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New England Patriots Postgame Transcripts 8/25

New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick and select players comment on their game against the Detroit Lions on Friday, August 25, 2017.

BILL BELICHICK, HEAD COACH

*Opening statement: *
"Well, I thought we continued to make progress. It's another, still have a long way to go. We did some positive things tonight, a few more than we did the last couple of games. It was a good week. I thought the team worked hard this week. We got better and some things showed up today. So, let's keep grinding. Back to work here, another short week for the Giants. Then, you know, we're under two weeks until the opener. We've got a lot of work to do and we're going to have to grind through it."

*On how he will go about replacing WR Julian Edelman if his injury proves to be serious: *
"I don't have an update."

*On WR Chris Hogan's performance tonight: *
"Like I said, I think our team made progress. You can't give a report on every guy. We did some good things out there today, all three phases of the game. Some of the things that weren't as good, we'll keep working."

*On having some players' practice contributions carry into the game: *
"It's good to have all the guys out there that were out there. The guys that weren't out there, hopefully they'll be back soon."

*On how important it is for the team to work on no-huddle situations during the preseason: *
"Well, it's always a little bit tougher to do it on the road, so this is a good opportunity for us to do it tonight. So we got a few snaps of that in."

*On RB D.J. Foster's performance so far during the preseason: *
"Yeah, I thought it was a good opportunity for him tonight and hopefully he'll be able to do the same thing in next week. You know, give him a lot of playing time and see how he does.  Like you said, he did a lot of different things in college.  Just give him a chance to play and he did some things last week and caught a big pass on Houston, in the Houston game. Had some carries tonight, so just let him play. I think he's gotten a little bit better each week, so just see where it goes."

*On how difficult roster cuts will be given the competition on this team: *
"We'll just have to see where it all goes, you know.  We have a lot of guys that are working hard and competing hard. And we have another week to go, so I'm sure those guys will keep competing.  They're trying to make this as tough on us as they can and they're doing a good job.  So, we'll have to do our best to try and figure it out and put the best team together we can. I think we had a lot of guys show up positively, just have to see. I'm sure there will be some difficult decisions like there always will be."

TOM BRADY, QUARTERBACK

*On when he was running to the medical tent when WR Julian Edelman was injured: *
"Yeah, I was just checking on him. So, we'll see what the extent of it is. We're all hoping for the best. It's tough any time a teammate goes down. So you know, we've all been playing long enough where when someone does, the people have to step in and fill a void. Hopefully, that's not the case, but you know, we'll figure out tomorrow."

*On how potentially losing Edelman could affect him: *
"Yeah, we've played together for a long time. I think there is great chemistry in what we are doing and he is just an incredible player and teammate and we're all hoping for the best. Hopefully he can, you know, hopefully whatever tests they have to do, come back positively. We'll try to do our best to kind of, you know, lift his spirits if we can and see what happens."

*On the maturation of the team's younger wide receivers: *
"Yeah, we have a, you know, good group of skill position including tight ends and the backs. Everybody has played different roles at different times throughout the spring and the summer. You know, we're still grinding our way through camp. So this is our fourth week, probably, fifth week, we finished our fifth week. We've had quite a few practices, but we are still trying to build on what we're, week to week. So, whoever is in there, we have to have confidence in what they're doing. You saw we had a lot of good things from a lot of good, really good players tonight. Brandin (Cooks) made some plays, Hoges (Chris Hogan) made plays, Jules (Julian Edelman) made his plays, Danny (Danny Amendola) always makes plays, James (White), Mike (Gillislee) ran the ball great, D.J. (Foster) made some great runs. Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) made Gronk for some looks, so just keep trying to grind. Ultimately, the goal of training camp is to be ready for opening week and it'll be here right around the corner."

*On how pleased he was with the offense starting tonight's game: *
"Yeah, we, 24 points in the first four drives. Then, you know, we missed the 3rd-and-15. We had a kind of few plays that really sucked and then we had the interception which had sucked too, so. If you take those away, it'd be a pretty good night. You know, we'd have six pretty good drives there, but we'll learn from them. It's always good to calibrate where you are at and not everything is going to be perfect all the time. You take the lessons you learn from these preseason games and you try to apply them in a couple weeks when it really matters. So, I think the thing about these preseason games is whatever the outcome, you know, none of it's, you know, going to count toward the standing, but you better learn a lot. You better learn what you're all about and who you can count on. You know, it's a good gage at where you're at against other teams. We still have a long way to go."

JIMMY GAROPPOLO, QUARTERBACK

*On the importance of changing the rhythm of play: *
"Yeah, you know, it's kind of something that we do sporadically.  It's not something we do every drive, so it really helped us.  I mean, it got us rolling on offense, throwing game, pass game, so it was good."

*On the impact of seeing WR Julian Edelman leave injured: *
"Yeah, it's tough, I mean we've all been there.  We've all experienced it, just he plays football, stuff's going to happen. So, you know, Jules is a tough guy and hopefully he'll be alright."

On whether he had spoken to Edelman post-injury:
"I didn't get a chance to. We were kind of rolling and substitutions were happening, so there was a lot going on. But yeah, I haven't heard anything yet."

ROB GRONKOWSKI, TIGHT END

*On what goes through his mind when he sees someone get injured: *
"You never want to see a guy go down. Especially a player like Julian (Edelman), how hard he works. But I don't know what's going on with him or anything, but you just never want to see that and you just hope for the best for him."

*On the team's vibe when WR Julian Edelman was coming off the field: *
"I was in the game. I was playing at the moment, so didn't really see what was going on. Didn't really see what was happening. But just hopefully, hoping for the best for him."

*On the state of the offense if Edelman is out: *
"I mean, I don't know the case or anything, just got to keep working. And I don't know what's going on."

*On if he had a chance to talk to Edelman: *
"No, I haven't. Not yet. I just showered up and came right here, but I'm definitely going to see him and hoping it's nothing serious."

*On if tonight was what they needed to get ready for the season: *
"It was a good start. We got a lot to work on still, but I mean, coming out fast, scoring a touchdown on the first drive is how you want to start a ball game."

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