New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss addresses the media during his postgame press conference at Gillette Stadium on Monday, September 14, 2009.
Q: Is there a quarterback more clutch than the one that just walked away from the podium?
RM: No man. Ya'll seen it. I don't have to speak on it. What else do you want me to say.?We play some great situational football and Coach Belichick puts us through it, you know, week in and week out. We started off a little slow and in a certain sense, it looked like we were trying to feel our way through it. And once we started playing a little bit more, especially after halftime, I think we settled down and really started executing our game plan.
Q: To what would you attribute the slow start?
RM: Um, it doesn't have anything, I mean, Tom has performed in mini-camp, developmental, preseason, so it has nothing to do with his layoff. I think it was just the first game jitters. And we had had to chance to really sit down and look at football this whole weekend, beginning with Pittsburgh, and there was a lot of bad football this weekend. And, I think it had to do with weak one jitters. Now, I'm not making an excuse, but it is what it is. I think we just had to really settle down and get to playing football the way we know how to play.
Q: Because Tom has led this team back so many times before, is there a certain confidence that it's going to happen again?
RM: Well, anytime you have a guy like Tom and uh, I think that the reporters here locally don't really get to see after practice when the defense beats us up or we beat the defense up and it's really something in the locker room that only we know what it is. And it's something we go through every day, so we beat up on the defense, the defense beats up on the offense, you know. It's not just one way. When we practice situational football and we go through plays like that time and time again that we just have to go out there and make plays. And I think that the second half we all made plays- the special teams, offense, defense. Then, you know, maybe the last five, six, seven minutes of the game it really showed.
Q: Overall, is the execution not where you guys wanted it?
RM: I don't think anybody wanted it to be there. I think that the preparation and work we put in up to this point, we expect it more, coming out in the first quarter, even the first half. Like I said, I think we just really had to settle down and get used to what's going on out there on the field. It's weak one, the football season's here. And like I said, man, when you sit down and look at football all weekend, the first thing I thought of was getting my chance to come out here and play Monday night and like I said, I was a little nervous. I'm not going to sit here and lie. Me individually, I was nervous, you know, the first game of the season. So like I said, I settled down and started playing better and I'm speaking for myself, but it looked like everyone settled down definitely in the second half and we really started playing football.
Q: Randy, tonight was your 60th 100-yard game, second only to Jerry Rice. Can you talk about that accomplishment a little bit?
RM: The main thing I can go home and hang my hat on is the victory. You know, we did some good things out there, but I think coach is really gonna give it to us Wednesday about the things we did out there. So, you take it as it comes and takes coach's lashings, but at the same time, we can enjoy this victory.
Q: Some Bills players said Tom looked tentative at first but reverted to his old self towards the end. Can you talk about that?
RM: I can't speak on that, my back is turned toward Tom, so I don't know what they see. I really don't know, but I don't know. I really can't answer that. All I know is that the quarterback is out there to move the ball, distribute the ball down the field and we did that tonight.
Q: Was the short passing game tonight by design or were you just taking what they gave you?
RM: Um, just whatever, whatever play's called. I think that this offense is definitely multi-tasked, multi-talented. We have different players to go to different positions. Like I said , tonight was whatever play was called. It's just where I went. I guess that's what the outcome was, I just went short and intermediate. So, if that's what it was; that's what it was.
Q: Will the team have to step it up another level to beat the Jets next week?
RM: Well, I can remember Coach [Rex] Ryan talking about he ain't coming to kiss no rings so I think that it's gonna be a big game. We watched them yesterday with the Houston Texans and that was a good game. They seemed like they played with a lot of energy. So, I think it's gonna be a good game, I really do. I think we have our work cut out for us. The Jets' defense has really picked up. They got that rookie quarterback in Sanchez…So uh, it's gonna be a barn burner. I'm really looking forward to this game.
Q: Are you surprised by the "Kiss the rings" comment?
RM: No, I've always been a fan of the Ryan brothers, so I was in Oakland with Rob [Ryan] and I played a couple times with Rex in Baltimore and I met old Buddy [Ryan]. So, I think that he really meant what he said and I think that he has a really good team backing him. So, like I said, it's going to be a good game and it's always a barn burner when we play a rivalry, especially in the division. And, we've got to go to New York and, like I said, we'll just see what the outcome is.
Q: Were there certain adjustments you made on the last few drives? It seemed like you got Ben Watson more involved. Was that something you talked about on the sideline?
RM: I don't think it was the adjustments. I just think we needed to settle down and play football. Um, I don't really want to call it the adjustments because some of the plays we were running the whole game and guys were open and we just couldn't hit it or we dropped the ball or didn't execute the play right. So, we just had to settle down and focus and have that tunnel vision. I remember…I think it was 5:32 left in the game and you see Tom coming off the sideline and he comes in the huddle talking about 'we're gonna win this game.' And when you have a guy like that saying positive things and then going out there to make it happen, you have to have your hopes high and really think positive. From 5:32 on, everything was positive and I was really into the game. Definitely, at that time, just for the fact that…I think we were down 11 with 5:32 or something like that. So, I know it was a little late in the game for us to start playing. But, I'm just talking to Peter King in there and he said he really enjoyed the game tonight, so, like I said, I don't think it was what people were hoping to see. I know Buffalo expected to come in and win because they played up to the five-minute mark. But when Tom came in the huddle at 5:32 and said "Guys, let's get it going. We're going to win this game," everything just went positive from there.
Q: Is what amazes you about Tom is that he is so cool under pressure?
RM: I think that over Tom's career, he's been coached very well here. You know, I've got to really commend the coaching staff. Coach Belichick, from what they've done from the time he's gotten here up till now. From the 10 guys, 11 including him…when he comes in that huddle, everybody is looking up to him and want him to lead us down the field. And when you have a guy like that leading you down the field, I mean, you can't do nothing but try to run through a brick wall for him. So, I'm happy with what we accomplished tonight, but like I said, we've got to get back to work on Wednesday. And there's no telling what kind of lashing we're gonna get, but we can take this victory and hang it up.
