’s our job. Just like you asking me a question. It’s your job. We don’t have to talk about it. We just do our job.

Q: Has the team talked at all about the weather forecast?

KF: It’s just going to be cold. We just have to go out there and play. I don’t think San Diego cares either. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. You’re playing in the AFC Championship Game. They’re not going to lie down just because it’s cold outside. They are going to come out and play.

 

Pats Player Interviews Pre Chargers Tuesday

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

WR Jabar Gaffney

(On San Diego’s defense)

Gaffney: They lead the league in turnovers and when they get the ball they usually win. We’ve got to keep it and not give it to them.

(On Patriots being the best in the NFL at not giving the ball up)

Gaffney: We’ll have to be that way this week. Everything is out the window this weekend coming up. Whoever executes the best will be moving on.

 
(On drawing motivation from Shawne Merriman not knowing his name) 

Gaffney: No, he’s alright.

(On QB Tom Brady not throwing many interceptions)

Gaffney: He’s taking what the defense gives him. He goes back, makes his reads and gets rid of the ball.

(On if the San Diego Chargers defense is faster than the Jacksonville Jaguars)

Gaffney: They are very similar. They get the ball out a lot more, so ball security this week and making good decisions will be very important.

(On if the history between these team mean anything)

Gaffney: We know they will be fired up. We won the last two against them. They’re going to come in here with a chip on their shoulder, but we’ll be ready to go, though.

(On if it’s concerning not many give San Diego a chance)

Gaffney: Not really. We’ve looked at the tape. Since Thanksgiving they haven’t lost. They’re a very good team. We’re going to have to bring our best this week.

(On San Diego’s difference from the earlier meeting)

Gaffney: That game was early in September. Right now they’re playing a lot better ball than they were back then.

(On the coaching staff warning not to watch the earlier game against San Diego)

Gaffney: He [Bill Belichick] made that emphasis earlier this morning to say that’s not the same team.  Looking at them they’re not the same team, they’re a lot better and playing real good right now.

TE Kyle Brady

(On the difference in the Chargers from earlier this season)

Brady: They’re playing at a very high level. At that time I think they were figuring some things out. They expressed that themselves, that’s not any breaking news. They were in interviews and expressing some of their frustrations at times. They’ve really got things going at a high level, as evidenced by their record in the last two months of the season.

(On the Charger defense creating turnovers)

Brady: They’re opportunistic and very talented. You’ve got to give them every bit of respect they deserve. They’re making opportunities for themselves and creating opportunities out there, so you’ve got to be at your best against them.

(On Chargers beating the Colts last week and any team winning in any week)

Brady: I wouldn’t say any team can be, I’d say how good they were on that day. They were very good that day. They didn’t make many mistakes. They forced Indy into some mistakes. They’ve been doing that a lot. They’ve created a lot of turnovers this year; I think they’re averaging three a game through the course of the regular season. You’ve got to give them all the respect and understand that it could be you if you’re not careful.

(On the Patriots not being the same team as the first meeting in September)

Brady: My old college coach Joe Paterno (Penn State) used to say ‘You never stay the same. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.’ I think that’s true. Hopefully we’ve managed to find ways to get better in spite of all the various adversities that come to you in the course of the season. You have guys get injured; other guys have to step in sometimes. We’ve had our share of that even though we’ve been fortunate not to get too many serious injuries. Hopefully we’ve done some growing ourselves.

(On the speed of the Chargers defense)

Brady: They are fast. I think they’re a physical defense as well. They are fast and physical so they can be a dangerous group.

(On the Chargers rebounding from their injuries)

Brady: The nature of it now is if you win you keep going if you lose you don’t.  I can imagine that every player that can get on the field on both sides is going to be ready to go.

(On putting out of your mind that the next win puts you in the Super Bowl)

Brady: You need to do your best to. You can’t do a lot to control the outcome; all you can really control is the upcoming play. No matter how great the last play went, not matter how poorly the last play went all you can control is the one that’s called in the huddle. I really try to keep it down to the essentials like that.         

