**Q: Talk a little bit about J.J. Stokes?

TB:** With him just being around here the last couple of days, he seems like a guy that is anxious to be here. I think he is anxious to contribute. Hopefully he will come out and help. I think everyone is excited to have him. I know I am.

**Q: How tough is it to prepare for a team that you have very little familiarity with?

TB:** It is similar to last week. They are an expansion team and it is their second year with a lot of new players and a new scheme. I think we are spending a lot of extra time in meetings this week trying to get caught up, trying to get a little familiar with these guys.

**Q: How tough is it to get rhythm going with a receiver you haven't played with before this late in the season?

TB:** I don't think it will be too tough. It is his eighth year so hopefully the curls they ran in San Francisco and Jacksonville are the same curls we run here. I don't think it will be too tough. Maybe just getting used to his body language and stuff like that. Hopefully it happens pretty quick.

**Q: He is also tall. That has to be benefit?

TB:** No question. He is 6-foot-5-inches and every bit of 6-foot-5-inches. It is nice to have some size. I think it is going to compliment our Smurfs pretty good (laughing).

**Q: Some people look at this game as a trap game, but somehow Coach Belichick gets you guys believing that you are playing the best team in the league every week. How is he going to do it this week?

TB:** I think that is a good point. I think we have come off a stretch of a bunch of tough games and I think this is going to be another tough game because they have beaten Buffalo in Buffalo. They beat Miami in Miami. They beat Carolina. They beat some very good teams. If you don't go in there expecting a good team, you will get beat. I think for us it is going to be a busy week trying to get ready to prepare for a team that we have never played. It is not like you can really assume anything about them. We are going to have to go out and really prepare hard, so we can go out and try to play well.

**Q: Coach Belichick said they have an explosive offense. Are they explosive or is that him trying to get guys ready and grabbing your attention?

TB:** I think they are definitely explosive. He showed a bunch of clips this morning on those guys. They have a bunch of good receivers. He showed a bunch of clips of Andre Johnson, Jabar Gaffney, Corey Bradford and Billy Miller. They have some guys that can really run and catch. Their quarterback Tony Banks is really playing well. He (Coach Belichick) means it.

**Q: You are 8-2 and they are 4-6. Does he just state the obvious that they beat Carolina in order to get you guys to take them seriously?

TB:** Yeah. I think that is it. He points out what they are good at and he points out the things that they struggle with, but at the same time the things they struggle with, they are trying to get better at too. We are playing them on the road being Week 12, this is when teams really turn it up and really start playing well. They are a team has won some games and also they are trying to build some momentum with a big win last week in Buffalo, which is obviously more than we can say.

**Q: What are the difference between a team that is cocky and a team that is confident and how do you keep a team from being a cocky one?

TB:** It is cocky when you speak and you don't win or when you are talking good and you don't go out and play well. It is confident when you say you are good and you go out and play well. I don't think there is a whole lot of difference. The thing is you have to go out and play well.

**Q: What has it been like to go into the huddle each week and seeing different faces?

TB:** It is a challenge for all the guys to gain some type of rhythm. I think offensive football is a lot different than defensive football in that offensively you need all 11 guys on the same page each play. Defensively, you can really make up for some of those things. On defense they can kind of gain a rhythm. The offense needs to be much more choreographed. We are trying to find ways to do that. I think at different times this year we have moved the ball well, but we just haven't scored as many points as we would have liked. We just need to continue to gain some of that and getting some of that rhythm.

**Q: What was the outlook of this team after Week 2 at 1-1 with a bunch of starters in the trainer's room?

TB:** It was tough. I think we walked in here looking for some light there at the end of the tunnel hoping to get some guys back and healthy. It didn't happen for a while. We are starting to get healthy now. A lot of young guys have come in a gained some experience and have really played well. It has been a fun year.

**Q: Can you talk about Daniel Graham? He has had his struggles and has had some drops. What do you say to him, if anything during the week? What is your relationship like with him being a young player being a tight end?

TB:** I have a tremendous amount of confidence in him. He is a great guy to be around. He is a great competitor. Football is really important to him. He has had some success this year. Hopefully he just continues to build on that and he has each week. I think each week he has gotten better. I think his blocking is good. Some plays he is much more involved in with running routes and being involved in the passing game. But I think he is doing a great job.

**Q: How much do you involve yourself with the wide receivers with a J. J. Stokes or Daniel Graham on a non-game day?

TB:** All the time. As much as I can. We are always communicating. I think the big part of it is you have to communicate. You have to know what the receiver expects of me and they have to know what I expect for them too. When that happens and you have a good chemistry with those guys they trust you when I say 'I need this move or else I can't throw you the ball.' A lot of times you will try to set up a certain DB. There is a lot of communication over the course of all the meetings that we do.

**Q: Over the last few years this team has had a really impressive record in November and December. It is almost a Belichick trademark. How has the team been able to do it? Does Belichick really stress not to lose your steam?

TB:** Definitely. We have the type of team and coaching staff that as the season gets longer, I think we do a better job of preparing and really knowing what they are trying to do. I think by that time we have really establish our offensive mold. We have our core plays that continue to evolve. Earlier in the year, you are trying to find things to do whereas now we know what we want to do. We just have to go out and do them.

**Q: Talk about Matt Light. How has he done this year?

TB:** Loudmouth. Talks too much. Chubby. Too much facial hair. He has done a great job. I think he is as solid of a guy as we have on the offensive line. He and [Damien] Woody have been staples in there.