BB: Good morning. We're winding it
down. Last Friday of the regular season.
Q: At this time of year, how much do
you have to monitor how worn down players are and worn down the players get?
Is it more of a heightened thing as the season goes on?
BB: I don't know about that. I think it depends. Sometimes your
individual players…some are more than others. Sometimes teams are in
different spots through the course of the year. It doesn't always go
consecutively week by week that you get a little more. Sometimes you have
more problems early in or middle of the year than you do at the end.
Sometimes you have more at the end than you do at the middle. I think you
just have to take it week by week. I try to stay in communication with the
trainers, the strength coaches, the captains and try to monitor the
situation the best you can. Again, one or two guys could be in one state and
that may not be reflective of everybody else. You just try to take an
overall consensus of where you think the team is and do what's best for the
overall team and then try to manage some individual situations as they come
about.
Q: When you look at the team as a whole, is the physical state of the
team reflected in whether you're going out there in full pads?
BB: No, I wouldn't say that because I think that there are times when you
make the decision as a coach, or as a staff, to go out and practice hard
even though you might have some guys that are banged up. You just feel like
for the timing and execution of your team that that's what you need to do.
Sometimes it comes in a little bit of a conflict. You don't want to do it,
but you need to do it. You have to make that decision as to whether you're
going to do it or not. Again, I don't think there's any right or wrong
formula. I think a lot of it is just kind of where the team is and what, as
a staff, you feel like they need at that particular point in time and it's
not always the same.
Q: Have you ever been part of the team where maybe the wear and tear of
the season really got to you and cost you at the end?
BB: Again, I think it's all relative. I think anybody who plays 16 game
regular season schedule, who is on the field for over 100 practices, that's
a lot. In relative terms, does that affect one player more than another, on
another team, they've been through the same schedule we have, they've had
the same number of practices that we've had? I think it's all relative. To
think any player is not, to some degree, worn down a little bit, physically,
at this point, they would have to be after what they went through. They
might be great compared to somebody else on another team. That's the harder
thing to calculate.
Q: Do you have to monitor rookies pretty closely, too?
BB: I think you keep your eye on
everybody. I think the biggest part of it is mental. It's a long, physical
season, but it's a long mental season, too. From July to, here we are, 20
games – four preseason, 16 regular
season [games]. That's a lot of game plans. That's a lot of adjustments.
That's a lot of thinking. That's taxing to a degree, too. It's like when you
were in school and you have a test every week. You live for that one week
when the teacher doesn't give you a test. Just mentally there's a chance to
get refreshed and just kind of flush it out. It's hard in the NFL because
it's every week. It's not like college where you can schedule some of those
homecoming games. Every week is a dogfight.
Q: Given some of the changes that happened at wide receiver this year,
would you say this is one of Tom Brady's better seasons?
BB: I think that Tom has done a good job for us this year. Absolutely. I
think that Tom has done a good job. As always, any quarterback has a lot to
handle on the field, running the offense, changing game plans, being a
captain, being a veteran player. There are a lot of things that a player at
that position, and a player of Tom's stature, has to deal with, the
expectations and all of that. I think he's had a good year. I think he's
done a lot for this football team.
Q: Understanding the emphasis you put
on the importance of the off-season conditioning program and training camp,
there were some changes at the
receiver position late. [Doug] Gabriel came in two days before the season.
[Jabar] Gaffney came in during the season. Was it difficult for Tom to
develop a chemistry with those guys so quickly without having the off-season?
BB: I think any time there are changes, there are adjustments to be made.
I'm not trying to say that doesn't occur. There are changes every week, though.
We have guys out there that have been here for years and years. There are
changes for them each week, too. Running this route differently, playing that
play a little bit differently, covering this pattern a little bit
differently – that's part of the game planning. Even though you have the same
linemen out there playing, blocking [Albert] Haynesworth is different than
blocking somebody else. Blocking [Travis] LaBoy is different than blocking
somebody else. The blitzes and the diamond fronts and stuff like that that Tennessee runs is different than blocking somebody else's diamond fronts.
Week-to-week, it's a changing game. Every team is different. Every player is
different. Every scheme is, even the ones that are the same, there are
elements of differences in them. It's just not a static game.
Q: Jeff Fisher came from the Buddy Ryan school of defense. Does he still
use that 46 defense today?
BB: Yes. That's that diamond front that I was just referring to,
yes. But I would say not to the same degree that they have in years past, like
when we played them a few years ago here. They were running more of that. I
think the last couple of years, just my impression of it, I can't say this
with great conviction because I'm not there, but it looks like with the
number of young players that they have, they've cut back on some of the
scheme things that they've done, particularly in the 46 defense. They still
run it. They definitely run it and it's a problem, but they don't run it
with the same number of reps or the same percentages, you don't get the same
volume of plays from that front that we saw maybe when we played them a few
years ago.
