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Q: What happened last week?

DW: Well I think we…to be honest with you we probably, practices all week were kind of OK and very average. You go down there and you play a team on the road that's of the caliber that St. Louis is and that is about how we played. We turned the ball over and didn't get the pressure on the passer like we needed to and then we were inside the 40 I think four times and didn't get a touchdown. So we had our opportunities early and did not take advantage of it. You can't do that against an explosive team like St. Louis.

Q: Considering the quality of your defense you would consider that an aberration more than an indication?

DW: It better be. We'll find out in the next couple of weeks.

Q: Your defense seemed to carry your team last year; do you see this defense as better than it was last year?

DW: It is tough to answer that now obviously coming off of last week's performance. But against Tennessee, a tough game on the road, we gave up one touchdown down there. And then didn't give up a touchdown to the Raiders. So you know we know we are capable of doing it and we'll get refocused this week and our guys will be ready to go.

Q: Everybody up here says, and they mean it as a compliment, that your defense is not complicated it is just very good?

DW: I've just always believed if you've got some good players in certain positions, you want to make sure that they can play as hard as they can play and that they are not thinking and give them a chance to play. That's pretty much what we did last year and that's no different going back 15 years, it's kind of a philosophy and something that we've always believed in and done.

Q: The Patriots are coming off a very inspired win; you noticed a big change just looking at the film I assume?

DW: Oh yeah. They played outstanding last week. I mean there is no question that…and did it really as a team. I mean the interception on defense against Peyton Manning, running them back, that was outstanding, but their offense was very productive too. They ran the ball extremely well and I thought that [Tom] Brady, for his first start, he was very efficient running the offense.

Q: How about how they shut the Colts offense down, was it surprising?

DW: They've got an awful lot of good players on defense. I mean a lot of guys with a lot of experience, smart guys and they are well coached and the scheme that they had gave them a chance to take away what Indy likes to do best.

Q: Clearly their best chance to win probably comes with a similar defensive effort. They probably won't score much on you guys but conversely, based on last year, they probably don't expect you to score a lot?

DW: Yeah, we had a very, very difficult time scoring points last year as everybody knows, particularly on New England. It's going to be a challenge for us. I mean our players know that and we are going to have to come up with a way to get the ball in the end zone a couple of times and coming off of their performance last week we expect them to be real confident and we expect to get their best effort.

Q: Can somebody like Damon Huard do something to help the Patriots prepare for this game or is it something because you play such a vanilla defense he can't really give an advantage?

DW: I don't know. I think being in the division and having the film and studying it…we've had players back and forth on different teams and just from a coaches perspective I think sometimes you are sitting there and they might give you one point that might help, but in most cases it is almost too much information, more than you want and more than you can really use.

Q: What's Rob Konrad's status right now?

DW: He is questionable.

Q: What about your middle linebacker?

DW: He is going to go out and try to do some things today. We've got him listed as questionable and we'll just see how he does after practice.

Q: How critical is he to what you do?

DW: Obviously in our scheme we rely on our linebackers to run and make a lot of plays. And we try to keep them freed up as best we can with those big guys up front. So any time you have a Pro Bowl player that is nicked, yeah it is a concern. He was a lot better today. He is going to go out and try to do some things in practice and we'll just have to see where it goes from there.

Q: Would it not make more sense if he is questionable to sit him out for a couple of weeks that seem to be a little easier opponent-wise or do you go as long as you can with him?

DW: I just think we see how it is day to day. This is an important game in our minds as any one we've had this year. So if he can go he will definitely go