WR Donte’ Stallworth

(On his catch vs. Jacksonville and looking at the JumboTron)

Stallworth: I was looking at the JumboTron the whole way; I should have just peeked up there and just ran but the guy made a good play. We got some points out of it—not seven like we should have but we got some points out of it.

(On feeling good to contribute during your first game as a Patriots)

Stallworth: It’s always good to contribute. You’re contributing no matter what you’re doing, if you’re blocking or whatever, but it’s always good to get your hands on the ball as well, so it was good from that aspect.

(On making a big play vs. Jacksonville)

Stallworth: It’s really just a matter of staying focused. Tommy’s [Tom Brady] going to find you whenever and you never know when that is so you have to stay ready and that’s what I was trying to do.

(On difference in the Chargers from September)

Stallworth: It’s black and white. It’s two different teams. They struggled a little bit early. Bill [Belichick] mentioned it in the meetings don’t get sucked in by what everybody’s telling you. They’ve won more games than anyone—including us—since Thanksgiving. They have the most turnovers of any team since the Baltimore team did in 2000 and we all know what that team ended up doing. Their offense is scoring more points, they’re playing really well. We played Jacksonville last week and they were playing probably the best football and same with the Chargers. They’re playing the best football of anybody else in the league regardless of anything you guys say. It’s going to be a challenge. I don’t know the spread—It doesn’t matter, I don’t keep up with any of that stuff. We know we have a real fight on our hands.   

(On Chargers CB Antonio Cromartie)

Stallworth: He’s a really good athlete. He’s a young guy, but he understands their scheme and what they want to get done. The guy had a hundred interceptions; I think he’s got an extra arm or something. He’s cheating somehow, but he’s making a lot of plays. Like I said we’ve not only got our hands full with not only their secondary, but their whole team.

(On the way the Chargers beating Indianapolis last week)

Stallworth: They played hard. People were thinking about them [San Diego] not being that good of a team and how the beat the Colts. A lot of their key guys were out and they had other guys step in. Me seeing that on a personal note, I think they’re the deepest team in the league, definitely the deepest team of the last four teams in this tournament. Like I said it’s going to be a challenge and they played really well against the defending champions in their place with guys down. That says a lot about that team there. They’re not afraid to go anywhere and play anyone. That’s what that shows me.     

(On paying attention to the Chargers injury report)

Stallworth: It doesn’t matter what you’ve got. If you’re able to see and walk you’ll be playing in this game. We know those guys are going to play in this game. I am going to try to fly to San Diego tonight and [am] probably going to kidnap LaDainian [Tomlinson] and I might have to get Shaun Phillips and (Shawne) Merriman, too. I’m going to have to kidnap both of them, too. I don’t know how I’m going to do it—Anybody want to help me?  Anybody, I’m serious. Y’all are laughing, but I’m serious. Those are great players for that team. We definitely have our hands full. We understand that, we’ve seen the film. Those guys are making plays all over the field, offense, defense and special teams. It’s not a part in their game where they are lacking playmakers or guys that can’t get the job done, so we’ve got our hands full.

FB Heath Evans

(On San Diego’s defense)

Evans: They come at you from every direction. They pick off every pass that comes their way that isn’t perfectly thrown. Their linebackers constantly put pressure on the QBs. That’s a good scheme so we’ve got to be smart this week. 

(On how much San Diego’s changed since the teams’ first meeting)

Evans: There are so many changes. It’s been like three and a half, four months. Same players, playing physically tough as always. I think they’ve just come a long way. They’re going to be tough.

(On being on win away from the Super Bowl)

Evans: That’s what it comes down this time of year. You always want to play one more. If we win, we’ll get that opportunity.

