TB: Deion and I are going together today.
DB: Something new. (On Vince Wilfork's interception)
TB: The more you can do around here - Vince intercepting balls like defensive backs, made a huge play for us. So situationally, we did some good things, ultimately we made enough plays against a damn good team.
Q: Talk about the guy standing next to you, Deion Branch, he had eight catches for 129 yards. Was it good going to him again?
TB: I've thrown a lot of passes to him over the years. There's nobody that I enjoy playing with more than this guy. It's always been that way. He's my locker-mate and one of my great friends. He's just everything you look for in a receiver.
Q: Deion, right before the half, you have no timeouts, you have to kick a field goal. Do they not know you're going for the sideline? How do you do it?
DB: Yeah, I'm glad they didn't know. I'm glad. I'm glad it worked out that way. Those situations we work on a lot in practice. Coach [Belichick] will put us through much harder situations than that. We sort of knew what was what. Me and Tom [Brady] kind of got into it on the field. But no, I'm playing. I was supposed to go to the right, according to a certain situation, but it worked out just right - came off the ball, I'm looking for the ball every time. He was throwing it to me, his eyes- you have to see this guy's eyes. Once he's in the pocket, his eyes are so big when he's getting ready to throw the ball. I guess he's so excited when guys are so open.
TB: Yeah, always. And he's always open.
DB: I think my eyes light up too, like his. It was just two great plays and we took advantage of what they gave us.
Q: Tom, Rob Gronkowski caught ten touchdowns last year. What steps up has he taken this year?
TB: He's a very dependable player for us. I think he learned a lot from the veteran that we had in the room with him last year, Alge Crumpler. I think he's come back this year and really eliminated a lot of plays that he learned from last year. He's been a very dependable player for us from the start of training camp all the way through this game. The tight end position has been a very important for us. We rely on Aaron [Hernandez] and Dan [Gronkowski], along with Rob, to make the plays when they're called upon. They certainly did that. I think we were able to spread the ball around. Deion [Branch], Wes [Welker] had his catches. Aaron, Chad [Ochocinco] made some plays, obviously Deion made a bunch of plays. We ran the ball pretty good. It was a good team win. We took advantage of some of the opportunities that we got, had a big 99-yard drive in there - that was good for us. You know, on to the next one.
Q: A couple of guys talked about the complementary nature of the 99-yard drive following the 4th and goal stop and the fumble they forced out. How important was the first one in rewarding the defense and the second one in rewarding the offense?
DB: I can't even remember. I promise you, I can't.
TB: I think we stress complementary football and situational football, like the end of half situation that we got. Look, if the defense makes a huge stop like that, we have to do something with it. If they get us the ball, we have to do something with it. Honestly, there were times today that I thought we could have done a better job of that and we need to do a better job of that. We're going to stay after it. Two wins doesn't get you anything in this league. Look, we're going to a very tough environment to play in Buffalo. They're 2-0, they're riding high, scoring a lot of points, very good defense so you have to gear up and get ready for it.
Q: You've seen Tom Brady play some very good football over his career. How good has he over the first two games this season?
DB: I mean the sky is the limit. The things that we do in practice is pretty much what is going on in the game. You know, Coach [Belichick] puts us through a lot of different situations in practice. Tom puts us up for the challenge in practice and we execute in practice pretty good, so the expectation is what's going on the football field during the game. Like he said, we had a couple series that we wish we could get back, that we didn't execute everything that we wanted to do properly. You know, you take it with a grain of salt and hopefully next time we get the ball we try to correct those mistakes.
Q: Tom, over 400 yards in the first two games. Talk about the effectiveness of the no-huddle.
TB: Like I said last week, whatever we need to do to get the ball in the end zone, that's the goal. There's times where it's effective. There were times today when it wasn't effective. We're trying to be efficient about what we're doing. It's always something that we talk about, things that we need to execute better, whether its no-huddle, two-minute, four-minute offense, backed-up, going in, red area, third [down], it's situational football. No-huddle offense is part of our offense and hopefully we can continue to be efficient with it.
Q: Tom -
TB: I'm heading home. I'm out of here. If he wants to stay, he can stay.
DB: Yeah, I'll do one more.
Q: A year ago, you were sort of thrown into this - a lot was going on last year. Can you talk about being here for camp and preparing for the season? You seem like you picked up where you left off a couple of years ago.
