Q:The last two games your defense was very solid—was what happened yesterday more a function of just the sophistication of variety of Andy Reid's offense that maybe kept you guys on your toes? Was that kind of the major reason you see that maybe you weren't totally prepared they threw at you?
MP:I think first and foremost give credit to the Chiefs. Andy Reid and his staff did an excellent job obviously of preparing for the game and did a good job of executing the game plan. We certainly obviously didn't play well enough. We didn't go out and perform well enough. You know, we obviously have to work harder in some things to improve. I would say our guys worked hard during the week and you know we obviously just didn't perform well enough last night. So we're going to go back and get back to the fundamentals and get back to some of the things that help us play better on defense.
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Q: **You mentioned fundamentals and Bill Belichick did as well. How does a team get away from not executing fundamentals? Specifically with the defense, it seemed like the tackling was maybe a bit subpar.
MP:Yeah, I think fundamentals are something that we always emphasize. It's definitely something we are trying to put a high priority on and you know, sometimes in the games when you see [a] breakdown in fundamentals you have to go back and re-emphasize the points of making sure you're playing with good techniques and good proper alignments and fundamental rules there, along with tackling and just re-emphasize the points of being a good, solid tackling football team.
Q:I guess as a follow up to that, it seems like fundamentals are emphasized every day I am assuming. You mentioned re-emphasizing it, how do you re-emphasize something you emphasize every day?
MP:Well I think that's obviously the thing that we just have to do. We have to go back and make sure we're putting enough points of emphasis on it during the week and just to make sure that everybody understands that we have to keep working to improve on this every week. Things are going to change week to week and [we] just try to remember those fundamental techniques that we're working on and obviously just trying to keep improving everybody that's out there on the field at those techniques.
Q:I just asked Bill [Belichick] about getting Brandon Browner from suspension this week. As defensive coordinator, I am wondering how you would be able to reincorporate him into what the defensive has been doing the last four weeks.
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MP: **Well I think we obviously have to see where he's at. I'm sure he will be anxious to get back with the team. I'm sure his teammates will, you know, be anxious to have him be out there working and we just have to keep plugging along. Obviously we think we just have to take a look at everybody right now and see how everything fits together and just try to improve as a defense as a whole.
Q:Obviously, it's a short week and everyone's time and ability to look at some of the film I guess has probably been reduced a little bit but have you been able to look ahead at all to Cincinnati and what they've done through three weeks this season?
MP:Yeah, I mean obviously we had a chance to take a look at them and try to get ourselves to get ourselves in a position to prepare as normal as possible this week. Obviously they have tremendous skill players, running game, offensive line, and a quarterback that is playing really well right now. The running game, obviously behind [Giovani] Bernard has been explosive. They have some guys that can gain yardage very quickly, [Mohamed] Sanu, obviously A.J. Green, some fast guys there at the skill position that come in. They do a great job of using their tight ends into the offense whether they're in their two tight ends sets. You know obviously [Jermaine] Gresham is a big, long guy that has a big catch radius and the quarterback can get the ball out there to him. I think their offensive line has been doing a real good job of blocking both in the run game and passing game right now. So, obviously, they're preparing well each week. I think their offense has an element of the quarterback to it right now where he has become a threat from a run standpoint also, so you know, it certainly will be a challenge there to make sure we keep him from gaining a lot of yardage there in that situation. So it'll certainly be another big challenge for us this week to try to stop them, their skill players, their run game, and obviously the ability for them to push the ball downfield, and you know make a lot of plays. The passing game has very explosive players like Sanu, Green, guys that have big gains in their offense and they're obviously doing a great job of not turning the ball over. The quarterback is not getting hit or sacked a lot, so they're doing a good job of first down of gaining yardage, staying on track so it certainly will be a big challenge for us this week.
Q:I know they've had a lot of turnover on their coaching staff, and I'm just wondering if schematically they've changed much or at all since you saw them last season.
MP:I think there is a lot of consistency with what they do. You know, they obviously added a couple of new wrinkles in during the offseason but I think it's for the most part there's a lot of consistency in what they've done. The system that's there, that's in place and obviously converting with the new staff so I would say there's a lot of similarities.
