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Q: You played with Bledsoe, and now with a veteran in Chris Chandler. Are there any comparisons between the two?
SJ: Yeah, I think if I had to compare them they are similar in the way that they are both, they are not rah-rah guys. They don't get up in anybody's face. Both of them just go about their business throughout practice. You know, preparing themselves and everything for the game. Now what Chris does, Chris will come around to the receivers and the linemen and stuff like that and he will just make sure on certain checks that we may have that everybody is on the same page about this and about that. He sits in on meetings with us and everything like that. But the different thing about them is hey, one is old and one is young.
Q: You guys have an offense that scores right off the bat; in four of six games you have scored right away?
SJ: Yeah, we're are just an offense trying to go out there and what we really would like to do is just stay on the attack instead of letting the defense dictate to us what we can do. I just think that that is a compliment to us as an offensive team to go out there and just try to get it done.
Q: You are the leading receiver and in terms of the way it goes you have outscored the opponent 48-3 in the first quarter. Has that been a big reason why you are 3-3?
SJ: I think so. I think that once we get going and I've got to give credit to my teammates, we've made a conscious effort of trying to start fast. You know I'm pretty sure every offense in the league tries to do that, start fast and try to maintain and get the momentum and keep the momentum going. Sometimes in these games, these games are such a game of momentum and momentum swings. Believe me, we've had our share of momentum swings this year, especially with one team, the San Francisco 49ers. That team has been a roller coaster for us emotionally. We played them two times and in overtime and they won both. So we definitely know what it is with momentum swings with them. We understand as an offense that hey, we've got to pipe down and we just got to get the job done. No matter what it takes, we just got to get the job done.
Q: What are your thoughts on Michael Vick? How far away is he from harnessing his physical ability and being a good NFL quarterback?
SJ: I'll tell you like I told Troy Brown. Before I saw Michael Vick the best athlete I've ever been around in my whole entire life was Terry Glenn. Now this guy comes along and he's just awesome with his speed, his toughness, his strength, his ability to throw the ball. To be honest with you, him learning behind Chris and able to get some experience the first couple of weeks and stuff like that, he's going to be getting experience from here on, I really think that he's not far away at all. I really do think within the coming years you guys are going to be talking about him in same breath you are talking about Peyton Manning, Drew Bledsoe and those guys like that because he has all the physical skills. The thing I like about him is that he seems to be a student of the game because he watches film like film is going out of style. That's a tribute to him, a young guy coming in and trying to just watch film and just try to take on everything and see what the defense is giving him. And the thing that really impressed me about him is, being a quarterback, and I've seen a lot of young quarterbacks come in and right away they want to throw the long-ball and score the 80-yard touchdown. This guy takes what the defense gives him. He'll hit the five-yard pass. The thing about him, he's made a conscious effort to stay in the pocket and try to find an open receiver. He looks pass first and run second.
Q: One of the things Dan Reeves said about him is that, 'It's like he got an A in Spanish and then went to Spain and found out he didn't know anything.'
SJ: Well, that's football, you know. I think the first couple of weeks, yeah like you say, then of course defenses throw different things at you. And with this guy it is just a matter of getting him the experience, letting him see the stuff while he is in the game. I think he's one of these guys that you have to get him in the game and let him see it in order for him to learn.
Q: You don't think he is going to be like a Kordell Stewart then? You think he's going to be better than that?
SJ: Oh for sure, yeah. Taking nothing away from Kordell Stewart, but this guy, he has the full package. He really does. You won't be mentioning this guy as a slash type player, like I said again, nothing against Kordell Stewart but he definitely won't be that type of quarterback.
Q: Do you feel more at home now down south in Atlanta and now that you have been away how would you characterize your time spent in New England?
SJ: You know I like it here, a chance for me to be close to home and everything like that. But I really liked New England. I think the fans and everything got to know me pretty good and got to know what I was all about as a player and I think the fans really appreciate that. I think that I was one of those guys that I tried to bring my lunch to work every day. I had a great time when I played there. It was tough for me to leave, but you know in football, in this new day and age that we are in with this free agency it's a shame where football players have to take off the uniforms sometimes and put on the business suit and that's when you know that things are getting out of control.
Q: Was there a feeling at all when you left that something was left unaccomplished here?
SJ: Yeah, I do feel like that because first [Bill] Parcells, you know he left. I really do think that hey, if he would have stayed we would have had a chance to go back to the Super Bowl and maybe have a chance to win it. But you know, management decided to go a different way and it's their team, but I do feel like we definitely had the talent to do something special and for one reason or another it just didn't happen and that was a shame.
Q: Is it your impression that the Terry Glenn situation here with the Patriots is unsalvageable on both ends?
SJ: No, I don't think that but let me tell you this. The best cure for whatever's going on, and I don't know what is going on there, you know you hear stuff in the paper but I don't know what is going on there. But the best cure for what is going on there is wins. Wins take care of everything. I had a chance to get to know Terry personally while I was there and he's a great kid. He's a great kid. I just think sometimes and often times, he's just misunderstood. I just think he's a great kid and don't get me wrong, I know that there's two sides to every story, but I do think that he's a great kid and he's definitely an awesome talent. I just hope that he can get things straight and get back out on the field because that's where he belongs.
Q: You played in San Diego on grass and here on grass. Now, you are indoors on turf, how does that change your ability to play the game?
SJ: Well the only thing that's different about it is that when you fall on that turf it's much harder than that grass. When you get slammed down to that turf it is much harder. And of course on turf you just don't know, at any time you make the wrong cut and boy you could have some bad consequences like our running back Jamal Anderson here. Like I said, it's just a harder surface and that's the main difference I see.
Q: Over your career you have only missed one game and you are getting nearer to the end now. What do you want put on your football gravestone when you are done?
SJ: To be honest with you I haven't really thought about it, but I tell you what when I do walk away from this game there won't be any regrets from me because you know just like I tell the young guys on my team, 'Every day you go to work and after you leave work and when you go home and you lay your head down on your pillow, you want to be able to rest your head easy.' When it is time for me to go, there won't be any long, drawn-out speeches, there won't be anything like that. It'll just be time for me to go. It'll just be like, 'Hey work is over it's time to go home.' I really just hope that people really can understand that I was just one of those guys that I came to work every day and tried to give it everything I had every day. But even if nobody really says that about me, I am at peace with myself because the guys and stuff that I played with, they know it. You can talk to anybody I've ever played with and they'll tell you that I came to work every day. When your teammates know that, then you are satisfied. Like I said, every day I leave this field here, I go home and I can rest easy because I know I've given it everything I've got.
Q: How is Dan Reeves to play for in comparison to Parcells or other coaches you have had?
SJ: To be honest with you, coach Reeves and Parcells are a lot alike. You know coach Parcells, he's just not the yelling type. I mean he treats us like men, not to say that Parcells didn't. He treats us like men and he goes about…everything that he talks about in our meetings is towards winning and Parcells did the same thing. It was just such an awesome experience when I got here and get in to his team meetings and everything that he talks about has got to do with winning. And not only winning in football, winning in life because I think football is an extension of life because in life you are going to get knocked on your butt some days like in football you get knocked on your butt some days. But you have to have the [courage] to get back up and ante up again and he talks about that and that's the way that we try to go out every day in practice and every game and play. We try to ante up and I think it was a real testimony of us when Chicago beat us pretty good and we went back up to New Orleans and won a hard-fought game up in New Orleans. I think that's a product of coach Reeves instilling in us that we've got to be resilient. Things aren't going to always go right, but if you keep sticking in there you are going to get your break. I just think that everybody really believes in his way and we are looking forward to a good second half to the season
