Super Bowl XLVI – Thursday, February 2, 2012(on the team’s approach from this point on) “Everything is still the same. We take it one day at a time. Coach (Bill) Belichick has our schedule and we just follow his lead. We’ve got a couple meetings after this and then we’ve got practice and then we’ll see what happens from there.”
(on the feeling of being 5-3 after losing to the Giants) “It wasn’t good. We felt like that was one of our worst games we played, going into Pittsburgh knowing that in order to beat that team we had to put our best foot forward, and we didn’t do it. Not only that, just coming back from…after we lost to Pittsburgh, losing to the Giants right after that. It just wasn’t good at the time, but also at the same time, we realized that we weren’t playing our best football.”
(on being back in the Super Bowl) “It’s an honor. It’s an honor just to be a part of it. To have the opportunity to come here, to come back, and also to play with these guys and play with my quarterback who I came into the league with, it’s an honor.”
(on watching the Patriots play when he was in Seattle) “To be honest, you don’t have that much time to really watch other teams, unless it’s a later game, which they played a lot of primetime games. Me just personally pulling for my guys…when I was in Seattle I was all in Seattle. I was all in with those guys, but I was also pulling for these guys to win some games in the times when I did get to see them play.”
(on coming back to the team and playing in the Super Bowl) “It’s a blessing. The opportunities for guys to return to the team they started with are very slim, and the option that Coach Belichick chose to bring me back and I accepted. Trust me, I was going to accept it regardless. It was a blessing the day it happened. I think the opportunity presented itself once Mr. (GM John) Snyder and Coach (Pete) Carroll sat down and said, ‘We’re probably going in a different direction,’ which is understandable. I respect those guys to the utmost. I was thankful that coach also wanted to bring me back.”
(on being one of the few remaining members of the team from the Patriots’ last Super Bowl) “What is it, seven or eight guys from the last Super Bowl? We all share a major bond. We want to also do that with this group of guys. I think once you be a part of something like this, be a part of a Super Bowl, you have this friendship forever. There’s a lot of football. We were just talking yesterday about how long we’ve been playing ball. We’ve been running around in meetings since July. Had we not had a lockout, it would be probably since last March. That’s a long time, but I don’t accept that each and every year to be a part of this, be one of the last two guys playing in this game.”
(on what QB Tom Brady has said to him about bouncing back from the AFC Championship Game) “There wasn’t a lot said. Me and Tom are locker mates, so the conversation we have on the regular is beyond football, but to see my guy feeling down after a game that he felt like he didn’t play his best is understood. We respect him, but we also want to let him know that we’re here for him regardless of what he did. Nobody had a perfect game. I would say the defense did a great job, but anybody on the offensive side of the ball, I wouldn’t say we had a perfect game at all. So he shouldn’t put everything on his back, but he’s a leader and that’s what leaders do. They accept that and they bounce back from it.”
(on Brady seeming lighter this week) “He’s a lot lighter because our practices are going great. Guys are responding to his demands on the football field, and we’re looking forward to the same thing in the game Sunday.”
(on the amount of time the offense needs to score from 80 yards out at the end of a game) “It’s all about the situation of the game. I can’t sit here and say we need a minute or two minutes. It’s just all about what we need, how much time we have. I can’t give you that time though.”
(on if the team would have won in 2007 if they’d had 30 more seconds) “We played them in the regular season and I think we left too much time on the clock. You can look at it that way as well. I can’t say. I wasn’t here in ’07. How much time did they have on the clock? Thirty seconds? They had the ball on the, what, the 30-something-yard line. It’s all about getting that first play going. You get the first play going, then you can kind of go from there. They didn’t make a first down or anything, right? The odds are stacked up against you if you don’t get a positive play, and then he took a sack. I do remember that. You can’t get a sack in that situation.”
(on if the odds are in their favor to score if they have at least a minute left) “I’m very confident that we could get it done, but we don’t want to be in that situation.”
(on if he’s been the tour guide at all for his teammates) “Just a little bit. It’s kind of hard with the schedule that we have. I had some guys over to the house last night. My wife made a little dish for a couple of the guys that came over. It’s kind of hard, and then plus guys are so tired. Coach Belichick is getting a lot of us, and that’s what we’re here for. We’re here to work, but the free time we do have I do want to open my house up to my teammates.”
(on if it’s odd in the offseason to deal with Colts’ fans that see him) “No. Some of them are cool, some of them are not. I went to the (Indiana Pacers) game the other night. I took a couple of the guys to the game. A couple of the fans, they had about five that cheered for me and then another 14,000 that booed me, so it’s fun. I also understand, because I’m pretty sure that the Patriots fans would do the same thing to a Colts player that comes to New England.”
(on what his feeling was prior to his last Super Bowl when he was named MVP) “I have the same feeling now that I had in the past. Me personally, I just want to go out and do anything I can to help my team. I want to make each and every play. When Tom needs somebody to throw the ball to, I want to be that guy if he can’t find his first read or whatever. I’m just embracing this. To be an MVP, it’s hard to say because nobody really goes into the game saying I want to be the MVP of the game.”
(on if that game felt different in any way) “No, it didn’t. It felt like one of the regular season games, but we knew that this was it. This was the last game, so I pretty much laid it on the line. I gave it my all the entire game. I was beat after the game. I couldn’t spend too much time with my family. I was so tired and my body was worn. I had to wake up the next morning at eight and I think I got up at about 9:30 or 10.”
(on if he ever dreamt as a kid about having an MVP performance in a game) “No. I was a soccer kid growing up, so it was a little different for me. I know people look at me all crazy, but I felt like I was a better soccer player growing up. But I think I chose the right sport. I think I did. Who knows?”
(on not having tight end Rob Gronkowski in practice and how it’s affected him) “It doesn’t affect anybody right now. That’s being honest. My job is to go in and I have a role on this team and I’ve got to go and do my job regardless of who’s on the field or not. Do we need Rob? Yeah, but if he’s not there, the ball will be kicked off at 6:30 and we’ve got to move forward.”
(on if Gronkowski’s absence is affecting preparation) “Not the way we prepare. Maybe the way the coaches formulate the game plan. There’s nothing that will change with me. My game is my game. That’s the coaches’ job to figure out the kind of game plan we’re going to have.”
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