BB: Really, I don't have a whole lot
to add from last night. Give Denver credit, they did a good job. They always
do, they have a good football team. I just think that we're better than the
way we played last night – and coached. I hope we can put a better
performance out there. I thought we would've put a better performance out
there last night than what we did, but we just weren't able to make enough
plays and Denver made some when it counted, made some at key times, and
that's why the outcome was what it was. We just have to go back to work. We
have to keep improving in every area [and] try to do a better job than we
were able to do last night. That's about where we are. I don't think it was
any one thing. It was a combination of things. It was in all three phases of
the game – the running game, the passing game, both sides of the ball and
all that. We just have do a little better job. It wasn't terrible, but we
just need it to be better.
Q: Do you feel like the defense
needed to do a better job after Josh [Miller] punted the ball
and would pin them deep?
BB: Sure.
Q: Was that the turning point for
them?
BB: I don't know what the turning
point was, but yes, when you have field position you want to maintain it.
When you don't have it, you need to create it. Yes, no doubt.
Q: That fourth-and-one play, off the
left hand side, it looked the play was out of sync.
BB: Yes, it was. It was. That's a
good way to put it. I couldn't put it any better myself. It was poorly
executed.
Q: Was it initially intended to run
the play?
BB: It was just poorly done. That's
all. We'll just leave it at that.
Q: Do you think [Tom] Brady is not playing well?
BB: I never said that.
Q: I'm asking if you think he is
playing well?
BB: The answer is I think everybody
in that meeting room can do a better job, the coaches, the players,
everybody, all of us. I think we can all do a better job. I don't think
anybody is playing perfectly as well as they can play or coach. That goes
for everybody. I think there's room for improvement.
Q: Was there some improvement in the
passing game?
BB: There were things in the game
that were good, yeah. There were things in the game that were fairly well
executed, but it wasn't consistent. We gave up big plays on defense. We
weren't able to convert some third downs on offense. We didn't take
advantage of our scoring opportunities. We gave up a couple of plays in the
kicking game. There were things that could've been better. There were other
things that were pretty competitive against a good football team. We need to
do a better job and we need to do it more consistently. We have to make more
plays.
Q: How would you characterize Tom
Brady's demeanor on the field?
BB: I don't know. I don't really
characterize anybody. I just try to look at the way we play and get us to
play better.
Q: Are you a believer in body
language? Obviously, there have been a lot of people speculating about his
body language.
BB: Not me. I just try to coach the
team and try to get us to play better and see if I can do a better job of
coaching. That's where my focus is.
Q: Just the way it's being portrayed,
if you listened to ex-athletes on the radio, it seems like it was all Brady's fault that the Patriots lost.
BB: I missed all of those shows
today. Give them a call and talk to them about it. I don't know. What do you
want me to do? You asked me a question and I gave you an answer. Do I think
we can improve in every area? Yes, everybody, all of the players, all of the
coaches, I think we can do a better job and that's what we're going to try
to do. Do I think that anybody played a perfect game or coached a perfect
game last night? No. That goes for everybody, me included.
Q: On the blocked field goal, is he
kicking the ball low? Did he slip?
BB: I think the ball came out low,
that was part of the problem. There were other problems, too.
Q: How much of it was field related?
BB: I don't know. I think there were
a lot of factors involved in the play. I don't know what percentage was
what. Whatever it is, we have to deal with it.
Q: It looked like his plant foot
slipped. Is that fair to say?
BB: Yeah, probably.
Q: Is there a certain way you deal
with the rookies who are struggling at this time of year or do you let them
just play it out?
BB: I think we've played three games.
I think there's a lot of things that we can do better. I think there's
things that we have done well in each of the three games that are good, but
there's room for improvement and it's not always consistent. Sometimes we
get into a similar situation and one time it's better than another time. We
just need to be more consistent. That goes for everybody. Rookies. 15-year
veterans. Thirty-year veteran coaches. Everybody.
Q: You guys have given up four big
plays in the passing game on defense in the last two weeks. Is that a lack
of solid, consistent play all the way around the board?
BB: Definitely. Yes. Believe me we
don't have any defenses where it's, 'Well if they run this, we'll give up a
70- or 80-yard touchdown.' That's not really the way we design it. We have
to coach it better. We have to play it better. You can't give up 80-yard
touchdowns every week. That's not good.
