Buccaneers running back Cadillac Williams addresses the New England media during his conference call on Wednesday, October 21, 2009.
Q: What are your feeling on taking this trip? How do you feel about playing a game in London?
CW: I'm very excited. I've never been to London and we're going to play a ball game, so I'm actually pretty excited about the whole ordeal.
Q: How much of a distraction is it to take an eight-hour plane trip to play a game outside of your comfort zone?
CW: You know, I've never experienced something like this, so just talking to other players - they say it's not so bad. Some of the tips have been not to sleep on the flight going up there and things like that. It's definitely going to throw off your normal schedule, but when it all boils down to it, we're there to play a ballgame. I think that kind of overrides everything.
Q: How would you sum up what's happened through the first six games for the Buccaneers?
CW: Oh man, I'll just say that as a team, we haven't played together. Whether it's sometimes the defense is playing good, sometimes the offense is playing good - just as a unit we haven't been playing together. On offense, it's been about missed opportunities in key situations in football games. We always find a way to beat ourselves. Whether it's jumping offsides or fumbling a snap or this guy not knowing his assignment or throwing an interception, we've just had - if you go game by game - we've just had too many plays in key situations where we haven't given ourselves a chance. That's the whole thing about our team.
Q: How has the offense been different with Josh Johnson as the quarterback replacing Byron Leftwich?
CW: I think he's more of a mobile quarterback, so we have a chance to do a lot more things on the run like naked bootlegs, and things like that as opposed to Byron at quarterback.
Q: Have you had a feel for the impact [offensive line coach] Pete Mangurian has made?
CW: Pete came in and did a really, really good job. One thing I do like about Pete is that he is a very detailed coach. He's going to stress the little things. Just from listening to him in the meetings and his enthusiasm on the practice field, he's definitely a coach who knows what he's talking about and he definitely coached the O guys up well. So I think he's doing a heck of a job.
Q: What stands out to you when studying the Patriots defense?
CW: Of course they still have the usual with [Vince] Wilfork and those guys. The main thing that stands out about them is that they're a physical team. There's not much trickery they try to do. If they blitz, they're going to show you they're blitzing. But they're basically a team that's going to out-physical you and play hard.
Q: Can you speak to your comeback from the knee injury? How do you feel and how trying was that for your career?
CW: You know what I feel? I tell people I feel better than ever, man. Both knees feel great. My body feels great. I think I'm more mentally strong now. I think I'm a more precise runner, a more patient runner. Just being away from the game in that time has made me really appreciate the game. I'm more humble and it was definitely trying times and it was a tough comeback, but I thank the Lord every day because He's truly a blessing.
Q: How close do you feel the team is to breaking through?
CW: You know what? We're sitting here 0-6 and we're close, man. I tell guys the main thing is, 'Let's just keep fighting. Let's keep believing in this team. Let's keep believing in what the coaches are preaching [to] us. Everybody, don't start doing their own thing.' Because man, if you go back and watch film, we really do put some good things out there on film, but for some reason you go one, two or three plays in key situations - whether it's a jumping offsides or not taking care of the ball or a missed assignment - it has gotten us beat in games.