(On the Charger’s adjustments over the second half of the season)

Evans: It’s hard to put a finger on one thing. They’ve just gotten a lot better. Bill [Belichick] told us today it was Jacksonville and San Diego [who] were basically the two best teams in the league from Thanksgiving on. I don’t know [if] you all got the stat sheet we got, he basically proved his point. If he was a trial lawyer today he won by a landslide. If fear is good, he put fear in us by what they’ve accomplished and what they’ve done over the last two months. I always say we have our hands full being in the NFL, but this is the AFC Championship Game and it’s going to be a tough battle.

(On the stats that stand out)

Evans: I wish I was as smart as Bill, but everything from their turnover ratio. I think he said they are 11- or 12-0 when they win the turnover battle. Just that as a running back, it’s more focus on ball security. Everything we can do, catch every ball, don’t let it be a tipped ball. Their third-down percentages, their sacks, if they’re not number one, they are up there in every statistical category.

(On ball security being an emphasis)

Evans: It’s a focus. The coaches make it a strong point here, because it’s something we practice every single day. It’s just being aware that you’ve got the life of the team in your hands when you’re carrying the ball. It’s definitely a priority that’s focused on around here.

(On the weather being a factor for the Chargers)

Evans: I’m from Florida; I can handle the weather. They’ll handle the weather. I’ve said it before, sometimes we wish we could play the weather, because that’s pretty easy to beat, you can get warm. It’s playing a tough team like this that’s going to create the issues.

 

Belichick Tuesday Chargers Preview

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

COACH BELICHICK

Press Conference

January 15, 2008

 
BB: As I said the other day on the conference call, it’s a privilege for the New England Patriots and our football team [to play] for the AFC Conference Championship. Obviously it’s a huge game and a huge honor to be involved in the game. There’s so much at stake [and] a lot of hard work and a lot of wins have gone into this season on both sides. I really feel like we’re playing the best team in the AFC, and San Diego—certainly in the second half of the year—they’re an outstanding football team in every stage of the game. They have great talent, they have great production in every phase of the game [and] they’re well-coached. I think that Norv [Turner] and A.J. [Smith] have done a tremendous job putting this team together and they’re playing as well as you can play right now. I thought that in the second half of the year Jacksonville and San Diego, statistically, have really dominated the league and that’s certainly true. San Diego scores a lot; they’re averaging almost 30 points a game, giving up 13, 12, whatever it is. [They’re] outstanding on special teams. They have a very experienced group of players, as well as some young guys in there, some great depth on both sides of the ball in all areas: linemen, linebackers, tight ends, running backs, skill players, special teams. I think they match up well with everybody they’ve played and I think that’s been reflected in their record since Thanksgiving, which is really when you want to be playing your best football. I would say that they are certainly doing that. [They’re] a tremendous football team, they had two outstanding playoff wins against two other good football teams and I know we’re going to have to be at our best on Sunday to be able to compete with them. They do a lot of things well. They’re just—They’re outstanding all the way across the board.

Q: You alluded to it, but how different is this Chargers team than the one you faced in September?

BB: They’re a lot better. They’re doing things a lot better. I don’t think they’ve schematically made any big changes, but they’re executing very well. They’ve made a few personnel changes: they traded for [Chris] Chambers, they put [Jeromy] Clary in there, they put [Antonio] Cromartie in there, and they made changes they wanted to make. But as I said, [in] the second half of the season, they’ve been better than everybody. They’re tough, all the way across the board. I think what happened back in September has no bearing on this week. This week will be about what happens between today and Sunday.

Q: What does Chambers add to this offense that you have to prepare for?

BB: They’ve gotten a lot of production out of their receivers: [Buster] Davis, [Vincent] Jackson and Chambers. And Chambers—We know what kind of athlete he is [and] what kind of receiver he is from Miami, of course, and so did Norv, that’s why they traded for him. He gives them big play ability, he gives then run after the catch ability, he’s a good blocker, he’s a smart guy, he can do it all. And Jackson has stepped up big for them, so they’ve gotten a lot of production out of their receivers as well as their tight ends, their running backs, I mean, everybody produced, just like what happened in Indianapolis: they got contributions from everybody.