DB: I think the training camp - coming in last season, which was, like I said, I stressed so much about it, was only game planning. So we get a playbook on Monday and focus on the things Wednesday, Thursday [and] Friday. There were a lot of things that I missed in training camp last year that Tom was doing on the football field that they would tell me on the sidelines, that I didn't have the opportunity to go over during the game. But this year, I had the whole training camp, we had the fifteen days, you know the training camp and everything, so things that I missed last year, I was able to catch up on it this year. So entirely, I'm a lot more comfortable in the huddle once I'm hearing certain things. And Coach is just throwing guys all over the football field. One play I may be the 'X,' another I may be the 'Z,' another play I may be the 'F,' so that - I couldn't do that last year. Maybe one or two positions here and there but overall we have the luxury to spread guys around and put guys where they need to be put.
Q: Chad Ochocino got a lot more involved today. How happy are you for him and how has he evolved?
DB: Right. Oh yeah, I'm excited. I'm just excited to see what this entire offense will look like once we put everything together. We look good now but it's still not where we want to be on offense. I know it may sound crazy but I'm telling you the truth.
Q: Do you think his confidence is coming?
DB: Oh yeah. You have to talk to Chad about that but looking at this guy, he's doing a lot of good things in practice for us. He's doing everything that Coach has asked him.
Q: Can you talk about the symmetry you and Tom seem to have? You're the guy he seems to go to in a lot of key situations.
DB: Well let's just say that it's good luck - maybe because we sit beside each other in the locker room. You know what I'm saying? That's the key. I thank the equipment guys for putting me right next to him. But I just think overall the work that we put in in practice is what's really going on. All the meetings and everything we sit in with this guy, each and every day, all day Wednesday, all day Thursday, all day Friday and we talk about a lot of different things. I think the open line of communication is always good for us. And that's what you're seeing. It's not so much what we're doing on a game day - it's all about the work that we're putting in on Wednesday, Thursday [and] Friday.
Q: When you began the 99-yard drive, you opened in shotgun. What does that say about your offensive mentality?
DB: It's good. I mean the coaches - we have a lot of confidence in our front line. You know, those guys, they're fighting their behinds off each and every day to prove to the coaches, 'Hey, we can do whatever.' 'You want to run the ball? We can do that.' 'If you want to throw, we can do that.' But for us to be backed up, like you said, and for us to take that chance, that's just how much belief the coaches really have in the front line to get the job done and to protect the quarterback. You know, our job is just to get open and make the plays - those guys have the hard job. Those guys you should be really talking to. They protect this guy each and every day - kudos to them.
Q: Can you talk about how well Tom Brady spreads the ball around?
DB: I mean, it's hard going into a game. We have so many guys. That's the plus that I think Coach Belichick and the staff do a great job of going out and finding guys that fit this offense. It's not all about one guy. It's not about me, it's not about Wes [Welker], it's not about Chad [Ochocinco]. You have [Rob] Gronkowski, Aaron [Hernandez], you have the running backs coming out of the backfield, [Danny] Woodhead, and there's a couple of other guys that we haven't even gotten to - Julian Edelman, [Matthew] Slater, guys making plays all over the place. And Tom has the confidence in all the guys to go out and get the job done. He sees it done in practice and he expects the same thing in the game.
Q: Do you feel reinvigorated here? Like you're getting another boost to your career?
DB: Why do you say that? I don't like to talk about the past but you know, I'm the same guy. The opportunities maybe weren't there in Seattle but hey that's behind me. I'm very thankful they gave me an opportunity to come back here and play with this team and play with the team that I started with and that's just it.
Q: Tom Brady has huge numbers through the first two games. Is he especially locked in or something?
DB: Oh man, you just missed him. I wish you could have gotten him before he left. Overall, the coaches sit down with Tom. They go over a bunch of things for the game plan. It's all about taking advantage of whatever the defense gives us. We may go into a game and run the ball 45 times. If that's what it takes to get the 'W,' that's what we're going to do. If we have to throw the ball, then that's what we have to do too.
Q: Do you know how many yards he's thrown for in two games?
DB: No.
Q: Guess.
DB: I don't know.
Q: 940.
DB: Wow, that's crazy. I'm glad I'm here.