FOXBORO - On Wednesday, Randy Moss was called on the carpet by ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski for taking a few plays off during Sunday’s 31-28 win over the Eagles.
Yesterday, Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick, who was Minnesota’s offensive coordinator in 1998 (Moss’ rookie season with the Vikings), essentially stuck up for the Patriots [team stats] receiver.
Billick’s initial response to the charge was one of laughter, before he answered a specific question citing Jaworski’s contention.
“I look at a Patriots offense that is about to just zoom past that ’98 offense that I had, that holds the all-time scoring record, and no (I didn’t see that),” Billick said. “This team is running at a high level of efficiency.
I think that type of thing is overblown. If you chose to take a Polaroid snapshot of any player at any given time, you could probably find an instance that a player was maybe not 100 percent focused or coming off the ball.
“This is a tough, physical game. If you choose to isolate those things, I’m sure you could find it. I don’t put much credence in that.”
When asked if the Moss he sees on film now is the same one he remembers from ’98, Billick spoke in glowing terms.
“Obviously, I had a huge affection for Randy,” he said. “We throw the term ‘superstar’ and ‘unique’ around too flippantly for my liking, but those are unique terms and he’s as unique a player that has ever been in this game. I had him when he was just a puppy, and he was great to be around. I really enjoyed Randy. You just saw greatness written all over him. And then I tracked him through his trials and tribulations.
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