Skip to main content
Advertising

Official website of the New England Patriots

live
LIVE: Patriots Unfiltered, 12 -2 PM Wed Dec 11 | 11:55 AM - 02:00 PM

Bill Belichick Press Conference and Conference Call Transcripts

Read full transcripts of Bill Belichick's Wednesday press conference and his conference call with the Buffalo Bills media.

BB: Good morning. How are we doing? Alright, well back in the division here. Obviously, a really impressive win for the Bills last week against the Colts. I thought they did a lot of things very well - played well in the kicking game, played very well defensively, had the turnovers, the couple interceptions, recovered a fumbled punt, had another fumble that got called back - but they played aggressively, tackled well and offensively had a lot of explosive plays. They got them form everybody - the receivers, tight ends, quarterback, running back. A good football team, well coached, very explosive, got a lot of guys that can score from pretty much anywhere on the field and in the return game and offensively. We're going to have our hands full in terms of defending them and blocking them. They're a good coverage team as well, obviously have a lot of different schemes to prepare for, so good week of preparation and hopefully we'll be ready to go on Sunday.

Q: Rex Ryan said this week that he'll stand by his resume and the way he's defended Rob Gronkowski. When they do well against him, what are some of the things they're successful with?

BB: Look, we've had some great matchups with them, but really this game is all about this week, so we'll all see what happens this week. We'll prepare for the game, we'll look at some of the things they've done - some of the things that they've done in the past and then more recently - but I'm sure they'll do the same, and we'll see how it all comes out on Sunday. There's a lot of history here. We'll be seeing a lot of snaps against each other from a scheme standpoint. We'll see what happens Sunday.

Q: Does the lack of experience on the offensive line affect what you're normally able to put in from an offensive game plan standpoint, or does it not affect you at all?

BB: I don't really know what normal is. I think each week you look at whatever you have and you figure out what you think is the best thing to do. I don't know what normal is or isn't. Each week is its own entity, your own circumstances of what you have, what they have, what they do, who's in the game, who's out of the game and so forth, and then you just try to do the best you can. If something were different, how would it be - I don't know - I don't really even think about that. I just think about what the current circumstances are and how to make the most of them.

Q: What are some of the things you can do with your offensive line to combat Rex Ryan's different blitz packages?

BB: The key for us is just to identify it. They give you a lot of different looks and they bring a lot of different people. It's not just a linebacker or a particular safety or whatever it is. They have different packages. Sometimes that changes by formation, so it depends on what you're in what you're going to get. I think the key is just that we have to have a good week of preparation, make sure we can understand what we're doing on each play and follow our rules. Our rules will take care of whatever any defense does. We have a certain thing we do depending on what happens, and hopefully we'll be able to execute those if and when they come up on Sunday.

Q: Have the outside factors this year led to an extra motivation to win?

BB: Right now, it's all about Buffalo. It's a division game, division game on the road, so that's a big challenge for us. All the division games are important. We always put everything we have into every game, so this game will be no different.

Q: Rob Gronkowski didn't miss any time in training camp, but he didn't play at all in preseason. In the opener, did you monitor him to see if he'd be able to play the full game?

BB: I think on opening day and even into the first week or two of the season, you kind of have a little bit of an eye on everybody because really nobody has played 60 minutes. We had a night game, but when you start talking about one o'clock games compared to eight o'clock p.m. games, there could be a difference there, too. I think until you see everybody play for a little while, you kind of just keep an eye on everybody, whether that's a position coach or the medical staff or just my case or the coordinators, but I think there is a little bit of seeing how everybody's doing depending on how the game is going, how many snaps you're playing, what type of day it is, maybe for the skill players how much running is involved. A team like Pittsburgh that has a lot of scramble, lose plays, deep routes, is a different type of offense for the secondary just to give you an example. I think there is a little bit of that in the early part of the season for everyone.

Q: What does it say about him that he was able to play the full game?

BB: Last week was good. We'll see what happens this week. Like I said, I think it takes a few weeks for all of us to get into that type of regular season game routine execution, dealing with regular season game-type situations. None of us have had them, so it's something that we all need work on.

Q: Jerod Mayo only played 11 snaps against Pittsburgh. Where do you see him this season and at this stage of his career?

