Q: Do you feel like you're getting enough reps in practice to mesh with all the new people? You don't seem to be getting many in games.
TB: Only time will tell. We'll see when we kick off, but the goal is to be ready and prepared when we need to be. Coach Belichick has been through this quite a bit and so have I, so I'm sure when the time comes to play, we'll be as prepared as we can possibly be.
Q: How do you feel about the offensive line?
TB: They're doing their job and I have to worry about my job. I think part of what our team has always been built on is guys having trust in each other to do what they need to do to be competitive and that's what we're trying to do out here in practice. It's not like you come out here and the second you're practicing, you have every problem solved. That's why we're out here practicing every single day: to try to make improvements, to try to get better. That's what we're trying to accomplish. This is a tough game and it's for the mentally tough. I think you have to build on your good plays and try to eliminate the bad plays, and that's what we try to do.
Q: What's your first impression of the Bucs?
TB: We'll see. You know, we've got to go in there and watch film. It was fun to be out here. [There are] a lot of very good players, some veteran players. They have a very good team.
Q: Do the joint practices feel like an extension of training camp?
TB: Well, I think we came down here to get better as a football team. I don't think it's a vacation or a nice trip to Florida; this is for us to come down here and be a better football team when we leave. There are no activities planned. We have work to do this afternoon and tonight. We're going to wake up tomorrow and come practice and then work tomorrow night and get ready to play the game.
Q: How is it different facing the Bucs than your own team?
TB: It's different schemes that you're seeing and you want to see how your plays adjust to some different things. I think that's what we're trying to figure out. Some of the things that we've been working on that we've had a chance to see against our own defense, we'll get a chance to see them against another defense, which is always good for us and [helps] develop some confidence in some plays and some situations. There was a lot of work today: third down, red area, backed up, going in, long yardage, short yardage, so there was quite a bit of work done today.
