BB: Well, that was an exciting ending
for us. What was it, down by eight with nine, ten minutes to go in the game?
So you just have to give our guys credit for stepping up and making plays
there at the end of the game that we needed to make. Fortunately, we made
some at the end of the half, as well. We kind of got our two-minute offense
going and were able to produce something with that. As I've been saying all
week, the Lions are a good football team. They do a lot of things
well. There was a good part of the game where they did things better than we
did. Fortunately, we were able to make enough plays there in the end to come
out on top. It's good to win. It's good to be 9-3.
Q: It seems like Reche Caldwell is getting more and more into the offense. Can you talk about his game
today?
BB: I thought Reche made some
productive plays for us, got off to a good start early hitting a couple of
those in-cuts and some nice blitz routes out there at the end of the game
when they were coming, and Tom [Brady] was able to get the
ball out to him, hitting a couple of key first downs. But he's done a good
job for us all year. He's a good receiver. He works hard out there everyday.
He's a tough kid and he just keeps getting better and working harder. I'm
glad to see good things happening for him. I think he deserves it.
Q: You went no-huddle early in the
fourth quarter. Was that just to get a spark going?
BB: We were down by eight and felt
like we needed to get something going and that's what we did.
Q: When the Lions didn't go
for it on fourth-and-one, were you surprised? Usually you see teams that are
playoff bound go for the field goal in that situation because it's a higher
percentage play, but not a team that is 2-9.
BB: No, we really don't worry too
much about what the other teams do, we just try to defend it. But I
understand...
Q: Did you think they would go for
it?
BB: Well when they sent the field
goal team on, that's what we were playing for, yes. That's all we can do.
They have the ball. An eight-point lead at that point in the game, it would
be hard to criticize that. I wouldn't worry too much about the records.
Q: Was there a sense of relief on
your part?
BB: That we were down by eight? No, I
wasn't relieved at all. I wouldn't worry too much about the records; I just
worry about the teams that are playing out there. That's what I'd worry
about. And I think that's what they're worried about.
Q: What happened to Laurence
Maroney?
BB: He's doing all right. I talked to
him in there. He's banged up a little bit, but he's doing all right.
Q: Of course, Asante Samuel has been
making plays for you week after week. How big was he today? He leads the
league with seven interceptions, I believe.
BB: Yes, he made a nice play
undercutting that in-route right at the end of the half and that gave us the
opportunity to get some points there before the half. I thought those were
big momentum points, although it didn't turn out that way because they came
back and got them back in the third quarter. But those turnovers are big. We
got what, five of them today? Mike [Vrabel's] interceptions
and a couple of fumbles there. Being able to turn the ball over, that's
always important. Asante has good hands, he has good ball skills, and
the balls are coming to him now and that's great. He's doing a good job with
it.
Q: On the flipside, your ball
security continues to be a little bit of an issue here. How frustrating is
that?
BB: We talk about it every week. We
try to take care of the ball and not give it up, and we had too many of them
today. That and penalties. Penalties hurt us too. We had a lot of those.
Q: Is Vrabel okay?
BB: I think he's probably all right.
Q: Was Laurence just not able
to come back into the game?
BB: Yes, he got a little banged up
there.
Q: How much did that affect the
offense, not having him in there?
BB: I don't think it affected it too much. I think Corey [Dillon]
did a good job. Kevin [Faulk], Patrick [Pass],
they all made some plays. Certainly we could have done things better – I'm not saying that – but
that's why you have a lot of players on your team. Whichever ones are in
there, they have to step up and make the plays, and fortunately we were able
to make enough of them to win.
Q: The Lions, how did they get
to call a timeout that you 'don't have,' stop the clock, get a player on the
field and have no penalty?
BB: Yes, well obviously they made a
mistake.
Q: Was it, 'Oops, we just goofed?'
BB: Well you'd have to go and talk with [Jeff] Triplette
about it. He was the one who made the call, or didn't make the call. But
yes, obviously they made a mistake. Whether they would admit that or not, I
don't know, but they obviously made one.
Q: They're supposed to ignore it,
right?
BB: Exactly. Yes. Yes, but evidently
they lost track of what the situation was.
Q: What are your thoughts on the play
of your linebackers?
BB: I thought there were some good
things; there were some other things that weren't so good. We had some
missed tackles and they got some yardage to the backs. I mean [Kevin] Jones is a good back, don't get me wrong. I think he's a real good
back. Good in the running game, in the passing game, screens, on a couple of
those patterns over the middle – we have to do a
better job on him. I thought they made some plays, but I think there were
some other plays that we need to play better and we need to coach them
better. Some good, some could have been better. |
