Super Bowl XLVI – Tuesday, January 31, 2012(on what being at Super Bowl week for the first time in his career is like) “Oh, it’s fun. This is fun. You get to have a day like this where you get to relax and enjoy the moment, so it’s cool.”
(on who is the most wired-up out of the young guys) “That’s a good question. We try to keep everything calmed down as much as possible. We let the energy kind of increase as the week goes on, so I don’t know. But there are a lot of good candidates for that award.”
(on already having one practice under their belt this week) “I am glad we got that out of the way so we can get things on course for the rest of the week. We aren’t usually in practice on Monday, but two weeks (in between games) is a long time, so we want to get as much pad stuff and as much hitting out of our system to get back to a routine as best as possible.”
(on how important Offensive Line Coach Dante Scarnecchia has been to getting Waters adjusted to the Patriots) “Well he has definitely been an important key to it because he is the guy that helps my transition. He knows what things I knew and didn’t know coming in, so he helped really emphasize the things I didn’t know and made it easy for me – simplified it. Really, instead of trying to learn the whole playbook at one time, we really focused on week-to-week until we got really familiar with what we were doing.”
(on if Scarnecchia was hard on him when he first got there) “Oh yeah. He definitely didn’t slack off on me. He didn’t treat me any different from anybody else.”
(on Waters’ role during the regular-season game when the Patriots were down to their “third-string” center Nick McDonald) “(Helping McDonald block) is just something that a lot of teams do now so the center can keep their eyes on the defense. It is something that is transitioning and believe me, a lot of old school coaches don’t really like it, but it something that a lot of teams are doing now.”
(on what it says about Scarnecchia that he can be down to his third or fourth-string center and not miss a beat) “Well, he is a very good coach and the reason he is a good coach is because he expects everybody to play a high level – no matter where you are, no matter how old you are, no matter how high you were drafted. If you’re on this football team, there is a reason you are on this football team. He expects you to be a performer.”
(on what it is like blocking for Tom Brady) “It is really no different than any other quarterback to be honest with you. That is our main job – to protect the quarterback and give the running backs a chance to be successful. And that’s pretty much it. It doesn’t matter if it is Tom Brady or anybody else, but it definitely doesn’t lighten the pressure (because of) the fact that it is Tom Brady.”
(on what the biggest challenge is in stopping the Giants from getting to Brady) “To be honest with you, (trying to get to Brady) is pretty much every team’s biggest task when they go against us. So, we expect that from every team. Some teams just have the type of talent to get it done and the Giants do. They have the type of individual talent and as a group to get that done, so we definitely have hard days of work ahead of us. We know that is a key part of being successful as a football team – to make sure that Brady stays clean and gets an opportunity to get the ball out to those special players that we have out there in the skilled positions.”
(on the difference in the Giants’ defensive line from the first time he played them) “I don’t think there is much different other than the fact that their guys are a little bit healthier. I think (Justin) Tuck was coming off an injury. They are deep, they’re a deep group. They are doing a lot more things as far as how they are scheming up and moving people around, but there is not much different besides the fact that they are playing better.”
(on the best part of being an offensive lineman) “The fact that you are able to play as physical as you are (allowed to play). You don’t really have to worry about fumbling and different things like that. You really are able just to put your hands on players and if you have that physical mentality, it is a great position for you.”
(on the worst part of being an offensive lineman) “Nobody notices you unless you are doing something wrong. That is the only time you get your name called is when you are messing up.”
(on which other positions he played growing up) “I played everything, pretty much. I think the only positions I haven’t played are wide receiver and defensive back. No quarterback either, but I have played everything else. I came into this league as a tight end.”
(on what he would be doing if he wasn’t playing football) “I’d probably be coaching. I love the game and I love developing and working with young people, so yeah, I’d probably be coaching.”
(on being on this side of Super Bowl Media Day for the first time and what he sees) “It is a different view from down here than watching it on the television, that’s for sure. I like this view better. I am excited like everybody else. It’s one of those things where you try not to get too excited because it is a long week; we still have a few days ahead of us.”
(on the matchups between the Patriots’ offensive line and the Giants’ defensive line) “There are so many of them – both individually and as a group. Those guys are really good. It is evident by the way they play. They are a key to the whole football team because their ability to do what they do really well allows the other guys to be successful and it also allows our offense to stay within their game plan, knowing that those guys can make plays for them both with the run and the pass and being very effective against the other team’s offense. So, like I said, they can throw different guys at you. They have a bigger group that can try and stop the run and they have a smaller group that can really pick up the pass pressure, so it is definitely something that we have to pay close attention to.”
(on how the tightness as a group of the offensive line has evolved throughout the season) “I’ve had an opportunity to know a couple of these guys before I got here. I had a lot of respect for Matt Light and Logan (Mankins) and the way they played the game before I got here and then just working with Nate (Solder) and Sebastian (Vollmer) – those are two of the most talented football players, especially young players, that I have ever been around. So, it has been a really good group. Even the young guys like Donald Thomas and Nick McDonald, Ryan Wendell, those guys have really stepped up when asked, whether it be for a handful of plays or to start a game when they had never started a game in their careers. It just shows that these guys are professional and they love the game and they have a lot of respect for each other that they stay accountable to each other. It’s a good group; it’s definitely a good group.”
(on how much interaction the players have with Owner Robert Kraft) “We have a lot of interaction because he is always there – he is there every day. He is in the locker room. He works out with us at times. He uses the same facilities that we use as far as with the trainers and different things like that. He is very approachable. He comes by and speaks. He is a very hands-on owner; a very family-type owner. He is definitely an owner that a lot of guys have exposure to because he is always around.”
(on his role as an NFLPA executive committee member during the lockout) “It wasn’t an easy process. There were a lot of guys involved with that, but honestly, the concern was for the game and making sure we didn’t interrupt this great product that we have. The fans around the world really enjoy this game and I think we all knew the responsibility that we had that if we were to interrupt that, it would have been bad for everybody.”
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario