Tom Brady Press Conference 

10 Oct 01 / by New England Patriots 

Q: How long will it take for you and Terry Glenn to get used to working with each other?

TB: Being with Terry last year, I threw a lot of balls to him. Obviously not as many as Drew [Bledsoe] has had in the past, but I am pretty comfortable with Terry. I am just excited to have him out there and excited to see him play.

Q: Is he head and shoulders ahead of everyone else in terms of talent?

TB: I don't know. I know he is a great player and I think he brings something different. You know I think Troy [Brown] brings something good. I think Torrance [Small] does, Charles [Johnson] and right on down the line. I think Terry does too. Terry's got really good speed. He is able to get open. He's got quick feet and great hands. So he is definitely a weapon.

Q: Do you think he has the ability to get ready this quickly?

TB: You'd certainly hope so. As soon as he is ready to help the team I am sure everyone would love to see him out their performing well, because that is why he is on the team. Everyone's here expected to go out and play as hard as they can and practice hard. I am sure that's what Terry expects of himself.

Q: Having two games under your belt, are you ready to throw more and take a larger role in the games?

TB: I think week to week it is different. We went against Indy, we had a philosophy and it worked really well. We came back for Miami and we just didn't execute as well as we probably should have. So this week is a completely different week and I know we are going out there to try to attack and win this game and to try to do things that we have been successful at, the things I have been successful at in the past.

Q: After the game the other day you mentioned a few things about how you thought the team should practice. Do you think you are in a position to say those things and take a leadership role with this team?

TB: I think that naturally that is kind of the position the quarterback is in. I mean I am the one calling the plays in the huddle and directing people at the line of scrimmage. Like I said after the game, I think that's…I was talking about me as much as anybody else. When I say something like that I don't want it to ever be antagonizing to someone else because the way the guys approach practice…everyone goes out there and practices and plays hard. I just feel that we've got to go out there and be consistent in practice, which would carry over into the game. Not to say that we are not consistent and we're not good in practice because there are a lot of days that you walk off the practice field going, 'God, that was a good practice.' But there are other days where you walk out and say, 'God, I wish we'd have made this play or I wish we'd have made that play.' That is the same thing I think I find myself saying in the game after last Sunday, 'God, I wish I had made that play.' My thoughts after the game were, I am sick of saying it after a game and I am sick of saying it after practice and kind of putting it off. It is just one of those things where we've got to get better all around and like I said that always starts with me and that's who I am talking about primarily when I say that stuff.

Q: When you looked at the tapes, what was it that you didn't do that you felt you should have done?

TB: I think there were just a few throws I should have made early in the game. The first pass of the game I threw a little bit behind Troy who was running the in route, wide open. Those types of plays really set the tempo. I think when you lose a game, I mean you are very over analytical of the things you should have done, the things you could have done better. From my standpoint, those are the things that I have got to get done. Especially when you go down to play in Miami, things get magnified when you are away and you are playing against a good defense. You know we lost by twenty points and certainly there is no way that we would ever think we'd have gone down there and lost by twenty.

Q: The Chargers have an underrated defense with a lot of speed. From what you know so far, how will you deal with that?

TB: Just watching them the last couple of days, they are very active and aggressive on defense. They've got two guys that really set the tempo in Junior Seau and [Rodney] Harrison, and they've got three other linebackers who are really in the mold of Seau and they play hard. They are very instinctual and what they see is what they are going to go after. They present a pretty good challenge for us as an offense. I mean a little different than Miami, certainly different than the Colts. Like I said, it starts today going out there and preparing and trying to implement our game plan so we can take advantage of what we feel their weaknesses are.

Q: What do you think of Doug Flutie, watching him over the years?

TB: You guys obviously have a great feel for him. He's a competitor. If there is one thing to sum him up, you know one word, it's just he competes. I think he thinks he is capable of everything, which is great. He's got a great confidence in himself.

Q: In general, would you like to see the offense open it up a little more?

TB: I think a lot of the time you kind of get into a comfort zone and I think we are at the point now where we are 1-3 and we've really got to start taking pressure off our defense. That's spreading the field and that's utilizing a vertical passing game, but we have still got to run the ball. You saw last week that the Dolphins were really able to keep us off the field by running the ball and they were successful at it. Our philosophy is the same, we try to be balanced. We try to mix it up, run and pass, whatever is successful. There's one thing about this game, it is a team game and everybody has got to contribute. That is the passing game, the running game and everybody on the offense.

Q: How does the Chargers defense compare to Miami's?

TB: I think they mix things up a lot more than Miami did. I mean Miami kind of lined up and played. You really knew what you were going to get from them. The Chargers mix it up quite a bit more, but they definitely have their own style. I'd say they are very, very aggressive. They really react hard to the things they see. That's what Seau does and that is why he is great. They come up with a lot of big plays. They've got a lot of interceptions. They are really a good defense.

Q: Does it make it tougher on a young quarterback when you don't know what the defense is going to do?

TB: You are just more aware, I think, of the situations. You are aware of where everyone is at, whereas against Miami you'd go out and be looking around and you wouldn't have to look hard to find guys. They line up, you pretty much know where they are going to be based on the front, but for the most part there's different types of blitzes, different coverage schemes. So I think we have an opportunity to really get the ball to our outside guys this week.

Q: So they don't just sit back and give you the underneath stuff, you have to go deep?

TB: Definitely.

Q: But it is still a prerequisite to run the ball so you can get it to the outside guys?

TB: Yeah, definitely.

Q: It takes the pressure off you?

TB: It certainly does. And a good passing game takes pressure off Antowain [Smith] too. And J.R. [Redmond]. And Kevin [Faulk]. So it works together. If you can't run the ball and you are forced to throw the ball, that's not how we want to be. And if they are forcing us to just run it…it can't be one way or the other. One feeds off the other.

Q: What did you learn from your first start into your second start and what do you hope to bring to this game?

TB: I think there is just more of an overall sense of comfort. Just a sense that I am getting more comfortable with the guys that I am with, more comfortable with how we are trying to approach these games and obviously my emotions are more under control as this goes on. So overall it is just a better feeling of my sense of awareness I would say.