Patriots head coach Bill Belichick addresses the media during his postgame press conference at New Meadowlands Stadium on Thursday, September 2, 2010.
BB:Almost blocked a punt on them at halftime. Alright, so it was a good, competitive game tonight. You know, obviously ran out of defensive linemen there at the end but you know good experience for everybody really, everybody that played there. And now we're on to Cincinnati. It's been a good preseason, long one, I think the players have worked hard. I think everyone is ready to start the season next week and we'll get at it right away. That's where we're at.
Q: Bill, what did you learn about your team this preseason?
BB: You know, I thought that overall, taking the practices and the games and all of that into account we had our ups and downs, but I think the team worked hard. I think they are in good condition. I think they'll be ready to go. I think they'll be ready to go. We've competed well for the most part on a day in, day out basis so hopefully we can carry that into Sundays.
Q: Can you give me an evaluation of Brian Hoyer's performance tonight...
BB: I think we're going to have to go back and look at the film on all that, but you know, he made some good plays, there's some I'm sure he'd like to have back.
Q: Any updates on Sammy Morris?
BB:Yeah, I think he had a stitch or two in there.
Q: Does your secondary concern you at all?
BB:Well, I think everything concerns you, until you get into the regular season and see how you match up against everybody and how they match up against you. Everything is really a question mark so we'll find out where we're at soon enough.
Q: Are you pleased with your kickoff returns so far, punt returns?
BB: We've had our moments. We've had our moments. At times it's been our deterrence. But again, it's pre-season. Teams are just kicking off, they're just covering. We're not seeing all the difficult coverage maneuvers that teams use and so forth. I think those evaluations all come in time. Now it's time to get your fundamentals down and get good at the basics, work on those, work on your overall team execution and situational awareness. It will be a whole different deal next week.
Q: Darnell Jenkins has had two big plays in the preseason and of course missed some time, what do you see from him as far as speed and explosiveness?
BB:Well, he's had an exciting pre-season. Again made some good plays, and made some other plays, but you know I think there's a lack of experience showed upon. But he's competitive and he's good with the ball in his hands. He's made things happen, so you've got to respect that.
Q:Have the players made your cutdown decisions difficult for you?
BB:I think they are always difficult, they are always difficult. I have guys that are, you know, I mean everybody's got something to offer. You include practice squad in that as well, which you do, cause those players are really part of your team even though they are not on the active roster...they are still part of it. Right. Everybody's got something to offer, whether its experience, or youth, or special teams, or offense, or defense or versatility or whatever it is so you just have to try to make the best decisions we can for the team and that's what we'll do. But yeah, I think everyone has something to offer here.
Q: Was there a reason for playing the starters as deep into the fourth quarter as you did because that typically hasn't been your pattern in the past?
BB:Yeah, well we...I don't know what pattern is. We just do what we think is best in every game.
