Patriots vs Bengals: Tom Brady Post Game Press Conference Transcript
On what a difference a week makes:
"Yeah, it was a ... we got off to a great start, so I think we talked about that all week. It was a long week for every body so we wanted to start fast and we got ahead, we played from ahead for once, we ran the ball great, got some turnovers on defense, so it was a great win."
On how much the fans picked him up when they started chanting "Brady, Brady":
"It was awesome. I mean, I've been here a while. We have great fans, we get great support. It's great to play well and play in this environment. I'm a very lucky guy."
On the fact things seem to be settling down up front on the offensive line:
"Yeah, it's always great to have, certainly the guys there who played their butts off tonight and a lot of guys played still, but I've got a lot of confidence in all those guys out there. Whoever's in there, they're here for a reason. They can play, they play well, and hopefully we can build on this. It's one game. As disappointing as last monday night was, this one is great, we all feel great, but we've got to get back to work tomorrow because we've got a huge game this week against Buffalo."
On the fact Gronkowksi was very emotional talking about Brady, saying, his job was to go out and help "Tom be Tom" and the fact guys rallied around him:
"And I rally around them. I love that guy, everything he's done for this team and the attitude that he brings, he's a phenomenal player. He's been through a lot, you know? Talk about mental toughness, nobody's got more mental toughness than him. It's great to play with him, all the guys, Julian [Edelman] and guys that have been around here a little bit, the new guys, Danny [Amendola] and Brandon LaFell and Aaron Dobson made some plays and Tim Wright made some plays tonight, Hooman [Michael Hoomanawanui], [James] Develin got the ball, totally unselfish. All the guys up front played great, it was just a great win for us."
On the fact they normally ignore the noise but this week it seemed like more people heard it:
"Well, it's hard to be oblivious to things. I mean, we all have tv's or the internet. The questions I get and the emails I get from people that are always concerned, and I'm always emailing back like, "nobody died, it's just a loss." I think we've always done a great job putting losses behind us quickly and trying to move forward. It doesn't always go right, you don't go undefeated every year. You're trying to build something and we're trying to build something that is going to be tough to compete with. So when we play like we played tonight, still it wasn't perfect, there's still a lot of things that we can do better and we're going to work at it and we always do that. We come in and we talk about things we didn't do well and we talk about things we did do well and things we need to build on. Our coaches do a great job of that. We've got a great group."
On the stories that there was "tension" between he and the coaching staff:
"Well, I love all those guys, all my coaches and I've never had any tension with any of them, truthfully. You know, it's unfortunate that some things get said and talked about, especially when they don't come from me and I think when you're in the middle of, especially a real tough week for our team to deal with things that are really outside of football that are very personal and are very personal relationships I've built up for a long time. I've got a lot of love and trust for everybody in this building because we all count on each other, we rely on eachother, I think the great thing about this team is when we win, we always spread it around to every body and when we lose, we always take it to heart and I think that's probably different than what human nature is. I think a lot of times when you lose, people start pointing fingers and instead we tend to blame ourself, which is probably a great hing for us because we can learn from our mistakes, and then we move forward trying to be a better teammate, better player, and certainly controlling what you can do, which is go out there and play your best and a lot of guys did that tonight."
On if emotion can play into a game:
"Yeah, absolutely. It's a game of emotion and you can't come out there without being at your highest. Coach talks about it all the time. We play once a week. So whatever you have to do get yourself ready for that one moment. We work hard all year round for 16 games and I think being at your peak every week for game time is what's most important. The guys emotionally were ... I know on the flight home last week guys were wishing that we could get right back out there and do it again because we knew that were certainly a lot better than the way we played. We played a lot better tonight and we're going to need to play a lot better next week."
On his emotion on that first drive:
"Well, we were all ready. I think we were all ready. We were ready to go out there and play a great game of football. I thought everyone had a great week and we talked a lot about the things we needed to do to get better and we did some great things, certainly. Not turning the ball over is helpful. There's still a couple too many penalties which hurt us a little bit there and getting the ball in the red area when we have a chance is going to be really important. But, like I said, it's a great football team we play. They're 3-0, they're playing really well all year and we got ahead of them and we stayed ahead, and really kept the pressure on them."
On how satisfying the game was:
"It's certainly on Sunday night football and to come in there and play the way played was awesome."
On the play of the tight ends:
"They all played great. Certainly Gronk made some great catches and runs and I wish I had gotten the ball to him a few more times in positions where he could have done something with it, but he's a great player and getting him involved and Tim [Wright] involved, Hooman does a great job in his role, so all those guys played their butts off."
