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October 7, 2007

Transcript: Bill Belichick press conference

It’s good to win. It’s always good to win and be 5-0. I don’t think that was either team’s best game out there today, but in the end we were able to make a few more plays. We’ll take it and move on to Dallas. It was a physical game. There was a lot of hard hitting out there. I just don’t think on our end it was executed the way we are capable of. But, as I said, in the end we made enough plays, and that was good, but we left some out there too. I think we just have to do a better job all the way around in all three areas of the game, and the coaching, and I think we can play better than that. Give Cleveland credit. They’re tough. They can move the ball, like we talked about all week and they showed that today and they gave us some problems defensively.

Can you talk about the roles of turnovers, especially early in the game?
BB: It was big, especially the one in the end zone. That was obviously a big play. We were able to get [four] of them. Turnovers, field position, it’s always important and we all know the stats that go with those turnovers. We had some big ones today that either saved us points or the last one got us points.

Did you figure going in that it might be a little bit different with the game plan in terms of using [Donté] Stallworth a little bit more early? Ben [Watson] got involved later.
BB: No. Not really. We just pretty much ran our stuff and a lot of that is dictated by the coverage and the matchups that we have there. I thought, for the most part, it came to probably the right spot on the ball. I don’t think our execution was as good as what it could be or maybe what it has been in other games.

How satisfying was the first red zone stop?
The first one of the year. Finally. I thought we played a little better in the red area. I really do. I think we tightened things up a bit, but we still need to do a better job of that.

What are your thoughts on Rodney [Harrison’s] performance there being his first game back?
I’ll have to take a look at the tape, but it’s good to have him back out there. We probably could have done with out the penalties.

Do you like how your team answered after they closed it to 20-10?
Yeah, that was a big drive. That was a big drive. After we had the penalty there and hitting Ben on that 2-and-20, something like that, that was a big play on that drive. We needed that drive. We really didn’t move the ball at all in the third quarter, other than the reverse and I guess one other first down, but we weren’t moving much in the third quarter. We need to advance it and that was big.

Overall, Junior Seau just seems to sort of turn back the clock. He’s running all over the field. Can you comment on the energy that he’s been bringing to the defense?
Oh, it’s been tremendous. Junior adds a lot of energy to our defense, to our entire football team. I think a lot of people on the team, a lot of players, coaches – all of us, respond to him. He has a great love for the game and a preparation for it as well, not just playing it, but he prepares hard during the week. You can see him in practice. You see pretty much the same thing as what you see out there on Sunday. He’s consistent. He brings it every day. He has a good level of energy and it’s real good for our football team. It’s good for our team. I’m glad we have him. I’m glad we do. He made some big plays today, but he makes plays every week and a lot of plays it’s things where he’ll draw something so somebody else can make it. It’s not in any way all about him. He’s a very unselfish player. He might be one of the most unselfish players I’ve ever coached.

You said during the week that it was basically [Jamal] Lewis who had carried the ball for them all year and they lost him early. Did you see that affect the offense for them at all?
Well, I think we had a lot of problems with [Jason] Wright. He bounced a lot of balls outside. He’s more of a loose play guy, similar to what we saw last week from [Kenny] Watson in Cincinnati. They ran some inside runs, but it wasn’t the same kind of power style that Lewis brings. I thought he ran the ball well and we got hurt on some bounce out and perimeter plays. It was a different challenge. They’re both good backs. It certainly gave them another option in the passing game. They hurt us on that angle route and the screen, things like that. I’m not sure that Lewis would have…well he might not have been in there on that play, but those are good plays for him and he runs them well.

Can you talk about that goal line stand and how it kind of got your defense going?
We weren’t actually in our goal line defense, but the ball was down there close. We were able to make a couple of plays with our regular defense in there. That was important, obviously. It was a good job to keep them out of the end zone. Then we got the tipped ball and the turnover. That gave us a lift. It seemed like we needed something to get us going a little bit today.

Did Junior think he was in the end zone on that one interception where he threw his hands up?
I don't know. He was pretty happy to get two in one game. I don't know. You’d have to ask him about that. I don’t know what Junior is thinking sometimes.

How did you like the kickoff coverage?
We had our moments. It’s a challenge though. They’re a great return team. [Joshua] Cribbs is a terrific runner. They didn’t break any real long ones, but they had some good field position. We got them down there a couple of time early, but it was a challenge. It was a problem.

Junior is pass coverage, have you noticed an improvement at all? After 18 years in the league, I don't know if he could improve.
I think Junior is a very astute player. He understands the passing game and he understands who the threats are, and those change from week-to-week and by passing scheme to passing scheme. One team throws a little bit different than the next. He understands football very well. He knows where the threats are and he’s very aware of those, both in the running game and in the passing game. He’s really outstanding in terms of knowing what needs to be done and what needs to be taken away in certain coverages and against different looks. I think he’s been pretty good at that since he’s been here. He’s a very instinctive player, but he knows what’s going on.

Is Watson’s production directly connected to the wide receivers around him?
I don't know. I think they all help each other. I think they all probably help each other – Stallworth and Watson, it seemed like they had more production today and a little bit less to Randy [Moss] and Wes [Welker], although we had our chances with them, we just maybe didn’t take advantage of some of the opportunities that we had. It’s hard to cover all of them. I can tell you that from practice. They all have good ability and they can get open and Tom [Brady] can get them the ball.

Were you impressed with some of the things that the Browns were able to do stop, something other teams haven’t been able to do, stop Moss?
Yeah, I think the Browns are a good football team. I think they’re a well-balanced team. They’re good in the kicking game. They gave us problems on defense and they moved the ball against us. That really didn’t come as any big surprise to me. They’ve been doing that.

When a team has six turnovers coming into a game, on paper do they look vulnerable?
I try not to put too much weight on the stats in previous games. Everything is pretty well contained within each competitive contest. Sometimes that stuff that has happened in the past doesn’t necessarily reflect the matchup in this game.

As games following Monday night go, how do you change your expectation level about efficiency performance, etcetera?
I just think we have to do a better job. I think we can play better than we played. We just didn’t play as well as I think we’re capable of playing in any phase of the game. We have to do a better job of coaching. When the players don’t play well, then that’s a reflection of the coaching. I think we just have to do a better job all the way around – long week, short week or any other week.

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