New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick addresses the media during his press conference at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.
BB: Well the first regular season Wednesday is here and we're kind of...even though we have an extra day, we certainly need it. We're kind of on a regular schedule this week for Buffalo. So we'll treat today like a Wednesday and as I said, definitely could use the extra day. Buffalo is, as usual, a team that gives you a lot of things to get ready for. They're very good in the kicking game, as they always are - good returners, led the league in punt returns. [Leodis] McKelvin hurt us on kick off returns. He had several big ones last year. Real good coverage teams on both punts and kickoffs - right at the top of the league like they usually are, good specialists, good returners. Some real good core guys in their kickoff game and then of course defensively I think they continue to improve. They got a lot better last year from where they were in '07, and it looks like that's continued on the up-swing, adding some good young players in there like [Aaron] Maybin and [Jairus] Byrd, and other veteran players that are playing well - [Drayton] Florence and guys like that. And now offensively, they've got some new guys up front, very good group of skilled players, running backs, receivers, quarterback. Those guys have all been around and they've all been very productive with [Geoff] Hangartner, [Eric] Wood, [Andy] Levitre up front. I think they've brought an element of youth and toughness to the team in those positions and you can certainly see that on film in their style of play and the way they get after it. We had quite a game with them at the end of the season last year and I'm sure, like every game in the AFC East, this will be a dog fight. We're looking forward to getting the season started, but we know it will be a tough matchup against Buffalo like it always is.
Q: Any special feel for the first game of the year - more confirmation, more everything, now that you're going to find out what you have?
BB: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, there're the first game butterflies. No doubt, they'll be here this week for everybody. You go through training camp and you never really know where you are, you haven't had other team's gameplan yet, and you haven't seen those matchups the way that teams are going to attack you once you get into the regular season and you find out how strong your strengths are, how weak your weaknesses are and how the teams are going to try to expose them and attack you and what you're going to be able to do about it. And sometimes it takes two or three weeks in the regular season to start to see that because the matchups the first week or the second week or the third week could be a little bit different, but from a game plan standpoint, right off the bat teams will start to go after certain areas and maybe stay away from others and you'll try to do the same thing. It's always interesting to see how that plays out, so there's a lot of things that we have to be ready for and we'll certainly see how Buffalo wants to try to attack us and how we're able to handle it. So yeah, there's a lot of newness there and it will be interesting to see, as it always is, how things unfold.
Q: You guys added to your practice squad yesterday. What led you to Robbie Agnone?
BB: You know, Robbie is a bigger guy, a blocking tight end. We saw him, of course, in college at Delaware and scouting him this year in the pre-season with the Redskins prior to playing him. I mean, we scout the whole league, but that we saw maybe a little bit more of him there, so it'll give us a little more depth at that position. [It'll] give us a chance to evaluate a couple new players.
Q: With Sebastian Vollmer, the guy from Germany, what do you expect from him?
BB: Well, Sebastian's done a really good job for us, works very hard, smart kid, doesn't have the football background that maybe some of our players do, but he certainly picks things up quickly. He's got a good talent for the tackle position both left and right which is unusual. Usually guys have one or the other. He has a very good skill set and I think that he's a guy that kind of has... The fact that he speaks another language and kind of has a little different culture, he's a good guy, he's a good personality and I think he's blended in well with our team. Guys enjoy being around him. But he works hard, he's tough and he's got good talent.
Q: You're going up against a team that just switched offensive coordinators and just had maybe the most talented offensive player Terrell Owens miss a major part of the preseason. Is there some unknown that you have to deal with?
BB: Sure, absolutely. T.O.'s only played a handful of plays this preseason, in the preseason opener against Tennessee, and I'm sure that they have plans to utilize him in different ways. There're certainly ways we haven't seen, just on those handful of plays. So there're a lot of things we'll have to be ready for there. But I think offensively, I think this is a good offensive football team. They have very good skilled people. They have very good runners and we certainly had a lot of trouble with [Fred] Jackson in the last regular season game and you know it's an offensive line that they've obviously put together. They believe in the guys they have in there, and they're young. They're aggressive. I'm sure they're going to continue to get better. That isn't as veteran or as experienced as some of the other areas of the team, but I can definitely see what they're doing in terms of the toughness and the attitude they're trying to bring to that group and I think, you know, they're working with the right group of people. I'm sure that they'll be good there, too.
Q: You made the decision last year - or whoever made the decision last year - to not have Tom Brady on the sidelines during games. What went into that decision?
BB: Yeah, well that was a long time ago. Really, I'm just trying to get ready for the Bills here. I can't remember last week, last year, last month.
Q: Bill, can you talk a little bit about your expectations for Tom Brady? Do you expect him to pick up right where he left off?