Q: The weather forecast for Sunday is supposed to be high of 16—

BB: I’m not really too worried about the weather. I’m worried about the Chargers, that’s who we’re playing. We’re playing the Chargers and they’re a great football team, so we’re just going to have to play our best against the Chargers. The weather will be the same for both teams, whatever it is. I’m not worried about the weather; I’m worried about San Diego.

Q: You talked about how different San Diego is now, but how different is your team than they were when the two teams last met?

BB:  I think the big thing for us is that we need to play our best football this week, so that’s what our goal is. We’re going to put everything we have into that. We’re going to try to play and coach our best football of the entire season this week against San Diego. That’s what it’s going take, and that’s what our goal is.  So whatever did or didn’t happen in the past, whatever was or wasn’t successful, in a way it doesn’t really mean anything. The only thing that means anything is how good it’s going to be this weekend or not good. That’s all there is to it. It’s a one-game season. We’re going to put everything we’ve got into this game.

Q: Can you address the challenge LaDainian Tomlinson presents?

BB: [He had] another 1,500-yard season. He’s outstanding in the passing game too. He caught that Ram Pass there against Tennessee to get the ball down to the one-yard line. [It was] a critical play in the game. [He caught] a screen pass last week against Indianapolis and he got one last year against us in the playoffs. [He is a] great runner. He can run anywhere. The goal line run he had against Tennessee was a great run. He can break them on first down, second down, short yardage, goal line—you name it. He’s a great player—and the MVP of the league. I mean, what else do you want to say about him?

Q: Does he put particular pressure on the secondary?

BB: He puts pressure on everybody. You don’t know where he’s going to go. Wherever he goes he puts pressure on them. He’s a complete player. He can do it all. He can run over people, run around them, run past them. He can catch the ball inside, outside, you name it.

Q: You mentioned Antonio Cromartie. What impact has he had for them to turn games around?

BB: They have an outstanding secondary: Cromartie, [Drayton] Florence, [Eric] Weddle has gone in there and done a good job for them. The safeties, of coarse, [Marlon] McCree and [Clinton] Hart, [Quentin] Jammer in there; they have great depth in the secondary. They have 30 interceptions; that would be a couple years’ worth for a lot of teams. [They have] 18 fumbles [and] five turnovers in the playoffs. They’re a great turnover team, I think second only to the Ravens in the last—in a long time.  They have a great ability to knock the ball loose and make plays on it. Cromartie’s done a lot of that and he’s returned them for big yardage after he’s gotten his hands on the ball, but that’s true with the whole secondary. They’re all good and they have great depth, so it doesn’t matter which ones they play or how many they play. They’re all productive and they’re all good players.

Q: Can you talk about how special it is to be back in the AFC Championship game with Tom Brady?  And are you two cut from the same cloth; are you the same in a lot of ways?

BB: Right now it’s a privilege to be in the game, and as a team.  All I’m thinking about is our entire football team, [and] how we can put ourselves in the best position compete against San Diego on Sunday. I’m glad Tom is our quarterback. He’s an outstanding player. He’s done a great job for us, not just this year, but every year he’s been here. But right now, it’s all about one game. It’s a one-game season, so the rest of it, I think at some point it will be good to reflect on it, but right now the only thing we’re focused on is San Diego.

Q: With the uncertainty of Phillip Rivers with his injury, how much does that change the way you prepare?

BB: We need to be ready for all 53 players on the active roster. That’s the way we do it every week and that’s the way we’ll do it this week. It doesn’t make any difference—It doesn’t look like it makes much difference who’s in there. They can all make plays: all the backs, all the receivers, the quarterbacks, the tight ends, the defensive linemen, the DBs, they all make plays. We’ve got to be ready to play for whoever they decide to put in the game, whoever’s in there playing.

Q: How different are [Billy] Volek and Rivers? Do they do different things depending on who is playing?

