All Things Bill Belichick
     
 

Coffee With The Coach


 
 

WEEI
September 11, 2006

 
     
 

Bill Belichick joined The Big Show with hosts Glenn Ordway, Fred Smerlas, Steve DeOssie and Pete Sheppard during Patriots Monday on Boston's Sports Radio WEEI 850 AM.

GO: It's Patriots Monday down here at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. I'm Glenn Ordway, along with Freddy Smerlas and Steve DeOssie, and of course Pete Sheppard. It's time for the coach to join us right now, as he does each and every Monday. Coffee With The Coach, brought to you by Dunkin' Donuts. Stop by Dunkin' Donuts today for a delicious coffee. America runs on Dunkin'.

Well, we were going to start talking to you about the actual game, and we'll get to that in a second. But there was news here this afternoon that you guys did trade Deion Branch out to Seattle for what you guys have described as an undisclosed draft choice. There are numerous media outlets that are claiming that it's a first-round draft pick, and you've already passed on that question earlier this afternoon, so I'll move to the next one, and that is, did you reach the point of no return with this deal, Bill? Because it did take a while. The guy was gone for the entire preseason and camp. Did it get to a point where you just didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel; this wasn't going to work out to the team's satisfaction? Or maybe it did work out to the team's satisfaction.

BB: I would just characterize it, Glenn, as it just didn't work out. I think that a lot of people tried hard to make it work, but in the end it just didn't seem like it was going to work. So we made the decision that we felt was in the best interest of the football team.

GO: When you say that, and I asked you the question last week about feeling comfortable about your receivers, how much of a decision like that is predicated on the fact that you feel pretty confident that you've got some depth and some pretty good players at that position?

BB: I think it has a lot more to do with the situation itself than other people or other players or that kind of thing. I really do. Deion's a good player; he can help any team – he could help us, he could help Seattle, he could help any team he's with, so it's not really about that. It's just about getting a resolution to the situation. And that's what we needed to do.

SD: Does this have anything to do with the progress of guys like [Doug] Gabriel and [Chad] Jackson?

BB: No, I really don't. I think it's independent of that and more about the specific situation that we were in with the player.

PS: Are you concerned at all about the emotional state of your team for the game coming up against the Jets? We heard from [Richard] Seymour today, and Mike Vrabel. They had kind of opposite opinions, but...

FS: Opposite approaches.

PS: Well, opposite approaches, but Seymour was definitely more emotional about it. Are you worried about that at all coming up this Sunday?

BB: Well, I don't know; I think that in the end we just needed to make a decision in the best interest of the football team.

SD: Was Seattle the only team you were talking with?

BB: You know, I don't know who all was involved.

FS: Bill, you know, you've been in the league long enough. When it happens, especially when it's younger players that are emotionally involved, for the first few days it's something at home. Then you watch films and realize if you don't get your act straight the guy's going to kick your butt in the field. So that emotional aspect seems to diminish when the week progresses and reality sets in. Is that your experience with that? I mean, you know, you've been through a million of them – you were "Bad News Bill." [Laughter] But you've been through it. When my best buddies would get cut early on it would bother me and I'd get pissed off, and all of a sudden the game reality comes in and I've got to play, or I'm going to be embarrassed. Do you think that helps, in your opinion, void some of the emotion involved?

BB: I don't know, I'm sure it's different with different people, so I couldn't say what's in everybody's mind. I just think that in the end players can control what they can control, and that's their preparation and that's their performance. So I hope that's what everybody will try to do. There have been other things that we've had to deal with this year and through the years that are just part of the process, and we deal with them.

FS: Life in the NFL....

BB: I'd just like to go back to Steve, your question. I would say that that was our best offer. There were other offers. There were other offers, but I'd say that was our best offer.

GO: Did you ever think about the possibility of waiting it out 10 weeks, figuring that you have a pretty good football team to begin with?

BB: Glenn, there were a lot of possibilities, there were a lot of things that could've happened, there are a lot of things that did happen. In the end it was resolved, and we did it because we felt it was in the best interest of our football team.

