Q: It could be worse. You could have still been a Dolphin.
LI: They're probably a lot worse off than we are right now.
Q: Talk about the emotion of playing a great game like that and then having to watch the Jets beating the Packers.
LI: Yeah it was very disappointing; going from the highs that we felt in the locker room after our game to the lows of watching the Packers not come through for us was disappointing. I think I was more stressed watching that game on television then I was in the fourth quarter and overtime period of our game.
Q: Is one of the hard things, with all the breaks you had last year and the breaks that you didn't have this year, is it hard to think that you guys were on a roll and coulcn't carry on into the playoffs?
LI: Yeah. I felt confident that if we would have gotten into the playoffs anything can happen. Especially after a victory like we had yesterday, get some momentum and confidence and usually those things carry far into the playoffs. But it doesn't do us any good to think about that because obviously we're not in it and there's plenty of teams sitting at home thinking the same thing that, 'well if we were in we'd probably have a shot.' That's the way it is in this league this year, there's a lot of parity and a lot of teams do have an opportunity and a lot of teams that are at home had an opportunity it's just that they're not in it.
Q: When you think about the season is it going to be a sense of frustration?
LI: Definitely. We let some things slip away at various points in the season. We lost some big games late in the season and you're going to watch the playoffs and it's going to make your stomach sick knowing that this is a team that we feel that we had a shot. We just didn't make it happen when we needed to and that's disappointing and this next month, watching the playoffs, I don't even know if I'm going to watch them because it makes you that disgusted watching those games.
Q: Larry what were some of the things you talked about in the meeting you just got out of?
LI: Well there's just some logistical things that you've got to clear up at the end of the year and also touching base and focusing in on what we need to do. A lot of guys want to make hasty decisions with themselves and Bill [Belichick] wanted us all to know to take some time off here and not overanalyze anybody's individual situation.
Q: What do you mean by hasty decisions?
LI: Just hasty decisions you know. Just take some time and separate yourself a little bit, it's been a long season and you need to take a little break both mentally and physically.
Q: Is there any middle ground for this season? You won a Super Bowl, an incredible accomplishment, then you didn't make the playoffs, how do you rate this season?
LI: It's a disappointing season. Our goal coming into the season was to defend our title, make it into the playoffs and make a run for it, similar to last year. We felt, we still feel, that we are capable of doing that, through out the course of the year we didn't get that done. So, the overall scheme of things, it goes down as a disappointment, but with a happy ending that you can build on, it kind of solidifies what we're all about, what this team is all about, what kind of character we have with the way we played yesterday.
Q: Do you get the feeling after today a lot of the guys you just saw in the locker room won't be here next year?
LI: No, it's so early who's to say. I don't get that feeling, those aren't our decisions to be made, and those decisions, believe me, have not been considered this early ion the offseason. We just got done playing a game, we're not looking at who's going to be here and who's not going to be here.
Q: Does it still amaze you the difference between 11 wins and nine wins?
LI: It really does. This league is so competitive. Every week it comes down to a play here or there, and the difference between 9-7 and making the playoffs and 9-7 and not making the playoffs. Where was that one play that makes the difference there, it's such a fine line and we put ourselves in this position to where we were going to fall victim to these tie breaking scenarios and it's frustrating but we've got nobody else to blame but ourselves.
