Q:What are the challenges and benefits of the hurry up offense for an offensive lineman, especially against the Ravens?
LM:You're just making them get lined up fast. It's hard on your conditioning so if they're not in good shape, it's tough on them. You're just making them think fast and play fast and react fast. You're putting a lot of pressure on them.
Q:They shift a lot on defense, especially in the 3-4. Is the no-huddle a key to playing against them?
LM:I think it helps. They do a lot of different things so maybe if you do that maybe it will make them not do so many different things.
Q:How physical is this Ravens team up front? How important is it to be physical with them?
LM:They're very physical. They have numerous guys that are at least 350 pounds so they have some big guys. That all starts with Ray Lewis, he's played physical for his entire career and those guys feed off it. I think he demands that they play this physical also. They're a physical football team offensively and defensively.
Q:How much more difficult is it to protect Tom Brady against this Ravens defense?
LM:Yeah, it's very difficult. Look at their sack totals for the year. They have numerous guys across the board that can rush the passer and they have all got numerous sacks. It's not just one guy doing it; they have a lot of guys that are good at it. I think collectively they know how to rush the passer and that's why they're so good at it.
Q:Have you guys talked about how much trouble it was in past playoffs games to protect Tom Brady? It was a problem last year against the Jets.
LM:We know what happened last year and the previous time we played them in the playoffs. We've tried to learn from those. Anytime we don't have a good game, we look at everything and try to learn from it so it will help us in the future when we play another team similar.
Q:How helpful can it be to go up-tempo against a team like the Ravens that is this physical? If you go up-tempo it might not allow them to develop full steam?
LM:Yeah, they don't get to substitute as often. They don't have the time to rest in the huddle. When you have a lot of big guys out there, it's good to do.
Q:What has Brian Waters leadership role been? How well did he fit in right from the beginning?
LM:He fit in great. Brian, he knew his role coming in and he fit in perfect. He came in, found out what his job was going to be and did his job the best that he could. You don't have to watch after Brian, if he has a question, he's going to ask it because he wants to do things right so he wants to know the answers. He's been great. He does everything he's asked and does it the right way.
Q:What has surprised you about Brian Waters? What did you know about him prior to him coming here?
LM:I don't know. I think he's been everything we expected. I watched him over his career since I've been in the NFL and was impressed and then I met him in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl. I knew he was a good guy and a good player and he's lived up to everything.
Q:Have you sensed any difference in Tom Brady this week? Any urgency in getting this team to where you want to go?
LM:Not yet. I think we're doing a good job of everyone knowing the urgency of this game. It's the biggest game of the year; second biggest game that you can get to. Everyone knows how important it is. We have to play a good game. We're playing a good defense, they're good against the run, the pass, short yardage, goal line, red area so they do everything good. If we want to win, we have to do everything good.
Q:Can you talk about how good Terrell Suggs is on those stunts and twists? He loves to rush the passer up the middle and he's fast and powerful.
LM:Terrell, he's a very good player. The things that make him good are he's a freak of an athlete and he plays hard. He can do things that other guys can't do and that makes him really dangerous.
Q:What about Haloti Ngata? What makes him so dangerous?
LM:He's 350 pounds and not many guys that size can move like he can. With him, he can swim you, he can run you over, he can do many different things to you that a lot of guys his size can't do. That's what makes him so tough. Just like Terrell [Suggs], they're guys that are better athletes and stronger and faster than a lot of guys so it makes them hard to block.
Q:Can you talk about the different skills of your running backs and blocking for them?
LM:We have a good group of running backs. They all do a few different things for us. We have a lot of faith in all those guys. They all run hard, play hard and do what we ask of them. I'm not going to get into each guy's skill set but we really like the group of guys we have.
Q:When you were originally drafted by the Patriots, was this the kind of game you envisioned playing in?
LM:I don't know. I was just happy to get drafted so I wasn't too worried about that. Now that I'm in my career and it's going, these are the games we play for. You try to get to these games every year and if you're not trying to get to this position, you must just be trying to collect a check and that's not the guys on this team.
Q:How are you feeling after playing this weekend?
LM:Not too bad. I got to practice yesterday, still limited but we're working on it. I think it's getting closer.
