Super Bowl XLVI – Thursday, February 2, 2012(on this week leading up to the game) “I think everyone is doing well. We’re pretty upbeat with what’s going on. We know we are blessed with the opportunity to still have a game to play. We also know there’s 30 teams at home not getting the opportunity right now. We are blessed and fortunate we still have a chance to be out and still put on the uniform.”
(on the running game playing well as of late) “We’re just doing whatever we can to try and go out and win a football game. Whatever it takes for us to win is what we’re going to do. We’ve got to pass it, run it, throw it, kick it, punt, whatever it takes.”
(on the biggest concern playing the Giants) “It’s just being assignment sound and making sure we take care of things on every play. Whether it’s taking care of their front four or their blitzing linebackers or making sure we run good routes on safeties and their secondary. We just have to make sure we don’t let the little things slide through the cracks and make sure we nail and boot everything down.”
(on which guest speaker throughout the season was most impactful) “Actually, it really wasn’t this year but, last year Doc Rivers came and talked to us. What he said was really good. Also, this year they had the most winningest coach come talk to us. It was a sport like racquetball. I forgot what it is. I think he’s the most winningest coach in college history.”
(on why he was the best speaker that talked to him) “Because he talked about what it really takes to win. All those guys had a pretty good team. He has guys come from different parts of the world. He brought all those guys together for one common goal and that was just winning.”
(on the team’s roster turnover this season) “We have a bunch of different running backs, a bunch of wide receivers, a bunch of different defensive backs, a bunch of different linebackers. The whole team changed. There’s more turnover in this league than anything. I just think the consistency level from the coach and what he brings to the table is nothing else. He does a good job of choosing his players and picking them and getting the best out of them. And everybody does a good job of doing what they do well. We all try to come together for one common goal.”
(on if there are certain qualities a running back in Bill Belichick’s system needs to have) “I think that all running backs have those same qualities on any team. They need to be reliable, dependable. Here, whenever you’re called up, you need to be ready. Whether it’s the first quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter, you need to make sure you’re always ready because you never know when he’s going to decide to run the ball or decide to put us in the game. We could be in a five wide package and switch and put a running back in. You have to be ready at all time.”
(on if Bill Belichick has talked to him about shifting positions) “Everybody is making a big deal out of Aaron (Hernandez) playing running back because that’s uncommon. But as running backs we go out and play wide receiver all the time and no one says anything. To me, it’s like, not knocking anything Aaron (Hernandez) does because he can play a lot of places, but this is what we always do. Wes (Welker) lines up in the backfield. Aaron lines up in the backfield, Julian (Edelman). We might go out and play wide and they might be in the backfield. You have to do a lot of things to keep the defense off balance.”
(on what the team has to do so the Giants aren’t focusing just on Tom Brady) “It’s going to be important for us to go out and play well on offense, defense, special teams, for us to run the ball, throw the ball, everything we can do to put points on the board. That’s our No. 1 goal when coach puts us out there on the field is to score points.”
(on any specific challenge the Giants’ defense presents) “They present all types of challenges because they’re not only good on offense like I was saying but good on defense. They’ve been playing well on special teams as you can see from their San Francisco game. We have to come out and make sure we’re kicking on all cylinders because if not, things can go wrong for us in a hurry.”
(on this team being different defensively than other Patriot teams that played in the Super Bowl in the past) “I have total faith and confidence in our defense. They’ve been playing well and we just have to go out and make sure we do the things we can control. Right now as an offense and special teams make sure we handle the things that we can handle and the defense is going to do their job.”
(on if it gets old playing in the Super Bowl) “No sir. This is my first one but I don’t think this will ever get old. This is only Super Bowl XLVI and there’s only been that number of teams here so I think they’re too blessed and fortunate.”
(on his special chin strap he wears) “I’ll be wearing it this Sunday. It measures the amount of impacted registered when I hit my head. When I hit and get an impact level that comes back like a concussion and that amount of impact my chin strap is blinking or something. People on the sideline have to take me through the tests. It’s just something that can assist coaches and trainers.”
(on what Myra Kraft’s memorial patch means) “It means a whole lot to our team and our organization and actually the whole New England community because everyone knew what Mrs. Kraft meant to the community. We’re just happy that she was here with us for the time that she was.”
(on if the patch is a motivating factor) “At the beginning of the season Mr. Kraft and Jonathon (Kraft) told us the season was going to be dedicated to Mrs. Myra (Kraft) and we just embraced that at the very beginning before the season started. We’ve been going every game since then.”
(on if it contributes to the sense of family on this team) “Yes sir. (Kevin Faulk) said it all right there. We all know we’re in it together and we are a family and no one is bigger than the team. We’re going to have to play together to receive the common goal that we all want.”
(on the running game being key is this game) “We just want to come out and play well. Whatever happens on Sunday, whichever way the game turns whether it’s running the ball, throwing the ball, we just want to win. Whether we kick it, pass it. If we get 10 safeties and they score 18 points and we win I’m happy.”
(on having fun this season) “I enjoy playing the game of football. That’s one thing I pride myself on. I love to play the game of football. Whether we’re playing in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl or we was playing in the backyard, I’ll still be excited.”
(on the Patriots’ offensive linemen) “They always do a good job of doing what they have to do and move people out of the way and opening up some room for us to run through. We are thankful for that.”
(on if the magnitude of this week is overwhelming) “Really, that’s all it really is to us. The game is still going to be the game. It’s still going to be 60 minutes. You just have media from all around the country covering this one game. It just gets a lot of exposure.”
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