PATRIOTS HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK
BB: Well, this is a great opportunity for us here. I really appreciate the Titans, and the hospitality that we've received from Mike [Vrabel] and his staff. It's a really great opportunity for us here to work against a good football team, a team that does some things a little differently than we do. So schematically, that'll be good for us to experience and obviously a big challenge for us with the personnel, and the good fundamentals and techniques that they have with the Titans. It'll be great work for us. We're looking forward to it, and it's just another step in the process of getting ready for the season.
Q: How different are these joint practices going to be from last week?
BB: Some things are a little bit different. I mean, overall it's about the same, but a few fine-tuning things here and there.
Q: What did you see from Eric Saubert that made you want to trade for him?
BB: He's played offensively and in the kicking game for the Falcons, so we'll put him into our mix and see what happens.
Q: How tough was cutting Danny Etling after seeing the effort he put in to switch positions?
BB: Yeah, it's always hard to release a player.
Q: Can you talk about Mike Vrabel and what he's building with the Titans?
BB: Well, I have a ton of respect for Mike as a person, as a coach. He's been a friend for a long time and obviously did a great job last year in the game we played him. We really got handled down here. He's got an excellent staff and I'm sure that he's teaching these guys a lot of football. He was really smart player, a very fundamental player, so I'm sure that you can see those strengths in the way he coaches his team.
Q: What strengths does he have, and maybe that he's always had, that you think will make him a good coach?
BB: Yeah, all of the things I just said.
Q: I know your focus is getting better on the field today, but can you look back and remember what Mike said when he told you he was interested in coaching? Were you surprised by that?
BB: No. Mike's always had great instincts and intuition for the game. I think you saw that all the way back in college at Ohio State.
Q: Does it get easier for a coach going into their second season in terms of adjustments?
BB: You'd have to ask Mike that. I don't know.
Q: What sort of things do the Titans do that you anticipate will make this different than last week?
BB: I mean, their running quarterback, the read-zone plays, they do a lot of things differently. Their coverage system is a little bit different, their special teams system is a little bit different, so we'll see. We'll see how we match up out there.
Q: What have you seen from Marcus Mariota that makes him difficult to defend?
BB: Well, he's obviously a very athletic guy. That's different than what we have, different from what we saw last week. The offense is different.
Q: Is it a special trip to come to Nashville?
BB: Yeah, it's great. We look forward to it. Great facilities here. Again, the team's good, they're well-coached. I know a lot of people on this staff. Dean [Pees], of course, worked for us for a long time. Tyrone [McKenzie] played for us, Mike, Jon Robinson, so yeah, it's a great opportunity for us. We look forward to it.
Q: What led you to a player like Gunner Olszeswki and what traits did he show that made you feel like he could make the transition to a new position at wide receiver?
BB: Yeah, we worked him out. We needed some depth at the position, and we'll see how it goes.
Q: Have you been impressed with the way he's picked things up so far?
BB: Yeah, he's a very competitive guy. Absolutely. He works hard.
Q: How beneficial is it for your team to go up against a mobile quarterback before the regular season?
BB: Yeah, it's a great opportunity. All three of these guys [Marcus Mariota, Ryan Tannehill and Logan Woodside] are very athletic, can do a lot of different things. They're involved in the run game, misdirection, moving pocket-type plays in the passing game, but also can scramble and so forth. So yeah, this will be good work for us. We haven't really seen that type of quarterback so far this year.
