Q: What are your thoughts on what you saw today in practice? It looked like you got a lot accomplished.
JE: Yeah, it looks like - you know, we wanted to work on some little things, little details, going out and seeing a new team for the first time and not really game planning and just going off of basic fundamentals. It's always a little different the first day to come out, the second day to kind of get your feet wet, see what a team's about, see how they're going to play us. I mean, we didn't really know how they were going to play us. We just wanted to see if we could go off our fundamentals, so it was good to come out here today and be able to work on those things.Ā
Q: How physical was it out there today?
JE: I mean, it was pretty physical. I mean, it's the NFL, so anytime you get to go out and get to play against another team there's going to be some physicality. But I do think it's been a great working environment with the Jaguars this week - guys taking care of each other, not playing dumb, not playing irresponsibly - so it was good, and we've got another day to take advantage of the Jags and then go out there and try to make ourselves better.Ā
Q: Were you impressed by the red zone work by your tight ends, specifically Rob Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen, today?
JE: I mean, those guys are good players. You're always pretty impressed with big guy, 87. So, it's good to see Dwayne out there making plays. But, more importantly, I'm just worried about going out and trying to make my own plays, because the better we all do at our own thing, it's going to make the unit better.
Q: How ready is the team for Thursday night? Do you think you're pretty close to where you'd want to be at this point in preparations?
JE: You know, I think we have to take advantage of tomorrow. We've got to go in, watch film, make the corrections. There's a lot of guys out there. We're still learning each other. We're still trying to form our team, so you're not really thinking about Thursday. You're thinking about the opportunity you have tomorrow to go out and compete and work on situations, fundamentals, timing, all those types of things that you need to do with your team.Ā
Q: What does Brandin Cooks bring to the group and what are you seeing from him as a teammate?
JE: Great teammate. B-Cooks, Cookie - he's a great energy around us. He works hard, he's disciplined, he's fast and he does a lot of things, makes great catches, but more importantly, he's just a great teammate. It's exciting to have him in our room. It's exciting to have him on our team because he's going to make us better, so it's been great.Ā
Q: Can you talk about Vince Wilfork?
JE: Big V. Man, it's a sad day when the big fella hangs them up. I loved Big V as a teammate and his family. As a young player here in New England, there's a lot of ups and downs. Vince, his wife Bianca and his family were just always there and I always had a shoulder to lean on with that family. I want to congratulate him on an unbelievable career. I mean he's a flat-out stud and he's going to be missed, but I think we should celebrate the kind of career he had. He was arguably one of the best - he's the best I've seen. It's a sad day but a great day to get to see him go out on his own terms.Ā