FS: A lot of the people, of course, the worse a team does in the passing game, of course, 'Oh if Deion Branch....' How much would Deion Branch...you can't answer this, but was it a lot to do with the shut-down of the passing game early on – in the Patriots' game against the Bills – had to do with lack of receivers or lack of execution of the receivers out there? I mean, how much did his absence affect that game? Or is it hard to even...

BB: I don't know. I don't know.

GO: Well let's get into the game. Twelve seconds into it – I don't think he affected that play. That was unbelievable. Have you ever been involved in anything like that?

BB: No. [Laughter] No.

GO: Where the offense...the team gives up seven...

BB: That wasn't the scenario we were looking for. Yeah, down by seven 12 seconds into the game. We had a mistake on the play. It was a combination of things. We just didn't pick [Takeo] Spikes up, the ball was loose and they scooped it up and ran it in. We had a number of plays early in the game that we just didn't play very well, for one reason or another. We had some good plays, but then we had some that we just didn't play very well. As the game went on those became fewer, and then towards the end of the game I felt like our execution and our overall position and assignments, and even physical play, those all improved through the course of the game. We've just got to get that started a little bit earlier.

FS: How much did Buffalo's defense, and offense, change from last year as opposed to this year under the new coaching staff?

BB: I think it changed probably more on defense than on offense. But I would say that they were very similar in our game to what they were in preseason, with the exception of they threw a few wrinkles in there. Some of those we didn't handle very well, others of them we adjusted to. It was kind of a typical opening day, as we've kind of seen all week – a lot of unusual plays and some unusual situations. They're well-coached, they do a good job, they give you some different looks, and we had to adjust to those just like they had to adjust to some of ours.

SD: What was the message at halftime? It was almost like, offensively at least, two different halves for your team. What was the message that you gave them?

BB: I think the big thing, Steve, offensively we just needed to get into a rhythm. We kind of had that on the first drive, then we answered back, and then we just didn't have it for the next quarter and a half. We had some second-and-shorts and some third-and-mediums and we just weren't able to convert and stay on the field. But after the half we did a better job of running the ball and converting third downs. We had a couple big plays in the passing game to [Reche] Caldwell, to [Benjamin] Watson, to [Daniel] Graham. Those 20- or 30-yarders, those always help when you're moving the ball, so it's not a 17-play drives if you can pick up 20 or 30 yards in a chunk, and that changes field position in a hurry. So when you put those in there with the running game – I think our running game helped open up some of those plays – then that gave us the ability to move the ball and hang on to the ball. We had a good time-of-possession, and defensively we played better in the running game. And we didn't give up a lot of big pass plays to a big-play receiving group; so that was good. We just needed to tighten up a few things in the run defense. It would have been a...it was 240 yards that we gave up, but we could have cut that down considerably had we tackled a little better and had [Willis] McGahee contained a little bit better.

SD: Talk about McGahee – he looked quicker and better...

BB: He did.

SD: ...than he did even last year. He looked like he regained some of his college speed.

BB: He did. He looked quick on his bounce-outs and his cut-backs, and on the one screen pass where he reversed the field. But you know, again, in the second half,  I thought we did a better job of setting the edge on him on the outside and pushing up inside so there were fewer seams to hit, and it seemed like that frustrated him a little bit. I thought we played him significantly better in that second half.

FS: When you said that, it was simple things like staying home [?]. A couple times, cut-backs, everyone's coming upfield trying to get to the play and not playing their assignment. Stay back and make sure he can't cut back. Because he cut back better than we'd ever seen him. And, second half, you're right, you've got more pressure upfield on the front side, and back side stayed home to take away all that cut-back stuff.

BB: That's exactly right, Fred. We had better leverage on the ball and he had fewer options. There wasn't really a lot of space to run in.

PS: I thought the turning point in the game was the 9:24 mark, fourth-and-one, they're on your eight and they gave it to McGahee. Doesn't get the first down. [Andrι ] Davis makes a great play when he steps up. Were you surprised that they didn't try for the field goal there to go up by 13, on the road, against a team like yours? I was a little surprised at that.

