BB: I think everybody has the two
roster moves we made [yesterday] with Gene [Mruczkowski] and Vinny [Testaverde]. Losing Billy [Yates], obviously we felt like we needed to
replace him and Gene has got some experience in our system and has been here
several times. I'm glad that he was still available. We just felt like at
the quarterback situation, going through the season with two quarterbacks,
although it's been fine to this point, it's kind of made us nervous in terms
of what would happen if we came down to two, if anything happened to one of
those two guys. So Vinny would be the third quarterback. He has some
experience in our system and hopefully he'll be able to pick things up and
we can have him in an emergency role. Hopefully we won't ever need him – and
I've told him that. I hope he doesn't play at all. But if something happens,
at least we have ourselves protected there. We kind of have a little more
insurance now at quarterback and a little bit less at tight end, but I think
that given where we are at this point in the season, that's probably the
better way to go.
As far as the field situation goes, I think I
would speak organizationally on this one, that certainly the preference of
this organization has been to play on grass. We've tried to do that. That's
the way the field was constructed. As everyone knows, we've had to replace
it pretty much every year, in some cases more than once. That was done again
a few weeks ago. By the middle of the first half last week, we all saw what
that looked like. As much as everybody has tried to make it work, for
whatever the reasons or circumstances, it just hasn't been really the kind
of quality that I think we would all like it to be. Organizationally, we
made the decision to change it in the best interest of the game, the league
and the football team. So that's really about it, I don't know a whole lot
on the technology and all that. I'm sure that will be addressed later on, so
you can probably ask those questions to someone who knows what they're
talking about.
As far as Green Bay goes, they're playing very
well. They have a good football team. I think they're pretty good at
everything. Offensively, they have a very skilled offensive football team
and guys that can make plays at quarterback, running back, receiver, [and]
tight end. [They have] a good offensive line. Their productive in pretty
much all phases of the game. They can run the ball. They throw it. They have
as many big plays passing as anybody in the league. They have long drives.
They score on big plays. They run the ball. They're one of the top two
rushing teams in the league, yards per carry, negative plays, things like
that, first down rushing, they lead the league. They're very good in all of
those phases. Of course [Brett] Favre can run the show and, as he usually
does, make plays, improvisation plays that always make him dangerous.
Defensively, they're a very athletic group. They rush the passer well.
They're very active upfront. Their linebackers are both fast in coverage and
quick in terms of blitzing and pursuit. They do a good job in the running
game. They cover well in man-to-man situations. [Al] Harris and [Charles] Woodson are probably as tough and competitive and challenging as any corners
that we've faced or probably any corners in the league. The safeties, [Nick] Collins and [Marquand] Manuel are hard hitters. They're very aggressive.
They do a good job as well. Defensively, they turn the ball over. They rush
the passer. They stop the run. They play good man-to-man coverage. Woodson
on the returns, they've had a couple of different guys returning kickoffs,
but they're a good return team. They're a good coverage team. They have a
couple of young kickers that have strong legs and have been very active
kicking field goals. They're playing well. I think they're playing with a
lot of confidence. I think they've improved quite a bit since the beginning
of the year, in the last month, coming off the bye. Like I said, they're
pretty good at everything. We're going to have to play a good football game
on Sunday, we know that, to win.
Q: In terms of Vinny and the
quarterback situation, what was the catalyst, if any, that made you and the
coaches think, 'Now is the time to do this?'
BB: Really, Garrett [Mills] has been kind of fighting through his situation all
year and it hasn't really gotten much better. So it was a question of having
insurance at tight end or insurance at quarterback. That's basically what it
comes down to. We had an opportunity, we had a spot there and that was the
decision. We had Vinny in here several weeks ago and it was a consideration
then, but we've had kind of a fluid situation at receiver and the secondary.
We've needed people in some cases to come in and be ready to play that week
and we just didn't have the opportunity we felt like in other cases to make
that move, but we've been considering it for probably four of five weeks
now, whatever it's been. I don't know.
Q: Do you expect Vinny to come in and compete with Matt for that second
quarterback spot?
BB: No. Did I say that?
Q: No.
BB: Well, I'm not saying that. I didn't say it and don't even start that.
