Patriots safety Patrick Chung addresses the media during his press conference at Gillette Stadium, on Thursday, January 13, 2011.
Q: How has Mark Sanchez changed as a quarterback since you were in the Pac 10?
PC: Obviously, he's better. He's starting [for] an NFL team. He's a good player. He's got a good arm. He can make good decisions. He's got good players around him. He wouldn't be playing if he wasn't good.
Q: What do you know about Rodney Harrison and has been told to you regarding him from the guys that did play with him?
PC: He's intense. He's intense. He's flying around full speed and he's not going to stop. Every single play, he's going hard. Every single time. You have to give a guy like that credit. To go hard for so many years, every practice, every game, a lot of guys can't do that.
Q: Have you been able to meet Rodney?
PC: Yeah, I've met Rodney. I've talked to him, texted him. He gives me advice. I listen to him. He's been in the league for a long time, so he's one of those guys you have to listen to.
Q: Has he said he might see some of him in you?
PC: No, we've never talked about that - the comparison - we've never talked about that. We don't even talk about football. We just talk about life. He helps me out; he gives me good advice. We don't even talk about that stuff.
Q: What is different for you this time around in the playoffs? Do you have a better appreciation of the intensity?
PC: The more you play, the slower the game gets. It comes with experience. It gets easier, but it's my first playoff game, playing, so I really can't speak on that until the game is over.
Q: You heard Vince Wilfork mention who his mentors were, you guys are so young in the secondary, do you guys even have mentors?
PC: Bill [Belichick]. We have Bill. James Sanders, Brandon [Meriweather]. They've been here. They know what's going on. They're still young in a sense. We're extremely young, but we still look up to them. They know what's going on, but we have great coaches around us, [so] it's a lot easier.
Q: Is Vince someone you look up to even though he is in a different group?
PC: Of course. There are times in a game where he will say, 'Hey, get it together.' [And we're like,] 'Oh, alright. Let's go. Let's do this.' He's a great leader.
Q: What did you do to confuse Sanchez in the last game between you guys?
PC: I'll talk to you after the game [about that].
Q: Can you talk a little bit about your versatility?
PC: It's just hard work. The more you can, the more you can do for the team. The more you can help your team. It's not really... Anybody can do it. It's all about working. You come to work knowing, 'Hey, I have to work on this; I've got to work on this. I'm good at this, but I can get better at this. I'm not so good at this, I can get okay at this or I can get better and good at this.' It's all hard work. It's really what you want to do with yourself. When you have the opportunity, you have to work hard to get it done. It's all about your mindset.
Q: How have you been impressed with this rookie class? You guys talk about how they ask a lot of questions.
PC: Yeah, you answered it. They do ask a lot of questions. I feel [Devin] McCourty and those guys came in like rookie veterans. They pay attention, attention to detail, they listen to coach, [and] they work hard. They came in with that mentality like, 'I'm going to work hard and we've not made it yet.' We still haven't made it yet. People in the league for five years still haven't made it. It's just all keep working and never get complacent and those guys do that.
Q: Where do you get your work ethic from?
PC: I've always been a hard worker, but I think between here and Oregon. Oregon was just [snap, snap, snap], boom, boom, boom, boom. Hard work. We call it, 'Win the day.' Don't worry about the day after or the day before; worry about that day. Win that day and the next day is the next one. Just work hard all the time.
Q: Did that make is easy to come here?
PC: Yeah, we work hard here. We work hard every time. You go out to practice [and] you work hard until you can't even walk. It makes the game so much easier. It makes the game a lot easier because you've seen it so many times at practice. So, practice is very important and they preach that here and at Oregon.
Q: You hear defensive backs on other teams talk about developing cohesiveness in the defensive back field where everyone knows where everyone else is and they are confident that everyone will do their jobs. Have you guys developed that from where you were in preseason to now; are you a much more cohesive unit now?
PC: Yeah, that comes from playing 20 games. You play 20 games, you have no choice but to get a little more comfortable with the guys that you're playing with, a little more experienced as the game slows down. You become a family. You know, [Devin McCourty's] out there. Kyle [Arrington's] out there, Brandon [Meriweather's] out there, James [Sanders], [Jarrad] Page - you just know. You know it like you can depend on these guys. You've been playing with them for 20 games now. I can look at Brandon, and he'll just nod his head and I'm like, 'OK, you're good.' I know what he's thinking and that just comes with experience. It gets better the longer the season goes with any team.
Q: Have the last couple of weeks been any more intense for playoff preparation?
PC: Preparation's preparation. We have five days to get ready and we play on Sunday. That's all it is. ... Go Oregon, by the way.