Q: Are they still pretty blitz heavy?
BB: They pressure. Again, I don't think they do it at the same percentage
that they did it three years ago when we played them. A little less than
that.
Q: Now that he's been here a few weeks, what kind of impact has Vinny
Testaverde had? How has it been having him around?
BB: It's been good. It's been good. I think that Vinny has done well. He
still makes some remarkable throws in practice. He really does. He can throw
the ball. He still moves pretty well. He moves really well, really, for his
age and his experience. I think he's picked up things well. It's been good
to have him. I think he's been a very positive influence on everybody – the
team, the quarterbacks, the offense. He has a maturity and experience level
and a confidence about him that is not overbearing, but it's sincere and
it's solid. I think everybody feels it. I think everybody has confidence in
what Vinny can do when he steps into the huddle and calls a play, whether
it's running the scout team or whatever, that everybody feels competent in
him and he's shown that he can go out there and make solid plays and perform
well in what he's been asked to do.
Q: What do you think some of his greatest contributions to the game have
been just from the big picture with 20 seasons?
BB: He's had an outstanding career. I think he's shown that he can be a
complete player. Earlier in his career he had some 100 yard rushing games.
He was a tremendous athlete. His durability has been pretty remarkable. He's
obviously put up some big passing numbers. Some great comebacks. Been on
some really good football teams. His career kind of got off to, from a
win/loss standpoint, a slow start. I think he's shown that he's a winning
quarterback and can play at a high level and can lead his team to a lot of
success. He's done that.
Q: How much do you respect his 20 seasons doing it?
BB: Oh my god, yes. Ten seasons is a
lot in this league. Ten seasons,
that's a tremendous career. Twenty? I think that's a testament to Vinny, both
physically and mentally. Because mentally, he's dealt with a lot of pressure;
anybody who plays that position deals with it. He's been under the gun a
lot, as anybody at that position is. Twenty years is a long time to be under
fire, primarily as a starting quarterback, too. Not a lot of years like
other quarterbacks who have played a long time. Those defensive linemen have
been bearing down on him. They've been blitzing him and all of that. He's
stood in there and got tremendous, physical talent. Again, to be able to run
as well as he did, his size, his ability to really make all the throws –
short, long. He has a great touch on the ball and can gun it in there. He
has a really strong arm. He's strong in the pocket. It's pretty impressive.
Q: Last year the situation presented itself where you let Doug [Flutie]
dropkick at the end of the game. Is there anything you would like to get Vinny?
BB: I'm not really into individual stats. I hope the team wins in Tennessee. That's what we are going to try to do.
Q: In a perfect world, would you like to see him get some actual snaps?
BB: In a perfect world, I'd like to go down and have our team beat Tennessee. That's what we're focused on right now.
Q: Do you feel good when you can pick up a guy like Kelvin Kight and he's
able to work his way from the practice squad into a contributing role?
BB: Sure. Sure. We've had a lot of guys like that. It seems like a guy or
two every year. Kelvin had a good preseason. He was productive for us in
preseason. Tough. When he came in, he actually wasn't even here at the
beginning of training camp. We had some injuries at receiver and brought him
in, so he had to kind of pick up things on the fly without a lot of the
spring camps and all of that background. He showed up in the kicking game.
He made some plays in coverage, in practice and in the games. He worked hard
on the practice squad. He's been one of our better practice players in terms
of giving us a look on other receivers that we play against. He got an
opportunity to play here a few weeks ago and has done some positive things
for us. I think it's a real credit to his work ethic, his diligence and
versatility. With a lot of players, it takes them a while to understand, but
the quicker they figure it out, the better off they are – the better they
are on special teams, the more opportunities they get on offense and
defense. A lot of players don't understand that. They think that if they
could just be a little bit better on offense or defense, they would get more
opportunity, but the fact is, if they're better on special teams, then that
gets them to the game and anytime a coach knows that a player is going to
the game, if you're a defensive coach and you know a certain player is going
to the game because of his role in the kicking game, then you might as well
create a role for him on defense because he's going to be at the game and
you could use him. Whereas, when it goes the other way, 'Well, you know,
we'd like to use this guy on offense. We'd like to use this on defense, but
he doesn't have a role on special teams,' and he doesn't get to the game,
then there's no point in developing a role for him on offense or defense
because he's not going to be there to play. The quicker those type of role
players can figure that out, and play better on special teams, then the more
opportunities they get on offense or defense. It sometimes works in reverse
than the way some players or some people think that it would go. |
