Steve DeOssie: It is Coffee With the Coach. Coffee With the Coach is brought to you by Dunkin' Donuts. As we're doing right now, America runs on Dunkin'…
Bill Belichick: How are you guys doing?
SD: Coach, how are you doing?
BB: Good. Doing good. Jets week – we're rolling into it. Good to get out there on the field today. We're getting in there.
Fred Smerlas: We always talk about the drag of training camp. Over the years it's become much more prevalent that teams don't kill you in training camp. How conscious are you of the age of your players and how much that's going to affect how long you're on the field and things of that nature?
BB: I think you have to be conscious of everybody's situation. No matter when you go through training camp, whether it's now or twenty years ago, it still has some of the same elements. You have young players who, and rookies, who have never played before that need a lot of playing time, they need a lot of reps, they need a lot of snaps. And then you have other players who are much further along than that that don't need quite as much time to get ready. They need time but the learning curve is…they're at a different point at it. So you try to balance those things. It's a little bit easy to do individually but then when you start putting your team out there together you want to have everybody working together that you think can be playing together then that makes it a little bit harder to do because you have guys at different stages and sometimes you have injuries that factor in there and things like that. It's just a balancing act. I don't think there's any perfect scenario. You just take things into consideration and do the best you can.
FS: Well this year with Junior Seau it's the first year you had to deal with the AARP, right?
BB: [Laughter]
FS: He's an amazing guy. Look at the way he goes out there – his enthusiasm, his conditioning. Even after that injury last year, he's still in top physical shape.
BB: Oh, he is. He has a lot of energy. He's an amazing specimen. He's a Hall of Fame player and I think we can all see why. He's had a tremendous career.
SD: The hottest subject right now for Patriots fans is the four-week ban of Rodney Harrison. This came down rather quickly in terms of the Patriots fans' viewpoint. How is the team holding up with the news about Rodney Harrison?
BB: Well, I think it's an unfortunate situation. But Rodney talked about it and covered it pretty thoroughly, and so we're just, we're going to move on.
FS: Now, Randy Moss. A guy that hasn't played in what, 30 practices?
SD: Yes.
FS: Thirty practices. Is his hamstring 100% going into this week, after the long stretch on rehab?
BB: I think that Randy's kind of been in the day-to-day category. He practiced today and I think he did things well. He's had a good week in terms of his rehab and the running and so forth that we've been doing. I think that he's been fine.
SD: Overall with the receiving corps, you're satisfied with how everything's coming out of camp, outside of Randy's status?
BB: Well, I think that we have a long way to go in every aspect of our team. I don't think there's any one position or one group or one unit or anything where we're exactly where we need to be. We have a long way to go. We've had a lot of practices, we've had four preseason games, but there's still a long way to go before I'd say that we're in any kind of midseason form. So we just keep plugging along day after day and try to make some steady improvements. Some areas of our team are a little further along than others, but I'm sure that it's like that with every team. You just have to work on the things that you feel like are lagging behind a little bit, but try to keep everything moving forward because every aspect of your team is important. And as I said, I don't think any of them are where they're going to be hopefully in four, six, eight weeks down the road.
FS: Usually the defense is ahead of the offense because defensive players are smarter and better athletes, usually.
BB: [Laughter]
FS: How is the offensive line? I mean, these guys have been around together a long time, and Dante [Scarnecchia, the offensive line coach]'s been there since the dawn of time, since the Mayflower. Has their unit solidified? These guys are very good at getting helmet-on-helmet. They had a couple burps, like in the Tennessee game. Are they getting coordinated to the point where the unit's becoming tighter as a blocking group?
BB: I think the offensive line is, as you said, they're well-coached. Dante's been with them longer than I've been here. There's a lot of consistency there. They work hard and they communicate well together, but still it's always the challenge for that group of all five of them doing the right thing together, in perfect step. Matching up with what the other four guys are doing so that every assignment, every gap is taken care of and all the guys that need to be blocked get blocked properly or picked up on the blitz or whatever the case is. So they're working hard on that. There's still a lot of work to do, but we're getting close. Fred, I would just say that that was as entertaining a question as I've gotten in quite a while. I thought you did a great job the way you phrased it.
FS: Well there was four cups of coffee, so I kind of got lost in the middle of the question.
BB: [Laughter]
[Crosstalk]
SD: Well you must feel pretty good about your offensive line, because you were able to, you had to release a guy like Gene Mruczkowski, who's been a pretty good backup fill-in guy along the line for you.
BB: He has. Gene showed some versatility for us and we just obviously felt like there were other guys ahead of him. But he got picked up by Miami and that's not really a surprise. I think that he has value. We had last year with a couple of our offensive linemen, guys like Brandon Gorin and people like that that have gone on and played with other teams – Tom Ashworth and so forth. So that's, I think, a tribute to the depth that we've had on the offensive line and the job that those players have done working hard and getting better and Dante's done with them and so forth. But the main thing we're focused on is the group that we have and getting them ready to play the Jets. And, you know, that's a big challenge for the offensive line, probably as big a challenge for that unit as any other unit we have on our team. With all the different blitzing and disguising and so forth that the Jets have done, the different looks that they give you, it's very challenging. We're playing on the road, there'll be a lot of crowd noise, it will be hard to hear, and the offensive line will really have to be at their best. Their talent and their experience and their communication skills will all get tested.