BB: My expectations for Tom are the same as everybody else: to prepare for Buffalo and to play the best on Monday night. That's what everybody's going to do. I'm sure that everybody will give their best effort and that's what we're going to need. We're going to need a good week of preparation; we need a good week of practice. We need to go out there and play well on Monday night.
Q: Do you think you guys are more geared up to play against T.O. given everything that he is - a good player, a big personality, reality show, all that stuff?
BB: I think everybody's excited to play because it's opening day, it's Buffalo, it's the AFC East, and I think whoever's out there, I think we're going to be excited to play against. Whoever that happens to be, we can't control that, but it's an important game. Every game's an important home game. Home opener against a division rival - that's a big game, doesn't get any bigger than that. I think everybody's excited, everybody will do their best to get ready to go and I hope we can go out there and play well.
Q: Bill, you've got more than 20 new people on this roster and it seems to be changing more every day as well. Are you comfortable with the depth you have beyond the first string?
BB: I think we have good depth on our team, you always want it better. It's never...You always want more depth. And depth in September and depth in November could be two different things. What the depth is over the course of the entire year and what it is on - pick a day - in September is a lot of times quite different. So we'll see how that goes as we go forward. I think our young players have worked hard. I think they're going to improve. They have improved and hopefully they'll continue to improve, and you know there're always new things on every team. So we have it this year, we had it last year, we have it every year. It's part of the process.
Q: Speaking of the depth, where do you see Kendall Simmons fitting in?
BB: Well, we'll start practicing Kendall today. He's played right guard in his career at Pittsburgh, but I think he has the ability to play certainly left guard, and we'll work him inside, maybe some at tackle. We haven't worked with him before, so we'll see exactly how that pans out, but Kendall's a very experienced guy. He's got good talent and he's tough. He runs well. He's got good strength, good quickness, and he's played a lot of football, so I think it looks like he's healthy and I think he'll help us.
Q: Bill, this organization, whether it's with Greg Lewis or Alex Smith or Kevin O'Connell, has developed with the philosophy of cutting your losses, meaning you're willing to cut a player even if you drafted him high like in Kevin's case - the third round - or you trade in a pick for Alex and Greg's case. Where does that philosophy come from and can you elaborate on the importance of it?
BB: Well it's no philosophy, we just try to keep the best players and put the best team out there on the weekend, whoever those players are. So I'd say that's the philosophy.
Q: Are you monitoring the situation closely with Richard Seymour?
BB: Yeah, right now we're focused on the Buffalo Bills; we're monitoring that very closely. We've got a lot of work to do as I said. We had a very tight game with them last time we played. I'm sure it will be equally as competitive this time. There's a lot of newness, there's a lot of things we've got to prepare for. Last year, this preseason, other unknowns, as we've mentioned, we have new players on our team, things that we have to continue to work on and come together from a communication and execution standpoint, and that's really where we're focusing our attention right now.
Q: Can you talk about Brandon McGowan and what you've seen in him, and where he ranks this season?
BB: Brandon's done a good job for us. I thought that he was a good player for Chicago, and had a good career at Maine obviously. But a good career in Chicago but unfortunately missed some time. When he did play he played very well. He's a tough kid, he really is a good contact player with good speed, good range, he's instinctive. He makes plays in the kicking game; he's made plays on defense and both in the running game and in the passing game. Both in this preseason, and he made them with the Bears. So, I think he's a versatile player that brings a good competitive attitude and toughness to our team and to that position along with several other guys we have there, but that's something that we liked, and he's shown all that. I'm glad we have him.
Q: One [Richard] Seymour follow up...
BB: That we're just so busy with the Bills that's really taken priority over everything else, Tom.
Q: He could end up coming back...
BB: Right now, we're concerned about Buffalo and that's what we're working on and whatever happens, then we'll deal with whatever happens when it happens. Whether that's this week, next week, next year, next month, I don't know. Right now, I'm not really concerned about any of those things. I'm concerned about getting our team ready to play Buffalo Monday night. Do you have any follow up questions to that? Awesome.
Q: Coach, with so many new players on defense, with all the players that have left for whatever reason over the last couple of years, how different will this defense be this season?
BB: Well, that's some different players. You're asking how they're going to play? I don't know, I can't tell you that. We've been a multiple defense since I've been here, we'll continue to be that. We'll try to put the players out there that we feel are the best for the situation or the game plan or the team we're playing, and that'll be a weekly decision that will be modified during the course of the game as situations and personnel change. Some of that's dictated by the offense, so if they put four receivers out there then I'm sure we'll have a different group than if they put three tight ends out there. Those things are all out of our control. Those are offensive personnel substitutions and we'll matchup them up as best we can. You know, a lot of things like that we just have to react to. The players are going to play. I think they'll all work hard, they'll prepare well and hopefully we'll play well. That's our goal. I'm sure you'll let us know how that goes.