BB: We’ve got to prepare for everybody. Sure, each player has got his own unique style, but they’re still going to run their offense and they’re going to run their defense, no matter which players are in there. We’ve seen that all year, too. They have a good system; it’s a proven system. It’s been very successful. They’ll change it up a little from week-to-week to attack you as a football team, but at the same time they’re very good at what they do and I’m sure they won’t deviate too much from what they’ve been so successful with.

Q: How much do you know about Volek?

BB: He’s had a couple big games in his career. He certainly played well yesterday, or Sunday, whatever day it was. He played well Sunday. He’s a tough kid, he’s accurate [and] he’s got a little mobility back there.

Q: There’s a lot of focus on their outside linebackers, but can you talk a little bit about what you see in Steven Cooper on the inside?

BB: Coopers been very productive for them. He’s had a lot of tackles, he does a good job in the passing game, they blitz him a lot, he does a good job in the running game, he’s all over the field. He and [Matt] Wilhelm have done a good job for them, [Tim] Dobbins when he’s had to play in there. So they’ve gotten a lot of production out of their inside linebackers as well as their outside linebackers and all of their defensive linemen who they rotate through there, including [Ryon] Bingham and [Jacques] Cesaire and as well as the other guys. So they are very solid on defense. Cooper has had a very productive year; he must have close to 200 tackles. He’s got a lot of them. [It] seems like he makes about 10 or 15 every game. He’s around the ball a lot.

Q: You said size is Jacksonville’s trademark. Is speed something San Diego has drafted and prides itself on?

BB: Well, I think they have a very athletic team all the way across the board. I think you see that on their special teams and it shows up on both their offensive and defensive units, and that includes the linemen. They’re very athletic up front with their offensive line, with the O-men and those guys, [Nick] Hardwick, [Marcus] McNeill. They’re very active on the defensive line, so I think they have good team speed and [are] good at basically at all the positions on the field. And they have a lot of depth. It’s not just the—It’s all 53 guys. They have a lot of depth; they have a lot of good players at a lot of positions all the way across the board, including the specialists. They have a great punter, a great kicker, snapper, returner, cover players, like [Kassim] Osgood and Cromartie and those. They’re good at everything.

Q: Can you talk a little about Richard Seymour’s progression health-wise and what he brings to the table?

BB: His health is good. Richard has been out there very consistently since he came back in the middle of the season, or after he came off the PUP. I think he’s done a good job for us. Richard’s a player that can do it all, in terms of the running game: pass rush, pursuit, play the point of attack. He’s got a lot of skills, a lot of experience and he’s done a good job for us. I thought he played well last week. He’s playing more and he’s playing well.

Q: Obviously Laurence Maroney’s results have picked up. Is he running a different style towards the end of the season?

BB: No. No, I think Laurence has run well for us all year, and we measure that by how many yards he gets per opportunity, based on what’s there—not how many yards he gains, but how many yards he gains based on where the play is blocked and what’s there. I think he’s run well for us all year, and I think he’s been very—one of our most consistent players on our team.

Q: You mentioned earlier that San Diego was the best team in football during the second half of the season. Were you including your own team in that?

BB: Statistically, Jacksonville and San Diego were the two best teams since Thanksgiving and their records are actually better than ours. They’ve won one more playoff game than we have in that time. They’re good. They’re real good. [They] beat the Colts twice. I don’t know what else they need to do or can do. They couldn’t do any more; they’ve done everything they could do since that middle part of the season.

Q: Do you see any schematic changes in the 3-4 under [San Diego Defensive Coordinator Ted] Cottrell?

BB: Not dramatic. There are some subtle things. I wouldn’t say a lot of dramatic changes, but subtly there are, yeah.

Q: You had a couple of personal fouls against Jacksonville. Has that been a point of emphasis this week?

BB: Penalties are always a point of emphasis. Every game we try to go into each game and not have any penalties. It doesn’t often work out that way, but that’s our goal every week. We don’t coach them, we don’t try to have them, we try to avoid them, so it’s always a point of emphasis. It’s been a point of emphasis for eight years. [It] always will be.

