Q:What a difference a week makes.

TB:Yeah, we got off to a great start. I think we talked about that all week. It was a long week for everybody, so we wanted to start fast and we got ahead. We played from ahead for once. We ran the ball great, got some turnovers on defense. It was a great win.

**

Q: **How much did the fans pick you up when they started chanting your name?

TB:That was awesome. I mean, I've been here awhile, so it's - we have great fans. We get great support. It's great to play well and play in this environment. I'm a very lucky guy.

Q:Seems like things are settling up front for you. Whatever that combination of five is, it's got to be that same five moving forward to get continuity up there - fair to say?

TB:Yeah. And it's - you know I think… yeah it's always great to have, certainly, guys in there who played their butts off tonight and a lot of guys played still. I've got a lot of confidence in all those guys out there. Whoever is in there, they're here for a reason. They can play. They play well. And hopefully we can build on this. It's one game. As disappointing as last Monday night was, this one is great - but we also have to get back to work tomorrow because we've got a huge game next week against Buffalo.

Q:Rob Gronkowksi was very emotional just now talking about you and saying 'My goal tonight was to go out and help Tom be Tom.' How does it make you feel to know that guys rallied around you based on what happened this week?

**

TB: **Well, I rally around them, so - I love that guy and everything he's done for this team and the attitude that he brings. He's a phenomenal player. He's been through a lot. Talk about mental toughness; nobody's got more mental toughness than him. So it's great to play with him, all the guys, Julian [Edelman] and guys that have been around here a little bit and the new guys: Danny [Amendola] and Brandon LaFell and Aaron Dobson made some plays and Tim Wright made some plays tonight, Hooman [Michael Hoomanawanui], James Develin got the ball - totally unselfish. All the guys up front played great. It was just a great win for us.

Q:It seems like a lot of people heard the noise this week and used it as fuel to the fire.

TB:Well, it's hard to be oblivious to things. We all have TVs or the internet or the questions I get and the emails that I get from people who are concerned. I'm always emailing them back like, 'Nobody died. It's just a loss.' I think we've always done a great job putting losses behind us quickly and trying to move forward. It doesn't always go right. In football season you don't always go undefeated every year. You're trying to build something - we're trying to build something that is going to be tough to compete with. So when we play like we played tonight, it still wasn't perfect and there are still a lot of things we could do better and we're going to work at it. We always do that. We come in and we talk about things we didn't do well and things we did well and things we need to build on. Our coaches do a great job of that. We've got a great group.

Q:ESPN this week said there was tension between you and the coaching staff. You don't look tense to me, but would you like to address that?

TB:Well I love all those guys, all my coaches. I've never had any tension with any of them, truthfully. It's unfortunate that some things get said and talked about, especially when they don't come from me, and I think that's the - when you're in the middle of especially a tough week with our team to deal with things that are really outside football that are very personal - very personal relationships that I've built up for a long time. I've got a lot of love and trust for everybody in this building because we all count on each other. We rely on each other. I think the great thing about this team is when we win, we always spread it around to everybody and when we lose we always take it to heart. I think that's probably different than what human nature is. I think a lot of times when you lose, people start pointing fingers and instead, we tend to blame ourselves, which is probably a great thing for us because we can learn from our experiences, we can learn from our mistakes and then we move forward trying to be a better teammate, a better player and certainly controlling what you can do, which is go out there and play your best and a lot of guys did that tonight.

Q:Obviously skill counts in every game, but how much of a role does emotion play? It seemed to be big this week.

**

TB: **Yeah, absolutely. It's a game of emotion. You can't come out there without being at your highest. Coach talks about it all the time: we play once a week, so whatever you have to do to get yourself ready for that one moment. We work had all year round for 16 games. I think being at your peak every week for game time is what's most important. They guys, emotionally - I know on the flight home last week guys were wishing that we could get right back out there and do it again because we knew that we were certainly a lot better than the way we played. We played a lot better tonight and we're going to need to play a lot better next week.

Q:How would you describe your emotion on that first drive?

TB:Well, we were all ready. We were all ready to go out there and play a great game of football. I thought everyone had a great week and we talked a lot about the things we needed to do to get better. We did some great things - certainly not turning he ball over is helpful. There were still a couple too many penalties, which hurt us a little bit there and getting the ball in the red area when we have a chance is going to be really important, but like I said, that was a great football team that we played. They were 3-0, they're playing really well all year. We got ahead of them and stayed ahead and really kept the pressure on them.

Q:How satisfying was that first touchdown drive?

TB:Yeah, they're all great. Yeah, certainly on Sunday Night Football and to go in there and play the way we played was awesome.

Q:What about the tight ends? It seemed like they really were an emphasis for the offense tonight?

