PRESS CONFERENCE Oct. 21, 2009
Q: Speaking of routine, how different will this week be in terms of time and in preparation?
TB: Well, we’re leaving tomorrow, after practice. We came in yesterday and spent quite a bit of time on [the Buccaneers]. It’s certainly not a normal week for us, but I think it’s important for us players to realize that this is a trip for us that we’re trying to go over there and win a game, nothing more than that. It’s like any other road trip that we take, it’s not for going out and seeing the sights, or anything like that; it’s for one reason and we need a really focused group. And we certainly need to bring our energy and excitement, and try to go out there and play a great game.
Q: How much confidence do you have in Terrence Nunn, if he’s active, and your other receivers?
TB: I have confidence in all of our receivers. If you’re on the roster and you have an opportunity to play, I have confidence. All of those guys have worked very hard, certainly with Wes [Welker] and Randy [Moss]; I don’t have to worry about much with them. But Brandon [Tate] is going to be out there, hopefully, and Terrence [Nunn] is going to be out there, hopefully, this week, to see how they can go out there and perform. And hopefully they can go and do a good job.
Q: Coach Belichick said that he had a meeting with the team yesterday to go over some of the non-football preparations for the trip. Was there anything that you took away from that that made you say, ‘I better make sure that I’m aware of that’?
TB: Well, he gave us all the places to stay away from. I don’t know if that makes us want to go there more, or should we stay away? I think he just reiterated what he needs from us and what he wants out of us. It’s a pretty unique experience for all us — there’s no doubt about that — and playing in a great stadium like that [Wembley Stadium]. But I think the trip will be memorable if we win, if we lose, I guess it will be memorable for a different reason from what we’d want it to be memorable for.
Q: How important was it for you in your last game to show people that you were back from injury?
TB: Well, I don’t know if I’d approach it like that, or look at it like that. I think it’s a long season and we’ve played in some games where we’ve executed well, we’ve played some games that we haven’t executed so well. I’m happy that I was able to hit the guys that were open, I know that. That gives me a lot of confidence going into this week. I think that’s what I have to continue to do, and that’s what my role is. There’ve been some other games where I haven’t been able to do that and it’s really been frustrating for me. Each week, it seems like the preparation is a little bit better and the execution seems to be a little bit better, too.
Q: You’re playing a winless team for the second week in-a-row. What do you think about the Buccaneers?
TB: I mean, obviously, every team has its strengths and weaknesses, and every team is dangerous in its own way. This team has a lot of youth, but it has some playmakers on defense, especially in the secondary. We went through a lot of the stuff this morning and they can make a lot of plays. Similar to us, it’s just the consistency of it. We’re expecting them to play their best game — there’s no reason why they wouldn’t — so we’re going to have to go out and do the same.
Q: You said last week that Coach Belichick was on you constantly about not making passes of 40-or-more yards. How good did it feel to come in this week and be able to say to the coaches that you’d done that?
TB: It felt good. We mentioned it to him in about the third quarter of last game. We got a couple for him. And those were big plays in the game; the one to Wes [Welker] down the left sideline was a big play. When you can hit those plays and change field position like that, as well as being able to run it and have that ball-control offense – that makes it tough. You have to able to expand the field vertically, and that’s something that we didn’t do very well in the first five weeks of the season. We did a lot better job of it this last weekend.
Q: Forget about the doubters, you hold yourself to a high standard. Did you say to yourself during last week’s game that you finally hit those high expectations and hit the level of play that you expect to play at every week?
TB: Well, as a quarterback, you want to play well every week. If you don’t, when you don’t hit the passes that are there, or your team loses games, or your team doesn’t get into the end zone, it’s very frustrating. You’ve got to find ways to do a better job of that. It started last week in practice, we had a much better week and it really carried over to the game. Coach put the pressure on us last week, he’s kept the pressure on us this week. Hopefully, we go out and respond well.
Q: You had a conference call with the London media yesterday morning. Does that take care of your responsibilities or do you expect a little bit of hounding over there?
TB: That pretty much does it, I think. I don’t think there’s much to do when we get over, except for the TV meeting, the production meeting. So I don’t think there’s any more of those.
Q: There’s one day when four players go in. I assume you’re not one of those four players?
TB: I don’t think so. They haven’t told me. Do you want to lobby for me? I have enough to do.
Q: I saw that you were over there in London after Super Bowl XL from “Family Guy”?
TB: Oh, yeah. I was saying, ‘I don’t think I remember that trip.’ No, I love that show. Anyone that hasn’t seen it, it’s one that you have to buy the DVD set for. It’s great.
Q: Is your wife going over there?
TB: No, it’s a business trip.
Q: Does she go over there enough that …
TB: No, not really, not so often.
Q: Have you met any members of the Royal Family before?
TB: [Laughs] No, not on this trip. I’ve paid my admission to go see the Crown Jewels, I know that.
Q: You’ve met the Pope, but not the Queen?
TB: Yeah, not the Queen.
Q: Coach Belichick said yesterday that this is a big trip, but that it’s not like a Super Bowl, or a special trip like that. What are your feelings and is there analogous to it?
TB: I didn’t part last year in the West Coast trips, but I know that when we were out there for the week, we put together a weeklong itinerary. And it’s just a very different environment for us, kind of like a Bowl trip in college, where you’re there for an extended period of time and you kind of have to get in the same routine in a different location. That’s what your body is really used to. That’s what we’re really kind of trying to do, Friday is going to be like a Friday, Saturday is going to be like a Saturday, game day is going to be like game day. Really, it’s just going over there and getting acclimated to the time change, which I’m sure it’s all mental, you just have to get over it, and move on and go out there and play well.
Q: What are your thoughts on the redeye trip?
TB: It’s just kind of the way it turns out. You could go over there all week, I know some teams have gone out there and stayed all week. I don’t think any of us really wanted to do that, we kind of wanted to be here, and get our work done, and get the game plan in, and then go out there — and like I said — get adjusted to it. We have a couple of days to get adjusted. It’s a late game on Sunday, so we’ll have our time to get our rest.
Q: Do you sleep well on planes?
TB: Yeah, most the guys will sleep. You kind of need to get as much as you can. I think everybody will get a little bit of rest when we get over there in the morning, then we have to go out to practice.
Q: What do you think about having the Bye Week after the game?
TB: I really haven’t thought it much. You know, I really haven’t. I think we’ve just been focused on this game, that’s what it’s all about, right here.
Q: On playing on the field at Wembley Stadium, does it take a while for you as a quarterback to get a feel for the footing?
TB: It should be OK. Every field that we play on is different. You have to adjust from our practice field, to our game field, to the road stadium. It’s not too much of a problem.
Q: Do you have confidence leading into game day with who your receivers are going to be, following Welker and Moss? Or will that be something that will be established on game day?
TB: That’s what you have to do, by the time game day comes, you have to confident in every play that’s out there, with every player that’s out there. With Wes and Randy, we’ve played so many games together and made so many throws, like I said, there’s not much to worry about with them; with the other guys, too, they’re in a position where they know what they’re doing, they know how to do it, and hopefully they can go out and do it well.
Q: How about Josh McDaniels and the Broncos going 6-0? Did you watch any of the game on Monday?
TB: I was in bed. I didn’t see any of it. Good for them, but I wish they were 5-1.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen