Q: How are you feeling?
MB: It's a great feeling. It's a great feeling. This was a childhood dream of mine with an organization I always wanted to be with, so it's definitely a great feeling. It's truly a blessing.
Q: Where were you today? What did you spend the day doing?
MB: I was with my family. My whole family was with me. I'm still with them right now. They're excited for me. I'm excited. I'm just at home with my family.
Q: What do you think of coming to an organization that has some players you know?
MB: It's great. It's great to be able to come in and kind of have some guys that I know and already feel like brothers to me. I'm at an advantage to have that, as far as me getting acclimated and everything and being in a new organization. It's definitely a great feeling.
Q: What was your contact with the Patriots prior to the draft?
MB: Obviously, I did the Senior Bowl and the Combine and everything. I did a bunch of different interviews. I had a workout with the defensive line coach. I feel like I did a good job; well, obviously I think I did a pretty good job of that. That was pretty much it.
Q: When was that workout?
MB: That was, I would say, probably a week or two after my pro day.
Q: When you're this deep into the draft, what's going through your head before you got that call? Are you wondering whether you're going to go at all?
MB: You know what? It's just a blessing to be able to play in the NFL. It's been a childhood dream of mine. I stated playing football when I was nine years old and I've been waiting for this day. I'm blessed to be able to go to a great organization and an organization I always dreamt about playing with. So I wasn't really too concerned with all of that.
Q: What kind of preconceived notions do you have about the Patriots?
MB: The same one everyone in the world knows: they're a standup organization. I believe they're the best organization in football, they way they do everything. They have great players, everything like that.
Q: What kind of indication did you get that the Patriots were going to select you?
MB: I didn't necessarily know. I didn't really have an indication. When they called me, I was about the happiest guy in the world to hear Coach Belichick's voice. I didn't really have an indication. I was hoping they'd have interest in me, but I didn't really know anything before it happened.
Q: Why did you decide to stay in school after your junior season?
MB: Just to finish my college career. That's something that I promised my mother I would do, as far as getting my degree and everything. I wanted to get closer to doing that. I bled orange and I wanted to be there to finish out with my teammates. I believed that we had something good going. Everything didn't go as we expected, but I'm glad I made the decision to come back.
Q: Can you walk us through your jaw injury last year? Is that part of why you lost weight and could that be why your stats dropped a bit?
MB: No, I wouldn't tie that in. The jaw situation was a bad time in my life, but I learned a lot from it. I think I became a better man from it and I just hope it will never happen again.
Q: Do you know anybody on the Patriots team?
MB: Yeah, one of my close friends, Tavon Wilson. He called me a couple minutes after they picked me.
Q: What did he tell you?
MB: He said, 'Welcome to the Patriots.' We talked and he basically called to welcome me and said he's glad I'm going to be a teammate once again.
Q: You had six pass breakups last season. Is having long arms and being disruptive at the line of scrimmage something you pride yourself on?
MB: Yes, pass breakups, that's a play for no gain. Anything I can to do to help the defense, I don't want to get up in the numbers and everything. Anything I can do help the defense when it comes to pressures, sacks, whatever I can do to help the defense. I'm just going to make sure I have an impact on every play.
Q: Did you ever consider going to Rutgers?
MB: No, I actually didn't. Never considered going to Rutgers, I was an Illinois guy all the way.
Q: They just drafted a couple of Rutgers guys, so…
MB: I actually worked out with Logan Ryan. I trained with him. I'm pretty familiar with him as well.
Q: Where was that?
MB: Phoenix, Arizona.
Q: You were projected as high as the third round. Was it frustrating to not go that high?
MB: It was a little bit frustrating, but like I said before, I have a great opportunity in front of me. This is a lifelong dream. To even get my name called is a blessing. My family celebrated – you would have thought I was the first pick in the draft, it didn't matter. The biggest thing is I'm a Patriot now and I have a great opportunity in front of me. I'm going to make the best of it. I'm not too worried about that.
Q: What do you do off the field? Do you have any hobbies?
MB: I'm a big movie guy. I watch a lot of movies. I have three younger siblings so I like to do a lot of stuff with them. They're getting into sports now and everything. Pretty much hanging out with my youngest siblings and watching a lot of sports. My TV is always on ESPN if I'm not watching movies. That's pretty much it.
Q: What kind of movies do you like?
MB: All kinds. I like horror movies, action movies, everything. I don't have a particular type, I feel like I've seen every movie there is. I don't have a particular type, I love watching movies.
Q: Do you have a favorite?
MB: Probably Scarface. That's probably my all-time favorite movie.
