So how hard was it to keep your smile on in the locker room?
I'm happy for the guys in that room. You probably don't know it, but I know it. I know how hard they work and they deserve this, they do. They deserve for good things to happen. I'm proud for them, proud for our owners, I'm proud for everybody in that organization. They deserve that. But most importantly, [I'm proud of] the players. I love what they did. Their effort was tremendous today. It really was. I thought they flew around the entire day. Defensively [I'm] really proud of the way they played. They executed the game plan on both sides of the ball to perfection. [They] really did a nice job that way executing the game plan. I was really proud of them.
How were your emotions in there? Were you bawling in there after the game?
Well, I don't say that too much. But it's emotional, it is. There's a lot of hard work that goes into this by a lot of people. Those guys in that locker room deserve a lot of the credit.
You've only been coaching this team for three games, yet you're still very emotional about this win. Is that because you know what this team has been through?
Yeah, I understand the road, I really do. I understand what these guys went through. All these questions that I get asked a million times about if those 25 guys that were here last year are my guys--they're my guys. And I feel for them, I really do. I'm happy for these guys. I'm happy to see what they just got out there.
How about that direct snap play? Is that [Quarterbacks coach] David Lee or [Offensive Coordinator] Dan Henning? Who comes up with that?
What's interesting is when there was no sleep during the course of the week--but really on the flight back, I brought David up to the front of the plane and David and I just chatted a bit. And of course this is a little bit of what he did there and a little bit of what Dan has done and we kind of meshed it together and it was a good idea.
Last week you said you wanted good things to happen early on in the game. Was that direct snap to Ronnie [Brown] something you looked for?
Well, I don't think its something that we looked for. We had gone unbalanced earlier in the game just to see what the adjustment might have been formationally. We actuality threw the ball on that play and we brought Jake [Long] over and went unbalance just to see the adjustment and then we kind of went for it when we got down there close in the red area.
You've talked about how far Ronnie Brown has come. Can you put his play today in perspective?
It's a tremendous day for Ronnie. I'm just proud of both of those guys back there. We've talked about this for two weeks now -- 'we're not doing this, we're not doing that.' And those guys made some plays today. For a change, we made some plays. You see the big plays, the finished runs, finishing at the end of the game. That's my kind of ball. I like finishing at the end of the game and those kinds of things. So I was really proud to see the way they ran the ball, but I mean Ronnie, he had a little something to him and I thought that was nice to see. I saw it last week a little bit, that's why we kind of shifted them around a little bit this week and got Ronnie out there first.
Do you like how Joey Porter backed up his words?
Hey, you know words--one way or the other--but I liked the way Joey Porter played. He got after the quarterback out there. That's his job and he did a nice job that way. Good job by him, I was proud of him.
For your defense to come out first with a three-and-out after the 50-yard kickoff return and then to get into the red zone, how much did that set the tone?
It set the tone a lot. I mean, I challenged the defense last night. To be honest with you, we talked about deferring the kick if we won the coin toss, putting our defense out there and getting the three-and-out. We discussed that at great length last night and the defense was fired up when they left the room. What we didn't discuss was the kickoff and where the ball ended up, but to their credit they were resilient today. I thought that they made a lot of plays and they did a nice job. One thing we did do today was we tackled. We got people on the ground and we put pressure on the passer, so I thought that was good.
What do you call that offense?
It's the David Lee Special.
Can you talk about Chad Pennington's play?
I thought he was outstanding today. He made some big, big throws early in the game. [He] pushed the ball down the field a little bit. We had a few junk plays, but more importantly--and I don't know the exact numbers on it, I'll say 17 for 20 or somewhere around there--that's what the guy does. That's why he's here. He manages the game tremendously and he completes passes. It was nice to see us push the ball a little bit down the field. You could tell early in the game that it was really slow for him and he was seeing it good. But obviously if you can run the ball a little bit like we did today, that helps take some of the pressure off.
How did you get the tight ends involved again today?
