Patriots cornerback Leigh Bodden addresses the media during his postgame press conference at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, November 22, 2009.
Q: Tell us about your first pick?
LB: The first pick, I just played man-to-man pressed up, [Jerricho] Cotchery ran to the outside and tried to cut back in and I saw the ball and just went for it and caught it and the rest was history.
Q: Did you know as soon as you picked it off that you had six?
LB: Yeah, I pretty much knew I had six I just had to beat [No.] six, [Mark] Sanchez, so I just had to beat him to the spot to the end zone and I thought I had enough speed. My teammates try to say I almost got caught, but I think he barely got a hand on me.
Q: Most of the balls were passed in your directionā¦
LB: Yeah, well the second one Jonathan Wilhite got a good jump on Braylon [Edwards] and I think he was just trying to throw it to a spot and it was low and I caught it. The next one was intended for another receiver and I just came off my man and got the interception.
Q: Did the defense take this game personally, especially after last week?
LB: I don't think we took it personal, I think we just went about it just like we do every week. It was a lot of emotion from last week that we had, not finishing the game and we definitely wanted to finish this week and that's what we did this week against the Jets.
Q: Were you coming on a corner blitz when you hit the ball Brandon Meriweather intercepted?
LB: Yeah, I was coming on a corner blitz. I saw the ball in his right hand down, I thought I was going to come and get a strip sack, but he launched it and I just tried to hit him as hard as I could.
Q: This team doesn't lose often, especially back to back games, what have you noticed since you've gotten here why that is?
LB: Just the preparation and putting the game behind you. You definitely have to understand that that was a tough game that we played in Indianapolis. It was a heartbreaker but you have to put it past you and you definitely have to move on to the next week. This week was a division game, the Jets played us tough the first time around and we definitely wanted to go up on a division and try to get back at the Jets.
Q: Is there something Bill Belichick does to get that message across?
LB: Everybody respects what Bill says and everybody respects anything he does, says, so guys just rally behind him and move forward. When he says move forward that's what we have to do and that's what we did. We practiced pretty well this week coming into this game and we were definitely focused on this game.
Q: [On the secondary being comfortable]
LB: I think we've been comfortable for a while. It's the OTA's, the mini camps, the training camp, we all jelled. As soon as I got here the guys embraced me and embraced the newcomers and I think that helps with the secondary, when guys bond and guys can trust each other. I think we're definitely jelling, but we still have a long way to go and we can only get better.
Q: Did you feel today, coming in, that you were going to have an opportunity against Sanchez?
LB: Definitely. We actually look at turnovers every week on Saturday. He's thrown some balls to guys and we definitely knew we could probably get some of those today. We just had to catch them. That's what one of my old coaches said, 'You just gotta catch the ones they throw to you and we did today.'
Q: What was Sanchez doing? Was it a matter of accuracy for him?
LB: I couldn't tell you that. Some of the balls were low; the two balls I caught were low. The first one, I don't know if it was a miscommunication with the route, but I was on my man and I just looked back at the quarterback and saw the ball in the air and I just went to go get it. I really can't tell you if it was accuracy or what, but they probably weren't on the same page today.
Q: Bill [Belichick] said that Wednesday he knew you guys had moved on, is that a fair assessment?
LB: Yeah, definitely. We put it behind us. We thought about it, thought about the loss on the plane ride, but you have to get over it. It was just one game and that was a tough team. Wednesday we definitely moved forward and prepared for the Jets.
Q: On Tuesday you had a chance to sit and talk and mull over it a little bit, can you talk about that?
LB: We just talked a little about what we should have done and what we could have done to better ourselves in winning that game and that was pretty much it and then it was onto the Jets. You can't dwell on the loss no matter who it is or what it was, so that's what we did.
Q: (On if Sanchez was delivering the ball on time)
LB: You know what, I really couldn't tell you. A couple of times in the zone I thought he was poised in the pocket and delivered the ball on time, but we kept some pressure on them. That's what you want to do to a young quarterback, is keep pressure on him to make him make some bad throws and some bad decisions.
Q: Did they retire number 23?
LB: Not here, not yet. I have to get a few more three-pick games and then maybe.