Vince Wilfork's Press Conference Transcript
Here's Vince Wilfork's postgame press conference transcript following their win over Oakland on Sunday.
On the interception, if he was dropping back in coverage:
To be honest with you, I don't know what I did... to be honest with you. So I have to go back and watch the play. One thing you know, a lot of quarterbacks, when it comes to the passing game they want to go deep, and then try to come back to their security - and that's their checkdowns, or a [crossing route], or whatever it may be. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
On the fact he's got the team lead in interceptions:
Most important thing is we got the 'W' - it wouldn't have meant anything if we wouldn't have gotten the 'W'. I think it was a good team win. I think this whole week we challenged eachother. I think Bill challenged us, and we challenged eachother. I mean, we were very competitive in practice. This was like one of the best week's of practice that we had, not a lot of mental errors in practice. So we had a good week of preparation, and it showed. We went out and played ball. The plays we did give up, we just [had] miscommunications, missed tackles, missed assignments. We gave up two running plays and I think that was about 60 or 70 yards of their running game. But other than that, I think we handled the run game. I think a lot of people challenged us and basically said we couldn't stop their running game and all that. Well two plays, you take those two plays away, I think we handled them pretty good.
On the fact it seemed like Brandon Spikes stepped up today and other guys stepping up after Mayo went down:
I mean everybody played a hell of a ball game. Like I said, this is a great, great team win. I don't think any individual can take credit for what we did today. I think we're going to have to win games like this. All three phases are going to have to step up at certain times in the season, and I'm glad it happened today. Because we came to Oakland [who was] riding high, won a couple of ball games, playing some good football. We went on the road - one of the great traditions in history [is] to come to Oakland and play the Raiders - and we had everything against us. Our backs were against the wall, but you know what? Everyone stayed focused, this team stayed focused, we handled what we needed to handle, and we're walking away with the 'W', and it feels good to do that.
On how tough it is to prepare for the running game when facing spread formations:
Every week you have to change. That's one thing, like you said, every week is something different. You go from a spread team, to a power running team, to a team that does both, a play action team, so this week we knew exactly what we wanted to do. We knew what the Raiders wanted to do. They wanted to run the ball. We were challenged, and I think defensively we took it personally. And like I said, you take those couple runs out, and we handled the running game. We definitely handled the running game. But we have to keep getting better. This is not the end of the road. You know 3-1, that's definitely not where we want to be - we have to keep growing. And by far, we're not playing the type of football we're capable of playing, we're far from it. We're just going to have to keep grinding each week, get better each week, keep moving forward each week - guys gaining confidence, guys stepped up today that we're depending on and you've got to make plays when it counts, and that's what we did tonight.
On what they lose out there on defense when Jerod Mayo is out:
You know what? Everyone practices. We practice certain situations with different personnel in the game with different people in the game in practice, so we were very confident - whoever came into the game that they knew what they were doing and we could go with it. That's one thing that we try to do, is hold one another accountable, because you never know what may happen. People had to step today and they did.
On what he means to the defense:
He's our top defender. He's a top defender in this league. Anytime you have a top defender on the field, it always betters your chances to win. But you know what? We're going to have to keep rolling, we will keep rolling. The ball won't stop, I think when the opportunities for different guys [come] to step up, they have to step up. That's what's going to have to happen now.
On what he's learned about his team after four games:
They're tough. This is a tough, tough, tough bunch. They take coaching well, they take criticism well, and they're hard workers. Anything Bill puts on our plate, they try their best to do it. I mean they work so hard, and you can't ask for anything better than that. No complaining, people just come to work, put their hard hats on, whatever it may be that day. And like I said, Bill always challenges us, and you know we stepped up. Like I said, this week Bill challenged us just to play better football, and don't give away games. And we did, we came out, we played well, going into the fourth quarter we felt very confident in what we were doing, very confident. I don't care if it was down or up, I think we felt comfortable coming into this week. These guys are going to keep continuing to get better, and that's what we're going to need. Like I said, we're far from where we need to be, but if we keep moving and striving forward, I think we'll be O.K.
On his thoughts on Wes Welker:
He's a hell of a player. I'm glad he's on our side, I'll tell you that. Like I said, those guys, we spend a lot of time defensively going over adjustments or whatever on the sidelines, so at times we get a chance to see the offense at work, sometimes we don't. But when we do get a chance to see them work, we already know because we see it every week in practice what these guys are capable of doing. All those guys man. I could sit up here and talk about everybody. But you know what? To come out here on the West Coast against a Raiders team, our backs against the wall, and we stepped up, that's a big, big win for this organization. I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of the way we stepped up and certain situations we handled, I think we handled them pretty well, and that's what we're going to have to do to win.
On playing against Richard Seymour:
I haven't gotten the chance to see him, but we remain friends. That's one thing, we do remain friends. He's a competitor, I'm a competitor, I want to win, and he wanted to win. So I'm sure he's kind of pissed off, but you know what, that would never affect our friendship. I wish him the best of luck with his career, and he'll do the same with me.