Just by the way the game went. I though Chad did a nice job not pushing the ball outside, although I think Ted [Ginn, Jr.] led us with receptions today maybe and I think [Greg] Camarillo had a couple of big plays, but the middle of the field was open early on and we were able to take advantage of that and I thought that [Anthony] Fasano came up big on that first drive.
Do you have a lot of family members here today?
Yeah, we had 12 or 14 of them somewhere out there.
You had to know that at halftime the Patriots were going to try to adjust to what you were doing with Ronnie Brown, but then you come out and do it again. How calculated was that?
That was pretty calculated. All along we had been kind of trying to set that little part of it up as we got on in this, but just the situation dictated it a little bit. We wanted that play down there on their end of the field if we could get it, and we just happened to have a good drive and be able to get that play down there at that end.
What does it feel like when calculation comes to fruition?
That's a good question. It feels pretty good. I'm sure it feels real good in there [locker room]. You like to see what you're practicing; you like to see that stuff out there on the field [and] see the results. It lends credibility to everything you've been telling the players all along and I think that right now they understand that. We had a good, solid week of practice. I told you that during the week. I told you that their attention to detail was tremendous during the week and it really was.
For a Dan Henning who's been around for so long--it's not exactly a conventional offense. What's your initial reaction when he says he wants to put something in?
That's what I love about Dan Henning. He's got a creative mind offensively and he knows that we needed to create a way, and that's what we did.
Is that a thing of having two guys like that that defenses can't prepare for?
We started that a little bit last week when we put both of them in the backfield at one time and now you get both of them out there again, and I don't know, maybe we'll see it again sometime.
Going to enjoy the bye week?
We're going to enjoy it. We're going to work hard, but we're going to enjoy it.
It's been a tough time for the safeties the last few weeks. How do you think they played today?
Here's what I think happened out there today: again, we had our hands on a couple balls that could have been big plays the other way. I mean, really could have big plays. Renaldo [Hill] has his hands on one I think early in that game. But I think what happened today was that obviously we were lined up and obviously the communication was a lot cleaner out there. All those questions, that happened out there today. And I think the pass rush obviously helps. When you can get a little bit of pressure on the passer like that and they don't have to hold up as long with Randy [Moss] and with [Wes] Welker out there, that's a good situation. That's really good football team out there now and they're really, really well coached.
Last week you said the Patriots hadn't changed and they're still doing what they do, but what did you change because Tom Brady wasn't out there?
Honestly, we didn't really change much about our approach that way. You have so many weapons; you have to take care of those weapons one way or the other. We knew that 81 [Moss], we knew that 83 [Welker], and really 33 [Kevin Faulk], all those guys, those weapons out there on the field, we had to pay special attention to out there, so we couldn't change a whole lot. I said this during the week, but we did less better. I mean, we really did. There wasn't a lot of pressure out there--I mean pressure calls. We didn't send a lot of people at them one way or the other, we just played our defense, tried to keep it in front and tackle them and not give up the big play which has hurt us in the past couple weeks
Is this how you envisioned your first NFL victory as a head coach?
I'm sure someplace on the plane I'll give myself a second here and really think about it and soak it in. But what I envisioned was seeing the players in that locker room smile and that's really what I wanted. From the day I walked in this place, I wanted to see our players smile like that, I wanted to see our owners smile, and [General Manager] Jeff Ireland. I'm sure [Executive V.P. of Football Operations] Bill Parcels is smiling somewhere. That's what I wanted to see.
Chad Pennington and Ronnie Brown are comeback stories. Can you talk a little bit about the emotion involved in that?
I think both of those guys--Ronnie with the injury, I'm sure he's been waiting a long time for this opportunity. He was just able to get carries today, get his hands on the ball a little bit and get a few more touches. I'm sure he's pleased. And Chad, I'm just happy for the guy. It's the reason we have him here. He's a good leader. These players love him in there and they follow him.
Does Chad's familiarity with the Patriots help him at all?
I'm sure it helps a little bit, but the bottom line is execution and the guy did a good job at executing the game plan today and running the offense. He didn't force many balls in there today and I think that's really the big deal.
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