Q:How valuable is the guy upstairs in the coaches' booth in terms of communication?
TB:I don't know. I really don't. I haven't spent much time thinking about that.
Q:You can say it's a dumb question.
TB:It's not a dumb question. There're no dumb questions. I mean, I get the call from Billy [O'Brien] and then I try to execute it. I don't think there's a lot of time to be bouncing ideas back and forth; you're on a play clock. It will be the same as it's always been.
Q:How's it been the first couple days having Josh McDaniels back in the meeting room?
TB:It's the same preparation for me. I met with Coach Belichick yesterday as we always do on a Tuesday schedule on a Monday. We have some familiarity with what they do, obviously playing them four weeks ago. We're going to have to go out there and execute well. They're a very good team, to beat Pittsburgh and knowing how we struggled against Pittsburgh, and their matchups are tough. It's going to be a fun week. I'm excited.
Q:You and Josh McDaniels put up a lot of points. Did you have an immediate reaction when he came here? Also, how much has this offense changed since he left?
TB:Really, it's been a short week, so I've been thinking about playing quarterback and what I had to do and not thinking about '07 or '01. I'm just thinking about what we need to do to win and how we need to prepare and execute. We got off to a good start today. Guys are really attentive and focused on what we need to do. We had a good walkthrough. Now we have to go out there and have a good practice. I think that's where my focus is at.
Q:You played Denver a month ago, so seeing them last Sunday against the Pittsburgh defense that you're fairly familiar with, did you pick up anything extra on that or is it pretty much the same preparation for the team you played a month ago?
TB:It's the same guys in there on defense and there are some of the same schemes. There are definitely some new wrinkles that they've added to what they're doing that we have to be able to prepare for. But the way the team has played the course of the entire season, you don't go into these games and think, 'Oh, let's change it up.' You get to this point for playing a certain style. They're going to continue to play their style - what they think they do very well. And we're going to try to do the things that we do well.
Q:I know you take losses very hard. How long did it take you to get over that Jets loss last year in the playoffs?
TB:I don't know. I don't remember.
Q:Has that been on your mind this season?
TB:No. I haven't thought about anything about last year or last week. I'm trying to think about today and talking to you guys and get done with this and then go back to work.
Q:Is there a fine line that the team and you have to walk of being over-excited or over-analytical?
TB:Yeah, once that ball gets kicked off, it's a game, and it's the same game we've been playing all season. There's definitely a heightened sense of intensity because you've got one game and there's no next week; it's really a one game season. Trying to control your emotions to the point where it doesn't interfere with your level of execution is important. But sometimes you can't control that. We'll see. You've got to go out there and try to play a good game. Emotions will be running high and I'm sure the stadium will be very loud, playing on a Saturday night. It's special. It's the playoffs. It's why we've worked so hard to get to this point. Hopefully we can go out and play well.
Q:You were drafted in the sixth round. Tim Tebow was drafted in the first round, but there were a lot of doubts about him. Do you see similarities between you and Tebow? In your case, did the doubters really drive you to succeed? Do you see that in Tebow?
TB:I'm not sure. I think everybody has a story to tell. Every player who has made it this far has had to overcome some adversity. Every player has had that. It could be injuries or a lack of opportunities or you're stuck behind someone else. There are very few people that get brought to the NFL ushered in on a red carpet. I think everybody has to fight through some things, which really - you can see kind of someone's strength of character and what they're made of when they're faced with adversity. They have good team. They have a bunch of guys like that. Josh [McDaniels], obviously talking to him, he's got a lot of admiration for this team and the players on the team and their mental toughness. That's what we're preparing for. We've played them - they're a tough team. We played them four weeks ago. We know them better than any other team in the league. We'll be excited and ready to go.
Q:When you look back at the tape of the game, what were you displeased with that you have to do better on Saturday?
TB:There were quite a few things we didn't do well. We had quite a few missed opportunities in the game. I don't think we were particularly good in the red area. We weren't great on third down. I missed plenty of throws. We need to do a better of that. Every play is so important this time of year that you feel like you need to execute the best we have, because when you play the best teams, the margin of error is less. They're going to be playing well. They're going to be ready to go and we have to match that.
Q:Is there any common thread to how teams have attacked you and the offense in the last few playoff games?
TB:It's a different team. It really is. It's a different team that we played in '01 and '03. None of those games mean anything. How teams are going to attack us, we'll see; we'll see on Saturday night. I'm not really sure. I'm sure they're putting together their game plan, we're putting together our game plan and we're going to see how it plays out.
Q:Bill Belichick was saying that no other team plays like they do offensively. What are your thoughts on the spread offense?
TB:I've never had real familiarity with it, so it's hard for me to understand it, really, and what they try to do. But it obviously works. They do a good job of running the ball. They can obviously make big plays in the pass game and they're very balanced. It's kind of like what we try to do on offense - to be balanced and to be able to run it, to complement your run game with play action pass. And you have to be able to throw in critical situations. The mark of a good offense is to be able to run it when they know you're going to run it and throw it when they know you're going to throw it. Denver has proven they can do that and hopefully we can do the same.
Q:You mentioned that '01, '03, '07, etc. don't matter now. Then what role does organizational playoff experience have in accomplishing the goals you want to accomplish?
TB:We'll see on Saturday night. I think that's why we're going to show up and play, because no one really knows the answer to those things. Yeah, experience is great when you win and when you lose, it means nothing. I think what matters most is how we execute, what our level of preparation and commitment is this week, and ultimately, how we go out and execute against a very good team on Saturday night.
Q:What's the evolution of this offense been like by adding Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski in comparison to the offense you ran in previous years?
TB:We had some pretty good teams then, too, so I think we had a lot of good players and it's been pretty much the same offense since the day I got here. We've had a couple different play callers, but the terminology is all the same. Really, we try to get the ball to the open guy. We try to find a weakness in the defense and take advantage of it. That really hasn't changed over the course of my time here. The jerseys are maybe a little bit different, but guys are trying to get open and I'm trying to find them.
Q:Having an offense with the marquee guy being a tight end doesn't happen much.
TB:Well Wes [Welker] is pretty good, too. He led the league in receiving and yards, so I think we're pretty balanced between the receiver position and tight end position and being able to run the ball, complementing that with the play action pas. I think it's a matter of making sure all those guys are complementing each other.
Q:What did you think of the job that the offensive line did the first time around against Elvis Dumervil, Von Miller and Brodrick Bunkley? They seemed to hold their own pretty well.
TB:There were a few times where they got to us, but for the most part, we've faced some pretty good pass rushers all season and these two are no different. [Robert] Ayers had a great game last week. They can blitz; they blitz quite a bit and the linebackers make some sacks. D.J. Williams can get to the passer. The safeties blitz. It can really be anybody. Obviously Elvis and Von, they can play; they're very good players. I've had the opportunity to play against Elvis a number of times and he's a phenomenal player.
Q:The one that they got you on - the inside linebacker blitz - is that just a nice design by their offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy? Logan Mankins didn't see him coming.
TB:I'd have to check it out. I'll get back to you tomorrow.
Q:Have you ever been called a prophet before this week?
TB:Never.
