FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots players were anxious to leave Gillette Stadium today as they will be off until Monday. S Rodney Harrison, LB Tedy Bruschi, RB Kevin Faulk, CB Ellis Hobbs, TE Watson and DL Richard Seymour were among the players speaking with the media today.
Some of the talking points:
Bruschi on comments made by Don Shula in the New York Daily News about the Patriots having a mark on their record if they finish 16-0. "Obviously, he's one of the most well respected men that have ever been in this game. I can't control what opinions he has. All I can do is take it upon myself to think about what my job is, and my job is to play football and help this team keep on winning. That's all I can really focus on. I can't control opinions. It's unfortunate that he had some of those things to say. I wish he didn't say them. So be it. People can express what they feel and we're just going to keep on playing good football."
Bruschi on if he is bothered by the doubters who have questioned the credibility of the team, and if it fuels the team. "Well, if someone questions your integrity, if someone questions who you are, if someone questions the organization you've been a part of ever since you walked into the league, would it upset you? So yes, it does upset me. I can't control how people feel about it, I can't control what comes out of their mouths. I only control, like I said, what I do out there and what we do as a defense and what we do as a team. We keep winning and playing hard. If they want to keep saying those things, maybe we just need to play a little bit harder."
Hobbs on the pass interference penalty against him in the second quarter, and if he's expecting to hear that the NFL acknowledged it was a bad call. "I’m not expecting something. I don’t expect something now, never. I’ll play the game. I know what I do out there on the field. I would like to think that I’ve gotten better every year. When the flag was thrown, I knew I didn’t do anything wrong. There is no use in arguing, though. It doesn’t matter what happened. The play was called. Let’s move on.”
Hobbs on his bye week plans. "I'm going to play some Madden."
Harrison on his thoughts on allegations that the Colts pumped crowd noise into the RCA Dome. "I don't think much about it. It doesn't matter. At the end of the day you have to deal with all the situations and circumstances that present itself, and you have to go out there and make plays."
Watson on answering questions about a possible 16-0 season and more intense media scrutiny. "It's kind of been something we've been asked since the beginning, but it's the same. We play one game at a time, that's really how we look at it. The other games we've played in the past don't matter, the ones we're playing in the future don't matter. It's all about this week being a bye week, getting some guys healthy, and taking some time off before coming back and playing Buffalo."
I have no doubt that the league is not happy with the officiating from the game. Hopefully tomorrow's Official Review section includes those incredibly bad PI calls and those refs are never given a big game again. At least it's one more thing for Belichick to add to the NO RESPECT list.
Why would there be an asterisk on this year if they got caught in game 1? And there is clearly a debate over whether or not having the defensive signals helps one way or the other.
AND that is assuming that other teams don't use other methods for gathering that type of info. Was that rule even in place when the 72 Dolphins ran the table?
Then again, we put the asterisk that their season was only 14 games and plenty of teams have won 14 games.
I just don't see it as that big a deal. I am more disappointed that teams can't put together an audio communication system that works...maybe they should contact Verizon.
Spygate? Asterix? Please, what do you call 14 games a season, less conditioned, less agile and definately smaller less skilled players do mean. Shouldn't there be an asterix next to the '72 Dolfins record. Remember records are broken everyday in this sport, and that todays players are going to be future hall of famers. Definately Bigger and better. Are you taking notice. The '72 Dolfins would not survive playing against these new teams.
Haters ...
Back in the day, the Dolphins were docked a draft pick for irregularities in the signing of...wait for it...Don Shula
Any Idea why the pats didnt give randy moss an exstension before the dead Line tuesday? Does anyone see them putting the franchise tag on randy moss next year?
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