Q: What has been the strength of your team this season?

BB: I think some of our success has varied from game to game, from situation to situation, but right now our strength needs to be our preparation and our focus on San Diego. That needs to be our strength this week, and if it is, then we’ll have a chance to be competitive on Sunday, and it if isn’t, we’ll probably be in for a long day.

Q: You mentioned San Diego’s eight-game winning streak and how they have the best numbers.  What kind of bearing does that have on this game?

BB: I think everybody wants to be playing their best football in December and January and hopefully you put yourself in a position where you’ve won enough games up to that point that you’re still playing. It doesn’t do you any good to be 4-9 and then play good football in December; that’s kind of too late. But San Diego has played their best football since Thanksgiving, really, and that’s the best time to be playing it. And right now is the best time for us to play ours and I’m sure San Diego feels like the best time for them to play theirs is this week. It comes down to a one-game season. They’re a great football team and we have a great history of competitiveness with them. We know what they bring to the table, what they’re capable of, and we know that we have to be at out best. That’s what we’re going to prepare for.

 

 

 

Monday, January 14, 2008

Some Tickets available for Pats-Chargers game

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2008

A LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS FOR SUNDAY’S AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AT GILLETTE STADIUM GO ON SALE THIS WEEK THROUGH TICKETMASTER

      FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots will host the AFC Championship game for the third time in franchise history when they play the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. It is the second time in four years that the game will be played at Gillette Stadium. On Wednesday, January 16, a limited number of tickets will be available to be purchased beginning at 9:00 a.m. through Ticketmaster. Visa, a proud sponsor of the National Football League and the New England Patriots, will be the only form of payment accepted.

      All ticket orders will be processed through Ticketmaster. Tickets will NOT be sold at the Gillette Stadium Ticket Office. Ticket orders can be processed online at http://www.ticketmaster.com

or by phone. Ticketmaster phone numbers vary by area code, please check your local listings. In the greater Boston area, please call (617) 931-2222 or (508) 931-2222. Once again, all phone and online orders must be made exclusively with a Visa credit card.

      Patriots season ticket holders were allowed to purchase their playoff tickets well in advance of the playoffs. On Tuesday, Jan. 15, over 55,000 fans on the Patriots season ticket wait list will have an opportunity to purchase those tickets through an advanced private sale. Any remaining tickets, plus a limited number of pre-held individual ones, will be made available to the public through Ticketmaster beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 16.

      Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, the Patriots have hosted six playoff games and remain undefeated in those games. On Jan. 18, 2004, the last time the Patriots hosted an AFC Championship Game, the Patriots delighted a capacity crowd at Gillette Stadium with a 24-14 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots’ 31-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars last week was the 10th consecutive victory home playoff victory since Robert Kraft purchased the franchise in 1994, which is the second longest home playoff win streak in NFL history. Overall, the Patriots own a league-best 10-1 record in home playoff games. Their only loss at home was in 1978.

Details for the sale are listed below:

      Sale Date:    Wednesday, January 16, 2008

      Time:  9:00 a.m. EST

      Where:  Ticketmaster Phone Center or on-line at http://www.ticketmaster.com

      Phone #:      (508) 931-2222 or (617) 931-2222

      Prices: Ticket prices are set by the NFL and are available in the following price categories; $179, $140, $125 and $100

      Payment:      Visa Only

      Limits: There will be a 2-ticket limit per person.