BB: Yeah, I think a little bit, Pete. I was thinking maybe they might be coming in there trying to draw us offside and get a cheap first down that way. But I'm sure they had confidence in their running game and they had had some success up to that point in the first half, and even a little bit on that drive. Maybe they felt like just one more play could put it away. Kind of hard for me to comment on what they were doing, especially when we got into the same situation in the fourth quarter with a two-point lead. I just felt like at that point that if we converted that first down, that that would be the game; and if we kicked a field goal, there were still two minutes to go, they've got the best kickoff returner in the league, so we just felt like one play could end it there. We had confidence in our running game, and we got good blocking over there on the left side and Corey [Dillon] picked it up and that was it. So sometimes offensively you feel like one play can wrap it up for you – it's easier and it might be better for you than trying to go out there and play multiple plays on defense.

GO: What about the quarterback sneak with [Tom] Brady where you called the timeout. They had half the people in the stadium up in the line, [Laughter] and he called the timeout and they came out of that...

FS: He came out of gap defense.

GO: Right. Was that the problem – he didn't like the look?

BB: Well, we had a play called that...right, Tom didn't like the look on the play. And after looking at it on tape, I would agree with him. I think he made a good decision there. It was a critical play in the game, and rather than run something where you only have one shot at it, and not have what you're looking for, I think he wisely elected to take the timeout and then we were able to convert it on...

[Everyone talking at once.]

GO: Were you surprised they changed the look, defensively?

BB: Well, we changed personnel. We changed the play. And then they changed with us and...

FS: He audibled.

BB: Right, Tom picked it up.

FS: Of course. [Laughter] Another question is [JP] Losman, earlier on, seemed to cut down...he had simple reads. He wasn't...to get that ball out of his hands, and whatever change in the coverages, he wasn't getting that ball off on his first read and you were able to get pressure on him. Did it change any of the coverages on Losman? Because Losman got a little more confused in the second half. I don't know what he completed, but his first look, what he was looking for, wasn't there.

BB: Right. Well, most of all their passing game is on the outside, as you saw yesterday. They very seldom throw the ball in the middle – or over the middle – they try to keep it on the perimeter and kind of read high-low out there. They had some option routes, some routes where [Josh] Reed and [Roscoe] Parrish would start out, and then whip back in and that type of thing. [Lee] Evans did the same thing in reverse, going inside and driving back out – those type of option plays. So I think that was really more their passing attack, is to isolate one-on-one, find a good matchup, and get the ball to the receiver out there. They really didn't try a lot of combination-type routes inside. And the backs weren't a big factor in the passing game, other than the screen passes.

SD: Rosevelt Colvin had in particular one big series with a sack and the pass deflection, but he seemed to play a pretty solid game all the way across.

BB: He did, Steve; I thought he had a real good day. He rushed the quarterback well. I thought he played the perimeter runs well and he was good in pursuit. He did a pretty good job of holding up those tight ends when the ball went inside. So I thought he did a real solid job – made some big plays, put some pressure on the quarterback. I mean they weren't all sacks, but he was in there three or four times.

SD: And Rodney [Harrison]'s knee held up well?

BB: Rodney – I think we came out of it in pretty good shape. Rodney finished, and there were a couple of times where he got rolled up in a pile and all that, but it didn't seem like there were any problems.

PS: Junior Seau – also one of the leading tacklers on Sunday – made the front page of the Globe today. How do you assess his performance, the first game in your system?

BB: I thought Junior played well. He's played better each week – he kind of gets better every practice – as he's getting a little better feel for the reads, and also for the guys that are in front of him. I thought he did a real good job. He had several good reads where he played the plays – he and Mike just played the plays just how we wanted to do it. And with Vince [Wilfork] and Richard [Seymour], and Ty Warren up there, too, I think we can have a good, competitive run defense...if we could just do a good job of recognizing the blocking schemes and kind of fitting where we're supposed to fit.

FS: One thing people didn't talk about is Buffalo's special teams is tremendous...

BB: Very good.

FS: And your coverage team seemed to do a very good job staying in the lanes and getting coverage on them. That was a very good, bright spot.