He's an emergency quarterback. He's the third quarterback. He'll be inactive
for every game as the third quarterback unless something happens to the
other two guys. I don't know how I could possibly be any clearer about that.
I don't think there's any need to ask that question six more times to get
the same answer either. He's the third quarterback.
Q: Beyond being an insurance policy, what does he bring intangibly
experience wise?
BB: He has some experience. He's been in our system. He knows our
offense. He's played in it. I have a good background with Vinny. I know what
kind of person he is, what kind of worker he is. I think he brings a lot of
intangibles and I think he brings good playing skill. He's big. Strong. He
has a good arm. Like I said, he played in the system for three years at the
Jets when Charlie [Weis] and I were down there with Bill [Parcells] in
'97,'98 and '99.
Q: What is Favre doing now to kind of reduce all of those mistakes that
he was making last year?
BB: I don't know. I didn't spend a lot of time on last year. In watching
him in this year's offense and what he's done this year, I think he's
playing very well. He's very mobile. He's active. He makes a lot of
improvisation plays, whether it's on bootlegs or scrambles. He has a great
set of receivers, tight ends, good running game. They move the ball. However
they want to do it, they move it. They move it effectively. They have a lot
of long drives. They have a lot of big plays. He's playing well. How he was
doing in other years, you'd have to talk to somebody who has played against
him at those times. I really couldn't give you a big rundown on that.
Q: When you think back to past years and defending Favre, what stands
out? Was there one game, maybe the Super Bowl?
BB: You mean the New Orleans game? We didn't play them very good in that
game. We didn't play them very good here in '02. We haven't played them very
well in the couple of opportunities that we've had, that I've been a part
of. I wish we could have played them better. We didn't play well here in '02
at all. They came in here and beat us pretty good.
Q: Can you talk about the times you've had to defend him in the past and
preparing the team to play him?
BB: The guy is a Hall of Fame quarterback. He does everything well. He's
mobile. He has a good arm. He's accurate. He uses all of his receivers. He
gets the balls to the backs a lot. The tight ends. He can throw it deep. He
can throw it short. He sees the field well. He's hard to tackle. He is a
smart guy. They do a lot of check-with-me's and audibles at the line of
scrimmage. The first touchdown in the Super Bowl I think that was an audible
play. It looked like he got to another one on the long pass to, whoever it
was, the 80-yarder – I'm trying to forget it, in
the Super Bowl. We've seen him audible at the line, change plays. Again,
he's doing a lot of that now. He's a smart guy. He reads coverages well. He
uses all of his weapons and receivers. I don't think he has really too many
weaknesses as a player. He's been doing it well for a long time. He can kill
you in a lot of different ways.
Q: Have you ever had the chance to speak with him?
BB: Just kind to kind of say hello. No, I haven't spent a lot of time
with him.
Q: How much do you admire guys like [Tom] Brady and Favre who are able to
go out there and are able to stay healthy?
BB: We have a saying around here and I think there's a lot of truth to
it, durability is more important than ability. It's a long season and the
guys that can do it, everybody in this league has talent, and that's not
being disrespectful to anybody that gets injured, that's part of the game.
But, as you said, there are other guys who are pretty much out there every
week. However they do it, however they avoid them, however they deal with
them, however they do it, you have a lot of respect for those players.
Q: Last week was it unusual to not have Ty [Warren] out there? He's been
pretty durable for you as well.
BB: He's been a very durable and productive player for us. I hope he'll
continue to be.
Q: The rotation at right tackle, is Nick [Kaczur] just not ready to play
a full game yet or is there some competition in the middle of the season
going on there?
BB: As always, we'll continue to do what we think is best for the
football team and whatever that is, that's what it'll be. Whatever we do,
that's the reason why we're doing it and that's what it will be. It could be
a lot of different combinations or it could be no combination all, so
whatever we think is best that's what it will be.
Q: Is he not quite 100 percent yet?
BB: I don't know what 100 percent is. Anyone one who pretty much missed
pretty much all of training camp and missed several weeks in the season,
compared to somebody else who hasn't, I don't know what that is. I think
that he's certainly a lot better than he was three or four weeks ago.
There's no question about that. Nick is working hard and he's a tough guy.
He's a good player. He's been a good player for us. He's working hard, so I
think he'll continue to get better. I wish he had more opportunities so far
this year, but he hasn't. He has to make the most of the ones that he has.
