« Transcript: Bill Belichick's postgame press conference | Main | Transcript: Randy Moss' postgame press conference »

December 16, 2007

Transcript: Tom Brady's postgame press conference

How important was this win for you? Especially playing in the elements, big win obviously for your head coach.
Yeah. Great win and I think [the weather is] probably the way it’s going to be next week, the week after, the week after - So it’s good to get out there gain some confidence that we can win a game when the conditions aren’t really like they’ve been. Ee’ve had great weather all year. Anytime you beat the Jets it’s a great win and 5-0 in the division and 14-0, so it’s a lot to be proud of.

(On how the conditions and the wet ball affect the offense.)
Wet, rain, wind, cold - for an offense - and then you lose your tight end early in the game too, so you’re kind of forced to throw it a lot. I think defenses had the upper hand today.

I know you have a lot of things you want to accomplish this season and still to accomplish but does the significance of being the second team ever to go 14-0 mean anything?
We’re just trying to get better and execute better each week. I’m happy we won today and I think next week is going to be a challenge. I’m glad we’re playing at home; the crowd was a factor today and hopefully we can play better next week.

Did you think you had [Randy] Moss in the end zone there where Hank [Poteat] reached in a broke it up?
Yeah I did. I did.

Were you amused, disinterested - what’s the word for the whole Belichick-Mangini subplot this week?
It’s just one of those things that’s not really in our control. We as a team have a lot of confidence in our coach and [the Jets are] very well coached. Eric [Mangini] is a great coach; we know that from being around here. We all have respect for that team and the coaches and they play extremely hard. I’m glad we got the win. I think that’s the way we approached it all week and what anyone says about anything… it ultimately comes down to the way you play. The more time and energy you spend focusing on things that really aren’t that important, you’re wasting time and energy.

Do you think that chapter is closed now on this rivalry or is that something that will always be part of it?
It’s a great rivalry as it is. I think since Coach Belichick got here and his history with the Jets, all the players we’ve had come from the Jets, and vice versa, it makes for a great rivalry. It’s always a tough opponent for us to face and I know last year we played them in some pretty [tough] conditions and lost. This year they tried to confuse us quite a bit with what they were doing and I thought we handled it a little bit better. [We] didn’t execute well enough to put drives together, but it was good to go down and get the field goal there at the end and I think we ran the ball pretty effectively at times.

How tough were those conditions and how much did they dictate the game plan?
It’s just one of those situations were there are a lot of things you don’t call because if you’re playing them on air you don’t hit them or complete them. Anything deep or to the sideline is challenging so you have to find a way to make those plays on the inside part of the field when you get your opportunities to make the plays. Obviously, it’s not very conducive to throwing the football. I wish we played in a dome every week, it’s 65 degrees or 70 degrees playing in a dome and elements are never a factor. That’s not the case in Foxborough, but you play with whatever conditions are out there and you just try to do the best you can do. I’m glad we got the win.

At the end of the second quarter, I think, you had the wind at your back, was that a factor?
Yeah, it’s kind of at your back but it’s kind of at the side too. It’s not like it’s straight down, it’s more to the side and across. Wind, no wind, it’s always challenging with the wind and then you put a wet ball out there and it’s challenging but I thought we made a lot of good plays, a lot of plays we needed. Randy [Moss] made a great catch there at the end. Wes [Welker] had a big third down catch. Those guys caught the ball really well. A lot of great concentration, and, like I said, it was a good win for us.

The way the conditions were, is it a possible benefit knowing that you might have to play a pair of playoff games in this in January?
I’m sure it’s going to be a factor throughout. I’ve been in this winter-time conditions, practiced in the snow and the rain and the sleet and it’s nice [that] the field we have [has] great footing. I always like it a little snowy out there so everyone doesn’t have great footing. It makes it kind of easier to throw the ball. When they have great footing… I like when everyone is on skates out there, like [Thursday’s] practice. We’ll probably have those conditions again. I hope we learned from today and we’ll just try to go out and play better next week.

Teams will rest their best players to protect them for the playoffs. Do you think you’ll play in the next two weeks? Or play much?
I hope so. I hope I play every snap. That’s the most exciting part of my job is playing; [it’s] not practicing, I know that.

You probably haven’t had the year everyone expected out of Laurence Maroney. Does a game like this, is he moving in the right direction, back on track per se?
It was a big game for him. I thought he played really well. I thought he ran the ball hard, took care of the ball, scored on the goal line. When you have elements like this you want to play great defense and run the ball and I thought we played great defense today and we ran the ball well. That’s what we’re going to need the rest of the season. Hopefully Laurence gained some confidence. I know we all have confidence in Laurence. He just hasn’t had quite the opportunity that he would like, but I know he was excited today.

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:11 PM | Permalink