Transcripts of conference calls by Bill Belichick and Rodney Harrison with New York Jets reporters on Wednesday:
NEW ENGLAND HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK
On the Jets…
I have a lot of respect for the Jets. They are a tough football team that has had many games that have come on down to the wire. Offensively, they have improved in the running game, [Thomas] Jones and [Leon] Washington are doing a good job on that. They have the big-play receivers. [Laveranues] Coles and [Jerricho] Cotchery are two of the toughest players in the league at their position. I have tremendous respect for them. They are always good in the kicking game — they cover well, they return well and they have good specialists. Defensively, they are playing a lot more people than when we played them in September in all three positions [line, linebacker, secondary]. In the front seven and even in the secondary, they have used a lot of combinations.
They have gotten a lot of production from some guys that we hadn’t seen much of, especially on the front. [CJ] Mosley has done a nice job rushing the passer. They have rotated all of their defensive linemen in there. [David] Harris has been a productive player for them inside. They lost [Jonathan] Vilma, who is an excellent player, but Harris has stepped in there and done a good job for them. [Abram] Elam has given them some nice plays in the secondary. We have a lot of new people that we have to take a look at, in addition to a lot of the mainstays. At the quarterback position, we have to be ready for everybody, but [Kellen] Clemens has gotten a lot more playing time since we last faced them. New faces and new things to prepare for, but a tough, physical team that has been in a lot of tight games and plays good physical football.
On whether he intends to run up the score …
We are looking to win. We try to do that every week. We try to have a good week of preparation and go out and try to win the game. That’s the same thing we will do this week. We try to do that every week. We try to win. We will try to do the same thing.
On Tom Brady’s shoulder …
We will have the injury report later today. We will let you know on the practice report after practice.
On his relationship with Eric Mangini …
I have spoken about my relationship with Eric before. I don’t think there is any need to go back through that again. It’s all on the record, you've all got it.
On if the relationship has changed since the videotaping incident …
I think it has been covered many times.
On reports the Jets were videotaping during a game in Foxboro last season …
There are a lot of things that have happened in the past, but I’m not concerned about any of those. I’m concerned about our team and our preparation this week. The game against the Jets on Sunday is all I’m focused on.
On the chance to go undefeated …
Right now we are trying to win one game against the Jets. None of the other games matter, records don’t matter. It’s just how the team prepares and plays on Sunday that matters.
On the Jets-Patriots rivalry …
It is a division game. We played them three times last year. Normally it's twice a year. We are very familiar with the team, their schemes, their personnel and their tendencies. Like any other division game, we have seen all of their games, we have a lot of information and they have a lot of information on us, but again it boils down to execution and playing good situation football and making good decisions.
On if he sees a Jets team that plays hard despite their record …
Go ask Pittsburgh how they feel about the Jets.
On if he is concerned that the weather could affect the passing game Sunday …
Our focus this week is to win. We are going to try and prepare to win the game, which could cover a lot of different things, including the game conditions, whatever they happen to be. In the end, it will come down to whichever team can perform better in the game, whatever the conditions or situations that occur. That is just the way it will be.
On if the weather could be the best defense against the Pats offense …
I don’t know. I guess it would depend on the game, the day or whatever. I have no idea. Until you get to gametime, I don’t know how you could evaluate that. I will tell you this, regardless of what the weather is, it doesn’t make any difference, we are playing the Jets and that is the team that we have to defeat. They have a lot of good football players. They are tough and physical. We have been in a lot of close matchups with them. We have great respect for them. We know we are going to have to play well to win. That is our opponent this week and that is where our focus is and what we are most concerned of, the New York Jets.
On selling to his team the fact that there is always room to improve …
There are always things you can do better. There are a lot of things we can improve in. When you are next-to-last in the league in red-area defense, you don’t have to look far. There are a lot of things we can improve on and it starts with me. We can all work harder, do a better job, learn from our mistakes and not do them again and prepare for the new team and challenge that we have. We haven’t played the Jets in three months, so it doesn’t really matter what happened last week or last month against somebody else, it’s how well we can prepare and play against the Jets this week. That is what our challenge is.
On this year’s challenges …
The challenge this week is the New York Jets, last week it was Pittsburgh, the week before it was somebody else. Whatever it is, the past is the past and what is in the future doesn’t mean anything. The only thing that matters is our preparation for the New York Jets football game. That is all that we have any control over, so that is all that we are thinking about.
On if he harbors any bitterness toward Mangini …
I have spoken about my relationship with Eric before. The past is the past and right now we are focused on the New York Jets and the game this Sunday.
On how his relationship with Mangini is right now …
All that we are focused on right now is the New York Jets. We need to be at our best on Sunday and that is what we are going to prepare to do and that is what we always do. It is going to be a big challenge for us. We have a lot to get ready for. We know what happened when they came up here last year and handled us in November. We know that we have our work cut out for us. That is what we will be working on.
NEW ENGLAND S RODNEY HARRISON
On how much of a motivation being undefeated is at this point …
It’s no motivation for us going 14-0 and that’s what we’re focused on. Everyone outside of this locker room is focused on this so-called undefeated season, but we’re focusing on the next game, this week’s game.
On if he is motivated by "Spygate" or people questioning the Patriots …
It wasn’t even mentioned or talked about in our meeting room. It’s a non-issue for us. We understand that this week the media wants to take this game, pump it up and blow it into something that it’s not. It’s another football game and it’s an important game because it’s the next one. That is how we’re looking at it.
On any motivation from the first Jets game that has helped the team …
I don’t know because I didn’t play that particular game. I was sitting on my couch so I didn’t have any interaction or communication with the guys. Guys play hard here. They didn’t play any harder or any tougher than they did in the five years that I’ve been here. It’s not like they went outside their realm to prove something or to do something they haven’t been doing since I’ve been here. So that’s just what it is.
On the margin the Patriots are expected to win by …
We don’t really care what the people in Las Vegas and all the oddsmakers are saying. I don’t care if we win by a point or we win by 25 points. Everyone is so used to us winning by 24 or 25 points and in the last couple of weeks before Pittsburgh we’ve been battle-tested and we still win the ballgame and the media still has something to say. Then we go out and beat Pittsburgh and now all of the sudden we’re back to raw form. We can’t get caught up in the circus of the games that the media thinks we should win. A win is a win in the NFL.
On if Bill Belichick is able to communicate what they are not doing right even though they are winning …
You might be winning ballgames, but even though you are winning, there are a lot of different areas where we can have improvement on. We understand as a defense there is no way in the world we are going to have to accept if we keep being the worst red-zone defense in the league. We have to get better and we have to be able to play the goal-line defense better. We have to be able to tackle better and stop the run. So there are different areas we need improvement on and we just have to get better on.
