Q: How do you feel about having the fourth ranked beard in the NFL?  

LM: That's nice. I don't know if I would classify it as a beard but it does look good.  

Q: Can you talk about running the no-huddle and what the challenges are for you guys as offensive linemen? Does it get tiring after awhile? Does it wear on you?  

LM: Yeah, it gets pretty tiring but they're getting tired too, so that's the main thing. It's nice to do it occasionally when it's working good. We like it. The d-line, I think they get more tired than we actually do because they have to chase the ball. But it does get pretty tiring in there - you don't have the rest between plays like in the huddle.  

Q: When you see the defensive linemen wearing down does it perk you up a little bit and make you think you can take advantage of it?  

LM: Of course. You like those guys to be tired, they can't go as fast. Occasionally they substitute guys in there and then we're tired and they're not, so that's the disadvantage I guess.  

Q: When you have a situation like the drive against the Jets when they didn't substitute the entire drive, can you guys tell the difference in the defense?  

LM: Yeah. I don't know about the skill guys outside, but inside yeah. Anyone that is 300 pounds and has to run play after play and doesn't get a break is going to get tired.  

Q: What have you learned about Brian Waters?  

LM: Brian, he's a really good guy. Good player, good guy to be around, great teammate. He's a pro's pro. He's here for one goal and that's to win football games and play good football. He's always in there studying, watching film with us. He just wants to help the team.  

Q: Did you know anything about him prior to him coming here?  

LM: I had just met him. I had seen him on film a lot from scouting other teams. I had met him last February in Hawaii so spent some time with him there. I liked the guy so when I heard that he was coming here I was pretty excited about it.  

Q: As a fellow guard, how would you describe the way he plays the position?  

LM: He's good. He's very patient, he doesn't get in bad positions, he knows where to be at the right time and how to get there. He has strong hands. He's good at grabbing guys and holding onto them and keeping them close to him.  

Q: What have you learned about this defense and Tamba Hali specifically?  

LM: They're a good defense. Up front they have a lot of big, tough, strong guys. The linebackers, they can all run and pursue to the ball. Derrick Johnson makes a lot of tackles, a lot of plays. Hali, he's a special player. He's got a great motor and he's a great athlete so he's going to make a lot of plays and give those tackles a lot of fits.  

Q: Do you they look similar to what you guys run because of the Romeo Crennel influence?  

LM: Yeah, when we ran the 3-4 it looks pretty similar - big defensive linemen and big linebackers.  

Q: When Tom Brady is scrambling and keeping the play alive, what is the offensive line's mindset because you don't know where he's going to be?  

LM: You don't know where he's going to be but you peek and if you see him running, you just run and try to find someone. When we turn on that film, if we see a lineman just standing there, it's not going to be good for that guy. You have to run and find someone to block and keep the play alive as long as possible. As long as Tom needs, that's how long we have to try to go.  

Q: How do you feel about your level of play to this point in the season?  

LM: It's been pretty good, except for the penalties - that's kind of irritating. And then there have been a couple other plays that I wish I could do over.  

Q: Is there something that you can point to with the penalties, why there have been a number of them?  

LM: I don't know. Those false starts, they are just something that shouldn't happen but they have happened. Hopefully I could not have any more of those.  

Q: Of your six penalties, I know you had the hold last week -  

LM: That was a horrible call. And I'm not even saying that to be funny, it was just horrible.  

Q: Of the other penalties, do you know how many were false starts?  

LM: Four false starts, two holds.  

Q: Were those false starts all on the road?  

LM: No, one was here. The other ones were on the road.  

Q: On the false start, is that just focus and concentration or can it be more than that?  

LM: Yeah, sometimes it is. Sometimes you just barely twitch just a tiny little bit and you're going to get called. There are so many referees or umpires, whatever you want to call them, watching the O-line now, especially with the other guy moved behind - there's two guys just sitting there staring at us. They're going to catch any little thing.  

Q: When a guy gets a nice contract, everyone says it's not going to change them but you can never know really know because for some guys it does change them. Were you nervous about yourself when you got a nice contract that you had to make sure you were still the same?  

LM: I don't know if I was nervous but I do want to be the same - I still want to work the same, play the same - those are things that I'm trying to do.  

Q: Have you found yourself not thinking about off the field stuff this year? It has to be the first year in awhile that you haven't had that stuff weighing on you?  

LM: No, because even years prior, once I'm here, I'm here, I'm not worried about that. Once you get a big contract, people like Chris Price here, they're going to see if you're playing as good as you were before.  

Q: Does Dante Scarnecchia treat you differently now? Maybe a little harder?  

LM: No, Dante, maybe if I wasn't doing what I was supposed to do he would but he treats everyone the same, whether you're practice squad or you've been here for 10 years. He expects the same thing from everyone.  

Q: Does an offensive line get incrementally better in terms of communicating and playing together as the season goes along and where are you guys in that process?  

LM: You should get better because a lot of it comes down to communication - everyone on the same page. If one guy is off, everything is going to break down. We've rolled a few guys in and out of there so you just have to make sure you know what the guy next to you is going to do and that way you can know what you have to do.  

Q: Are you guys getting better? Have you seen improvement each week?  

LM: Yeah, it's been up and down at times. Some games it's been really good, some games it has been not so good. Last week was a tough test for us because they do a lot of different things. The majority of the time we had it down, but there were still a few mental errors in there.  

Q: On the penalties, do you know what your high count for penalties in a season is?  

LM: I'm not sure. I've always had penalties though. I wish I didn't but it happens.  

Q: It seems like the running game has been going in the wrong direction the past few weeks. Are you guys conscious of that? Is there something that's not going the way you want it to?  

LM: Yeah at times it has been up and down this year. Last week, I liked the way we ran the ball; the outcome wasn't as good as we wanted, not as many yards. I think we stuck to the run, we got 28 runs or so, so that's always good to get that number of runs. They were trying to stop the run too. They had guys down there - played a lot of five man fronts so they didn't want us to run the ball and we kept trying to run the ball so that's always good. As long as you get a lot of carries, you give yourself a good chance to win the game.  

Q: What are your thoughts on Marcus Cannon? It's obviously an inspiring story especially with him being added to the roster this week. What have you noticed with him?  

LM: We all like Marcus in there. He's a good guy. I think he has a chance to be a good player. That's a great story. We're all really happy for Marcus, proud of him sticking with it. There are probably people that wouldn't have been able to keep pursuing his dream the way he has after what he's been through.  

Q: I read that you went hunting with Trent Cole at the Pro Bowl. Is that true?  

LM: Yeah, that was a few years ago.  

Q: You guys caught a 250 pound boar. What was that experience like?  

LM: That was great. We went hunting, killed a few pigs - that's always fun. The best was after we were done, walking into that hotel, big, fancy hotel covered in blood. People were looking at us like we murdered somebody. It was a good time.  

Q: Who was the Jets player that they said you were holding?  

LM: They thought I was holding Bart Scott.  

Q: Do you ever agree with a holding call?  

LM: Sometimes. I've held a lot and not gotten called, but there's a few I have held and gotten called on it and deserved it.