On what passing for 50,000 yards means to him and what the conversation was between he and Julian Edelman about how was going to spike the football:
"Yeah, I mean Jules and I are great friends, we always find something to goof around with. I love that guy and he's just a great person and friend. Like I said, I'm a lucky guy. 50,000 yards, it means I've played in the best place in the league for a long time playing for the best owner and the best coach, and being the most prepared because our coaches get us that way every week and playing with the best group of guys that are really selfless. We always talk about what Patriot football is and I think you saw it tonight."
On if a win like tonight can right the ship completely:
"Well ... we were in first place going into the night, so things weren't all bad."
On whether or not it can get them back playing consistently:
"I think every week in practice, we're trying to do that and the team that we are today is going to be very different than the team we are in two and a half months. We've got to make the improvements. We've got to get better. Certainly all of us have to play better. But it was a great night tonight, tonight it was good enough. We're all going to try to elevate our level of play and trust and confidence in one another to keep doing something that we want to achieve. We've got a great opportunity this weekend and all these games count for one whether it was, like I said, Monday night after we got our butts kicked, that counts for one loss. Tonight counts for one win and next week's going to count for one, so they're all important. We have to be at our best next week and getting off to a great start and having a great week is the best way that I know how to prepare to be ready to be at your peak. That's what they guys are going to work hard to do.
On the fact he has a pretty good track record of keeping track of slights and when people doubt him:
"I do?"
Yeah:
"That might be unfair."
On whether or not there was any impetus from people saying the team was done:
"I think it's a great opportunity for our team. I think that's a little ... we try not to get caught up in that stuff and I think you just focus on the things you can control. To ride the ups and downs of, ‘You're great. You suck. You're great. You suck,' it's exhausting. It's exhausting enough when you're winning to have to deal with those things and when you lose, it sucks for everybody. We don't play this game to go out there and not play well. Guys take it to heart. I think guys worked really hard this week to get prepared for tonight. Like I said, it was a great opportunity for us to come out and show what we're made of."
On if wanting to play better was more of a motivation than what anyone said about the team:
"Absolutely. You know, we get paid to play football. We get paid to play it well, actually. So, we should go out there and play really well. We work really hard all year round for these moments and what we experience in the locker room after that win, you can't put a price tag on that."
On the first drive and the later one where they came right back:
"Two drives stick out- the first drive and then the drive when they made it 20-10 and then you came right back and made it 27-10. Can you talk about what was happening in general on those drives that hasn't been happening lately?"
"Josh [McDaniels] talks about it all the time - ‘Guys, there's no special plays I can call. There are no magic plays that I'm just holding. You guys have to go out there and execute.' We worked hard on that all week. Certainly that first drive and execution was really good. We threw the ball, we caught it, we ran with it. When we ran it, we ran great, we blocked great. I mean, all of us - that's what offensive football is all about. Unless it's just one great individual performance on a particular, unless 11 guys are on the same page, it's not really a successful play. Both those drives we needed great execution. We played a defense that doesn't give up and easy plays. They don't give up any easy yards. The way we played tonight, we played physical, we played aggressive. We went out there and got started and we played from ahead, which we haven't done much of this season. So playing from ahead, you've got the whole game plan. They can't tee off you - they're playing from behind, they're trying to force plays. We've had to do that our fair share this year and that's not really where you want be offensively, so we stayed aggressive and ended up winning by a great margin."
On if he had a choice if he'd start with the football or defer:
"Well, we always defer when we win, so..."
On why that is:
"It's just a coaching decision and that's what happens. We used to not have a chance - whenever you flipped to coin before you could choose. Whoever won the toss got the ball. It's great to start the game and go ahead, especially at home. You know, you get great momentum, the crowd is into it. We kept them in there all night with all the guys making great plays."
On what he said on his scramble where he got in a confrontation:
"I don't remember. Everything was pretty emotional at that point. Everyone was pumped up. There was a lot of going back and forth tonight - a lot of jawing back and forth. We got a couple penalties out of it unfortunately, but our guys played really hard. I think we were really into it."
On if it's better to see that type of emotion vs being flat:
"I think, like I said, it was an emotional game and these games need to be emotion. You need to be at your emotional peak and have the highest amount of focus and determination. I think that's what you strive for every week. However you need to get to that point. That's where we have to be. That's where we have to be next week at one o'clock in Buffalo."
