Q: Which Jaguars quarterback to expect to face
this week?
BB: We'll prepare for both of them.
Jacksonville has won with both players in there. They're both good players.
I think they both can make a lot of plays. Obviously, (Bryon) Leftwich's
track record is pretty self-evident. David (Garrard) has had a great year
for them too. He's second in the league in fourth quarter passing. He's
managed this team well and makes a lot of plays. We'll be ready for both
players.
Q: Will Tedy Bruschi play Saturday?
BB: We'll give our injury report after practice
today. We'll see what everybody can do out there on the field. We haven't
played since Sunday. We'll just evaluate everybody on what they can do today
and list on the injury report accordingly. So, I don't really know at this
point how that's going to go.
Q: (On the national perception that there isn't much respect for the Jaguars
even though they're a 12-win team.)
BB: I think Jacksonville is a good football
team. There are only three teams in the league that have a better record
than they do. They have the best record of any team playing this weekend. I
think all of that speaks for itself. They're good on offense. They're good
on defense. They're good on special teams. I've been very impressed with
them. I've seen them several times this year just in crossing over watching
other teams who we've played against, like the Jets, like Denver, like
Pittsburgh, teams like that. They can run the ball. They can throw it. They
have big play receivers. They're good on defense. They can rush the passer.
They can stop the run. They turn the ball over. They're good on special
teams. I think (Derrick) Wimbush is one of the best special teams players
we've faced all year. A lot of kickoffs and touchbacks in the end zone,
blocked kicks. They play good, smart situational football. That's the way I
feel. That's the way our players feel. That's the way our entire team feels.
That's what it is. They have the best record of any team playing this
weekend.
Q: When you show your team video of the Jaguars only beating San Francisco
10-9, trailing Houston in the fourth quarter, is that hard for your players
to think this week's game is a big challenge?
BB: When we turn on that tape, we see them
beating Cincinnati, we see them beat Pittsburgh, we see them beat Seattle.
There are not a lot of teams who are saying that. I see a lot of good
running backs. I see (Greg) Jones. I see (LaBrandon) Toefield. I see (Fred)
Taylor. I see (Derrick) Wimbush returning kicks. I see (Alvin) Pearman. I
see big receivers, two good quarterbacks. The best blocking tight end in the
league. A physical offensive line. A team that has more sacks on defense per
play than any other team in the league. They're good on the goal line.
They're good on third down. They're good on first down. They're good on
fourth down defensively. They stop the run. They turn the ball over. They're
hard to get away from in coverage. Watch them on special teams. They have
the best field position of any team in the league, part of that is special
teams and kicking and coverage returns and part of it is their ability on
offense and defense to maintain that field position. I think anybody with
any intelligence that watches them play, that's what they'll see because
that's what is on the film and that's what I see.
Q: Are there any teams from your past Super Bowl runs the Jaguars remind you
of?
BB: I don't really care about anything that
happened in the past or any other team. The only thing I care about is the
match-up this week between the Patriots and the Jaguars and how we can play
the best football and coach the best football we can to try to be
competitive with them Saturday night. That's all I care about.
Q: How much of an advantage will it be for your team playing at home and
possibly in the snow?
BB: I think it'll have very little effect on
the game. I saw Jacksonville go into Green Bay last year. We all know how
that one turned out. This is a team that is built to play on the road.
That's reflective in their record. They can play from ahead. They can play
from behind and come from behind and win. They have a good road record. They
have a good football team. They're well coached. They have a lot of good
players. I think it'll add very little effect on the game.
Q: Even though he's won three Super Bowls, do you think this is Tom Brady's
best year considering all the things he lead you back from and all the
obstacles your team overcame?
BB: I don't know. I think Tom's had a good
year. I think he's a good quarterback. I'm glad he's our quarterback. We'll
evaluate his year at the end of the year with everybody else. Right now
we're just worried about trying to get ready for Jacksonville, and that's a
lot.
Q: With competing with Cincinnati for the third seed this past Sunday, did
you know how badly Cincinnati was getting beaten and if so, did that go into
your strategy in the fourth quarter against Miami?
BB: We went into the game playing to win like
we always do. We also wanted to give all our players an opportunity to play
so that they could be ready to play in the playoffs and have some game
experience. So we played everybody and we played to win. It came down to the
final play, we weren't able to make the two-point conversion. But who we had
out there played as well as they could and we got beat by a better team on
Sunday.
