Q: What's your offseason been like?
TB: It's been good. I'm glad to be back here. I feel a bit more refreshed and we have a little more time to get focused on winning some football games.
Q: How's the shoulder?
TB: The shoulder feels good. It has made a lot of improvement in the last month or two. It felt really good today and it has felt good the last couple of days we've been out here, since Monday. It's felt really good.
Q: Was it ever seriously tweaked?
TB: Define 'tweaked.'
Q: I'm not sure. I'm not a doctor.
TB: It was something that just… I had never really been injured before. In that last game against Miami, I got injured. It's just a lot of treatment to get back and get back to throwing the way I want to throw.
Q: Do you feel like it's 100 percent now, or can you tell?
TB: It's tough to put percentages [on it]. It feels good enough to go out there and make all my throws. At certain times during the season it feels better than others, depending on how much you get hit one Sunday and how much you're getting treatment on it. But, it feels really good.
Q: Are you working to build muscle tissue around it and strengthen it up?
TB: There's a lot of that. A lot about the overall strength of the shoulder and a lot of back muscles and all of the stuff that our trainer works so hard to get me in there to do a lot of that stuff. A lot of it's pretty tedious and a lot of times I don't feel like doing as much. But, it's been a while since our last game, so I've had time to rest it. With our schedule in the summertime, when I get going and running and lifting, I'm pretty active anyway.
Q: Now that you're weeks away from camp, do you feel like that's enough time to be ready?
TB: I feel great. We went out here today and the tempo was really good. There's a lot of enthusiasm and guys are excited to be back. This is the first time we've really been together as a team. We had the passing camp two weeks ago and most of the guys were here. Now it's mini camp and everyone's required to be here. All of the faces show up and it gets pretty competitive. With six weeks to go, I think we're in pretty good shape.
Q: Now that you have had some time to reflect on last season, how do you look back on that season, especially compared to the previous season when you were coming off the Super Bowl?
TB: It is tough when you compare season-to-season. Each team adds so many new players, new coaches and new plays. The schedules are different. I think overall last year we weren't very consistent in the way we played. I think any time that happens, you go 9-7. We started off very well. Then (we) had a four-game slump and from there we kind of battled back. I think late in the year when we beat Miami, we were hoping to get in the playoffs. It is not like we are too far away, but there were three teams that were 9-7 and we lost out on the third tiebreaker. It just shows you how competitive the league is and how much more consistent you need to be each week to make the playoffs and make a run at the Super Bowl.
Q: Was it frustrating and did it make you angry when you were watching the playoffs and you guys weren't in it?
TB: I think as a football fan, you like watching it. We all love playing football and watching football. So you watch it, whether or not you are rooting for a team. We aren't rooting for the Jets to beat anybody or Oakland for that matter. I enjoy watching the games, so I am going to turn it on and watch, but it is not very fun to watch especially because you want everyone out there talking about the New England Patriots. When that is not the case, it is kind of a shot to your ego.
Q: Do you notice a difference in attitude this year compared to coming off the Super Bowl season?
TB: Yes. There is a lot of stuff that we do not have to deal with this year and a lot of things that can be distractions. Although I am sure everyone would like to deal with those distractions every year.