BB: We'll see. There is no set number or no set anything one way or the other for a lot of players, so we'll just see how it goes, do what we think is best in each game.

Q: How is he working with Jamie Collins and Dont'a Hightower?

BB: Good. He's a great communicator, really smart player. He does all he can; he always does.

Q: How do things change getting LeGarrette Blount back this week?

BB: He's a big back, makes a lot of plays with the ball in his hands. We'll see how all that plays out, but it's good to have him back, that's for sure.

Q: What have you seen so far from Justin Coleman? What went into the decision to sign him off the Seahawks' practice squad?

BB: We felt like he'd give us good depth at that position. We'll keep working with him. There's some new learning obviously and acclimation of what we're doing, but he seems pretty smart in terms of picking it up, works hard. Last week was kind of late in the week in terms of the preparation week by the time he got here. We'll see what happens this week. I don't know. But that will be up to him and how well he performs, how it goes out there. But he's working hard, glad we have him, he's a good player to work with.

Q: When you don't have much tape on an offense like the Bills, is it hard to determine how you want to defend them and what you want to take away because you don't know what they will prioritize?

BB: I think that's a pretty common situation to be honest with you. You go into every game, and you have to over-prepare because as you said they can only run so many plays - let's call it 70 plays. But you have three, four, five, six - sometimes way more than that - games that you're looking at, so now you're looking at a neighborhood of three to four hundred plays. Some of that they repeat and you try to get a tendency and you try to get a basic read on it, but each game is different. Teams that game plan a lot, like Buffalo does on both sides of the ball, you go in with a general plan, a general idea, you certainly know what their personnel is and how you want to defend certain individual players, but then as the game unfolds, then you can generally start to see this is how they're going to try to attack us. And then at that point you have to make sometimes some in-game adjustments or maybe some things that you had prepared for, that you've gotten different things ready for doesn't look like they're going to come up, so you kind of put those off to the side and focus on the things that either they're hurting you with or the things that it looks to you like the way they're going to try to play the game. It starts wider and then it generally funnels in as the game starts to unfold. Fifteen, 20 plays into the game you should have a pretty good idea of this is what they're going to try to do. I'm not saying it doesn't move a little bit from there, but you certainly know a lot more after 15 plays into the game than you knew going into the game. So, I'd say that's a pretty common theme every week.

Q: How do you manage outside distractions for this team?

BB: Our job is to focus on Buffalo and prepare for Buffalo, so that's what we're all doing. There is nothing more important than that.

Q: What most impressed you about Tyrod Taylor's performance against the Colts?

BB: I think he did everything well. I thought he threw the ball well. He had a big third-down conversion to [Robert] Woods on a third-and-eight, made a real good throws on the sideline with pressure, the guy right in his face, made a great throw to [Percy] Harvin on the go route. That was decent coverage, but he put the ball in a perfect spot right on him. He scrambled, made plays. I thought he handled the check game. They obviously had some check-with-me-type plays that he made good decisions on at the line of scrimmage, which got into the running game. [He] made a good throw to [LeSean] McCoy on the wide route out to the defensive right on the blitz. I think he did a lot of things well in the game. If you go back and look at the Pittsburgh game from the preseason, similar - good throws, good runs, good decisions, a lot of guys involved in the offense. It's not just a one-man show, they get the ball to a lot of people, the tight ends, the backs - they've got several backs - the receivers, quarterback, they all make plays. A lot of things to defend; a lot of things to stop. It all runs through him, and he's done a great job with it. It will be a big challenge for us on Sunday.

BILL BELICHICK CONFERENCE CALL TO BUFFALO MEDIA

Q: Rex Ryan referred to you as the "hated Patriots" and a number of Bills players talked about how much they dislike the Patriots. Does that bring a smile to your face, or do you already have a smile on your face?

BB: Yeah, I always have a smile here on Wednesday. It's a good day to get to work. We're really not concerned about that. We're just preparing for the game. We have a lot of respect for the Buffalo organization, Coach [Rex] Ryan, his team, his players, their staff. They played great against Indianapolis last week and we know we're going to have to go in there and play a really good football game to be competitive. That's our challenge this week.

Q: What have you seen from Tyrod Taylor?