Q: The last couple of weeks opposing safeties have made a lot of plays up
by the line coming up at the snap. What in general is a natural counter to
that?
BB: It depends on the play. It depends on what you have called.
Offensively, depending on whether you're running or passing, you have one or
two less than they do. If you run the ball, you have nine guys, the
quarterback and the running back aren't blockers, so you have nine to block
11. In the passing game, the quarterback has the ball, you have 10 to handle
11, one way or another. However that gets set up, obviously there are a
million different combinations, a million different ways to do it, but those
are the numbers that you run into.
Q: What, in general, is a way to counter that?
BB: If you have them blocked, block them. If you don't have them blocked,
which you can't block everybody, so whichever guy you don't have blocked,
then somehow the play has to account for that person, depending on what the
play is, him showing up in the play where you don't want him to. So somehow
or other you have to account for that, whether it's in coverage or in a rush
or in the run front.
Q: Is it too simplistic to say, 'We'll just start throwing the ball where
he was so he has to respect that deep part and stay back there?'
BB: It depends on what they're doing. Sometimes they put somebody else
back there where he was and rotate differently. Sometimes they don't. It
depends on the defense. You have 11 guys out there on defense, so you can
kind of move them in a lot of different places and all don't have to be in
exactly the same place, just because you vacate one spot doesn't mean that
somebody can't replace the player. That's just defensive concepts.
Q: Overall, do you consider it a problem?
BB: I think overall offensively you need to be productive and move the
ball and score points. That's what offensive football is, and don't turn it
over. That involves all 11 of our players and involves somehow or other
accounting for all 11 of theirs.
Q: If you go back and look at your kickoff coverage units for the last
couple of weeks, is there one particular thing that has gone wrong?
BB: I think that area, like probably every other area on the team, is one
that we need improvement in and we need to do better on. Right, we've been
talking about it for several weeks and it's not like it's a one play thing.
We need to do a better job in all areas of our game and that would certainly
be one of them.
Q: What's the importance of the practice squad and do you think those
guys feel as much a part of the team as everybody else?
BB: Well, the importance of the practice squad is, number one, for the
individual player is it keeps them in the league on a team and it gives them
a chance to develop their skills as a football player. So that's what the
opportunity is for him. Most teams, at some point in the year, sign some,
and in some cases, most of their practice squad players to their roster.
Then, depending on the situation that comes up and the quality of those
players, a lot of those guys end up getting signed to the roster before the
season is over. So they really are part of the team, sometimes it's just a
question of when. We've done it and most teams do it. That's normal. In a
way, that gives you depth. We have to inactivate eight players, or seven and
a third quarterback, however you want to look at it, on a weekly basis
anyway. In some respects, there isn't a whole lot of difference between an
inactive player and a practice squad player – the similarity being that both players aren't participating in the game.
Whether you're inactive and healthy, obviously if you're inactive and
injured, that's a different category, but if you're inactive and healthy,
then that player essentially has the same role as a practice squad player
does, which is an opportunity for him to work on his skills and his
techniques and his performance so that he can become active and gain playing
time. I think that the division is not as....I don't really see it as a big
division. To me, it's everybody that is sitting in the room is part of the
team. They all have a role. Some guys' roles are to go out there and play
most of the plays on offense or defense or special teams. Other guys' roles
are to play in certain situations and other guys roles are to help prepare
the other side of the ball to play in the game and for them to work on their
skills and techniques until they can get better to earn playing time
themselves and they're all important.
Q: Would Yates and [Steve] Neal be two of the best examples of that
recently?
BB: Yes, sure. I think they're very good examples.
Q: Is there somebody else I'm missing?
BB: We've had other players on our team that fit into that category for
sure, but again I think you can extend that to players like Matt Cassel who
is a good examples of a guy that's not on the practice squad, hasn't played
but has continued to develop his skill and his performance level to be in a
lot closer position to play now than he was a year ago, as Brady did his
rookie year. Even though he wasn't on the practice squad, he had a similar
role. That's why I'm saying I don't see that big of a mark of demarcation
between those types of players. I'd have to kind of sift through the roster
a little bit, but I'm sure there are other guys like that, but those are
good examples, no question.
