Buffalo Bills head coach Dick Jauron addresses the New England media during his conference call on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.
Q: Are you excited for the first regular season game to finally be here?
DJ: Yeah. You know what? We are. Of course, we had the five preseason games and it just seemed like training camp and preseason went forever. So, yeah. It's very exciting.
Q: Obviously, there was the surprising decision made to release your offensive coordinator [Turk Schonert] and making that change just a few days before the season opener. Can you talk about what went into that decision?
DJ: Uh, you know, I've said pretty much all I'm going to say about that. And obviously we have the transcripts of the press conference that we held. So if you don't have them - which I'll kind of already assume you do - you can certainly call us and we'll send them to you.
Q: Dick, how has it been moving forward with the adjustment and getting ready for Monday night?
DJ: Good, you know. So far ... Everybody's got these extra days to get ready because you usually play your final exhibition game on Thursday. So that gives you a couple extra days and we need them, and we've used them. Hopefully, we've used them well. There's a lot to get ready for, you know. There's no secret to how good the Patriots are and you know they've got great talent and they're well-coached and they've been doing it together for a good deal of time with a lot of success. So we needed the extra time. Hopefully, we've used it well. But it's gone fine.
Q: Dick, to prepare for Tom Brady and this offense, are you watching film along with this preseason, from last year or 2007?
DJ: Well, we tend to watch a little bit of both. But we're looking at him specifically when he played. Of course, last year he didn't play. Then, we're looking at all his preseason plays. And then we look at the scheme overall, in general. I guess we go back as far as you reasonably can, you know, and you try to match it with what they've done in the preseason and see if there is any dissimilarities or new things. Of course, you have to look at new personnel and additions and understand too that you haven't seen it all. There will be always be something that they surprise you with and do it very well. So, again, a great challenge for us, but we're looking primarily at when he played.
Q: Speaking of holding things back, Terrell Owens has played very little so far. Have we seen anything of what he's going to do Monday and throughout the season?
DJ: Well, in Terrell's [Owens] case, unfortunately, he had that toe injury in the Hall of Fame Game and it kept him out. Then, of course, in the last game, he had just practiced the previous week and we weren't going to play many of our starters in that game. But I think Terrell Owens has a huge body of work behind him. I think people have a pretty good idea of what he does and what he does well. He's been very productive wherever he's been and we're hoping that's the way it stays. You know we're really happy with having him here and I've coached against him and he was just a problem - a problem you did not like to deal with.
Q: What is it like to coach him [Terrell Owens], being on the other side?
DJ: I like that a lot better so far, a lot better. He keeps you up at night, at least he did [for] me, you know, as a defensive coach. That's because he's got a unique combination of things. He's got size and strength and he's got speed down the field and he's a competitive guy. So he was difficult for our teams to play against. Having him with you every day, you gain a lot of respect for his work ethic, his ability as a player, certainly. I haven't seen many players that ... I'm not sure I have anybody that works any harder than him. I haven't seen many players that work as hard.
Q: How strong of a personality in the locker room is he?
DJ: Well, I'm not in the locker room a lot. I go through there. I'm not in there with the team a lot, as you would suspect. I don't go in and linger. I go through there every day; I talk to people briefly so I can't really answer that. I can tell you that he's got a presence on the team. He's very good with our players. He speaks anything that has to do with football you're very into on the field. Otherwise, he's all business, you know. He just works at it.
Q: Obviously, Aaron Maybin missed a little bit of time in camp. How far along is he and do you think it's going to take a little bit of time for him to become an impact player?
DJ: Well, he's done a real nice job in the little time he's been with us. But you know, you can't just miss that much time and have it not affect you in some ways. I believe he's got his legs under him. He's coming off the ball well. He's a guy that has a terrific work ethic. And he gets a nice jump off the ball, and that's really what we were after. We're asking for some help rushing the passer. I think he can give it to us.
Q: Will you continue to use the no-huddle, or are you considering scrapping it?
DJ: No, we're not considering scrapping it. So, yeah, you'll definitely see us in the no-huddle.
Q: Why did you decide to go that route? Was it a matter of your personnel? What was the thinking behind that?
DJ: To be perfectly honest, which is a pretty good thing to be, I've always wanted to do it. It was the direction I wanted to go when I got here and, for one reason or another, we never got to it. We certainly practiced it, we just never got to it. So I do think you need certain personnel to fit it. It think our personnel does fit it and I'm excited about it. Clearly, we need to get a lot better at it, and we need to get a lot better at it fast because, once again, we know who we're playing and they're awfully good.
Q: What is that type of personnel you need to run a no-huddle offense?
DJ: You know, I think you could probably figure it out. It's not exceptional to almost any NFL team. I think anybody's got the personnel that could play it. So generally, in the NFL, I believe you have that personnel.
Q: Is it going to odd to play against a Patriot defense without Richard Seymour?
DJ: You know, yeah. Obviously, he's been a terrific player for them and such a force on the field and one of the many faces of their great teams. It'll be different. We certainly have a lot of respect for everyone that's there. But, you know, he's really been a terrific player for a good number of years.
Q: Will it be natural for you and opposing coaches to test out his side or whoever's playing with the Patriots there?
DJ: It's not like we don't know Jarvis Green; he's a very talented player. We know their players and clearly they know their players. And they were good enough, deep enough to make this deal. So I don't see that happening. We respect the whole group up there, but we know he's gone. Like everybody else in the league, there's been a lot published about it ... [He is] just really a good football player, wish him the best.
Q: Can you speak about Trent Edwards' development and how he's come along?
DJ: Yeah, here's a young quarterback who's gaining experience with every snap on the field and hopefully gaining confidence because there's a position you have to be very confident to play and have a very short memory. There are a lot of things that happen to you. He works hard at it; he's very into it. He's a competitive guy. He's very into his team and his teammates and he wants to get it done. He's got the skills so hopefully we'll just keep growing and he'll get better and better every snap. That's what we're hoping for, but it's certainly not an easy position to play.
Q: You've had a lot of moving parts on the offensive line since last season. How has that unit come together throughout the summer?
DJ: It's been ... I like the guys. I like where it's going. If there was a year to have that fifth exhibition - as we said at the start of it - this is probably a good year for us to have it. We're trying a lot of new things, we've got the whole new line. We've got all those issues. And that's where we are. I believe they're getting better, but they're going to have to get better really fast because here we go and [it's]a great start. We're really excited about our opponent in the first game, coming to New England, but very difficult for our our team and very difficult for that group in particular. So we'll get a much better idea of where we are Monday night.
