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(On the game)
"I'm sure it will be tough. We have a lot of respect for Tampa and what
they've done, what Jon's done with that team. They're good on offense,
they're good on defense, they're good in the kicking game, they're
well-coached, they're tough, they've gone on the road and won a lot of
games, won five games on the road already this year. So they're a veteran
proven, tough football team. We'll have our work cut out for us this
Saturday."
(On memories of Chris Simms hanging around
the Giants)
"I didn't really have a lot of contact with Chris. I was gone by '91, he
was pretty small at that point. I just remember seeing him and of course
watching him come up, reading about him, seeing the highlights when he was
in high school and of course watching him play at Texas, coming out in the
draft, the NFL combine, going through that whole process. But very mature
kid, smart football player, manages the game well, can throw the ball
accurately, tough. A lot of traits that are in his family."
(On Chris Simms development during the
season)
"I think he's played very well the last few weeks. He played extremely
well against Carolina. He's been able to throw the deep ball, throw
possession passes, manage the game in a running game. I know that competing
against Jon, offensively, they do a lot. They do check with me
auto-audibles, things like that. They are able to change plays and get into
the right thing. I think Chris manages that very well, too. A big thing that
a quarterback has to do is manage the team, get the ball to the right
playmakers and take advantage of the opportunities that come his way. I
think Chris has done a great job at that."
(On the impact of the tuck rule)
"I don't know, I think it's kind of hard to put all of those events on
that one play myself. We were involved with a couple of those calls earlier
in the year, one in particular against the Jets with Vinny Testaverde and
Anthony Pleasant. It was almost the exact same play, the ruling was the
same. Whether you like the rule or don't like the rule, that's what the rule
is and that's the way it still is. I don't know what to say, that's the way
the play was called. It was called correctly and if happened again today, it
would be called the same way. And that's football. You live with the way the
rules are written and the way the plays unfold and hopefully if there's a
play and it's a mistake, it will be corrected with the replay, which it did
in that particular case. And that's the game. All of those things are really
out of our control as coaches or players or as an organization. You just try
to get your team ready to play and do the best that you can, given the
opportunities and the circumstances that you face on a week to week basis."
(On his father being around and relating it
to Gruden having his Dad around with him)
"Having him around was great, as I'm sure Jon (Gruden) can relate to as
well or any father/son coaching type situation. When I was growing up, it
was his team and he was much more of the focal point of it. I was just
hanging around, watching players like Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach and Tom Lynch and guys like that and cheering for his team. And then as the
years went by, we both kind of had our own teams, in the Navy and me
wherever I was, with the Giants or Cleveland or wherever. After he retired,
even though he never really retired, he took a less active roll at the Naval
Academy. He became more of a follower and fan of my team, wherever it was,
New England or New York Jets or back in New England. It was great. It was
great to be able to share the moments with him. Now, just as it was great to
be able to share the moments with his team when I was younger, there are a
lot of unforgettable moments in the next few years, they go all the way back
to when I was six, seven, eight years old, all the way back to that point,
where the situation was kind of reversed where I was hanging around the team
that he was with."
(On his relationship with Jon Gruden)
"Jon and I have never worked together, but I think considering that
we've never worked together, I'm probably as close to him as any coach that
I haven't worked with on a day-to-day basis. We've talked a lot about
different aspects of football, whether it's head coaching or
offense/defense. We've been in different conferences for awhile, so we've
been able to talk about how to matchup against a common opponent, that we
were both facing. We're not really in direct competition, other than when he
was at Oakland, but when he was at Philadelphia and also now at Tampa. Now
it's easier to exchange information or try to help each other out, when you
face another team or in the offseason. Jon's got a great mind, he's got a
great understanding of the game, he really understands defenses and how to
attack them and how to put stress points on them. At the same time, [he]
coaches a very fundamentally sound game where he can get his players to
execute basic simple plays and techniques. In the end, breaks down a defense
as much as anything does, it's just good execution. I really have a lot of
respect for Jon. He's a great guy to be around, we've had a lot of fun
together. I'm glad we don't have to compete with him on a regular basis,
that he's not in our division or anything like that, it just makes for a
better relationship that way. I think what he's done at Tampa has been
outstanding. The success he had the first year and then kind of the team
he's rebuilt here. This year he's made a lot of changes in the last couple
of years to get to this point. He changed the perceptions about things that
they could or could not do. They're a top, hard-nosed, good, fundamentally
sound football team. That's what Jon is. I think his personality is very
much reflected in the team and the way they play."
(On Tedy Bruschi being back out there)
"It's great to have him back out there. He's a football player, he loves
to play, football is his life. It's great to see him back out there with his
teammates, the coaches and the fans. He's a fun guy to be around. Football
is important to him. He's a team captain, he's an outstanding player, he's a
great leader and he's a lot of fun to be around because he enjoys football
so much. He has an energy in his personality that is contagious to his
teammates."
(On Tampa two)
"It is Tampa two. We call it that and I think that most teams in the
league either call it 'Tampa two' or just plain 'Tampa'. Universally,
everyone knows what that is. It's certainly their trademark, defensively. I
think it's been accepted not only in the NFL, but when you talk to college
coaches about players. They'll talk about 'when we play Tampa' or you're
evaluating a player and they'll talk about 'well in Tampa he does this
well'. It's universally accepted the way they play their cover two, it is
Tampa. It's defined by that one word." |
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