BB: I guess we had a good day in Boston today. It is a great win for our
football team. I am really proud of our guys. It was a tough, physical game.
Obviously, Tennessee is a very good football team and they played hard. And
our guys, as we talked about during the week, try to meet force with force
and try to play a tough physical game. That's what it was. A lot of hard
blows both ways. But we made a lot of big plays in the game. I know going
into the game you never know how it is going to go. It was just kind of play
after play, playing back-and-forth. We moved the ball well in the second
half. Defensively, we had two guys banged up and they were kind of hanging
on at the end. And Tennessee, they were doing a good job moving it too. But
in the end Ty [Law] made a nice play on the out cut. It was kind of like two
weeks ago in the Jets game where he was on the sidelines saying, 'Put me
back in, Coach, put me back in.' So he made the right call on that one.
Obviously, I have to give him a lot of credit putting it in the end zone
from 65-yards away. That was a nice play. We are happy with that, obviously,
and we have a big challenge coming up this week with the Giants. But we are
happy with the team. Those guys really played hard, played well. It was
tough bouncing back from the Washington loss, but we have a tough group of
guys in there. They made some good plays.
Q: In the case of Mike Cloud, were you going to use him anyway or did you
use him because Antowain [Smith] had to go out?
BB: Antowain went out and Mike was really the backup there. Larry [Centers]
was kind of playing in different personnel groups. I thought Antowain ran
well and did a nice job, but Mike came in there and had a couple big runs
for us so he showed some quickness and made a couple of nice cuts.
Q: Would you say [Mike Cloud] gave your team a lift there?
BB: He made some big plays. I mean there were a lot of them. So he is part
of it. Law's play, hitting that field goal was big and there were a lot of
big plays. If I could rattle them off, I am sure I would forget get a bunch
of them.
Q: How about the dimension that Bethel Johnson has brought to the return
game now, too?
BB: Well, when he catches it and holds on to it, he can eat up some yards in
a hurry. He set up good field position for us right there at the beginning
of the game and then, of course, he answered. We talk a lot on the kickoff
return team, that it is the answer team. The only reason the kickoff team is
out there is they just scored or it is just the start of the half, so
basically we are trying to answer whatever score they just made. And the
kickoff team did a great job. We talked a lot and worked hard on getting our
return game going and there was certainly some positive things there.
Obviously, we had a punt return called back but it was good to see us making
some plays in the return game.
Q: We talked this week about how good Tennessee's line was, but Antowain
and Mike had a lot of running today ...
BB: I think the offensive line did a great job. Kevin Carter is as good as
there is. [Jevon] Kearse, those big guys in there, Robaire Smith and [James]
Atkins and Carlos Hall, I mean they have a real good team. I thought our
line showed its toughness and stood in there and battled them. I am not
saying we dominated them or anything like that. But it was a battle. I
thought those guys held their own.
Q: Would you say that is where it started, matching the physical style?
BB: It definitely started on the line of scrimmage, both sides of the line —
our defensive line matching the physical-ness of the offensive line and our
offensive line matching the physical-ness of Tennessee's defensive line and
their blitz package.
Q: Mike has had calf surgery, he has gone through a suspension and only
had four practices with you. What does it say that he can walk in, not just
off the street, but I mean, what does it say to you about him and his
preparation?
BB: He has obviously worked hard. You have to give him a lot of credit. With
no coaching, he went out there and did a good job. By the time we get done
with him here in a couple weeks he will probably be down to 2 yards a carry.
Q: Ty Law, has he shown you something special here?
BB: He really has. The last three weeks, coming back and finishing the Jets
game and playing last week in Washington and coming in today. When he went
out today in the second half, we thought that was it and we had made the
adjustments in our nickel defense with Antwan [Harris] going inside and
Eugene [Wilson] and Asante [Samuel] going outside. And then when Ty came
back and said he was ready to go on that series, I really wasn't ever
expecting that, but Ty is a great competitor.
Q: The Red Sox updates during the game, they had piped in the Sox
updates, did that help the momentum? The crowd got into it too. Did that
help at all?
BB: I think any time you hear the crowd going and you're at home, it helps
you. Whether it was for us or whatever it was for, a combination of both,
whatever, it is always good to hear that roaring crowd. But I mean we all
knew what was going on. I mean it was certainly some positive thing that the
Red Sox were doing. We didn't know what it was, obviously. And I have been
in a couple of those situations before with the Giants and when the Mets won
the World Series, and that kind of thing. Those things happen during a game
and you understand what is going on.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about Dan Klecko?
BB: Yes. Three-way Klecko, fine on special teams. Of course Dan has some
background on playing fullback in high school. And we are a little short in
the backfield situation this week and we have been working Dan back there in
our short-yardage and goal-line jumbo package. Just by watching him play on
the sideline, I thought we were good going, he got away a little bit there
and we got in the end zone.
Q: In terms of Ty Law, did he have to talk his way on the field in the
last series or did you think he felt good enough to go back in and play?
BB: They told me he couldn't go back in. He just came over to me and said,
'Coach, I can go back in, I can finish it if you need me.' So I said, 'OK,
are you sure you're all right? Are you sure you can go? And he said, 'I am
OK on that.'
Q: The last series, just before the last series?
BB: Yes. About two minutes to go in the game, 1:15 or whatever it was. So I
said, 'OK, here is what we are going to play, you can do that?' He said
'Yes.' So we put him back in and put Eugene [Wilson] back at safety.
Q: Is this one of those games that can define a team physically? I mean a
couple years ago it was a New Orleans game where your guys really turned it
up a notch physically and matched that team and carried it on through. Do
you feel like this can have carryover effect?
BB: Every year you look back and there is always a couple of games that you
say are kind of high water or low water marks in the season and you look
back. I don't know about that. I think our team is a physical team. I think
they try to play physically. I think we have a group of tough guys as far as
that all the way through and I think they showed it today. So I think they
know it. I think we know it. I don't know whether you know it. But you can
see what the product is and decide for yourself. That is the way we feel. I
thought they stepped up there and tried to do it. I don't think they ever
didn't have confidence in themselves as a physical team. |
