RUNNING BACK JAMES WHITE
Q: Is there something you can point to that has led to the struggles this team has had on the road?
JW: I don't think it's one specific reason. I think it's just starting fast as a team in general. Playing with good energy, playing with attention to detail for four quarters. You can't just be one quarter here and one quarter there and then it's too late. We're going against good football teams. They want to play from ahead and they're going to use their home crowd, so we've just got to be ready.
Q: Are you looking forward to this break and the rest on your body?
JW: It'll definitely help everybody. A lot of guys, everybody across the league is banged up, so we'll get those extra few days to kind of heal up, take care of your body, get your mind off football for a little bit and then come back ready to go. This six game stretch will be tough. A lot of division games and playing against some other good football teams, so we've got to give it our best shot to finish the season off strong.
Q: Do you feel a physical toll on your body at this point in the season? Do you feel like this break is a necessity at this point given your number of touches?
JW: Not necessarily. I just try to take care of my body no matter whether I touch the ball one time, or if I play one play, or if I play 70 plays. Just doing whatever I can whether it's lifting the weights, getting extra treatment, just making sure I'm available and ready to go.
Q: Is there a way to measure the value of a guy like James Develin?
JW: I don't know. Probably not necessarily. A lot of teams don't even use fullbacks anymore. We're one of the few teams that do and he does a great job for us, not just at fullback but on special teams, and he does whatever the coaches ask him to do. He's a very selfless player, one of the most selfless positions in the league besides offensive line and d-line and stuff. He doesn't get the credit that he deserves.
Q: How do you feel like your offense has picked up blitzes this year?
JW: Definitely need to be better just communicating and when we do - when we are on the same page - do a better job of getting Tom [Brady] enough time to read the coverage out and if he decides to hold the ball, still give him enough time to do that too, so we definitely could be better at that. There's definitely things that we can fix when we get back.
Q: Are there times where you're communicating in the offensive line in front of you if things change with the defense right before the snap?
JW: Yeah, we're all communicating between offensive line, quarterback, running back. Everybody has to be on the same page in order to pick the blitzes up if they're running some funky looks and things like that. Just everybody communicating. It's not just communicating – you actually have to block the guys too, so you've got to give them enough time.
Q: Is there anything that's been different with that communication this season? It's a lot of the same guys starting on that line as in previous years?
JW: No, it's nothing different. It's just execution. We just haven't been doing a great job of that. It's really nothing crazy. It's just us going out there and doing it and doing a better job of it.
Q: You're on a record-setting pace for receptions by a running back. Are you aware of that?
JW: You guys made me aware of it. I'm just doing whatever I can to help my team get wins. Whether it's one catch or a million catches, it doesn't matter. I'm just trying to help these guys get wins and make our team better.
Q: Does it feel like you're still trying to figure out this team's identity?
JW: We know who we are. We just have to be better. We've had splashes here and there where we've shown what we're capable of. I still don't think we've played a full 60-minute game. This offense has a lot of potential but it doesn't matter how much potential you have if you don't go out there and execute. We'll take this bye week, self-scout, figure out what we can do better and come back ready to go.
Q: How confident are you that you'll play your best football these next six games and why do you feel that way?
JW: Coach [Bill Belichick] always says football doesn't start until after Thanksgiving, so you've got to play your best football when it comes around. We have a lot of division games. I think guys will come back fired up and ready to go and have a lot of energy because it's the most important part of the season.
Q: When you're self-scouting, are you finding that it's the same problems you guys are having in the losses or is it something defenses are doing on the other side of the ball?
JW: I don't think any defense is doing anything crazy where we can't manage it. It's just us blocking it, running better, running better routes, a little bit of everything. Everybody has our spots here and there and you can't have that if you want to be successful.
Q: How beneficial would it be to have a healthy Rob Gronkowski after the bye week?
JW: It'd be good to have him back, but whenever that happens it happens. You've got to go out there and play with who's out there. We've done it before with guys being down and playing with guys that some people may not have ever heard of. So, we've just got to go out there and execute with who's available and go out there and play well.
Q: Can you talk about the way Tom Brady sets up the screen pass, and is that one of your favorite plays in football?
JW: I think it's a great play in football. It's a team play. Offensive line has to sell the drop back pass, make the defensive line rush up field. Tom does a great job of looking guys off, receivers run routes and then block, and then as running backs we can't give away the screen either, so a great team play. I mean, we've had some success at it this year. We can be better at it, too. It's been a big play for us.
Q: Four of the top offenses in football are the teams that use the screen the most. Why do you think that is?
JW: I don't know. It's a high-percentage throw, and if everybody blocks and everybody does their job it can create a big play. Sometimes the defense really isn't expecting it if you sell it well enough. In order to be a good screen team it takes everybody.
Q: Do you work on how to disguise it so that it appears you're not in the play at all and then all of a sudden it's coming to you?
JW: Yeah, I mean it just takes practice. We work at it all the time. Like I said, it's created huge plays for us throughout this season, so we've just been working at it and continue to get better at it and hopefully it'll continue to work for us.
Q: How hungry do you think this team is?
JW: We're always hungry. Like I said, we haven't played our best football, so I think everybody's itching to go out there and do that. We have this break now to kind of heal up and get ready for the long haul and come back ready to go.
Q: Do you have any plans for the bye weekend?
JW: No, just relax at home with my wife, my dogs. Not much.
Transcripts are provided by the Patriots media relations department as a courtesy to the media and are edited for readability. All press conferences are posted and archived in their entirety at patriots.com.
