Q: Talk about the Houston defense.
DW: They have a great defense at all levels – defensive line, linebackers, secondary – and they have a lot of great players and we just have to go out there and do everything we can to do our job.
Q: You are the elder statesman of the Patriots running backs. What kind of advice do you have for the young backs?
DW: We're approaching this like every game to do our jobs to the best of our abilities. I think everyone knows it's an important game – it's win or go home. We have to prepare the rest of this week like we always have and be ready for the game.
Q: How do you approach this game considering your postseason experience?
DW: Obviously it's win or go home but I try to approach every game the same just because I want to prepare like I've always prepared and prepare to the best of my abilities for any opportunity that may come. So that's what I try to do, I try to be ready.
Q: Do you take Wade Phillips' comments as bulletin board material?
DW: That's not even something that I'm thinking about. It's just more to approach every day the same, prepare with what we have in the game plan and try to make sure we're ready for whatever play is called to do our job.
Q: As a smaller-statured player do you have to play with a chip on your shoulder with all these bigger guys coming at you?
DW: I don't know. I don't know if that's something I think about much. I think about whatever my responsibility is, I'm going to try to do it. I've always been 5-8. I don't think that's going to change. I just have to play the game how I've always tried to play the game and that's go out there and do my job to the best of my ability.
Q: Do you anticipate that you may have to help out on J.J. Watt on Sunday?
DW: They have a lot of great players. J.J.'s obviously a great player, but they have a lot of great players on their defense. That's obviously why they're here. Like I said, on D-line, linebackers, secondary. Every single guy has to go out and make sure and do the best job on our responsibilities and just do it to the best of our abilities.
Q: Do you recall any matchups with him from the first game where you were between him and the quarterback?
DW: I don't think so too much [laughs].
Q: Can you imagine what kind of a sight that would be?
DW: If that was my responsibility, do whatever I can to slow him down.
Q: How would you do it?
DW: I don't know. I have to go out there and approach every play the same and I'm just going to do my job whenever I'm in there.
Q: It seems like whenever you are on the field, you are productive. Is there a part of you that says you could play more even though you accept your role?
DW: Like I always say – whenever I'm put out there, I'm going to do everything I can to do my job to the best of my abilities. We have to I think, any of the running backs, any of the receivers, no matter who's touching the ball on any play, there's 10 other players on the field. That's what's awesome about football. It's a team game and takes all 11 guys on the same page to have a successful play. When one of the skill players has a big play or yardage on a certain play, that also comes from the offensive line and everyone else working together.
Q: With this now being a one-game season, how does your mindset change this week as opposed to the regular season?
DW: I don't know if it's really changed. You know it's win or go home but I still try to do everything the same – prepare on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – every day the same as I always have. That's how I'm going to approach it tonight and tomorrow, is I'm going to approach it like I always have because I want to be ready.
Q: Does the fact that you already have a blowout win against this team affect the team's thinking at all?
DW: Oh, that was a while ago. That game, I mean, that doesn't even matter right now. We have to go out and the score is 0-0. We have to go out and play the best game we can. All 11 guys that are on the field at a particular time, we all have to do our job and try to get everyone on the same page because that's obviously how a play is a successful one. We're going to approach every single play the same way.
Q: How would you assess the team's confidence level?
DW: I think you'd have to get every single guy in here, but we're just going to approach this like any other week. We're going to do our job every single play. We're not going to change that. We're going to go out and try to get everyone on the same page every play.
Q: How important is Wes Welker to your offense?
DW: He's a great player. I think he's obviously proved that. He's a hard worker and we all try to do that. We all try to work hard every play and do our job.
Q: Bill Belichick has a certain media persona. How does he make football fun for you? Does he?
DW: First of all, football, I mean everyone that's playing, we're playing a game and it's a game that we've played since we were kids. Football's a fun game. We obviously enjoy it. I know all our coaches enjoy it too. We get to play in a playoff game and not a lot of teams get to and we just want to take advantage of it and prepare and make sure we're ready for it on Sunday.