Posted by Frank Carpano on 01/14 at 06:50 PM
(0) Comments • Permalink

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Pats-Jags Postgame notes

Courtesy of the New England Patriots

GAME NOTES—PATRIOTS vs. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

AFC Divisional Playoffs - January 12, 2008

TOM BRADY SETS ALL-TIME NFL RECORD FOR HIGHEST COMPLETION PERCENTAGE IN REGULAR-SEASON OR PLAYOFF GAME
Tom Brady completed 92.9 percent of his passes (26 completions in 28 attempts) setting an all-time NFL record for the highest completion percentage in a game, including regular-season and playoff games (minimum 20 attempts). Tom Brady completed his first 16 passes of the game. His first incompletion was on a pass intended for Benjamin Watson with 10:25 remaining in the third quarter. Brady completed his first 16 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown. The record for highest completion percentage in a regular-season game is 91.3 percent (21-23), achieved by Cleveland’s Vinny Testaverde in a game against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 26, 1993. Bill Belichick was Cleveland’s head coach that season. The previous record for highest completion percentage in a playoff game was set by the New York Giants’ Phil Simms in Super Bowl XXI, when he completed 88.0 percent of his passes (22-25) in New York’s victory over Denver following the 1986 season. Bill Belichick was New York’s defensive coordinator that season. The previous Patriots record for highest completion percentage in a regular-season or playoff game was also set by Brady in a 22-for-26 performance (84.6 percent) at Buffalo on Nov. 3, 2002.

MARONEY TOPS CENTURY MARK

Laurence Maroney totaled 122 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, recording his first career 100-yard rushing game in the playoffs and the third highest single-game rushing total in Patriots playoff history. The last 100-yard rushing game by a Patriot in the playoffs came following the 2004 season, when Corey Dillon totaled 144 yards on 23 carries against Indianapolis on Jan. 16, 2005. Maroney’s 100-yard rushing effort is the sixth by a Patriots player in the team’s 32-game playoff history. Curtis Martin set the team playoff record with 166 rushing yards against Pittsburgh in a divisional round game at Foxboro Stadium on Jan. 5, 1997. Maroney’s 122 yards against Jacksonville trail only the aforementioned totals by Martin and Dillon for the third highest in Patriots playoff history.

BENJAMIN WATSON CATCHES TWO TOUCHDOWN PASSES

Benjamin Watson caught two touchdown passes, tying the Patriots playoff record for most touchdown receptions in a game. Watson ties the mark also achieved by Stanley Morgan against Denver on Jan. 4, 1987 and achieved by Larry Garron at Buffalo on Dec. 28, 1963. Watson caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to tie the game at seven in the first quarter and later hauled in a 9-yard scoring grab in the third quarter to give New England a 28-17 advantage. The scoring catches were Watson’s second and third career playoff touchdown receptions, with his other scoring grab also coming against Jacksonville in a wild card matchup on Jan. 7, 2006. Watson’s previous playoff touchdown came on a 63-yard scoring grab and was the longest touchdown reception in Patriots postseason history. In the 2007 regular season, Watson finished third on the team with six scoring catches.

HARRISON’S SEVEN CAREER PLAYOFF INTERCEPTIONS RANK FIFTH ALL-TIME

Rodney Harrison intercepted a David Garrard pass with 3:46 remaining in the game, recording his seventh interception in seven playoff games since joining the Patriots in 2003. Harrison’s seven playoff interceptions are tied for the fifth-highest total in NFL history, trailing only Charlie Waters (9), Bill Simpson (9), Ronnie Lott (9) and Lester Hayes (8). Willie Brown and Dennis Thurman are tied with Harrison’s seven career playoff interceptions. He is also the Patriots’ all-time playoff interception leader. Asante Samuel and Ty Law (both with four interceptions in 12 games) are tied for second. Against Jacksonville, Harrison played in his first playoff game since Super Bowl XXXIX following the 2004 season, having missed the 2005 and 2006 playoffs on injured reserve. In his 184-game regular-season career, Harrison has totaled 33 interceptions.

