Coach Bill Belichick
Conference Call
8/25/01
I have some notes for you on the roster today. We released six players today Ryan Benjamin, Ronney Daniels, Shockmain Davis, Reggie Grimes, Yubrenal Isabelle and Stephen Neal. That moves us down close to where we need to be by Tuesday. There are some other things that procedurally we will probably do in terms of injured reserve or maybe another cut or two. I am not sure, but we want to do that today and we will finish cleaning that up before the Tuesday cut down. On the injuries from the game I really don't have much more to give you. We got back real late last night and just brought the players in and are going through the tapes with them now and then we will look at them after the tapes and get a little better idea where they stand tonight. Then tomorrow when we go out to practice...we are not going to go out today so. There is nothing real new there. I don't think we have anything that is real significant, some bumps and bruises, but we will know a little bit more on that later.
Just on the Tampa game I think that what I said last night after watching the tape is still pretty much the way I feel. We should have been more ready than we were. We didn't start off in any of the phases of the game very well, special teams, defense or offense. We kind of got them going by a little bit of our ineptness early. I didn't think we played real well in the first half, but all that being said we were down 7-3 with the field goal and that didn't seem to really get us going in the second half either. So it is just kind of disappointing, I would say how flat we were. What told the team today was that there is one of two things that can happen if we learn from that then that can be a lesson that is worth it. If we don't learn from it then I am sure the next time we perform like that we will get the same result. Hopefully we have the kind of leadership and character on our team that will take it the right way. But it really was a disappointing performance. I thought we were poor in a number of areas and that transcended through the whole team. It wasn't just one guy, one position or one side of the ball, it was totally team oriented. So do you guys have anything?
Q: Exactly what did you want them to learn form that game?
BB: How to prepare for it. I thought our preparation could have been better last week. What you need to do to win on the road and what you don't need to do. Certainly getting off to a good start and setting a tempo and being ready to take advantage of mistakes. Get on top and take the crowd out of the game…then spotting them good opportunities.
Q: Do you have any sense that any of your offensive linemen that missed the game are going to be coming back pretty soon?
BB: I think they're all on their way back. I am not sure how soon that will be, maybe as early as this week. I think (Matt) Light and (Adrian) Klemm and Mike (Compton) are all pretty close so I think there's a chance that they may be able to play in the game. I would think that Klemm and Light will practice we will have to see where Mike is, he might be at that point too. It is kind of a day-to-day thing where, in other words they are close enough day-to-day for practicing or in this case playing with a couple of them.
Q: Do you feel that offensive line is in the same predicament that it was in last year or do you feel that it is ahead of last year?
BB: I think we are definitely ahead of where we were last year (not) based on last's night game, that's based on accumulation of weeks in training camp, but I feel like once we get all the players that we have healthy and out on the field working together that we will be able to make some improvements. Last year we didn't even have all the players that we played with on our team at this point in time a year ago. I think we are ahead in that respect, but we need time. We need to work together under game and hostile conditions. That would really help us and the sooner we can get going on that I think the more beneficial it will be.
Q: On the cuts, did Neal not show you enough to keep him around?
BB: He is just too far away. He works hard, he's a good kid, works hard. He did some things that caught our eye. I can't say that I am disappointed at all in fact I'm not disappointed, but he is trying to make up ground on guys that just had to much of a head start. I think he closed the gap and he is starting to look like a football player, but again there are too many people that are just too far ahead of him at this point time.
Q: On Ted Johnson injury, do you have any particular concern with him just given his history or is it just a minor thing that happened?
BB: We will see where this one goes. I don't really know at this point. We are not doing anything today other than watching the tape. We will see where Ted and some of the other guys who got little bumps in the game are tomorrow. At this point I don't have any reason to be overly concerned, but I'm not sure that I have enough information to definitively know exactly where we are yet either.
Q: With two weeks to go before the season do you feel comfortable with the way your quarterback is playing?
BB: I don't feel comfortable with the way anybody played last night. I would like to see everybody play a little bit better than that. I think the quarterbacks have all done some good things. They've shown they can all handle the team and perform well in different situations, but I would like our consistency to be a little bit better than what is was for all of them. I think there is some work that can be done at that position and probably most of the others too, but that one as well.
Q: What about the running back spot (J.R.) Redmond and (Antowain) Smith were basically in and out of every play for much of first half, is that that way it will be Thursday night or has anything changed with the running back situation?
BB: I don't think too much has changed. There wasn't much of a chance for anybody to run although I thought Marc Edwards did a good job with the ball in his hands in the opportunities that he had. But the other guys didn't really get a real good opportunity and the opportunities they did have they weren't able to do a whole lot with. I hope we can run the ball a little bit better next week. I think that both J.R and Antowain are going to contribute for us this year. I think they both can do things to help us win whether that will be in a rotation similar to we saw last night or like we saw at the Giants. I am not sure exactly how that'll go yet, but we will just have to play that one a little bit by ear and it may not be the same in every game. The roles may change a little bit from game to game depending on what the needs are. I think that is the state of it now.
Q: What exactly is the nature of Ted Johnson's injury at this point as you understand, it appears to sound like it is more than a bump or a bruise?
BB: I don't know too much more other than we got in real late last night and we are watching the tapes right now and Ted will have it checked out later on. We are not going out on the field so I don't anticipate that he or some of the other guys that got a little banged up are going to go out and run on it or try to do football related activities more just try to get the soreness out and let the doctors look at him and see what needs to be done, what the next steps are. I think we will know a little bit more tomorrow when we go out on the field and see what they can do. I think that that is what it will be tomorrow so I am saying that I don't think that it is so serious that he won't be able to get to that point.
Q: Is it pretty likely that he is not going to play against Washington, but are you assuming that he will be ready for the Cincinnati game?
BB: No I am not saying that I really don't know. I wouldn't rule him out of any game now, but I'm not sure I would rule him in either, I really don't know.
Q: Could you go over who those six cuts were again?
BB: Ryan Benjamin long snapper, Ronney Daniels and Shockmain Davis receivers, Reggie Grimes defensive lineman, Yubrenal Isabelle linebacker and Stephen Neal offensive lineman.
