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Replay: Patriots Unfiltered Mon Dec 09 - 02:00 PM | Tue Dec 10 - 11:55 AM

Drew Bledsoe Press Conf.

Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, OhioDrew Bledsoe speaks to the press.

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            **Q: How does your hand feel and when did you make the decision?**  

D: It's sore but I really felt earlier in the week like I was going to be able to play with it and prior to the game in the locker room I threw some balls and I was able to throw with enough accuracy that we were satisfied.

Q: Did you take a painkiller, did you get a shot in your thumb?

D: No I didn't get a shot in my thumb, a lot of guys take an Advil before games.

Q: Did it hamper you throwing a long pass?

D: I don't think so. The only plays really and I felt this coming into the game, the only plays that it was really going to have much of an effect for was when I was trying to make the quick little wrist throws when I wasn't using a full throwing motion and I didn't have to make too many of those today. For the most part I don't think it had much of an effect.

Q: How about on the little flip that was intercepted?

D: No that was just throwing it flat and he got his hands up and made the play.

Q: Or the snap that you fumbled?

D: No the snap didn't have anything to do with my finger.

Q: You had your left hand on top?

D: No I played around with that earlier this week and I am not very ambidextrous and I wasn't able to do that so we did adjust the way I took the snap a little bit to take some of the pressure off the thumb.

Q: What will you say to the fans that are asking what has happened to our team?

D: I don't have an answer. It is really a frustrating thing to be a part of because it is across the board, mistakes across the board. If you could narrow it down to one area or one guy or whatever you could make a change, but we are making mistakes throughout the team and we are not good enough to overcome mistakes.

Q: You said that you want to stay in the game until you think that you are not throwing effectively enough it is not a pain issue, where you ever close to that point today?

D: No today I was going to play and expect me to continue to play unless something else happens.

Q: What did you actually have on it?

D: They just taped it up a little bit so that if I were to hit it in the same way again it would prevent it from aggravating the injury as much.

Q: You threw for almost 400 yards last year against the Browns what was the difference between this game plan and last years?

D: It is a credit to their team. Romeo Crennel is a good defensive coordinator and he came in with a good plan. They were able to get some pressure particularly early and then they made some plays in some key times in the secondary, some third down conversions where they were able to break up some passes. It was a good game by them and then we turned the ball over four times. I mean you turn the ball over four times you are not going to win very many, but it is a credit to them and a credit to their game plan and a credit to their team.

Q: Does this team have any fight left?

D: Well I hope so. We will watch the films obviously tomorrow but it is the same thing that I have said along, I don't think that effort is an issue. I think that guys are playing hard right up to the end of the game.

Q: How deflating was that turnover by (Kevin) Faulk?

D: Anytime you turn the ball over to lose a snap coming down there at the end of the first half that is just as deflating, but I did feel like we did a good job addressing some of the problems that we have had and we were moving the ball effectively on them and then to turn the ball down there yes that one was disappointing.

Q: How much could you throw in the locker room?

D: Enough, it's enough.

Q: You were able to throw it about ten yards maybe?

D: No it was more like fifteen, twenty yards. I was throwing the length of the locker room and I was able to throw well enough that decided to go.

Q: Would you say you were 80 percent, 90 percent? Belichick said you weren't 100 percent?

D: I don't know it is hard to put a number on it. Obviously it is not 100 percent I can't grip the ball as tight as I normally would, but I feel like I am healthy enough to play and play effectively unless something further happens you can expect to see me on the field.

Q: …this years problems all along I mean that's almost worse. One area could say well this…and another area could say that…

D: That's what I mean that is the frustrating part of it. There is not one area that you can pick out and say, 'Okay we are going to address this and then we have got it fixed' but there are mistakes and negative plays across the board and we are not good enough to compensate for those.

Q: Wasn't that supposed to be corrected with the change in the coaching staff?

D: What it is we have been all year and throughout camp we have been extremely well-prepared and one of the things that has been most disheartening for me personally is coming into the games I feel like game plans that we had coming into these games are very, very good. I feel like a number of times we are at an advantage scheme-wise, numbers-wise and so on with our game plan. So that has been one of the most frustrating things is to kind of feel like, 'Okay yes we have a really good plan for these guys this week' and then to not be effective it has been very disheartening.

Q: (Damien) Woody said that he anticipated that snap to you, that he took the blame for it? What was the count?

D: It was a quick count play. Where it's you come up and a quick snap and he brought it up early and I wasn't ready for it and fumbled it.

Q: Why would you work out in the locker room as opposed to the field?

D: You are trying to maintain an advantage whatever advantage you may have as to who is starting and who is not. It is a game time decision as to whether or not I was playing. We wanted to try and keep that from them as long as we could.

Q: Was that your decision to do that inside?

D: No that was Belichick's decision to workout inside.

Q: Is that a first for you in your career?

D: Yes.

Q: Did you think there are other teams that could overcome mistakes like this?

D: It is very, very hard to do that in this league. When you have four turnovers, when you have the number of penalties and then you make a number of mental errors it is very, very hard to overcome that. I don't know if there is a team in the league that can overcome the kind of mistakes that we made today. There maybe, but I don't see it. In this league the first thing you have to overcome you have to overcome yourselves and your mistakes before you can even worry about the other team and that's where we are right now.

Q: It seems like it hasn't gotten to Bill yet that this team is just collapsing around him, does he show you any more emotion than he shows us?

D: Yes I won't get into how things were addressed within the team, but there is no doubt that what we have done is far, far from acceptable and that was made very, very clear to everybody repeatedly.

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