BB: It was good. We had the one play where he got it out over the 40, which, that was one that we didn't cover particularly well, but the rest of them were good. I think overall they started about inside the 25 or something like that. We had good coverage. And the punts – we really didn't give them much on that, either. [Roscoe] Parrish fumbled the one...and the return game, that was a pretty solid effort against, as you said, a very good team – probably one of the best in the league in the kicking game. They're a long punting team and we just got the chance to handle the one punt which Kevin [Faulk] got back upfield for about 15 yards. But they're a good special teams unit. I think if we can play to that level, or close to that level, on a weekly basis that we'll be alright.

GO: I know a lot of people have talked today about Laurence Maroney and his performance yesterday – it was terrific and it was entertaining, but I think some people are forgetting a little bit of what Corey [Dillon] did in that game, because he really was the workhorse in that game. And I'm wondering now, with the arsenal that you have with three different running backs, or actually four, but three that played yesterday, that have different skill levels. I mean, the catch that Faulk made in the end zone was phenomenal. But three different skill levels...how does that change up what a defense cannot do to you out there on the field?

BB: Being on the defensive side of the ball, there are a lot of times when you call certain defenses just based on a certain type of back that you're facing. When you interchange backs it's sometimes kind of hard for the defense to keep track of who's in there when they're in and out. They're worried about the guy across from them, and they're worried about getting the call, and sometimes you, believe it or not, you kind of lose track of which guy is in there. I think that they all have different running styles and different playing styles, but they all have been effective and productive. So I think it puts a little extra pressure on the defense and it keeps them off-balance. You know, sometimes it's a little hard to keep track of them.

GO: Talking about personnel that are out there on the field, how much do you guys keep track, on the sidelines, of players that go down, on the defense let's say – Buffalo lost a couple of defensive players – in that that might afford you an opportunity to expose a [Donte] Whitner – although he had a great play yesterday – expose a younger player out there, or a less experienced, or a less talented, player?

BB: No, we were definitely aware of that when [Troy] Vincent went out with a hamstring, and then when [Takeo] Spikes went out. No, we were definitely aware of that. Again, there's only so much you can do to attack players like that specifically, because they change their calls, and sometimes you're not even sure which safety's going to be down, which one's going to be back, or whether they're going to be an over-front or under-front, or where the linebackers exactly are going to be positioned. But I think a quarterback knows, once the play develops and once the pattern unfolds, what the matchups are – who's covering who – and I think then that's something that a quarterback can go to, particularly in coverage. But it's a lot easier to attack a defensive lineman when you know where he is, or if you can formation the play and know where you're going to get a particular linebacker or a defensive back in the running game or for a play action pass. But a lot of times there are two or three different things that they're doing, and you're just kind of guessing with them a little bit.

FS: How excited is [Tom] Brady when he looks out and sees the matchup with [Kevin] Faulk and a linebacker...when he's throwing touchdown passes?

BB: Well, I think any linebacker on Kevin, you feel pretty good about that.

FS: Yeah. And he had [Daniel] Graham on a linebacker, too, right? Right inside?

BB: Yeah, he kind of stuck crawled [?] down there and then beat him down the sideline. Tom made a nice throw and Kevin laid out and made a heck of a catch...

FS: That's a tough matchup.

BB: The good thing about Kevin is, not only does he have the speed and quickness and hands, but he's really a smart football player, and he's a smart route runner. He knows how to set defenders up and beat them and kind of get them thinking one way and then he goes the other. He's very good at that.

GO: Alright, let's get to the Jets game coming up this week. Like this past weekend – we had a new coach, a new coaching staff, on the Buffalo Bills – you're facing a similar situation with the Jets. I'm wondering if this one you know a little bit more about. If you're starting to see, when you look at these films, that there's a lot more familiar stuff.

BB: There is some, but again, they have a new offensive coordinator, [Brian] Schottenheimer, a new defensive coordinator, [Bob] Sutton. [Mike] Westhoff's there on special teams, similar to Buffalo's situation. We know some of the things that the Jets like to do, but as we saw yesterday in the Tennessee game, they held quite a few things back in preseason and they threw a number of different wrinkles and change-ups at Tennessee, so I'm sure that they'll have some of those for us, too. They've had a lot of time to get ready for this game, and I'm sure they'll have some things that we haven't really seen or worked on in preseason.

SD: When you watch films of the Jets do you still see enough things that you recognize almost instantaneously because of the similarity of the systems?

