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Bill Belichick Conference Call Transcript

New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick addresses the Houston media during his conference call on Wednesday, December 5, 2012.

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(opening statement)
"It's really been impressive watching the Texans. They're really, obviously, a good football team with a good record. They're good at everything, good on offense, good on defense, good in the running game, passing game, turning the ball, cause a lot of turnovers, don't give up many, won a lot of close games, but also blown some teams out. They've pretty much shown they can do everything you need to do to be a real good football team. That's what they are. It'll be a big challenge for us this week, all the things they do well. They're very well coached, Wade (Phillips), Gary (Kubiak) on offense. Those guys do a great job, a lot for us to get ready for, glad we have the extra day and I'm sure we'll need it."

(on what he likes about Texans DE J.J. Watt)
"He's the most disruptive player in the league certainly that we've seen. He's really pretty good at everything. He's got great quickness and length, instincts, good playing strength, got a high motor. That looks like the defensive player of the year to me. He's been so productive and so disruptive. It's not just the pass rush. It's batted balls. It's tackles for loss and the blocking that he draws helps everybody else out. He's been a terrific player for them in a lot of different ways. He contributes so many things to their team. This guy is really a good player."

(on if he expected Texans DE J.J. Watt to have this quick of an impact in the NFL)
"Well I think it was easy to see the physical talent, but he didn't have a lot of college experience. He's developed kind of different, but similar to like a Jason Pierre-Paul situation, didn't have a lot of college production, but had enough. You could see enough, just wonder how high the bar can go and how quickly it will get there. As it did with JPP, it's risen very fast for (DE) J.J. (Watt). He's an outstanding player. It's a real credit to him and how quickly he's improved and how hard he's worked, which you know he had a great work ethic coming out of Wisconsin, but also the coaching that he's gotten and how he's adapted to their schemes and how they've been able to utilize him effectively as well. Wade's done a good job of putting him in positions to where he can make plays. They move him around a little bit, a little bit hard, you don't know exactly where he's going to be or even where he lines up. They'll stun him so that he could end up in a different spot than where he starts, that type of thing. He's not the easiest guy to zero in on even when you do zero in on him he's still a hard guy to handle, hard guy to block so very impressive player and (DE Antonio) Smith playing beside him. He's pretty good too. They have good balance and I know like when I was with the Giants. We had Lawrence Taylor probably the best thing that happened to Taylor really was Carl Banks. I think there is probably a little bit of that by having Smith on the other side. You got to deal with Watt, but you have to deal with Smith too so it's a great situation for the Texans."

(on what impresses him about Texans DE Antonio Smith)
"Same thing, he's really productive guy, excellent pass rusher, good quickness, experienced player. He's been doing it for awhile, has been consistent, good instincts, good awareness. He's a smart player. He does some things that you need experienced guys to do. He reads plays or sets up things in games. He's clever in there. He isn't just a guy who runs straight ahead every time. He's got good quickness and cuts up blockers well, reads them quickly, long, disruptive."

(on Texans RB Arian Foster)
"Leads the league in yards and touchdowns over the last three years, I had him out in the Pro bowl a couple years ago, impressive kid, strong, good balance, good north south runner, can run vertically into the defense, but also has the speed and athletic ability to get outside and create plays in space and go the distance. He's really everybody's at the point of attack when he gets the ball. You got to be able to tackle his quickness and his athleticism, but also have to be able to tackle his size and power to run through arm tackles. He's got a good set of skills."

(on DE J.J. Watt's ability to block passes)
"Well you can't throw it through him. He's very disruptive, got good timing, good instincts and he's gotten himself in some passing lanes. Sometimes quarterbacks just can' get it around him, but other times he's moved into those lanes. We're going to have to be conscious of that when we throw the ball making sure we get it past the line of scrimmage."

(on Texans QB Matt Schaub)
"Good, I think he does everything well, manages the team well, handles the team in critical situations well. He's done a good job in some close games, fourth quarter, overtime, things like that of managing the game, good arm, can make all the throws. He uses his backs and tight ends and receivers well, spreads the ball around, gets it deep, does a good job of play action, faking, boot legs. They've had a lot of big plays on boot leg plays coming out the back side, that kind of thing, efficient in the red area. He does a good job of getting the ball to the playmakers and he spreads it around. You've got to defend all the receivers, the backs, the tight ends, the wideouts, got to defend them for sideline to sideline from the line of scrimmage to the goal line. He can attack all the areas of the field and mobile enough to get out of the pocket and run their boot leg and play action game, a smart efficient guy. Like you said, he's record, that speaks for itself because that's really what a quarterback has to do is find a way for his team to win the game. He's done a great job of that."

(on the relationship between a quarterback and head coach)
"Well of course it's an important relationship because offensively that player really directs your team. He handles the ball on every play and the guy he throws it to on however many passes you throw 55-60 percent of those plays, whatever it is. You want the ball to be going where you think it should be going as a coach based on the coverage or the reads that the quarterback gets so it's an important position. It's an important relationship. It's important to manage the game and call the game that you know the game is being played the way that as a coach you see it going and vice versa. The quarterback is comfortable with the plays that are coming in and that he knows what to do and how to manage them and how to deal with different situations that come up so that he doesn't get surprised or is uncomfortable with a play in a critical situation. No quarterback I'd rather coach than Tom (Brady). We meet on a regular basis every week. I enjoy that. He's a tough guy to coach because he's so experienced and he's got a great understanding of the game. You've really got to be well prepared when you talk to him because he's seen everything you have and probably more."

(on if he's not teaching as much with Patriots QB Tom Brady)
"No I think you're still teaching. I think that he's seen a lot and he's seen a lot of the opponent. You can't go in there with Tom (Brady) and say 'well here's what they like to do and they haven't done this and nine games ago they've done that.' He's seen it and now he says 'that's what they did against Jacksonville back in week two.' You can't do that with him. You've got to be as thoroughly prepared as he is when you meet with him because he has that kind of background experience and he prepares to the same depth as the coaches do. That's what I mean in terms of his overall knowledge and understanding. Of course he has a lot of playing experience, but on a weekly basis he really studies the defense, the players, the scheme, and has great recall of other games that he's played against those players or those coaches and what problems they presented or what opportunities he might feel like you have to attack them."

(on if there are things Patriots QB Tom Brady is still getting better at)
"Yeah, absolutely. Tom (Brady) works hard every day to improve every day and every week every year. I think that's true for every player. I think every player, there is always things that players and coaches for that matter, all of us that we can work on to improve on and do a better job with sometimes. If you're on some things and you maybe let something slide a little bit, you need to get back to work on that or sometimes you develop a little bit of a flaw or something that's not quite technically as sound as what it should be, you have to go back and correct that. Yeah, I think that's true for every player."

(on what specific things Patriots QB Tom Brady is still getting better at)
"It's something every week. Playing Houston is a lot different than playing Miami last week so there are all new challenges this week with this team and what they do and how they do it. There were different challenges last week with Miami and the week before against the Jets and the week before against Indianapolis. Each week it's not all the same. The plays are different. The reads are different. The players that you play against and their scheme is different. The things that you have to work on and execute that week they change. They change every single week. You're always working on new things like that."

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