Projo Pats Blog

Talk about the Denver defense and the problems that they cause.
The defense has been playing great all year. They give you multiple looks, different types of looks. They put a lot of pressure on the quarterback, get to him and hit him if they don’t sack him. They force a lot of turnovers. It’s just a really good, athletic defense and the linebackers run really well. They play well up front with the defensive line and the secondary speaks for itself. [Champ] Bailey and Darrent Williams and all those guys back there. It’s just an all around good group.

You’ve played against Denver here and out there. What is it about Mike Shanahan’s teams that seem to give you guys problems out there?
He is a good coach. A good coach with good players can always present problems. He has a great mind for the game and he has been in the league for a while and he has proved it with Denver. He’s won two Super Bowls and his teams always compete for a spot in the playoffs if they’re not in the playoffs. They’re just a good football team, well coached with great players.

What is it about playing them out there that makes them so incredible tough?
They’re tough at home. They’ve got a great crowd. The crowd can’t do anything for your athletic ability and your coaching ability. You have to be a good football team to be good at home. But the crowd doesn’t make it any better [for us]. They just seem to do everything pretty well. There aren’t too many weak spots on their team. We have to step our game up and be just as good as they are to have a chance.

How about their receivers? How tough would it be for you to step in on defense? Or is it easier for you this year with a little more experience at defensive back?
No. I wouldn’t say that. It’s always tough. These guys are getting paid too. And they have one of the best that’s ever played the game in Rod Smith. The guys has put up numbers year after year and he’s continued to do it this year. He seems to be getting better the older he gets. He’s known for making big plays. And the other guys they bring in do a really good job. [Jake] Plummer always seems to find them and they seem to be wide open all the time; especially against us the last time we played them. They were just picking us apart.

Was there ever a time earlier in the season where you wondered if this team would ever get to the level it is at now?
I never doubted us. I knew we had a lot of work to do. A lot of injuries happened, but that’s part of the game. That’s football. Things happen. The guys we put in, it took us a little while to be able to play together and figure out what was going on. But I’m never going to doubt a team I’m on. I’m going to have the utmost faith in the guys on the field. That’s all you can really do. You play with what you have and you play the best you can. It just took us a while to get going. Hopefully we’ll play a little better this week than we did last week. I’m never going to sit around and be negative. That’s the wrong approach top take the situation. You just have to keep plugging away at it, and we did and it paid off for us.

Some people say that playoff experience doesn’t mean a lot because every game is different. Others say playoff experience does mean a lot. Where do you stand on that?
You still have to go out and play the game. If a team is good they’re good. Of course you have to step the game up a notch in the playoffs. The coverage is going to be a little bit tighter, the throws are going to be a little harder to make, the runs are going to be a little harder to come by. You have to turn it up a little. That’s what it’s all about. I think everybody realizes that when they get to the playoffs. I’ve seen some teams that haven’t been to the playoffs in a while . . . take Carolina a couple of years ago, they went on a run and made it to the Super Bowl and they played us tough in the Super Bowl. It depends on how well coached you are what kind of players you have on your team; if you have a good football team or not. And it comes down to execution.

Is the effect of the altitude out there exaggerated?
What altitude?

What are some of the things that Bill [Belichick] did this year that helped get you guys though that rough patch?
We just had to keep rep-ing stuff. We just kept working. That was it. We weren’t going to throw in the towel . . . that’s not going to happen around here. We kept plugging away at it. We just kept working. We go out and we have contact practices. We do whatever. Whatever it took to get us better, that’s what we did. And the guys responded to it. I’m not going to say everybody was happy about it, but we knew we had to do something to get better. Like I said, we worked hard, and I like the results it produced. We have a chance now.

That’s a credit to the players.
That’s a credit to the whole staff, the players and everybody. It was a team effort. The coach can implement it but the players have to be willing to do it. That’s what it came down to: a total team effort from everybody, and we gave ourselves a chance at the end of the season.

Does it help when that attitude comes from the top down with Bill [Belichick]?
Definitely. He’s our leader. We’re going to follow everything that he sets for us to do. So he’s the man. And it helps to have guys like Willie McGinest and Tom Brady leading your football team and Mike Vrabel and guys that are willing to work hard and get it down and lead by example. It’s good to have those guys around the locker room to show what it takes. Suck it up and get it done.

When you were struggling, you said not all the guys were happy about it. Did guys’ roles change? Did [coach] work you harder?
It was a frustrating time for us. We were losing games. We couldn’t win back-to-back games and that can get a little frustrating, especially when you’re used to winning a lot. It gets a little frustrating. Everybody just wasn’t happy with the way things were going, is what I mean to say. But, like I said, when you start winning, things start to change. You see guys smile. You don’t want to be in an unhappy situation. It makes things bad. But winning cures everything.

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