Patriots coaches and players comment on their upcoming AFC Divisional playoff game against the Tennessee Titans.
On facing the Titans...
"This is a team that's been in a lot of close games. They're tough, they're resilient, won on the road, won tough games the last two weeks that they needed to win to be here. I have a lot of respect for their program, the way they play, the way they coach, the way they compete and [they're] a tough, hard-nosed team."
- Head Coach Bill Belichick
"They're good. They're good at all levels. They've got veteran players at all levels. They take advantage of bad football. They've got a lot of interceptions in the secondary. They rush, they cover well. I think it's a good group. They've got a great coordinator. He's been coaching a long time, so they'll be prepared for us. Ultimately, it's got to just be about us trying to go out there and trying to execute against a team that's already won a playoff game."
- Quarterback Tom Brady
"They've basically won two playoff games - one to get into the playoffs and a playoff game last week. It just shows how tough they are, how fundamental they are and that they're ready to bring it in the clutch times."
- Tight End Rob Gronkowski
"You've got every team fighting to play for the next week. Nobody's going to go out there, and I don't care if you're down, if you're up, like no one is going to quit. So, that's something I think we always talk about, and obviously you could see it in that game against Kansas City. Tennessee just kept fighting, just kept fighting, just kept trying to do the things the right way. And you make a couple plays, the whole game kind of turns around. So, we're obviously fully aware of that. We've been in games like that, so we've talked all week about playing 60 minutes. Tennessee's played in a lot of close games, and they've won a lot of close games. So, we're getting to that point, we've got to be on point, we've got to do our job and there won't be much room for error."
- Safety Devin McCourty
"Our whole season comes down to this week and this is the best football team that we will have faced all season long. They're playing well. They've really won two playoff games when you think about the situation that they've been in. Everyone's really focused in. There's a great sense of urgency and we've got to have a great week of preparation and see where that gets us."
- Special Teams Captain Matthew Slater
"Well, it's a one-game season. This is what you work for, is to get to this position. Now we're in it. Now you put everything that you have into this one-game season. We have one game left against the Titans. We have to play better than they do to be able to continue playing. That's a huge challenge."
- Head Coach Bill Belichick
On playing at Gillette Stadium...
"Well, again, I think it's going to be about how we play and not necessarily where we're playing. We've actually, probably, played better on the road at times this year than at home. I think crowd plays a factor into the games with the communication and hopefully we can take advantage of that. We've done a good job playing at home. We're out to do a great job this week against a very good team in the biggest game of the year."
- Quarterback Tom Brady
On Titans RB Derrick Henry...
"He's a hard guy to tackle. He runs strong, he's powerful, breaks tackles. He's very good in the open field, he's elusive, he's good in space, he can run like a small back in space and he's had some long runs - 60-yarders, 65-yarders, whatever they were - where he runs through multiple guys, cuts back against the grain. You see him run in the open field very productively. So, he's more than just a power back. He's a good space back and very athletic guy, can catch the ball."
- Head Coach Bill Belichick
"He's a big guy. A lot of times it takes more than one guy to bring him down, so the more guys we can get to the ball, the better our tackling will be."
- Safety Duron Harmon
"You've got to be able to defend everywhere. You know, he's not just a guy because he's big that he's going to put his head down and just run straight. If everybody crashes inside, he'll bounce. He has the speed to get around the edge. But, I think his numbers are obvious - wherever he is at rushing overall, but you see the stat where he's second in the league in fourth-quarter rushing. I think that speaks volumes with him just wearing teams down."
- Safety Devin McCourty
On the Titans defense...
"Titans have got a good defense, a very, very good defense. They don't do a lot of things to beat themselves. They're one of the fewest penalized teams. They create a lot of turnovers, sacks, and also I think they're the best run defense in the AFC right now, haven't given up many long runs. So, they're playing very good football right now. It's definitely going to be a challenge. Like I said, they do a good job of getting to the quarterback, stopping the run, and that's really kind of what you ask out of your front line guys. So, they do a good job with the blitz schemes, all those things, so it's going to be a challenge, but every week is."
- Center David Andrews