Q: How is Corey Dillon doing?
BB: I think everybody is a little
disappointed with the outcome of the game. I think I could speak for the
team on that.
Q: How about health-wise?
BB: We didn't practice today. We're
not going to practice tomorrow.
Q: How close was he to coming back
in?
BB: I don't know, but we'll do what
we always do. Wednesday, we'll take them out. The guys that can practice
will practice. The guys who can't or the guys that do, we'll list them on
the injury report the way they are on Wednesday. I don't know. We don't have
to play today. We didn't practice today. We're not practicing tomorrow. So I
couldn't tell you exactly what anybody's status is as of right now.
Q: Doug Gabriel's production
in the fourth quarter, how much of that was his ability to create separation
and how much of it was Denver backing off?
BB: I don't know. A receiver can't
really control some of those things. His job is to get open and to catch the
ball. A couple of plays were tight. A couple we threw in front of what the
coverage was. Probably a combination of both.
Q: Why did it take until the fourth
quarter for him to have an active role in the game?
BB: From where we were from a depth
standpoint at that position, there weren't too many players who were really
in a position to go all the way.
Q: What are your thoughts on going to China next year?
BB: Right now, I really couldn't care
less about China, or any place else. Cincinnati, that's the
only destination I'm really concerned with right now. I don't really care
about anything else right now. That stuff is so far in the future that I
don't know if China will be there a year from now. I don't know if I'll be
there a year from now. Right now, all I care about is Cincinnati and that's
plenty.
Q: Now that you've seen what Doug can do, is it likely that he'll have a more active role from the outset
going into this week?
BB: I don't know. We haven't done the
game plan on Cincinnati. I don't know how exactly all of that is
going to work itself out. We'll have to see how that goes.
Q: Rosey Colvin felt like he
should've had the strip sack on Jake Plummer down near the end zone.
Aren't strip sacks more of an opportunistic thing than a play that can be
diagramed?
BB: Look, I think it's just natural.
When you play a game like that or coach in a game like that, after the game,
I'm sure that every player and every coach that was involved in that game
last night thought about one or two or three things that they could've done
differently or maybe a little better and feel like that could have helped us
more in the game. I'm sure every single person felt that way to some degree.
I think that's natural. I've coached in a lot of games. I don't think I've
ever not felt like that, especially after a game like the one we just
played. 'If we had done this, if we had coached that, if we had called
this,' or a player, if I had done that, if I had made this block, if I had
made that tackle, if I had run this route, if I would have caught that
ball,' everybody has a couple of plays like that and when you play in a
tough game like that and the results are what they were, I'm sure that every
single player has a couple of plays that they kind of wish they had back or
wish maybe they had done a little bit different. Every coach has a couple of
calls like that. I think that's a natural reaction after the game. I can't
imagine anybody really feeling any other way. There's no way I'd walk off
the field saying, 'There wasn't anything I could do better in that game.'
There's no way you can feel like that.
Q: How much of concern will big plays
be this week going up against Cincinnati?
BB: They're a huge big play team.
They do everything well. They run, they throw it, they can throw it short,
they can throw it deep, they can run after the catch, they have a good
quarterback, a good line, good receivers, tight ends, running backs. It's
one of the most explosive offensive teams I've seen in a while. Obviously,
they're one of the best offensive teams in the league. They're a good
football team period, but offensively there's just one word to describe them
and that's explosive. It doesn't matter what they do, it's explosive.
They're very good. It's a huge concern. Anybody that has played them has to
feel that way. I'm sure they can't wait to get a hold of us.
Q: Is that a huge point of emphasis
this week?
BB: It's a huge point of emphasis
every week. We're not going to walk into the defensive meeting and say,
'We'll give up a couple of 70-yarders this week. That won't be any problem.'
It's a huge thing each week. You never want to give it up on one play. It
doesn't matter what you're in. It doesn't matter what they're in. There is a
way to prevent those plays from happening. You can't hold every play to no
gain. That's unrealistic. You can't be giving them up like that.
Q: What did you think of Ellis
Hobbs' coverage of Javon Walker?
