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Questions & Housecleaning

I've received a number of e-mailed questions since starting the blog. Here's a pair of them received in the past few days.

Keep 'em coming, I like to hear from you.

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QUESTION
Tom, long standing Pats fan from Warwick here (still have my ‘85 Craig James jersey from when I was 10). I was curious to know how you prepare for Coach Belichick’s press conferences when you may get the chance to ask only 1 question (as opposed to a 1 on 1 interview). Obviously, you probably want to probably have several questions ready in case other reporter’s ask the same thing, plus you want it to be thoughtful/valid as you don’t want to end up like some poor soul in front of a Belichick firing squad.

Rob B.

ANSWER

Rob,

I like to go with a plan for the day, a thesis for what I'm writing about. For instance, yesterday (for today's paper) I wanted to highlight Jake Delhomme's passion and the versatility of the Panthers running game. I asked Belichick about their ground game, how intricate it is in terms of personnel and about Stephen Davis. He took Delhomme questions from some other writers so I didn't need to ask any on him.

He appreciates a question that shows at least a passing knowledge of the subject, that goes a little beyond the surface of, "Talk about Stephen Davis," for example.

In the press conference setting it's not hard to ask two or three consecutive questions and Belichick is very good about taking follow-ups and helping out by going into further detail anytime a reporter says he needs something explained to him.

I think that, because of his style, even people who cover the beat only part-time know far more about why things happen at game-time than they ever did.

T

QUESTION

Carolina defensively has good corners, missing a Pro Bowl lineman but still only gave up 290 total yards. Do you think this could be a low scoring game? Will this Hurricane have any field condition effect?

ANSWER

Well, you and I both know it COULD be low-scoring, but I don't think it will. My feeling is both of these offenses are too good and "multiple" to be held down all game. Say, for instance, the Patriots take away Davis and DeShaun Foster, I really feel the Carolina passing attack with Steve Smith, Ricky Proehl, Kris Mangum, Rod Gardener, etc. to get them points. Same for New England. I would hate to be a defensive coordinator trying to give my defense one or two things to really concentrate on stopping defensively.

My guess is this game gets played in the mid-20s.

T.

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Several New England Patriots players spent their day off at Otis Air
National Guard Base at Camp Edwards on Cape Cod on Monday, delivering
much-needing clothing items to the families displaced to the base in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Kevin Faulk, Bethel Johnson, Don Davis and Eric Alexander, along with assistant strength and conditioning coach, Harold Nash, drove to the base to deliver the goods and meet with the 200 people currently staying at the base.

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Quarterbacks Drew Bledoe of the Dallas Cowboys, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Byron Leftwich of the Jacksonville Jaguars are the finalists for FedEx Express NFL Player of the Week honors for games played on September 8-12, while running backs Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs, Willie Parker of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carnell Williams of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the finalists for FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week honors, the NFL announced today.

Fans can vote for one player in each category on NFL.com from Tuesday morning through noon EST on Friday to determine the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week. The winners will be announced Friday afternoon on NFL.com.

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The Patriots will launch a new weekly show geared towards children and families, called "Totally Patriots." It will launch on Sunday, September 18 on WCVB-TV Channel 5 in Boston and air every Sunday at 11:00 a.m., immediately after the Emmy Award-winning "Patriots All Access."

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