BB: As I said yesterday, it was good
to get out of there with a win against a tough division team. It seems like
Miami is always a handful, and they certainly were yesterday. In the end, it
came down to our ability to add some production in the red area and in the
two-minute drive at the end of the half. That was important. In the end,
that was probably the difference in the game. When you look at yardage and a
lot of the other stats, it probably evens out, but the 14 points coming in
the red area and, again, that two-minute score at the end of the half was
big for us. It is on to Seattle. We know what awaits us there. We will talk
about that on Wednesday.
Q: Without suggesting that it changed
the outcome of the game, Miami's situation with their kicker obviously
altered the complexion of the game.
BB: It did, but I thought they handled it pretty well. I really did. He
[Wes Welker] made the field goal. The kickoffs, sure it cost them a little
bit of yardage in the field position, but it wasn't dramatic.
Q: They turned the ball over twice on downs where, a healthy [Olindo]
Mare probably would have made two field goals.
BB: I don't know. In those situations, I don't know if they would have
done that or not. They were down by two touchdowns. I don't know if you want
to cut it to an 11-point game. I guess you could, but I am not sure.
Q: Can you recall similar situations where an emergency guy has to come
in kick?
BB: I think Adam [Vinatieri] punted for us in 2000 didn't he? I think he
had a punt in 2000. It happens from time to time. Or a snapper, we got into
that situation last year against Miami where we ended up quick kicking it at
the end of the game last year in December with [Tom] Brady because snapping
was an issue. I have had guys get hurt in pregame warm-up before. You
scramble a little bit there, and they get hurt in the first play of the
game. It is the same thing. You just have to deal with it.
Q: The timing of that was crucial because [Sage] Rosenfels was their
backup kicker, and they had already declared him inactive.
BB: Right. Well, I have had that happen before where you make your
inactive list and then you go out for pregame warm-up and then find out that
you have a problem. It is too late. You can't do anything then. Again, it is
just like he got hurt on the first play of the game. You made a declaration,
and you just have to live with it at that point. Initially when I saw that,
I was thinking, 'Well this might have an impact on the game.' Looking back
on the game, I don't really think it had much of an impact on it. In fact,
Welker made a nice tackle on the kickoff return that I don't know if the
kicker would have been down there on the 30-yard line making that play. I
thought he did a solid job for them, obviously, stepping in and kicking
under pressure. He did pretty good.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about the performance of the defense in the
red area?
BB: I thought it was good yesterday starting with the goal line
situation. They got the ball inside the 1-yard line, and Ted Johnson made a
nice play on the quarterback sneak and kept Jay [Fiedler] out there and then
Rodney [Harrison] got him on the backside on the play-action-pass. Our third
down, mainly sub-defense, primarily we were in nickel and dime situations on
most of the other ones, a combination of rush and coverage. [We] tried to
mix up the coverage on them a little bit. It was team defense. It wasn't any
one guy. Everybody has somebody to cover. A guy has got to rush the
quarterback. Overall, it was good. Keeping them out of the endzone, that is
the name of the game. You don't like to see them get down there as much as
they did, to be able to stand up while your back is against the wall like
the players did out there yesterday, that is a real compliment to them.
Q: What was your evaluation of the play of Randall Gay and Asante Samuel,
who I think played more than they had all year?
BB: Asante has been playing in the sub all year. Gay has been playing in
some sub situations. It was a little more for both of them yesterday as you
indicated with Tyrone [Poole] out. I thought it was okay. I thought it was
all right. They had a couple of problems, but they made a couple of plays. I
think we can build on that and hopefully learn from some of things that came
up yesterday and build on that for their performance in the future. I think
they held up all right, not perfect, but it was okay.
Q: How about Vince Wilfork as well? How is he developing and coming
along?
BB: It has been all right. Some things have been better than others. He
has played with good strength on the line of scrimmage. He hasn't gotten
knocked out of there. He has played strong. Sometimes his reads and the
techniques are not quite what they need to be, but overall they are not bad.
He has done a pretty good job on playing the different scheme blocks. Again,
the nose is a really tough position to play because you have the center and
both guard, and sometimes either a back or a tight end in the backfield on
those wham plays that can block you. A guy can get blocked by at least
three, and sometimes four people, depending on the formation. There is
really no other position like that. Inside linebacker, guard, or a tight
end, there are not that many combinations. So, the reads and the techniques
by a nose and the combinations are a lot more there because of both guards
being uncovered and him not having anybody beside him. If we had our
four-man line when we had a guy, a defensive lineman, playing on the guard,
that is something that the nose guards like because it eliminates basically
those double-team blocks from that side because they can't double team them
because they have a guy covering him up. Overall, I think that he is coming
along. He is getting better. He has played with a decent level of
consistency to this point.
Q: Do you have to monitor him closely? It seems like interior linemen
take longer to get in there and play on the other side.