BB: Yeah. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, Steve. Offensively it's more similar to the San Diego...aspects of the San Diego attack that we saw last year. So I'd say it's a little bit of a merger between San Diego's offense and the Patriots' defense, with some other things sprinkled in there, too. It's not like an intersquad scrimmage. [Laughter] But that's probably the basis of it.

GO: There are some guys, though...Matt Chatham is on that team; he's playing right now.

SD: He actually started last week, I guess.

GO: Yeah...outside line backer spots...so there's some...a lot of familiarity over there.

BB: Yeah. Tim Dwight. Yeah...Bobby Hamilton. Yeah, they've got several guys.

FS: You know, when you're a winning team – we said this earlier – some of the teams that don't win have great players, but when you're a winning team, even though the player might be the same on the losing team, he gets a lot more credibility when people are going to trade him. Deion Branch is a good receiver, but the kid that came from New Orleans then went to the Eagles had the same numbers, but he was only a second-round pick. So sometimes players coming off this team get inflated – like Deion, you got a first-round pick for him [sic] – because they want to pick clean, like what happens with coaches and players, off of a Super Bowl team.

GO: Are you trying to pump him up? What are you doing? [Laughter]

FS: No, it was just a question. They do want to pick apart, right, from coaching staffs and players, off of teams that have been successful over the years.

BB: Well, right, but I think really, in the talent evaluation in the league, that people try to filter out the win/loss record and the emotion of the team, and try to focus on the player and try to picture what that player can do for their team.

PS: What concerns you most on the Jets? [Chad] Pennington looked okay yesterday in the highlights that we saw from some of the game...

BB: Yeah. I think that they have a very good receiving group, and they don't give up a lot of plays defensively. And they're good in the kicking game; they've turned the ball over. Justin Miller's a good kickoff returner. He's had them in preseason and he had one yesterday against Tennessee. They're sound defensively, they don't give up a lot of long, easy plays – you've got to drive it and you've got to work for it. Offensively, they give you a lot of different formations, a lot of looks, use a lot of different personnel groups, and there's motion on it seems like practically every play. They try to keep you off-balance right until the ball is snapped, so you don't really know what to anticipate or what to look for, and then try to catch you a little bit flat-footed. And those receivers can make plays. Pennington's a smart quarterback; he can handle the system and handle a varied offense like that and try to find the weaknesses of it. They do a lot of checking off and check-with-me plays, audibles, stuff like that. So you've got to be careful about how good of a look you give him or he'll find the soft spots.

PS: One thing he has been able to do, for the most part, when he's played against your teams – for the most part – is be able to throw the ball deep and get away with it. So do you consider that to be a pretty good advantage for you guys on Sunday?

BB: I hope that we can do what we did last week against Buffalo and not give up a lot of big plays in the passing game. But they've got several big-play receivers; they're all fast – [Tim] Dwight's fast, [Laveraneus] Coles is fast, [Jerricho] Cotchery is fast. Those guys can get down the field and run. [Chris] Baker, the tight end, can run. So they'll spread you out and they double-move you, and like I said, they have a lot of game-plan plays that get certain routes against certain coverages. And they change up quite a bit, so it's hard to get a real solid read on them.

FS: And with a quarterback like Pennington, who does read well, it's hard. If you blitz a lot, you're going to leave something open...

BB: Right. He gets rid of the ball quick, too. He's a hard guy to blitz a lot because they throw a lot of quick passes and the ball's out of there in a hurry. They've got a couple young offensive linemen, like [Nick] Mangold and [D'Brickashaw] Ferguson, but those guys seem to be coming along pretty well and they're getting better each week. So they're starting to form a good little unit in there. And they're pretty physical and they're competitive. They're good athletes.

SD: Despite beating Tennessee, the Jets probably...still aren't considered much of a threat in the AFC or in the NFL. Combine that with the possible distraction of the Deion Branch trade. Is there a way that you're going to make sure your guys are focused this week? Anything in particular?

BB: Well, yeah, I think a lot of things, Steve. Let's start with let's see if we can at least have a tie score 20 seconds into the game.

[Laughter and crosstalk]

BB: That would be progress.

[More laughter and crosstalk]

SD: Yeah, that would help.

