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Q: Coach Belichick said he is sure there is going to be a lot of energy in Buffalo, and that you guys need to match that. How do you feel you guys have done in that area in your previous games? **
TB: Yeah, it's a great environment up there. It's always a tough place to play, so we've had a lot of tough games up there over the years. I'm sure this one will be. You know, they're playing great. There will be a lot of energy. Coach said that I guess the new ownership happens this week, so they'll be pretty fired up. It'll be a great challenge for us certainly to go on the road in a tough place to play, try to go out there and get a tough win.
Q: Is there a teaching point that you guys can take from the last road game? Was there enough energy, or was it more about execution?
TB: Yeah, it's going to come down to execution. You always have to bring your energy and your enthusiasm. I talked a little bit after the game about putting it all in for just that one moment each week that you have a chance to go out there and play, so it's going to ultimately fall back on whether we can throw, catch, run, block, tackle, all of those things that football is really all about. Certainly having the most energy we can. Enthusiasm for what we're doing doesn't hurt. I think it's a great benefit, and I think that's, obviously, it was a great part of last week's win, but we're going to have to try to duplicate that.
Q: The things that weren't working before seemed to click and work on Sunday, so what do you guys need to do to keep that going?
TB: Well we've got to be as consistent as we can. I think that's – Coach talked this morning – as great as last week was, that's over and we've got to start putting it in this week, and we've done that the last couple days. Guys have really been trying to understand that they have a new defensive coordinator, like I said, they're playing really well, so it's just about us going out there to try to do our best and play a lot better than we've played on the road this year. Offensively we've got to get out there and we've got to start well and try to play from ahead. That was a great thing the other night that we got a chance to do is finally play with the lead, and we've got to be able to do that again this week.
Q: Does that consistency start with you offensively?
TB: Yeah, I think offensive football is everybody. It's the quarterback, it's all the positions, and certainly that's the one I focus on because that's what my job is, and nobody can do that for me, so I'm going to try to do that as best as I possibly can.
Q: How much do you take into account the presence of a former coach and former player – I'm talking about Pepper Johnson and Brandon Spikes – as well as Jim Schwartz, who has coached against you and with Coach Belichick in the past?
TB: They obviously know what we're doing. I'm sure they have some calls and some things that we like to do. They know our style, and Brandon has practiced against us for a lot of years, and Pepper has obviously been here a lot of years, and Coach Schwartz coached with Coach Belichick, so there's a lot of familiarity I think for both sides.
Q: Do you change your game plan because of that familiarity or do you do what you know will work?
TB: I think we're just going to try do what we think is best and what works. Our communication is going to be most important. Brandon's in a different scheme, but we know what his strengths are as a player. There are a lot of them. He covers a lot of ground, [has] range. He's big. He's physical. He's got those guys playing really well. He's a signal caller for them, a captain.
Q: Pepper would have been in enough meetings where he could say, 'They don't really like when this happens,' or, 'They don't really like when that happens.'
TB: Absolutely. We've got to prepare for those things, and it's certainly, Pepper has been in a lot of meetings where we talked about our offense and the things that we would like to do or don't like to do. I think this defense presents a lot of challenges. I think they're one of the best defenses in the NFL. They're sacking the quarterback more than any other team. They're high in every defensive statistical category. They play really well at home, so they're real good.
Q: What needs to happen for you guys to pick it up in the red zone?
TB: I think it's just, it comes kind of back to our execution so we have a good opportunity to make the plays down there. We just haven't done a great job of doing it, so it's all of us. I don't think it's really one particular thing or person. I think it's just all of us having a better understanding of the little things that ultimately end up being big things.
Q: What sets up the offense the best? Is it when you're running the ball to set up the pass or the opposite way?
TB: I think both. At different times you're going to go into each game with sometimes a different kind of philosophy on how you want to attack them. Some weeks it's, 'Look, we're going to throw it more and see if they can cover us,' and ultimately that leaves maybe more space in the run game. Sometimes it's, 'We're going to try to pound it up there and get them to start playing the run,' and then exploit that, so it's all a matter of a game plan thing and what we think we need to do to win. You always want to be able to do both. I don't think you ever want to go into a game and say 'Look, we're not going to run it much,' although we've done that a few times over the course of my career. There are certainly a lot of times we've said we need to go out there and run it a bunch and control the tempo, and there's no better way to do that than running the ball.
Q: When things aren't going your way, what allows you to keep your confidence and maintain that level of belief in the team?
TB: Well, I've had a lot of experience, so I think you fall back on that and trust in your players that you play with, your coaches, and everyone trusts in each other to do the right thing and to try to do it on a consistent basis. So it's still really early in the year. It's only five games. There's a whole season that's got to be decided from this point on. We're playing a team that's got off to a great start, that's always tough to play at home, that's playing really well, that's always a great defense and a pass rush, so we're going to have to be at our best. I think it's going to be a great opportunity for our team, and hopefully we can put it together for four quarters.
