HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK
PRESS CONFERENCE
November 24, 2021
On how he feels about macaroni and cheese:
BB: Yeah. I'm good.
On if he feels okay:
BB: Great. Yeah. I'm good.
On the advantages of having Trent Brown and Mike Onwenu blocking on the same side:
BB: They're big, physical guys. No doubt about it. All the things you do offensively is to try and get an advantage on the defense, and if you can do that, then you probably want to do it. If you can't, then you probably want to find something else.
On if he considers Trent Brown and Mike Onwenu as the types of players that "don't grow on trees":
BB: Yeah. There are not a lot of 300-pound guys walking around the street. 300, 350, whatever they are. They're hard to find.
On the Titans' offensive line:
BB: They work well together. They've had a couple subs here and there where [Taylor] Lewan was out for a couple games. The right guard was out for a couple games. [Aaron] Brewer replaced him. [David] Quessenberry missed a game. For the most part, they've been there, and they've been pretty consistent. Certainly, [Roger] Saffold [III] has been a solid guy for them at left guard, Lewan at left tackle and [Ben] Jones at center. We played against four of the five last year or two years ago, whatever it was. They work well together. They're a good run-blocking line. [Geoff] Swaim does a good job at tight end. He's not an o-lineman, but he's sort of an o-lineman. They employ a fullback, too, [Tory] Carter, [Khari] Blasingame. They get different combinations in the running game, and they're all pretty effective.
On Kevin Byard:
BB: He's very productive. He's got a good nose for the ball. He's around the ball. He's good on disguises, and he's got good vision, good anticipation. He's a really productive player.
On the Titans' defensive front:
BB: Well [Harold] Landry [III], [Denico] Autry, all those guys are really disruptive guys outside. [Jeffery] Simmons inside. They're a very good fundamental team. It's not a lot of exotics. They give you different looks and all that, but they don't play a lot of different things. They just play them very well, and then they're hard to block. The linebackers fill their gaps well. They tackle well. Just a good, solid, sound, fundamental football team. They don't try to out-gadget you. They keep you honest with a little pressure here and there, mix in some blitz zones with their zones, but they're really just a good, solid, sound, fundamental team. You've got to stop [Kevin] Byard. Landry is a dynamic player. Simmons pushes the pocket in the middle, which really helps Landry on the edge, Autry on the edge. They're all hard to block. They do a good job.
On if there are defensive similarities between the Falcons and the Titans:
BB: Yeah. There are some similarities.
On if playing two similar defensive teams in a row helps with preparation:
BB: Yeah. A little bit. I think it speeds up the communication process. You can certainly relate something this week that you've talked about in the previous week, and players have a re-call picture of what you're talking about. Sure.
On Cameron McGrone and Joshuah Bledsoe's work ethic:
BB: They worked really hard. Yeah. They worked really hard. I know they were excited to be out there yesterday. It's good to see them out there. Get them out there and see how it goes.
On if Cameron McGrone and Joshuah Bledsoe were able to take part in meetings while injured:
BB: Mhm [yes].
On if Cameron McGrone and Joshuah Bledsoe know the team's system:
BB: Oh yeah. For sure. They've done everything they can do. They're both coming off injuries that just didn't allow them to participate until this week.
On Christian Barmore:
BB: He tries very hard to do whatever you tell him to do. It's different at this level. It's different keys, different things to do in certain situations, but he's done a good job of adapting to those, and if you tell to do something, he definitely tries to do it. I really appreciate that about him. He's gotten better on all three downs. He's improving every day.
On if anything stands out about Christian Barmore off the field:
BB: He works hard. He always goes hard. You never have to tell him to pick it up. He always goes at a good pace and works hard. He's got good energy. Loves football. Loves to play. We've got to enjoy that.
On Kendrick Bourne running the ball this season:
BB: I think he has improved as a ball carrier. Some of our players have, which is good. If you can get the ball to the skill players and they can make yards on their own, that's a great thing. It's not all air yards. It can be run-after-catch, breaking a tackle or getting into open space to gain extra yardage and catch-and-run plays. Things like that. He's done a good job of that, and I think he can continue to get better.
On how the team's receivers complement the running backs:
BB: When defensive backs come up to try and support the run, you go in there and block them, and, hopefully, we can get one-for-one and create space for the runner. Also, there are opportunities for play-action and get space in the defense when the linebackers and the safeties come toward the line of scrimmage, and sometimes that slows down their secondary support on future plays. Not always. Some players come back the same every time. Some guys become more cautious, more concerned about the passing game, and, hopefully, we can use those blocks to look the same as the pass routes, and then either slow down the run for us or run past them in play-action routes.
On if he emphasizes the season getting more important after Thanksgiving to the team:
BB: We talk to the players every day. There's always a message there. Every game is important. It's a big game for us. We're going to put everything we have into this one and try to be ready to go on Sunday.
On preparing for the Titans' new additions to the team as well as those who are already on the roster:
BB: We have to keep up with all the players that are eligible and, potentially, can show up on the field. I think you've got to prepare your team for that eventuality. Some of them will. Some of them won't. That's out of our control. Honestly, Tennessee might not know for sure exactly who's going. That's certainly the way it is for me. There are times where I don't know who's going to play until sometime Sunday morning or pregame workouts. It is what it is. It's like that every week in the NFL. There are always guys that are maybe going to play, maybe they're not. Teams make roster moves pretty regularly, put guys on the practice squad like [Golden] Tate, who could play, like [Kenny] Stills did for New Orleans. He could not. I don't know. We'll have to be ready for them. We'll see how it goes during the game, try to figure it out, and we have a pretty good idea of what some of those guys can do. We've played against some of them in the past, but how Tennessee chooses to use them, we won't know that until game time.
On A.J. Brown:
BB: He's an outstanding player. He's really hard to tackle. Big guy. Huge target. Aggressively gets the ball. Good route runner. Vertical routes. Stuff over the middle. Catch-and-run plays. Hard to tackle. Strong kid. There's a lot to like about him.