BB: And again, do a better job on the outside running game. Score on offense in the first half, after that one drive, get the ball and keep it. There are a lot of things that we can do better. Just our overall operation – we can smooth that out a little bit and be more productive. That's where we can start, with the Jets. They went down to Tennessee and they won on the road – I mean, that's more than we can say this year. They played a good, solid football game. They played well in preseason. So really, I don't think we'll have a problem – we have enough things we need to take care of. And then when we look at the Jets, that just compounds it. We've got to go on the road – we haven't beat anybody on the road this year, and to have a good football team, that's something we need to do. So that's a big point of emphasis for us right there – going down there and playing well with the crowd noise and all that.

SD: So between improving from the performance against Buffalo and reviewing stuff from the Tennessee-Jets game, you've got plenty to keep them mentally and physically occupied so that there are no distractions in this case.

BB: Oh my god, yeah. We've got more than we're going to have time to go over. Because the Jets run a thousand different looks – on both sides of the ball. We play some teams that just kind of line up and do what they do – do their three or four things and do it well. That's not really what the Jets do. They give you a lot of variety, a lot of variations, and really make it hard for you to zero in on one thing.

GO: You talked about using personnel based on the team that you're facing. Is it more likely that we're going to see more than three wideouts this week in the depth chart?

BB: Well, we'll see. We'll set up the game plan and see what that looks like – how we want to try to attack the Jets. But in the end, we'll do what we think's best, whatever we feel is the best way to attack them. I'm not sure what that is right now; we'll have to wait until we put everything together. We'll probably get that going here on Tuesday and Wednesday.

FS: A lot of people ([Glenn] Ordway) were saying [Laughter] that this was perfect for Bill Belichick. You know, it was a scam...

GO: Throw me under the bus?

FS: ...that you won the game still and people sit up and pay attention...

GO: That's not what I said.

FS: That's what you said.

GO: Charlie Weis came out – you've probably seen this already – Charlie came out and claimed that he received a phone call from you after that Georgia Tech game, in which you said to him, 'Perfect scenario: you win the game and you can get the attention of the guys because you didn't play that well.' Did it happen? Or were you on the line with [Bill] Parcells?

[Laughter and crosstalk]

FS: No, Coach, this is what Ordway said...

[Crosstalk among the hosts]

GO: That's exactly what I said. I'm reporting facts here, which is unusual for me, so give me a break.

BB: Well Charlie and I talk every once in a while, every week or two...

FS: Now you know you're being outed.

BB: Yeah, that's right.

[Laughter]

FS: He's talking to Ordway.

BB: Sometimes we talk about our team, sometimes we talk about other teams – not New England, not Notre Dame – sometimes we just talk football situations and stuff like that. So it's not anything geared towards anybody trying to coach the other guy's team or anything.

GO: Well for what it's worth, I understood it. Fred [Smerlas] is still trying to figure it out. [Laughter] Alright, it's time right now for the Eastern Mass. Volkswagen Dealers' Coach's Question of The Week. Coach, trust me, I did not... [Hosts speaking all at once] Kevin of Dedham wants to know, 'What coaching decision do you most regret?'

[Crosstalk among the hosts]

BB: Coaching decision.....

[Crosstalk]

BB: Well, I've made plenty of bad decisions, that's not the point. There's too many to choose from, I guess.

[Crosstalk]

GO: That's the Eastern Mass. Volkswagen Dealers' Coach's Question of The Week. [Laughter and crosstalk] Kevin is now registered to win a trip for two to the pro football championship (you know what that is) in Miami. Stop by your local Eastern Mass. Volkswagen Dealer or logon to WEEI.com, submit a question for the Coach – a good one, now – and register for a trip to the big game. Congratulations, Coach. Regular season win number 100.

All: Congratulations.

PS: And that's a little card that Larry Johnson drew up from the Pete and the Pom-Pom show.

FS: Just to congratulate you.

[Laughter and crosstalk]

BB: Thank you. That's great. Thanks a lot.

GO: Alright, one down. We'll see you here next week.

BB: OK, sounds good.

[Thank yous and good byes]

GO: Bill Belichick. It's Patriots Monday here on The Big Show.

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