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**D:** (Wearing a Washington Huskies t-shirt) Cute shirt isn't it? I lost a little bet with Lawyer Milloy. I don't think we covered the spread either, we lost by 48 points.
Q: Did you hear about one of the Cincinnati players being rushed to the hospital?
D: Yeah, yeah, I don't know anything about the situation. Our thought and prayers are with him and with his family. I don't know anything about the situation, but I know those things can be very, very scary. My Dad was coaching in Washington and had a player that died on the field. Around a situation like that, it is very, very scary. Again, our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
Q: Can you comment on Bruce Armstrong's getting the Patriots longevity record?
D: I don't really think I can ever say enough about Bruce. The record is a tribute to him and his attitude toward this game. We were talking earlier in the week, he and I were, we were talking about how he always finds a way to stay on the field. As a quarterback, to have a guy over there that you trust so completely, it's really a luxury. I don't know what it is like to not have him over there, he's started every game that I've ever played. I respect Bruce more than I can say. I appreciate his efforts on behalf of the team and on behalf of me.
Q: How is your thumb?
D: It's sore, it's sore. There were a few throws today where I think that it was evident it had some impact. Overall, it is something that I am going to continue to play with and anticipate that it will continue to improve as we move forward.
Q: This season the team has had trouble holding on to leads, what was the difference today?
D: Yeah, we have had trouble this season in those situations. We've had a number of games where the defense has given us back the ball with a chance to come back and win the game, but we haven't been able to get that done. But today, first of all the guys up front did a good job giving me some time to throw. Terry (Glenn) and Troy (Brown) came up big. You know I think it was very apparent throughout the game, but in particular late in the game that we wanted to get the ball in the hands of our playmakers, Terry and Troy are those two guys right now. We wanted to get the ball to them as much as we could, and they came through for us, they came up big.
Q: Is it game planned to get the ball in their hands at the end of the game?
D: Yeah, that's the basic idea to try and get the ball in the hands of Terry Glenn and Troy Brown. The other factor was that they were playing off-coverage on Terry. They were giving him a lot of respect because of his speed. They didn't want to get beat deep, so we kept running those comebacks. He was running some very good routes for me, and had time to throw and we were able to do it.
Q: What was your reaction when Bruce Armstrong played the last two games despite being eliminated from the playoffs last season?
D: Once again, it is a testament to him, to Bruce. He plays the game because he loves to play the game. He has a lot of pride in what he does. He takes it very personal. There's also a factor in there that he wants to look out for me. I think that probably the greatest compliment that I could ever pay to Bruce would be to say that I respect him in much the same way I respect my own father, in that he does what is right and does what he should do. Even at the expense sometimes of what would be a better situation for him. Had he gone to have the surgery after week eight when he hurt himself, the situation in the offseason would have been entirely different. He would have been healthy, free agency would have been more of an opportunity for him. But that is not in his nature, if he can play, he's going to play and it is unfortunate that that ultimately ended up hurting him to a certain extent in the offseason.
Q: Has he affected you in that way?
D: I think there is a sense of responsibility on my part and hopefully on the part some of the guys who have been around him for a while. I know if I was in a situation where I could play, but didn't, I'd have trouble looking the guy in the eye after what he's done for me. There is a sense of accountability because of the way he approaches things. I don't know if everybody gets that, but I certainly do and I think the guys that have been around him do.
Q: Bruce (Armstrong) can be a very intimidating person.
D: Bruce is a very intimidating person. I count on that fact. He's intimidating guys that are trying to hurt me. Early on, we started to develop a pretty good relationship, a very matter of fact relationship, hopefully now we're very good friends.
Q: Your thoughts on the Detroit game?
D: It is a short turnaround. One advantage that we do have is that we had a pretty crazy preseason schedule so we had to deal with some of those situations. It does make it a challenge, we had a couple of guys nicked a little bit here today, so they're going to have to get back in a hurry. It's just a challenge that you face and we're going to have to go in there and try and win another game.
Q: Was there a time in the week where you thought about not playing this week?
D: No, no. I planned on playing the entire week. I did, and I think it was reported, and I did bang my thumb on Sale's (Isaia) back in a walk-through. That didn't feel so good. I anticipated playing really from day one.