BB: I think with each player you have to do it on an individual basis. I
understand what you're saying, and I'm sure there's a lot of truth to that,
but what one player is and what another player is, I think you have to look
at that player and try to decide. We had [Richard] Seymour as a rookie, and
he did one thing that year. We had [Ty] Warren as a rookie. He did what he
did last year. Now we have Wilfork, Jarvis Green. I think they're all a
little bit different, and you just have to understand what their role is,
what you're asking them to do, evaluate how it's going. If it's going good,
maybe increase it. If it's not going as good, you might have to scale it
back a little bit, and some of that depends on what your other options are,
who your other players are in the room there. I think it's a case-by-case
basis, though. I don't think you can just say, 'Well, this is the way it's
going to be.'
Q: Does having Richard Seymour and Ty Warren help you gauge how Vince
Wilfork is developing? Is that helpful at all?
BB: I think you learn something from everybody, so yes. But I've had a
lot of rookie linemen through the course of my career, and [I've had
rookies] at every position, not just defensive line, although there are
unique things for a defensive lineman that are different for a cornerback. I
think the overall experience, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on
what the situation is. But dealing with these guys recently in this system,
and the game that we're playing the way it's being played now, I don't think
it hurts.
Q: Can you talk about whether Corey Dillon has exceeded your
expectations, or has he pretty much been what you expected to get?
BB: I think Corey has been and played about the way that we expected him
to play. He's been very consistent and dependable. He's a strong, physical
runner. [He] runs with a lot of power, handles the ball well, is pretty good
in blitz pickup, and he's been like that every day out in practice.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday I know what I'm going to get when he walks out
on the field. Again, he's prepared, he's disciplined, he's consistent, works
hard. Football is important to him. He wants to make sure that he knows what
he's doing and does a good job of it.
Q: Is Seattle's defense at all similar to Miami's? Before the St. Louis
game, their defense was rated pretty high.
BB: Yes, they are. They're rated very high. Ray Rhodes is their defensive
coordinator. We played against Ray when he was the coordinator in Denver a
couple of years ago. Ray kind of plays Ray's system. What he's been doing,
whether it was in San Francisco or Green Bay, when he was head coach in
Philadelphia or more recently in Denver and now Seattle, I think there are
certain elements that are consistent with his system, and that's the way
he's going to run. They're usually pretty good at it, and this is no
exception.
Q: What are some of the qualities of Ray Rhodes' defense?
BB: It's more of a split safety type of team with some blitz in it. He'll
blitz a fair amount, four-man front. They're pretty consistent in not giving
up big plays, being strong against the run, not giving up big plays. A lot
of the same elements we talked about with Miami, not all the same schemes
and techniques, but [they] try to play defense that makes you drive it down
the field on them, makes you convert a lot of plays. If you're not careful,
they knock you out of there, and that's the end of the drive.
Q: Are you hopeful that some of the receivers will be back this week to
go against the Seattle secondary?
BB: I am. I'm hopeful. Miami's good on defense. That's no secret. They've
been good. They are good, and they will continue to be good. They've got
good players. They've got a good scheme. They play hard. They're
well-schooled, and you don't get much on them. You have to really work for
everything you get, let's put it that way. We made a few plays, and they
made a few. Fortunately, we came out with 24 points, but we had to work for
all of them.
Q: Are you disappointed in Bethel Johnson? This was the second time he's
been a healthy inactive for a game since he's been here.
BB: No, I never said that. It's a coaching decision. Just like Gene
Mruczkowski wasn't active. Just like Ethan Kelley wasn't active. It's a
coaching decision. You have 45 players you can activate. It's not always the
same ones every week. [You] pick out the ones you think will give your team
the best chance to win. It's the same every week. You pick your 45 guys and
play them. That's the way it is every week.
Q: P.K. Sam hasn't caught a ball all season, and Bethel Johnson made a
tremendous catch on third down in Buffalo. That decision raises questions,
doesn't it?
BB: I have to make that decision every week, pick the 45 guys that I
think are best for that particular game. We weren't playing Bethel there
that week. That's a week-to-week decision.
Q: It's difficult to think that Bethel Johnson is not performing well
when there are several wide receivers already out with injuries, and then
Bethel sits out as well.
BB: Well, you could draw that conclusion about anybody you want. I can't
control what's in your mind.
Q: You can control it by giving a reason why Bethel Johnson was inactive.
BB: I make those decisions every week. I make them every week.
Q: What were some of the things that influenced this decision?
BB: What I thought was best for the team to beat the Dolphins. That's the
only thing that swings any decision I make, is what's best for that game.
And there are a lot of things to take into consideration. We try to take
them into consideration, then ultimately I make the final decision. That's
the way it has been. That's probably the way it will be again this week.
Q: Sometimes players need to be sent a message.
BB: It's not about sending a message, it's about trying to win a game.
It's about trying to beat Miami. That's what this week was about, was trying
to beat Miami. Next week, this coming week, is about trying to beat Seattle.
Whatever we can do to beat Seattle, then that's what we'll try to do. If I
make any decisions this week, that's what the goal will be is to try to beat
Seattle.
Q: Was he sitting for disciplinary reasons?
BB: Absolutely not. Bethel does not have any of those issues. |