Q: Do you think Vinny can add something to the meeting room?
BB: Some Charlie Weis stories.
Q: Just with him being a veteran…
BB: Yes, I'm sure he can. I'm sure he can, but I think right now the
most important thing, I'm not too concerned about that, the thing that is
important to me is for Vinny to come in, to understand everything that we're
doing offensively, even though there's some familiarity with the system,
there are a lot of differences and there are fine points that he has to
concentrate and learn so that if we get into an emergency situation and he
has to prepare to play or actually play, that he can go in there and execute
the plays the way they need to be executed. That's what his number one thing
is. It's not to come in here and do anything other than prepare to play and
be ready to play if he is called on to play. That's really what he needs to
do. It's not anything else.
Q: Did you play a role in him coming to New York?
BB: Well, it was a late addition. I think it was in June, maybe after the
June 1st cut. So he came to the team between June and the start of training
camp, in whatever year that was. I can't remember. They're all running
together now. It was '98. '97 was the [Neil] O'Donnell year and [Glenn] Foley. So, yes, it was much more in Cleveland where after his career with Tampa, I can still remember him coming up and going out to dinner and
talking at length about our situation and our team and so forth and so on
when he came to Cleveland. Subsequently, he moved to Baltimore with the Ravens when they shifted. Then when they released him, which again, if I'm
not mistaken it was the June 1 cut, then he was signed prior to the start of
the, I guess it was the '98 season. I've always had a tremendous amount of
respect for Vinny. He obviously came into the league in a tough situation in
Tampa. He didn't win a lot a games down there. I'm sure there were plays
down there that he'd like to have back and all of that. I'm not saying he
played perfectly, but he did a lot of good things and certainly did a lot of
good things for us in Cleveland and was productive in Baltimore and was
productive at the Jets. He's had a terrific career in terms of production.
He's been a stand up guy, a leader. A tough guy, a guy that has handled a
lot of difficult situations in one way or another – moving out of Cleveland. He's been in a couple of quarterback things and has
been on some teams that haven't won and some that have. He's had a career
that has had its share of ups and downs. Anyway, I have a lot of respect for
him. He's always handled it with class, with dignity, with his head held up
high and with a lot of confidence. I respect and admire that about Vinny.
Q: Did it take much, if any, convincing at all for him to come here and
play that role?
BB: Again we talked about that, I don't know, it was several weeks ago
when he came up and visited and we actually had some communication before
that in terms of whether he was even interested in playing football this
year. He came up and visited. We talked and worked him out and told him that
our situation was fluid and that it was something that we wanted to do, but
at that particular point in time, we just didn't feel like it was the best
thing for the football team to do and if things changed then we would stay
in touch and keep him appraised and we did that. I think that Scott [Pioli]
and Vinny talked, I don't know, on a regular basis, every week or every
couple weeks whatever was. As I said, it just kind of turned out this week
that we felt like this was an opportunity for us to be able to add a third
quarterback. It could've been last week. It could've been next week. It just
kind of worked out this way.
Q: Can he drop kick?
BB: He probably could. Vinny's a pretty good athlete now. He probably
could. I doubt that there's too much athletically that he can't do. How many
quarterbacks have had 100 yards rushing in this league? Not too many. He's
pretty talented. We'll have to see. I bet he could give it a shot.
Q: Can he give Brady a run for his money for the strongest arm on the
team?
BB: Vinny has a pretty strong arm. He has a pretty strong arm.
There are
probably not a lot of guys in the league that could throw it any harder or
any farther than he can. I'm sure there are some, but I doubt that there are a
whole lot. He's a pretty talented guy. I don't think his arm strength has
ever been an issue.
Q: Was it in any way difficult for you to pick Vinny over Bernie Kosar being the local icon that he was?
BB: How many times are we going to repave this road? We've been through
it a thousand times. Look, I have tremendous respect for Bernie Kosar. It's
never an issue about Bernie. Bernie is a good quarterback. He had a great
career. He's a smart guy and I admire him and respect him. A tough guy. Vinny is a pretty good quarterback too. At that particular point in time, we
made the best decision we thought was in the best interest of the football
team. I think that Vinny has shown over the last decade that he can play
quarterback in this league. He's done it. He's done it at a pretty high
level. |