BRADY MOVES INTO TIE FOR SEVENTH ON ALL-TIME PLAYOFF TOUCHDOWN PASS LIST WITH THIRD CAREER THREE-TOUCHDOWN GAME IN PLAYOFFS

With three touchdown passes tonight, Tom Brady raised his career playoff total to 23 scoring tosses, tying Troy Aikman for seventh place on the NFL’s all-time playoff touchdown pass list. The three-touchdown game was the third of Brady’s playoff career, with his other such games coming in a wild card game against Jacksonville following the 2005 season and in Super Bowl XXXVIII following the 2004 season. In the 2007 regular season, Brady set an NFL record with 12 games with three or more touchdown passes. Brady has totaled 23 touchdown passes in 15 career playoff games, while Aikman totaled 23 scoring tosses in 16 career playoff games. Roger Staubach ranks sixth in league history with 24 scoring tosses in 19 career playoff games.

BRADY THROWS TOUCHDOWN IN 13th STRAIGHT PLAYOFF GAME

Tom Brady threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Benjamin Watson in the first quarter, marking Brady’s 13th consecutive playoff game with a touchdown pass, tying Dan Marino for the second longest such streak in NFL history. Marino also threw a touchdown pass in 13 straight playoff contests from 1983-1995. Brett Favre holds the NFL record, throwing a scoring pass in 17 consecutive games from 1995 to the present. Brady was held without a touchdown pass in the first two playoff games of his career, but has had at least one scoring toss in 13 straight games from Super Bowl XXXVI through tonight.

WELKER CATCHES FIRST CAREER PLAYOFF TOUCHDOWN PASS

Wes Welker caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady with 8:49 remaining in the third quarter to give the Patriots a 21-14 lead. The touchdown reception was the first of Welker’s playoff career and came in his first career playoff game. Welker caught a career-best eight touchdowns in the 2007 regular season. Entering this season, Welker had caught one career touchdown pass in 47 career games.

WARREN STRIP-SACK SETS UP TOUCHDOWN

Ty Warren sacked David Garrard and caused him to fumble in the first quarter, giving the Patriots possession at the Jaguars’ 29-yard line. Mike Vrabel recovered the loose ball, setting up a seven-play drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney and a 14-7 Patriots lead. The forced fumble was the first of Warren’s 12-game playoff career and the fumble recovery was the second of Vrabel’s 17-game playoff career.

MARONEY SCORES FIRST CAREER PLAYOFF TOUCHDOWN

Laurence Maroney gave the Patriots a 14-7 lead with a 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. The touchdown run was the first of Maroney’s playoff career and came in his fourth career postseason game. In the 2007 regular season, Maroney led the team with six rushing touchdowns, a total that tied his career high, also set as a rookie last season.

STALLWORTH TIES FIFTH LONGEST CATCH IN TEAM PLAYOFF HISTORY

Donte Stallworth’s 53-yard reception in the fourth quarter ties the fifth longest reception in Patriots playoff history. Stallworth’s catch equaled the 53-yard catch by Terry Glenn from Drew Bledsoe in the divisional playoffs on Jan. 5, 1997. The longest playoff reception in team history was a 73-yard catch by Deion Branch at Denver on Jan. 14, 2006.

PATRIOTS ALLOW OPENING-DRIVE POINTS IN PLAYOFFS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1998

The Jaguars scored a touchdown on their opening drive of the game, marking the first time the Patriots had allowed their opponents to score points on their opening drive since the 1998 wild card playoffs, when Jacksonville’s Mike Hollis converted a 35-yard field goal to give the Jaguars a 3-0 lead over the Patriots on Jan. 3, 1999. Prior to tonight, the Patriots had held their opponents scoreless on opening drives in 14 consecutive playoff contests. In the regular season, the Patriots allowed only one opening-drive touchdown - in the regular-season finale against the New York Giants on Dec. 29.

GOSTKOWSKI IS 9-FOR-10 IN PLAYOFF CAREER

Following his 35-yard successful field goal in the fourth quarter, Gostkowski was nine-for-10 (90 percent) in his Patriots playoff career. Gostkowski missed a playoff field goal for the first time in his career when he missed a 35-yard attempt in the second quarter. Gostkowski had been a perfect eight-for-eight in his three-game playoff career entering tonight’s game.

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