Q: What are your thoughts on Jameis Winston and when a young quarterback tries to transition to being that top guy?
TB: Yeah, he's a great, young player. I've watched him since he's came in and he's got them going. So they're headed in the right direction. I know Coach [Bill Belichick] talked this morning about their organization and what they're trying to do and Jameis [Winston] is right at the head of that. He's a great leader, has been since he came into the league and he's been really productive. So it's a big challenge for our team - short week, travel, playing a good team. So hopefully we can go meet the challenge.
Q: How difficult is it to make significant changes when you only have one practice?
TB: You just do the best you can do. I mean there's no short weeks or long weeks. It's going to come down to how well we play and how well you play is often times a reflection of how well you practice and prepare. We're on a short week and there's still a lot of time that we're putting in and watching a lot of film and trying to do as much as you can and then getting the mental reps in then going through a bunch of stuff today. It's going to be the same tomorrow and then you just put everything you can into it. There's a little bit of a break after but you've got to win to make it a good break.
Q: How does playing from behind effect your approach in games and your play calling?
TB: That's a good question. The score always dictates how you play certain games. It's so important in the NFL to get a lead and feel like you're playing from ahead. We've had that but it's kind of been back and forth. We haven't been really in control too often. You play and your run-pass probably gets out of whack a little bit and you're not really where you want to be there. [There's] probably not as many play action passes because you don't have the threat of the run. That's just the circumstances and it's only been four games in. Over the course of a long season those things probably even themselves out but we're all really focused on trying to do a much better job than what we've done. That's what it's going to require.
Q: The team is 2-2 with two losses at home. What's the sense of urgency in the building right now with the guys?
TB: There's always urgency here. There's urgency in the spring at workouts, in summer practices and so forth. No one likes where we're at but we're the only people who can do something about it. I mean 2-2 is not where we want to be but if you want to get to 3-2 we've got to play better than the way we played the first four weeks. So it just requires a great level of commitment and attention to detail and obviously listening to coaches, taking the coaching, bringing it to the field, performing well and then stringing those weeks together. But we just haven't done it well on a consistent basis. That really reflects in our record. It's not great but it's also early. There's a lot of football left and hopefully we can take all the things that have happened, learn from them and try to build on them. That's what we're going to try to do this week.
Q: How do you guys avoid pointing fingers at each other, which can be divisive for a team?
TB: Well I've been on teams where we didn't score many points and we just relied on the defense to do everything. That's just the way football is. There's going to be games this year where we do don't well on offense and we're going to need our defense to play well. It's four games in. We've got, like I said, a long way to go. This team has never been about 'hey, what are you guys doing wrong?'. We just focus on what we need to do. It's score more points than the other team. It doesn't matter if it's three points or 30 points or 50 points. Whatever they score we need to score more and if they score three then we need to score four. That's how you win. That's all we care about. That's all we've ever really cared about. So that's what we've got to do. I don't care however many they score, we've got to score more.
Q: What kind of mental and physical challenge is it for a team to have to play through a stretch of three games in 12 days?
TB: I mean right now it just kind of feels like we're in the routine because it was just back to back. We're just pushing through, we really are. I really care about the wins and losses and not when we play or how we play. I really do. I'd be feeling a lot better up here if we had won last week and I'll be feeling a lot better on Friday if we win. I'm just focused on what I need to do and taking care of my job and try to do all the studying I can, try to take the coaching, try to apply the plan and go execute at a high level with great confidence in my teammates. It's going to be a great crowd on Thursday. We'll be excited. It's a big game for them, it's a big game for us and may the best team win.
Q: Regarding film study, you're playing an opponent that you're relatively unfamiliar with. How do you make up for that lost time and being able to know them as well as you'd like to?
TB: You're not going to on a short week. You just don't have the time. You're cramming those extra days of preparation into half the amount of time. You're just doing as much as you can. Maybe you can overload it too much, but I like to watch as much as I can. So I've been pretty boring at home this week and that's the way it goes. There will be a lot of study on the plane tomorrow, [there will] be a lot of study before the game on Thursday and then try to just gear it up for a great game on Thursday.