Q: If you were playing to win, why did you drop kick in a close game in the
fourth quarter?
BB: First of all, Miami took a time-out on the
play because they were confused on it and had to blow a time out. We were
confident we could make the point and we ended up getting an extra time-out
out of it.
Q: Does Tom Brady still surprise you the level he plays at?
BB: No. Tom is a good player. I'm confident
when he's on the field. I'm confident that he'll make good decisions and
good plays for us. So when he makes them, I'm not really surprised.
Q: How have you been able to overcome such a
lowly rated pass defense to have the record that you have and be able to win
the division?
BB: Football is a team sport and what it takes
is a team to collectively, or however you do it, compete against the other
team and try to score more points. So, it comes down to how well the entire
team plays competitively against the other team. It's not about any one stat
or any one unit, although they are all important. It ultimately comes down
to how your total team is able to perform on a collective basis for 60
minutes. That's what the scores reflect. That's what the games reflect.
Q: How impressed were you to come back and win
your division despite losing both coordinators last year?
BB: That whole thing is really old news. The
situation with Charlie (Weis) came up last year before the regular season
was even over. So, we had already started to make some modifications there.
Romeo (Crennel) went to Cleveland very soon after the season ended. Our
staff has been in place for a long time. We've coached a lot of games
together, met a lot together, been on the practice field a lot together.
Every team in the league goes through changes every year in some form or
fashion, players, coaches or some combination of it. So, that's something
each team has to adjust to on an annual basis. We're certainly part of that
group.
Q: Who calls the plays for your team?
BB: Collectively we try to set-up a game plan
and run the ones that we think will work the best. There are a lot of people
involved in the process. We have a very experienced offensive coaching
staff, an experienced quarterback and ultimately I'm responsible for what's
out there. So between that group, we make those decisions and that's what we
go into the game with.
Q: Why won't you let Tom Brady call the plays?
BB: Sometimes he does call them.
Q: Corey Dillon is only averaging 3.5 yards a
carry. Has he not been healthy this year? Is he back to his form or is he
still nicked up a little bit?
BB: I think at this time of year every player
is a little less than 100% at some point. I can't imagine that anybody
that's gone through an NFL regular season is completely 100%. But we'll list
our injury report after practice today. I think Corey is a player, like all
of our other players, who we have a lot of confidence in. He's played a lot
of good football for us. I know he wants to very much play. He's a very
competitive guy. If he's out there, he'll give us his best and that's all we
can ask for and that's what we expect and he's always delivered that for us.
So, I'm confident that's the way it'll be in the future.
Q: In your opinion, how has Dillon been running
lately?
BB: He didn't play last week against Miami.
Before that as a team we gained 150 yards, ran the ball 50 times against the
Jets. Again, that's collective as a team football. It's not just one guy.
But I think he ran hard and I think we ran the ball pretty well in that
game.
Q: Other than Tom Brady, are there any other
players on your team who you think had particularly standout years?
BB: I think when you go 10-6 you have a lot of
players who play good football. I wouldn't want to single anybody out. I
think that collectively the team has played well enough to be 10-6 and
that's something to be proud of. There are certainly things we could have
done better. We could have done a better job of coaching and we could have
done a better job of playing, but that is what it is and right now we're
just focused on Jacksonville. It's a one game season. We have the utmost
respect for the Jaguars, their organization, their players, their coaches
and their entire staff. We know we're going to have to be at our best
Saturday night and that's what we're going to try and do. That's where all
our efforts are headed towards – playing the best football we can play
Saturday night.
Q: Is it harder to win the Super Bowl without
having the bye?
BB: Right now I don't think it really matters
to us. Teams have done both but right now all we're concerned about is
playing Jacksonville. The rest of the schedule, the other teams and all
that, it's really a non-factor for us. The only thing that matters is our
preparation against Jacksonville and our performance Saturday night. They're
a great football team. Like I said, I know we're going to have to be at our
best and have to play our best football of the year to compete with them.
That's all our focus is on. All the other stats, history and all that, I'm
respectful of them but none of them really make any difference. It just
comes down to this week. It's a one week season. |