BB: He was a really good player for the Ravens when he had an opportunity to play. [He's] experienced, showed a lot of poise, has been very productive when he's played, particularly the Pittsburgh game there in preseason - thought he had a great game there. [He] played very well against the Colts last week. I have a lot of respect for him and his ability. Good player.

Q: You have a lot of experience against Rex Ryan defenses. Does it change anything when you have to prepare for his scheme, but with the Bills personnel?

BB: Look, every week in this league is a challenge. Every team has good players. Every team has good coaches and good schemes. The Bills do what they do, so we'll prepare for what they do, just like we prepare for everybody else.

Q: Why do you think Rex Ryan has often been so effective against Tom Brady? The numbers certainly show that he has been better than other defensive coaches.

BB: I think our record against him has been OK. I'll take it.

Q: Does Rex Ryan staying in the division spice up this rivalry even more?

BB: I think all the teams in this division have a good rivalry. I think that will be there. Players and coaches have changed through the years, but I think the rivalry has always been good.

Q: A lot of players have said that they never heard the crowd as loud as they were last week. What kind of challenge is that going to present for you guys?

BB: We always expect a lot of crowd noise on the road. That will be something that we prepare for. We deal with it eight games a year that we play on the road, so we'll deal with it this week. However loud it is, it is, but we can't control that initially. So, we'll deal with it, with whatever it is.

Q: How has Scott Chandler blended into your offense, and what did you find appealing in him that caused you to sign him?

BB: Scott has done a good job for us. Smart guy, very experienced, has picked things up quickly here offensively and from a timing and execution standpoint with our offensive team. He's been a good addition, like having him, and he's been productive for us and has been a good teammate. Works hard, smart, gets along well with everybody, is a good personality on the team.

Q: Rob Gronkowski got off to a great start last week. Is there anything about his game on the field that can surprise you? Is there anything more he can do to take it to another level?

BB: Yeah, I think Rob gets better all the time. He was a young player coming into the league without a lot of collegiate experience, really just that one year, his sophomore year. He's worked really hard on his techniques in the offseason and in training camp, continues to get better on a daily basis. He's very attentive, he's coachable - you tell him how to do something, how he can improve it and do it better and he works hard to try to do that. I think he continues to develop as a player and he's obviously got a lot of talent. He's a great player to coach and work with. I really enjoy him.

Q: What more have you learned about Tom Brady from this offseason ordeal and how he and the team responded this past Thursday?

BB: We're really, right now, we're totally in Buffalo mode. So, whatever happened in the past doesn't really matter this week. It's all about our preparation this week for the Bills and being able to go up there on Sunday and play at a high level and execute and perform well. That's a challenge for all of us. The past is the past. The future doesn't really have anything to do with this week. So, we're just focused on Sunday's game.

Q: I'm not trying to delve into what happened in the past, but have you learned anything more about him over the past week?

BB: I think Tom has always done a great job throughout his career of preparing and competing, going all the way back to the '01 season.

Q: As a defensive coach, can you appreciate the nightmare of trying to cover Rob Gronkowski?

BB: We work against our offense every day in practice, and we have a lot of good players on the offensive side of the ball, a lot of good players on the defensive side of the ball. They compete well on a daily basis. Sometimes some guys win, sometimes other guys win. That's what competition is about. But our focus for everyone is just to try to improve and get better. Whatever talent and abilities we have, we try to maximize, and the things that we don't do as well or need to improve on, we try to work hard to make those better, whether that's on the field or off the field or in the classroom or in the weight room - wherever it is. We just try to focus on our work ethic and our improvement. So, it's across the board. It doesn't really make any difference who the player is or what they do, there is always room for improvement, and if they work hard and understand what they need to do to get better, then we've found that we usually see that.

Q: Do you get any motivation from the disdain that you inspire from outsiders? Does that motivate you or give you an edge?

BB: Right now, it's really about getting ready for Buffalo. What goes on on the outside, I can't control, don't try to, so we try to control what we can control, which is our preparation.

Q: You're telling me it's not a factor at all, right?

BB: I'm telling you we're preparing for Buffalo. That's what we're doing.

This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an issue.

Related Content

Advertising

Latest News

Presented by
Advertising

Trending Videos

Advertising

In Case You Missed It

Presented by
Advertising