PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK TOM BRADY
Q: Did you stay up for the Red Sox game last night?
TB: I didn't. But I'm glad they won, that was pretty cool. So when do they play, Tuesday?
*Q: Tuesday. *
TB: At home?
Q: Yup.
TB: That'll be pretty cool. Boston's got it pretty good right now, got a lot of good teams.
Q: Since you've started here, this whole era of Titletown in Boston has been going on. What does it mean to be a part of this city in this time in its sports history?
TB: Yeah, it's been a lot of fun, I think for all of us, for all of these teams, to kind of be a part of winning in your own team but being there to kind of celebrate everyone else's wins too. I've had a lot of friends on all those teams over the years and it's great to see everyone playing well. To see the Red Sox doing what they're doing, that was - when I first got here in 2000, they had some good teams and really broke through, just like we did and it's been a lot of fun ever since.
Q: Now that you've had Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon for a few games, do you feel like you guys are reaching your full offensive potential?
TB: I think we're getting there and we're working on it. I certainly think that every week that goes by, we're going to try to keep making improvements and get better. A lot of different players we've tried to incorporate this year and I think we're working our way through it. I don't think we're there yet. I know I said after last game we still have some work to do and we still feel like our best is ahead of us. We're just going to have to go out and play really well this weekend to get the same results. That's what we're trying for.
Q: How has the consistency of the running game opened up the offense?
TB: That's really helpful and running the ball and keeping teams off-balance is really important to great offensive football. You can't throw the ball every down, you can't run it every down, but if you can do both and throw in play-action pass and some screens and just some different variety of plays, it makes it hard to defend and you've got to defend a lot of different players and a lot of different schemes. When we're not running the ball well, I think that's really frustrating to everybody. So running the ball is extremely important this week. It was last week. It will be next week. It just allows us to do a lot of different things.
Q: Have you been particularly impressed with the Bears' two safeties? It seems like they're good play-makers.
TB: Yeah, really good play-makers, very consistent. [Adrian] Amos and [Eddie] Jackson are both very solid. They work well together. I think their secondary in general is very talented. They've got a good group of linebackers. Roquan Smith's playing really well, high pick. Danny Trevathan, I've always thought he was a great player. And then you add [Khalil] Mack and [Leonard] Floyd, Akiem Hicks, really stout front. This is the best defense we've played in a long time. We're going to have to go out and play really well on the road. We've talked a lot about playing on the road this week and kind of what we need to do to get a win. We haven't played very well on the road this year and we're going to need to play a lot better than we played the first two times on the road in order to win.
Q: Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio runs a Cover 2 defense and even though you haven't played the Bears in a while, you've played Cover 2 defenses before. Do you draw on those experiences to help you prepare this week?
TB: Yeah, there's a lot of studying I think from when we played against them in the past and also what he's done the last couple years. I mean, I've watched a lot of tape and I feel like I've seen their scheme a lot. I'm sure they'll have some wrinkles in there. Really it's about us following our assignments. They can really do anything. You study a lot of film and you can watch 20 games of stuff and then go in there and they do some things different, you've got to adjust. And I think that's a really important part of football and I think part of the experience I've had is I know how to deal with some of those things. But the challenge is it's a good scheme. It's a good defense. I think they're well-coached. They always have a lot of variety and when they score a lot of points offensively, it's hard to really match them in the same way. So got to get off to a good start, have to stay balanced, good complementary game and go out there and try to win on the road.
Q: You're closing in on 1,000 career rushing yards and with the Bears on the schedule this weekend, what do you remember about that play you had against Brian Urlacher?
TB: Yeah, that was a good play. You don't see too many runs like that from me. Against a Hall of Famer. I'm lucky I didn't get my head taken off. But that was pretty memorable. I was pretty jacked up after that. I thought Brian [Urlacher]'s a great player and I had a lot of respect for him, how he played. Yeah, going toward the lighthouse and it was third down and every once in a while, I kind of shake someone and I got him. Probably won't ever happen again.
Q: Something you can brag to your grandchildren about.
TB: I'm going to be bragging to everyone about that for a long time.
Q: Josh Gordon just said he felt like you guys were in a better place in terms of how those back-shoulder throws have gone and he feels confident about them moving forward. How difficult is it to get in the right rhythm with the receiver on those types of plays?
TB: Yeah, I think it's a lot of playing together and I think over a long period of time and I think the longer you play with guys, you just learn body language and they know when to expect it and look. I think those plays - I think timing and accuracy are important on all those ones. So I've just got to do a better job giving him opportunities to catch them. I think he's got great hands. He's got a great awareness and feel. I'm just so impressed with how he's come in and learned everything and the role that he's taken on. So I've got to do a better job of putting the ball in his position where he can just go up and make the play.
Q: Do you feel like those game reps where you've tried that play have helped in terms of building to where you want to be?
TB: Yeah, I think we're working on it and I think every day we're working on it. I just think the longer we go, the better it's going to get. It's going to get better over the course of time and it's not going to be one week or two weeks, it's going to be every week. And if you just keep building, it just gets better and better and better. So that's what we're working at.
Q: When you go against a great pass-rushing team, does your internal clock speed up a little bit and do you feel like you have to get the ball out a little faster?
TB: Yeah, I think any time you play a good pass-rush you've got to be able to get the ball out and play on time, play on rhythm. They're trying to knock you off rhythm and to keep you holding the ball. So that's a little bit of a chess match. But they've got a good rush. They've strip-sacked a lot of quarterbacks, Khalil [Mack]'s having an incredible year, he's a great player. We played against him in the past. I think we know the challenge that he is, but they've got a lot of other guys on the front who are good players too. It's a very good defense and they're going to give us all we can handle. So I hope we can go up and meet the challenge.
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