Bill Belichick's PostGame Comments
Here is the complete transcript of what head coach Bill Belichick had to say following New England's final regular season win over Miami on Sunday.
OPENING STATEMENT:
“Well, once again, I give our team a lot of credit, the players really did a good job here today. They've really been focused and I thought played well today in all three phases of the game. We had big plays on offense, defense, special teams. We had some guys step up that hadn't played a lot that made some big plays for us. Overall it was a pretty solid effort. So it's good to end the season on this note, but right now though we're just like everybody else; everybody is 0-0 at this point in the playoffs. So it's time for us to get focused on the next target, but it's a nice way to end the season. I'm proud of the way the guys played today, they stepped up and played like the AFC champions that they are.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Not to put words in his mouth, but Belichick obviously meant “AFC East Champions” in that final sentence)
On BenJarvus Rushing for 1,000 Yards this season:
“Well, I think the most important thing is just the team playing well, and he's done a good job for us all year. Individual stats aren't really our primary focus around here, we're trying to win games. But he's done a lot to help us win them.”
On whether holding Wes Welker and Deion Branch out was injury based or if something else went into the decision:
“Well, I'd say it was primarily the former, yeah.”
On whether he liked what he saw from Taylor Price and Julian Edelman:
“We saw him against Chicago. Like I said, some guys got to play more in this game than did some other games and that was good for them. We'll take a look at the film and see how it all came out, but it was good to give some guys an opportunity to play. They may be playing here later on in the season…who knows? So that's always good experience.”
On why he put Brian Hoyer in during the second quarter, and if he was trying to ‘keep Hoyer on his toes’:
“Well, that could easily happen in a game when a quarterback comes out and the other quarterback has to go in, so that's what he did.”
On why he would keep out their top three receivers (Wes Welker, Deion Branch, and Aaron Hernandez – who were inactive) and play Tom Brady:
“The decisions we make are the way they always are - it’s what's best for the football team. So that's what we did, we did what we felt was best for the team. Everybody else may not see it that way, but that's what we try to do - we try to do what's best for the team.”
On whether it was safe to say the players escaped Sunday without any major injuries:
“Well, it's a physical game. I'm sure we'll have some guys with some bumps and bruises come in here tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. I don't know.”
On how he’s able to get his players to play hard despite having the top seed wrapped up:
“Well, I think if you're a competitor and you play in the game, you want to go out there and compete and play in it. I know you all don't look at it that way, but I think if you compete in a game, you compete.”
On the progress of Green-Ellis this season:
“He's been pretty solid for us all the way through. I think that's one of the biggest things about Benny is his consistency - training camp, regular season, preseason and all the way through. I think he's been really consistent.”
On what it says about his team to put up big numbers in a game like this one:
“Like I said, I think our players were focused. They played well today and took advantage of some opportunities.”
On whether Danny Woodhead could have returned to Sunday’s game after leaving with a “Head Injury” (He was listed as “Questionable” for the remainder of the game but didn’t return)
“I don't know. It didn't really come to that.”
On whether or not it was important to him for Green-Ellis to reach the 1,000 yards rushing mark:
“I think the important thing was for the team to go in there and play solidly in all three phases, like we've practiced and prepared for all week. It will be a couple weeks before we play again, so the guys that played got a good opportunity to play and then some other people that hadn't played as much also got a chance to play, so that's kind of the way it worked out.”
On the defensive effort for New England:
“Yeah, we had our moments on defense. We gave up a few plays we'd rather not give up and they've got some quality receivers there in [Davone] Bess, [Brandon] Marshall, good backs. I thought our defense competed well. Some things could have been better, but overall it was pretty solid.”
On whether or not Tom Brady is playing better than he has ever played:
“I don't know. He's been a pretty good player for us. I don't really think you rank them. You go out there and prepare every week and go out there and try and play well and win.”
On his touchdown to interception ratio:
“He's playing well. He's done a good job for us and the guys that are catching them are doing a good job, too. The guys that are blocking are doing a pretty good job, the guys that are running the ball. Really, when you have a good offense it's usually because the whole team is playing well offensively, not just one guy. I think that's the case on offense for us. We've had good play out of multiple players and that's what makes it run.”
On what makes Julian Edelman so dangerous in the open field:
“I think he's quick. He's strong for his size. He breaks a lot of tackles. He's got good balance. Guys hit him and he's still able to stay on his feet and keep moving.”
On whether or not his lack of receptions recently have given him any confidence issues, and if it was good to see him play well today:
“I think it was good for some of the players that haven't had as many opportunities to play in recent games that they were able to get in there and play today and get some playing time. We'll see how all that plays out going forward, but I think it's good that they were able to do that. And the guys that have been playing, I think they got a pretty good opportunity to play as well too. We'll have a week off, but they played a pretty solid game today against a good football team and I think that will serve us well. It's good experience and hopefully we can learn from it and continue to get better and work hard for whoever we've got coming up here in a couple weeks. We don't really know who that is, but we know it will be a team that's won, so it will be a good team.”
On Rob Gronkowski’s contributions this year, most notably in the red zone:
“Rob's done a good job for us all year. He's blocked well. He's caught the ball and he's scored touchdowns. He's a big target down there. He's a hard guy to overthrow. He's got a good catching radius. He does a good job of positioning himself on the defender so that the quarterback can put the ball where he can get it and the defender can't. He's done a nice job. He's an instinctive receiver.”
On how someone like Brady hates losing any game at anytime and what makes him play that way:
“I think that's what competitors do, is they compete regardless of the score or situation. You don't control those things as a competitor, you just control your opportunity to compete, whether you've got the ball on their 1-yard line or your 1-yard line or the score is 30-0 one way or the other or it's the first game or the last time. I think when you've got competitors on your team, that's what they do- they go out and compete. I think we've got a lot of them on our team. So I'm proud of that, I'm glad we've got them.”
