Patriots quarterbacks coach Bill O'Brien addresses the media during his conference call on Tuesday, September 7, 2010.
Q: Randy Moss told us yesterday that he felt like he was unwanted in New England. Are you surprised to hear that? Have you gotten that feeling from him personally at all?
BO: He's never said anything like that to me. Since the day he's walked in here, he's been a productive, excellent player for us and a very professional player. I feel really good about our relationship with Randy, and that's how I feel.
Q: How have you seen Randy Moss improve or have you seen his game been refined this year in camp at all?
BO: We spend a lot of time in the offseason talking about things we can do to improve our mechanics, and, early in training camp is a time when you can - and also in minicamp to a certain extent, really spend time on those things. I think we are always exploring ways to become more sound mechanically both with Tom [Brady] and Brian [Hoyer] and any other quarterback we've had in here. Going into the second year that I've been around, we've always improved a little bit on footwork, throwing motion, things like that. And that's something that you can always work on, and you should work on on a daily basis.
Q: When you took the job here, was the possibility of working with Brady one of the reasons?
BO: I took the job here because I felt like it was a great opportunity for me and my family from a professional standpoint. When you get into coaching, I'm the kind of guy who wanted to be associated and work for the best, the highest level. And that's why I came here. I came here to work for Bill Belichick and to work for this organization and learn as much as I could from guys I respected a great deal and wanted to work for. That's really the reason I came here.
Q: Knowing now that Randy has come out with these remarks about feeling unwanted here, might there be some concern going forward about any carryover on the field?
BO: Again, Randy has never said anything like that to me. Again, I'll say what I said in the beginning, as far as practice and games and professionalism and the way he carries himself in the building and the things he does for the young players and us as coaches, I have a tremendous amount of respect for the guy. I have a good relationship with the guy. It's a very open relationship. As do a lot of the coaches around here. Until he says otherwise to me, I feel that way about him. I'm glad he's here, and I'm glad he's a part of our team. And he's a big part of our team.
Q: Is there anything that jumps out at you about the Bengals as far as how they attack an offense or certain factors of their defense that may be a little more difficult to handle?
BO: They do a great job on all three downs. Their secondary is very talented. Both corners were first round draft picks, really good ball skills. Both safeties are very smart and instinctive players. The three linebackers that play in the 4-3 are excellent, tough, aggressive, smart players. The front four is very explosive and tough. They do things scheme-wise on all three downs that we have to be really prepared for. That's what we've been preparing for over the last few days and studying during the offseason. Now we've got to put it all together starting today, tomorrow in practice. And put it out there on Sunday. But they are an excellent team that we have a lot of respect for, and it's going to be a tough game on Sunday.
Q: Do you know if you guys will have Edelman on Sunday? And if you don't, what is the next option? Is there a guy who best replicates what he does out there?
BO: You'd have to ask somebody else about Edelman's availability. I'm just coaching the guys who are out there. As far as how we replicate and all those types of things, the next guy steps up, or whoever the package is. We use a lot of different personnel groupings. We never say 'this guy has to replicate this guy.' Each guy is an individual. And we try to work to the strengths of each individual player in the running game and the passing game. And that's what we'll do this week.
Q: How good are their cornerbacks or their secondary?
BO: I think they are a very talented secondary. I think both corners, [Leon] Hall and Johnathan Joseph, and obviously, three I should say with Pacman [Jones] in there. He's played a ton of their preseason. They are excellent cover corners. They have excellent ball skills. They have a lot of experience in the league. They are good players. The two safeties, [Chris] Crocker and Roy Williams, have a lot of experience in the league and are excellent aggressive players, but also, can play in the deep part of the field. [They have] good range. We have a lot of respect for their secondary and what they can do.
Q: Hey Bill, how is Pacman now compared to what he has been before?
BO: He's playing well. He's played a lot for them in the preseason. And he comes in there in their substituted personnel grouping when they go nickel and plays corner. I think he's picked up right where he's left off.
Q: Is he primarily playing inside for them?
BO: He plays all over the place
