(Did you foresee anything like this?)
No, I didn't see anything like this coming into this game. I fully anticipated coming out today and competing. Our performance was poor; to lose by 35 points, frankly, is unacceptable. I'll take full responsibility because it starts with myself and the coaching staff. The way we started the football game is something we'll go back and look closely at. We'll look at our preparation and how we handled this week. We had a distorted week of preparation. I thought we were able to put it together at the end of the week, but we did not perform very well and that starts with me.
(Top to bottom is that the worst game this team has played?)
I think the score would indicate that, yes.
(What is Favre's status?)
He took a shot on the elbow. He was unable to gain strength in his hand as far as holding the football, controlling the football. As far as the future and how bad it is, I would be speculating. He was unable to gain strength in his hand to hold the football. I think he took a shot on the nerve.
(Did his elbow factor earlier in the game?)
I don't think his elbow factored earlier in the game. He did not communicate anything to me.
(Would he have sat for the second half regardless of circumstances?)
When we came out of the locker room, he was trying to gain strength. As we went through the third quarter, I didn't get a series-by-series update. We went about it with Aaron and stuck to the game plan with Aaron. We tried to give him an opportunity to bring us back, and we didn't change anything particularly in the third or early fourth quarter.
(Is this a problem with his funny bone?)
Yeah, he hit it right on the nerve of the funny bone, however you want to classify it.
(Was he reporting pain?)
Weakness, weakness in his hand strength.
(What happened on that play? Was there a breakdown in communication?)
I don't know the specifics. That's one play I didn't get a chance to go back and look at the pictures and the communication with the protection. Because of the injury, I was moving on Aaron. As far as a specific breakdown with the protection, I don't know what happened.
(Were you happy with the protection?)
I was unhappy on the whole with our passing game - all phases of it.
(What did they do to take Driver out of the game?)
We went into the game anticipating them to roll to him. On the first play, they rolled to a three deep. They did some of it, but not a lot of it. They played some outside leverage on third down early. They played their defense. It wasn't like they came out and played something totally different.
(A couple more big plays let up by the secondary - more communication problems back there?)
We had no communication breakdowns. Our pass coverage was not particularly good on those plays.
(Who missed their assignment on the touchdown pass?)
I'm not exactly sure without seeing the film, but I'm sure it has to do with the safety play. The leverage of the safety would be my initial reaction.
(Is that a two-deep zone?)
I'm not sure. I had problems on offense this week.
(Expect New England's best shot?)
I think you go into every week expecting somebody's best shot, especially where they are in their season and the time of year. That's why it's important to put forward our best foot, and I thought we did last week. But, you can't come off last week and perform the way we did today. They played very well. I give them credit. Defensively, they shut down our offense. We felt like we had some personnel matchups against their secondary, and we were unable to take advantage of it. They clearly won that phase of it. I think the offensive start to the football game was part of the deterioration. I thought we put our defense in way too many times after three-and-outs. 67 yards in the first half - that's not cutting it.
(Any positives from this game?)
Some younger players got to play more - that's just off the top of my head. I don't feel very positive right now.
(Injuries?)
David Martin's x-rays were negative on his ribs, and Nick (Barnett) hurt his hand there right at the end. I have not gotten a report on him yet. We already talked about Brett.
(What did they do to stop your run so effectively?)
I just felt that they were beating us on second reaction. Without seeing the film and without the communication from what I saw on the sideline, they are a two-gap defense. That was an emphasis this week of blocking them, beating their second reaction. When you looked at it, they had good looks and they were getting off the blocks. There were a couple times Ahman had a chance to squirt out of there, but it didn't happen.
(This a case of three rookies getting overwhelmed by an experienced front seven?)
I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't put it on them. Frankly, those are excuses. We went into the football game emphasizing the pass. That was the way we were going, which puts a little onus on them in pass protection versus the two-gap. I thought they did okay early in the game. The running game was something that was a secondary thought. I wouldn't say it was the young guys. There is plenty to go around.
{sportsad300}(Often talk about stacking successes - how do you get guys to bounce back?)
Well, the first thing is we can't jump on that rollercoaster that exists. We took a step back today. There are a lot of positive things over the last four or five weeks that we need to help move forward. You can sit here and justify based on the team you lost to, but I'm not into that. I think that's false. We need to come back in here tomorrow, look at it with clear vision: what happened, why it happened, address it. It's all fixable. These are all things we did that led to that performance today. We need to learn from that and move on and get ready for Seattle.
(Are there positive things such as a reality check?)
I'm a firm believer that when negative things happen in your life, whether professional or personal, can always result in positives. Whether it be confrontation or conflict, however you want to handle it. I'm not into losing 35-0 at this point in the season to get something positive out of it. We will definitely learn from this experience, and there will be positive things we will learn and move on from.
(How do you approach your speech to the team after this?)
I tell them the way it is.
(Was Favre being treated in the fourth quarter?)
At some point, they took him in for treatment - they took him in for rehab. I okayed it with the trainers. I have no results or anything from any test.
(How'd Aaron do in the second half?)
I think I put him in a tough situation, trying to throw the ball every time in your first action. I felt some times he got out of the offense, but he made some plays with his feet. I think you see his athletic ability. It was a great test for his preparation. It's so important for the backup to prepare harder and more than the starter because when that situation occurs and you get put into a game, you are behind. Without seeing the film, I thought he was okay. I thought he was in a tough spot.
(How much confidence do you have in him if he has to go?)
Full confidence - I'm not into holding back. He has talent, ability, know-how. When his opportunity comes, I want to put my foot on the gas and go with him. The only thing you don't know about a quarterback until he gets a chance is if he can lead your offense.