FS: Another guy that just came in quick was Vinny Testaverde. Vinny came in for what, two weeks? The progress of that third string quarterback, the young kid…
SD: [Matt] Gutierrez.
FS: Gutierrez. He's moved along that quickly that Vinny just became expendable?
BB: Well, I think Vinny has a lot of experience, as we know. [He] was with us last year, came back and worked out in the spring, was with us for a couple weeks in training camp. At this point he would be an emergency quarterback for us, which of course we hope we never have to use. But I think that if something came up, and he was still available, that he's a lot further ahead than he was last year at this time for that situation. But hopefully it won't come to that. Everybody will stay healthy and we'll be able to keep going with what we have. But if not, then hopefully if he's still around we'll be able to capitalize on the snaps that he had in the spring and here in training camp to push him a little bit further along in our system.
FS: You brought up the Jets, and obviously we all hate the Jets equally, but does that make it much more difficult? We always talk about familiarity, when [Eric] Mangini's been here and had such familiarity with this team. How much more difficult is preparing for a team that knows your players and knows you as well as anyone in the league?
BB: I think that in this division, especially as it relates to the Jets, I think everybody knows everybody pretty well. There are a lot of people down there that have been here – we know them, they know us. We played them three times last year – once at the beginning, once in the middle and once at the end of the season – so I think we're about as familiar with them and they're about as familiar with us as we could possibly be. In the end I think this game's going to come down to execution on the field much moreso than somebody knowing something about somebody and being able to use that for some special trick or something. I think this game's going to come down to who can go out there and execute and take care of the ball and get their assignments right and play with energy for 60 minutes a Sunday afternoon game, first afternoon game that we've had this year, with a smaller roster relative to what we had in preseason games. So conditioning and mental toughness and alertness and communication and all those things will get put to the test. That's what really this game will be about.
SD: Part of that test is going to be playing without two of your marquee players in Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour, out for four weeks and six weeks respectively. Who's going to have to step up in that case to makeup for the loss of two very good players?
BB: I'm sure it will be a combination of people. Last year we played without Rodney for a portion of the season and those duties fell on other defensive backs. James Sanders was certainly in the middle of that mix, but depending on what grouping package we're in and so forth. The same thing through the past two or three years here with Jarvis Green. He's at times been called on to replace Richard, along with other players there on the defensive line, and I'm sure we'll be in the same situation again this week. Some of that primary responsibility will fall to Jarvis but we'll also count on other players, whether they be linebackers or defensive linemen, to be in those spots that we've been accustomed to seeing Richard in.
FS: I think last year you put [Vince] Wilfork at end at times, didn't you, when you had [Mike] Wright in the middle?
BB: I think that was more of Vince's rookie year. Last year when Vince missed the last two games against Jacksonville and Tennessee, the last two regular season games, that's when Mike started at nose, that's correct.
FS: Now that he's a svelte 330 pounds will he have some … maybe you can move that nose tackle at defensive end sometimes.
BB: Well we could, I guess. That's right, Fred. We could.
[Laughter and crosstalk]
FS: With all the expectations – I mean let's face it, Pete [Sheppard]'s almost on a respirator when he talks about the team…
[Laughter]
FS: You have so much more expectations now on offense. How is it to keep a lid on that? You know, the press – we're not the press, we're just regular guys – but they come down there and everyone's talking about it and it's written up in the paper. How is it to keep the lid on this thing? Is it any more difficult this year keeping the lid on things when all the press is pumping and talking about how…
SD: Keep the guys level-headed.
FS: …keeping everyone level-headed? (Thanks, Steve.)
BB: I don't think really anybody pays too much attention to that and to what the prognosticators say and so forth – who picks who. It doesn't really matter. What we're focused on is just the job that we need to do. Go out, have a good practice today, look at the film, make the corrections, come in the next time, get it right, move on to something else – third down, red area, goal line, situational stuff – practice that, get it right. I think we just need to keep a short-term focus with our job, because that's all we can control. We can't control what's going to happen a month from now or six months from now or anything else. Right now our big thing for us is what we're doing today on the practice field, in the meeting room, doing tonight in terms of studying, putting things together for a gameplan for the players, and then going out there and making sure everybody understands it and practices it so we can do it in the game. We're much more focused on short-term goals and situations rather than we are trying to get into a big-picture planning scenario, because this isn't the time for it.
FS: If you had your way would you think they should cut down preseason a week and only have three preseason games, or two? You know, get more reps for the veterans and cut out some of that, you know, the extra games?
BB: I think that's an interesting point. I think it just, again, depends on what you want to do with those games. There are certainly players on our team that could use eight preseason games. They're young players learning a new system, getting better every time they walk out on the field, and they could use all those extra games and plays and situations and conditioning and so forth. Then there are other players who don't need as much of that, who have played a lot more and they don't need the same number of snaps that a younger guys does. So I think those games are valuable opportunities for whoever gets to use them. And I'm not saying that it's equal across the board but it could be very helpful to guys that don't have a lot of playing experience. Particularly the rookies. That's the plus side of it.
