Tom Brady
Post-Game Press Conference
7
Oct 01 / by New England Patriots
TB:: It was a poor performance by all of us. You never think you are
going to come down here after a win like that and play like we did. We have got
to fight our way out of this and there is nobody that is going to help us.
Everyone is going to tell us how bad we are, we are the only guys that can
affect how we play so we have to start taking a different attitude every day in
practice and come put every Sunday and play like we are capable of.
Q: What was it about there defense, did their defense confuse you at all?
TB:: We knew what they were going to do, we knew how they were going
to approach the game and we went out there and the way we approached it we just
didn't get it done. We can't give them points and when you come down here on the
road, in the NFL, these teams are good and you can't go out and have a bad
performance and expect to keep it close.
Q: On the fumble that you had what happened on the snap?
TB:: It was just bad execution, just bad execution. We didn't get it
done. It is a team game. That was one of many plays that should be a lot better
than we executed them.
Q: Lawyer Milloy mentioned that you had talked about stopping practice and
getting people focused?
TB:: Lawyer and I we were just talking…we have to take a different
approach every day. Not on Sundays, you can't go out and practice average on
Wednesday and average on Thursday and okay on Friday and expect to come out on
Sunday and expect to play good. If you practice great on Wednesday and great on
Thursday and great on Friday, there is no reason why you wouldn't come out on
Sunday and play great. That is the approach that I know how to take. We are
going to start getting that done. We are going to start practicing great every
day. There is no reason why we come out on a day like this and play poor.
Q: So you had an inkling maybe last Wednesday or Thursday with the way
practices went?
TB:: I don't think so. I mean you never think you are going to play
like this. You always think, 'Well okay we should have done this, but we will
get it corrected.' When you play against guys like Zach Thomas and a couple of
d-linemen, they are good players so it is not like you think, 'Well it is
definitely going to happen, we didn't perform this one practice so we are not
going to perform well in the game.' You never think that, but I am saying you
should perform great in practice and you should come out and perform great in
the games.
Q: This is the first time we have really heard emotion in your voice, it
sounds like this really stunned you?
TB:: I am pretty even-tempered. I hate to lose. I hate to lose,
especially like the way we did today. When you are a part of them it's a shot at
your pride. You take a lot of pride in going out to work and going out to
perform and then you go out and perform like this, no excuse for that.
Q:
TB:: I don't think I walked off the practice field and said, 'God we
practiced bad.' I just think overall just the sense of if you miss a play on
Wednesday you think, 'Oh we will get it corrected by Thursday,' and then you
never get back to it or…the execution…I think that we have to be more
competitive all-around in your attitude and your focus. It shouldn't be like you
get through days, you shouldn't get through practice on Wednesday and get
through practice on Thursday or get through practice on Friday so you can get to
the game. I mean those are days when you have to go out and execute so you can
prove to yourself and you can prove to your coaches and when these situations
come up in the game you have to be able to execute them then.
Q: Tom did they not give your receivers any room, nobody was open?
TB:: I don't think that is the case. I don't think that is the case.
Our approach is we are trying to keep them off-balance. I think there were a
couple of tries in there where we kept them off-balance, a little play action
pass, a little drop back pass, a little screens, draws, some inside runs. That
is the attack that we have to take and when we go out and give them points and
give them momentum, the crowd was into it, it is too hard to come back against a
good defense like this. They are good players.
Q: You guys are 1-3, is 1-3 where you should be?
TB:: If you had told me we were going to be 1-3 at the beginning of
the season I would have said that you were crazy. I thought we were going to
come out better than that, but the reality is we are not. We are a 1-3 team and
we are the only ones that can affect if we are 2-3 or 3-3, I am focused on 2-3
right now. I don't care about 3-3 I care about 2-3 and that is where we are at
and there is only one way to go. There is no one that is going to give us next
week, we are the only ones that can affect it, the coaches and the players and
that is the approach that we are going to take.
Q: When you sat down at your locker after the game did you find any
answers? Do you have any answers?
TB:: You try to think back to plays that you wish you had made, trying
to evaluate how you felt out there. Being the second game…I have played a lot
of football,
but at the same time this is the first time on the road. I think you learn every
week.
Q:
TB:: I am always looking to get better. I missed some throws out there
today that I would think that I would make and that goes back to the execution
during practice. Sometimes I would miss a guy that was open in practice and you
think, 'Why did I miss him?' and then you shouldn't wonder why if you miss guys
on Sunday. If you are always hitting passes in practice then you should always
be connecting in the game. That is what I would think and I think I have to
sharpen that up.
Q: Are you surprised that you had trouble with the passing game?
TB:: I think we were just playing into their game. They put a lot of
pressure on you. When those guys know that you are throwing, know there are no
draws or screens coming, they are going to get that rush to you, there coverage
doesn't even have to match up for very long. They put a few safeties deep and
they allow those guys to lock down man-to-man underneath and they figure those
are guys are going to get you before you can make a great throw. There were
plays out there that were tight that we made and there were some that we should
have made that I suppose I should have made.
Q:
TB:: Yeah, I think that is kind of their prevent, not to give up any
big plays defense.
Q: What did you think of their defense was it better than you expected?
TB:: I think it was just what I expected. You have to make tight
throws and all of your plays have to be to the corners. When you make tight
throws you get a good play and when you don't make tight throws you don't have
good plays.
Q: Why Lawyer?
TB:: I look to Lawyer as a team leader and I think there are some guys
that…it really means a lot to Lawyer, I know that. Just watching him play he
puts it all out there and he performs great. If there is one guy that the team
listens to, there are several guys, but Lawyer, I have always looked up to
Lawyer since I have been here.
Q: Where do you rate the Dolphins defense?
TB:: I don't know, they are a good defense.
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