BB: I think it's the same thing that
I just said. I think everybody probably comes out of the game feeling they
could've done a little bit better on some plays than what they did. I'm sure
that's the way Ellis feels. I'm sure that's the way all the players
feel about...pick out a play.
Q: Obviously, on the 80-yarder that
was a breakdown in coverage. Do you look at that play differently?
BB: You don't think there was a
breakdown on the 32-yard touchdown? They're close. This is the National
Football League. It doesn't take much. Good quarterbacks. Good receivers. It
doesn't take much. They don't need a lot of space. They don't need a lot of
room. If you don't get it covered, they'll make you pay. That's every week.
I don't see this week really as any different than last week in terms of
that, or any other week. We saw that from Buffalo. We saw it from the Jets. We saw it from Denver and Cincinnati. It will be
like that with everybody. What team are we going to talk about that we're
not going to be saying that about. Miami? Just keep going. You can go
through every team on the schedule. They have guys that make big plays on
offense. That's what every team in the league has.
Q: Just to be clear on Gabriel,
are you saying that it was predetermined he wouldn't play until the second
half?
BB: I didn't say that.
Q: Was it predetermined?
BB: I didn't say that, no. We put
people in when we feel like substitution is the right thing to do, sometimes
it's by group, sometimes it's by situation, and sometimes it can be a
variety of other circumstances.
Q: Do you think some of the offensive
struggles are simply the fact that those guys haven't played together for
very long?
BB: I think we need to better job in
all phases of the game offensively. We need to run it better. We need to
throw it better. We need to convert third downs. We need to score in the red
zone. Pick up short-yardage plays. Everything needs to be better. Some of
those things work with each other. The better you run it, sometimes, the
easier it is to throw it. When you can throw it, that spreads them out and
makes it better to run it. All of those things work together and consistency
is a big part of it. I think that we can do a better job offensively and I
think every part of the game is a part of that offensive performance and
production. I don't think you can just segment it out.
Q: With three banged up safeties, is James Sanders ready to step in and fill that void?
BB: He's been out there everyday.
He's had a good preseason. A good training camp. He's a lot further along
than he was last year.
Q: What happened to him in the game,
were those just anomalies?
BB: What's that?
Q: When he came in the game he had
the pass interference penalty. Was that unusual based on what you've seen
from him?
BB: I think that you're going to be
able to find plays in every game that could be played a little bit better. I
think James feels that way. Ellis. You can pick out any player
who played. I think they're all going to feel the same way. It doesn't mean
anything except those plays need to be played better and that goes across
the board. Certainly we had some mistakes and it could've been better
execution and in some cases it could've been coached or called better, all
of those things are factors. They all could be improved and hopefully they
will be improved.
Q: So you have confidence in him?
BB: Sure.
Q: Did Chad Jackson's
hamstring flare up on him and that's why he was inactive for the game?
BB: He was inactive because we felt
like we had other players that were…we felt we put our best 45 out there.
That's the 45 who were active, that's what we felt for this particular game.
Q: Do you think Laurence Maroney was affected by carrying the load once Corey went out of the game?
BB: I think at this point Laurence is in good condition. He's had a lot of reps. I think he's ready to play. I
think he looks forward to playing. I think we have a lot of players in that
situation. Not everybody plays every play, but I think that they prepare and
train and condition to do that and when they get the opportunity I think
they're ready for it. We've been going for a while, so yes, I think he's
ready for it. But I would say that about every other player too, whether
they are actually out there every play or not. They prepare that way and
they condition that way and they train that way.
Q: Did you feel he was tentative at
all in the backfield?
BB: I think every player had plays
that could've been better in the game, that includes him and it includes
everybody else. I thought he made some good plays. There's some other plays,
I'm sure, that he would like to have back or maybe do a little bit
differently. I would say that about every single guy.
Q: His coaches at Minnesota said one thing that they worked on with him was the fact they felt like
occasionally he danced a little bit too much in the backfield. Do you feel
that way?
BB: I certainly wouldn't characterize
it that way. I would say it just the way I said it. Some plays could've been
executed a little bit better than they were. That's the truth. Some plays
were executed pretty well. There's room for improvement. There was certainly
room for improvement last night. |