TB:Yeah, they all played great. Certainly Gronk made some great catches and runs and I wish I'd have gotten the ball to him a few more times in positions where he could have done something with it. But he's a great player, getting him the ball - and getting Tim involved. Hooman does a great job in his role. All those guys played their butts off.

Q:You joined a very elite group, throwing for 50,000 yards. Also, what about the exchange between you and Julian Edelman of who was going to spike the ball?

TB:Yeah, Jules and I are great friends so we always find something to goof around with. I love that guy and he's a great person and friend. And like I said, I'm a lucky guy. 50,000 yards means - you know, I've played in the best place in the league for a long time, playing for the best owner and the best coach and being the most prepared because our coaches get us that way each week and playing with the best group of guys who are really selfless. We always talk about what Patriots football is and I think you saw it tonight.

Q:Can one win like to night turn everything around, in your experience?

TB:Well, we were in first place going into the night, so things weren't all bad.

Q:Yeah, but you know what I mean - to get the team back playing consistently to the level you expect.

TB:I think every week in practice we're trying to do that and the team that we are today is going to be very different than the team we are in two and a half months. We've got to make the improvements. We've got to get better. Certainly all of us have to play better. But it was a great night tonight. Tonight it was good enough. We're all going to try to elevate our level of play and trust and confidence in one another to keep doing something that we want to achieve. We've got a great opportunity this weekend. And all these games count for one whether it was, like I said, Monday night after we got our butts kicked, that counts for one loss. Tonight counts for one win and next week is going to count for one. They're all important. We have to be at our best next week and getting off to a great start and having a great week is the best way that I know how to prepare to be ready to be at your peak. That's what they guys are going to work hard to do.

Q:You have a pretty good track record of keeping track of slights and when people doubt you and when people think you are not capable of things.

TB:I do?

Q:Yeah.

TB:that might be unfair.

Q:Is this a night where there might have been a little impetus from people saying the Patriots are done?

TB:I think it's a great opportunity for our team. I think that's a little - we try not to get caught up in that stuff and I think you just focus on the things you can control. To ride the ups and downs of, 'You're great. You suck. You're great. You suck,' it's exhausting. It's exhausting enough when you're winning to have to deal with those things and when you lose, it sucks for everybody. We don't play this game to go out there and not play well. Guys take it to heart. I think guys worked really hard this week to get prepared for tonight. Like I said, it was a great opportunity for us to come out and show what we're made of.

Q:So just wanting to play better was more of a motivation tonight than anybody outside saying anything about this team?

TB:Absolutely. You know, we get paid to play football. We get paid to play it well, actually. So, we should go out there and play really well. We work really hard all year round for these moments and what we experience in the locker room after that win, you can't put a price tag on that.

Q:Two drives stick out- the first drive and then the drive when they made it 20-10 and then you came right back and made it 27-10. Can you talk about what was happening in general on those drives that hasn't been happening lately?

TB:Josh [McDaniels] talks about it all the time - 'Guys, there's no special plays I can call. There are no magic plays that I'm just holding. You guys have to go out there and execute.' We worked hard on that all week. Certainly that first drive and execution was really good. We threw the ball, we caught it, we ran with it. When we ran it, we ran great, we blocked great. I mean, all of us - that's what offensive football is all about. Unless it's just one great individual performance on a particular, unless 11 guys are on the same page, it's not really a successful play. Both those drives we needed great execution. We played a defense that doesn't give up and easy plays. They don't give up any easy yards. The way we played tonight, we played physical, we played aggressive. We went out there and got started and we played from ahead, which we haven't done much of this season. So playing from ahead, you've got the whole game plan. They can't tee off you - they're playing from behind, they're trying to force plays. We've had to do that our fair share this year and that's not really where you want be offensively, so we stayed aggressive and ended up winning by a great margin.

Q:If you had your druthers, would you rather get the first drive of the game or defer for the second half?

TB:Well, we always defer when we win, so -

Q:Why is that?

TB:It's just a coaching decision and that's what happens. We used to not have a chance - whenever you flipped to coin before you could choose. Whoever won the toss got the ball. It's great to start the game and go ahead, especially at home. You know, you get great momentum, the crowd is into it. We kept them in there all night with all the guys making great plays.

Q:On the first drive you had to scramble and then you got up and there was a little confrontation there. What was happening? Did somebody say something to you? Did you feel compelled to say something to the defender?

TB:I don't remember. Everything was pretty emotional at that point. Everyone was pumped up. There was a lot of going back and forth tonight - a lot of jawing back and forth. We got a couple penalties out of it unfortunately, but our guys played really hard. I think we were really into it.

Q:Is that better to see than being flat and is that maybe something that was lacking in previous games, especially last week?

TB:I think, like I said, it was an emotional game and these games need to be emotion. You need to be at your emotional peak and have the highest amount of focus and determination. I think that's what you strive for every week. However you need to get to that point. That's where we have to be. That's where we have to be next week at one o'clock in Buffalo.