Q: Given where you grew up, does it mean anything extra to get a chance to play in the Bay Area?
TB: It's been a while since I've been there - the last time when we played there I think was in '02. I think my parents are the most happy - they don't have to come very far this week. So for us, it's a road game - it's an important one. We've got to go out there and try to win.
Q: What has this week been like for you and the team trying to bounce back from Sunday?
TB: Well, we've moved on from Sunday and we're focused on what we need to do in our preparation. I think we've been studying the different challenges that this team presents to us and we're going to prepare hard like we always do and try to go out there and play well. There's not much that we can do about last week [and] there's certainly nothing we can do about next week. The only thing we can really do is focus on what we have ahead of us today and then we're going to prepare like we always do and we're going to go out there and put our best out there.
Q: Seeing how much you've thrown the ball this season with how many yards and attempts and all that, is it something that you kind of had an idea with coming into the season or is it something that just kind of develops week-to-week with the game plan?
TB: Probably week-to-week. I think the goal is to always be pretty balanced in what we're doing. Just based on how the game's played out, it's kind of dictated a certain style of play and when we do run it, we need to run it efficiently and effectively and when we throw, we have to do the same - we can't turn the ball over. So whatever we need to do to get the ball in the end zone that's what we're going to do.
Q: Can you talk about the Raiders a little bit and what you see from the defense?
TB: We haven't played them or I haven't played them in a while, so it's been kind of a crash course the last few days in getting to know them [and] getting to know their personnel and schemes. They're very good; they play well at home. They're very physical, they're tough, they're big, they're fast. It's always a certain kind of player out there: big, fast, and tough. They play well at home. It's a good front. They're good in the secondary [and] they're physical. It's going to be a big challenge.
Q: Hue Jackson said that he wants to build a "bully" there in Oakland. How do you think your ex-teammate Richard Seymour plays into that? He is obviously credited with being one of the leaders over there.
TB: I don't know. They probably have a pretty good idea of what they want with Richard. He was a great player here for us [and] a good friend of mine and he is still playing well. So we know the challenge it is like to block him up front. We've had to do it in practice for a lot of years. Nobody knows him better than Logan [Mankins], [Dan] Koppen, and [Matt] Light. Those guys who have been in there facing him. Richard is tough to block and he still looks tough to block. There's not much changed with him - he's a load and when he gets going he is tough to slow down.
Q: He was like you though, a captain at an early age here and everything. What kind of leader was he here? Obviously, he has carried that over to Oakland.
TB: He's a tough, hardnosed football player that loves the game and you can see that by the way he plays. He has high expectations for himself [and] really gets after the quarterback. He plays the run well. He's obviously a leader in that defensive front there and when he gets going, they all get going. That's the thing, they really rally around him. When he makes his plays, then they all start making plays. So it's got to be important for us to try to figure out ways to slow him down.
Q: You've had success in the past with guys like Mark Edwards and Heath Evans. What do you miss on the offense from not having both of them?
TB: Well, we have different guys that kind of play that similar role. There is not necessarily a fullback on the roster, but the things that some teams will ask a fullback to do, we ask the different tight end variations that we have to do. Different guys do different things well. In this situation, we don't have a fullback.
Q: How would you assess your three games with Chad Ochocino?
TB: Like you said, it's been three games for all of us together in this offense: Chad, Wes [Welker], Deion [Branch], all of us as receiver-quarterback combinations. We are trying to do better each week. We're trying to make improvements each week. We're not where we need to be [and] we are not where we are going to be - we're going to keep working hard at it and we are going to try and make some improvements. That's for myself, that's for every position on the team. As long as we show up and work hard everyday, you have confidence that you're going to get better and that we are going to get better within the system and with what the coaches are trying to ask us to do.
Q: Is this one of those games where you think you've learned something about your team maybe more than you have due to going through a little adversity after the loss to the Buffalo Bills. How do you bounce back? Obviously a tough road trip-the whole nine yards, against a team that beat one of your rivals, the New York Jets.
TB: It's really a fresh week for us. Like I said, there's nothing that we can do about what's happened. We are trying to bring a fresh new plan, new energy [and] we're trying to put it together against a damn good football team. We're going to learn more about our team going on the road and playing a tough opponent then anything more than that. We're trying to go out there and get a win.
Q: During the week, do you look around, especially the new guys as far as how they are preparing and see if its anything different to look to each other to rally, to get it going after that first loss? Does that change at all or is pretty much just like you said, follow the program and just get ready for another opponent?
TB: Well, I think we always prepare pretty hard. I don't think we are doing anything extra special this week. Like every week, we identify problems that were a problem and we see the things we did well and try to eliminate some of the problems and then understand what it takes to win these games. When you look at the different opponent that you're facing, you have a different game plan, you go out there and try to attack them in a different way and everyone's really got up to speed in what we're trying to do there. We are preparing pretty like we always prepare.
Q: After all this time with Wes Welker, does it still amaze you to find the different ways that you are able to find him in terms of spots and get the ball to him and see him get open.
TB: Yeah, he is just a great player and has been that way since the day he got here. He had a great game last week - an individual effort that made some incredible plays. He always seems to do that. In Miami, he did the same thing. He's done that in practice every day. Every day at training camp, he never misses a day. He is just a tough, hard-nosed football player. You can never underestimate someone that's worked the way he's had to work because he hasn't had all the opportunities that maybe a lot of other guys had early in his career and he realizes that. He still works as hard today as he's ever worked. I love being out there with him. He's a great teammate, he's an incredible player, receiver [and] leader on this team. Teams always try to find ways to take Wes away.
Q: From your perspective, is a receiver being open relative in terms to a couple yards? It seems like what may be open for one guy might not necessarily be open for another.
TB: Sure. Different guys create different separation different ways. Wes [Welker] uses his quickness a lot of the time and you see he gets a lot of separation because he is so good in-and-out of his breaks. Taller guys, some don't get as good a horizontal separation because their vertical length and their catch radius - they could be open even if the DB [defensive back] is a lot closer. Wes doesn't have that so he's got to be open and he's got to get some separation and he does that. That's what his quickness really allows him to be able to do.
Q: Friday is your 10 year anniversary of your first start in NFL. When you think back on that day what do you remember most?
TB: I don't even remember. It was a long time ago. Yeah, I don't even remember.
Q: You won big.
TB: Yeah, we beat the Chargers.
Q: I think it was the Colts.
TB: Or Colts. Yeah, see?