SD: Well, Bill, let's focus a little bit on your upcoming opponent the New York Jets. Asante Samuel is back in camp. Can we expect to see him against the Jets?
BB: Well Asante, he's working hard. He knows that he's behind. Everybody else has played four preseason games and practiced thirty-some times and he hasn't done any of that. So he has some ground to makeup, but at the same time he's working hard at it and he's catching up on those things that he needs to do to get back in step with everybody else. So we'll just see how it goes here as we go through the week.
FS: This is a team that, you talk about a multitude of blitzes and disguising the coverages. Is this a team, obviously you play early, is it more difficult for you because the offense hasn't been in gear yet, isn't in sync?
BB: I think that's a good point. I really do. I think that's a good point.
FS: Thanks, Coach.
BB: They do, they give you a lot of looks, they disguise things, they make you work to figure out exactly what they're doing – they're don't just line up in it and show it to you like some teams do. Their disguise and deception and identification and knowing who's who and all that, it's a lot harder with the Jets than it is with some other teams. So those are the things we'll have to work hard on.
FS: Now the options you have – I mean, obviously it's a tremendously different team than last year with the running back and the wide receivers. Will that dictate, obviously, a little bit different gameplan considering you have the big receivers now that can stretch the field?
BB: I think each week you look at your personnel and their personnel, and their scheme, the opponent's scheme, and try to figure out matchups that are to your advantage. That's what we've always done and that's what we'll continue to do. I'm sure each week we'll find some, and some will be different from the previous week, because the opponent's different, and we'll just see how all that shakes out. We do it more that way than go in there and say 'Alright, we need to throw 'x' number of passes to this guy and 'x' number of passes to that guy and 'x' number of carries go to this player and so forth. We just try to come up with plays and schemes that we feel like will be effective against our opponents, in this case defense, and then figure out what we want to call and when to try to get them in the right situation so we can take advantage of it.
FS: People talk about halftime adjustments and we talked to you before about this. Your defense and offense evolve from the first series on. You're adjusting on-the-go. It's not halftime adjustments, it's every series, correct?
BB: Absolutely. That's what we try to do. As soon as the series is over then we take the information that we've gained from those plays and try to make the players aware of it and figure out what we're going to do when those situations come up again, or try to anticipate which direction they're heading in with the early plays in the gameplan. So yes, absolutely, that's a key time for us to try to…once we can see anything that they're doing it tells us more than we had before the game. So we try to make our adjustments as soon as we know that information and don't wait till halftime, that's correct.
SD: Alright Bill, it's your favorite time of the show. It is time for the MVP Volkswagen Dealers Coach's Question of the Week. Visit any of the seven…
BB: I'm going to give it to Fred.
SD: He's already nervous; don't do that. Visit any of the seven MVP Volkswagen dealers to fill out a question for the coach and be automatically eligible to win a February trip to Arizona. No purchase necessary. [Crosstalk] Jim from Stoughton wants to know, 'Which opposing player is the most difficult to prepare a defensive gameplan for?'
BB: A defensive gameplan?
SD: For an opposing player.
BB: That's currently playing, or ever?
SD: Ever. How about ever and then currently?
BB: I'd say a couple of the hardest ones were Marshall Faulk and Barry Sanders. And again, because of the number of different things they could do and how well they could do them. Currently? Right now I'm just thinking about Laveranues Coles and [Jerricho] Cotchery and Leon Washington and all those guys, so…it's hard to get them out of my mind. One current player…
SD: There are a lot of guys out there.
BB: I don't know. That's a tough one. I have two questions, could I ask those?
SD: You absolutely can, as long as they're both to Fred because I love seeing him sweat. I love to see Fred sweat and he never sweats more than when you ask him a question.
[Laughter and crosstalk]
BB: I'm going to ask you each one. Where's Pete? And, where's Glenn [Ordway]?
SD: Well, Pete's somewhere on a beach with a Mai Tai and a sunburn…
BB: OK…
SD: Glenn's at the Indigo Girls concert. [Laughter and crosstalk] They're not troopers, like us. Listen, I don't care about holidays, it's game week. You have to get ready for this. You can't take a day off just because it's a holiday.
[Crosstalk]
SD: Those guys are taking a holiday. They're not like us; they don't understand game week… [Crosstalk] Well, Coach, we appreciate you joining us. If you'd like to ask the Coach a question, swing by your local MVP Volkswagen dealer, like Quirk VW Braintree or Boston VW in Alston where Jetta Wolfsburgs are now available for just $199 a month, with a sunroof…heated seats and alloy wheels. We appreciate your time, Coach, and we appreciate not making the questions too hard for us…
[Crosstalk]
SD: Good luck this week with the Jets. Good luck to your team and best wishes from both of us.
BB: OK. Thanks Steve, thanks Fred. We'll talk to you next week.
SD: Thanks Bill. That's Bill Belichick.
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