New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady addresses the media during his postgame press conference from Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday, August 13, 2009.
On the first preseason game:
"I think there were some good things and some bad things probably as we all expected. It's preseason football; there are a lot of things we are working on. We haven't played in a while. Not only me, obviously, but the whole team. Offensive football is about chemistry and timing, and there some things, like I said, that went well. I'm happy we scored a couple touchdowns in there. [WR] Julian [Edelman] had a great punt return which really sparked us. It's good to get a win. Anytime you take the field it's hard to get a win."
On whether he wanted to take a hit:
"I was just going to hold the ball in the pocket and just cuddle up with the ball. Finally on the quarterback sneak I said, 'I wish somebody would just come and blast me.' You get a little of that anxiousness out of the way. I'll have to wait until next week. The offensive line did a great job, so they are the ones who should be thanked."
On TE Chris Baker and the way he played tonight:
"[TE] Chris [Baker] did great. There were a couple challenging reads for him too that came up tonight and I was really excited about the way he reacted. Things didn't turn out on those plays exactly how we thought they would, but he made a really heads up play. He's been doing that all camp. If he can keep doing that it's going to be a huge asset to this offense and those two touchdown catches that he made were really good plays."
On whether he is glad the first preseason game is behind him:
"I think it's a real small step for this whole team on a very long journey. We're on a mission this year and this is the first step and it's a small step, but it's a step in the right direction. I think, defensively, we did some great things and, offensively, scoring points is what we have to do and we did that at times. I think in the second half we didn't play as well offensively. We had some short yard situations we could have done a better job on. Philly is a great team; a playoff team. They went to the NFC Championship last year and they are one of the best teams we have played in the past ten years. They are very well coached and they execute very well. It was a good first test for us."
On him being excited to be back on the field:
"There's no place I would rather be so that about sums it up. This is a place where I probably have the most fun and enjoy the most. A preseason game doesn't have quite the feel of a regular season game, but to still be out there on the field with my teammates and celebrating after a win, the bus ride home, the bus ride to the airport and the flight home; those are the things you probably enjoy the most."
On whether anything felt out of sync in his first game:
"I've played so many games. I felt excited to be out there. Not real nervous, but just trying to understand how the game is going to go and get a feel for the game. I missed some throws that I wish I would have made. I just wasn't as accurate as I would have liked on some of the receptions. The throws weren't great throws, but I think you're just trying to get the speed and the tempo of the game and make the right reads and throws. I think that comes with confidence and being in there playing and executing in these games. We have another one next week that hopefully we can build on and two more valuable ones after that to be ready for the Monday night game."
On how he felt physically and if he felt any effects:
"No, nothing."
On what went through his mind after the interception in the first quarter:
"I lost a lot of sleep after that throw. I hate throwing interceptions. No matter how well you think you play, when you turn the ball over, you have the responsibility of the team when you have the football in your hands. I made a bad throw and I probably shouldn't have even thrown the ball because the corner was really bailing when [WR Randy Moss] started running at him. Those type of things are game decisions that you make and you have to eliminate those. I'm glad they're out of the way now. Hopefully those don't come up again. I don't like any interceptions ever."
On whether it was a mechanical thing on the interception:
"When you throw the long ball, you either want your guy to get it or nobody to get it. Obviously, that didn't happen."
On the long wait after the punt return:
"I'd gladly sit on the bench anytime for a punt return for a touchdown. You want to get into the flow and you want to start breaking a sweat again, and you try up pretty good when you're sitting there for probably ten or fifteen minutes. You warm up and then we went out and had that two minute drill which we executed decently. It was a good way to end the night."
On whether he noticed that WR Wes Welker was not out on the field:
"We miss Wes, believe me. There's nobody like Wes. There's only one Wes Welker in the NFL and I'm glad he's on our team."
On being surprised with QB Michael Vick going to the Eagles:
"No; he's a really good player."
On playing a game with a brace:
"You put it on and after that you don't notice it. It's just precautionary at this point. I don't think about it much."
