Coach Dick Jauron - Media Day

COACH DICK JAURON
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Opening statement
Injury wise, the only three players that didn't practice today were Marshawn [Lynch] with the ankle, Robert Royal with the mild concussion and then Aaron Schobel has a stomach flu-virus of some sort and so he missed today also. Kiwaukee [Thomas] of course, well you know that Kiwaukee got put on IR and Matt Murphy so those guys didn't practice obviously. You've been notified about that. Other than that we had a pretty good Wednesday practice and preparation. There's not anything we can say about this opponent that everybody doesn't seem to already know. They're as good as their record indicates. There are not a lot of weaknesses on their football team, at least none that we can find. You don't see them and it doesn't look like anybody else has found them either. Up to this point the closest game they've played I believe was the one in Indianapolis. They score a lot of points. They play outstanding defense and they're real strong on special teams so it'll be a great challenge for us. We're excited about the opportunity, but we have a lot of respect for them. We know them well and they know us.
On an update of Marshawn Lynch's injury and if he'll be in Sunday's lineup
It's [ankle] very sore. It's very sore right now and I would say we're not overly optimistic, but we'll just kind of go through the week and see what happens. But we're not optimistic about it.
On who will play of Lynch can not go
Freddy [Fred Jackson] will be active and then we'll have Anthony [Thomas], Dwayne [Wright] and Freddy. Those three and we'll kind of mix them in and play them.
On if the MRI showed anything more than a sprain
No, no they didn't.
On if Lynch's injury is a regular sprain
No I would say it's not. What the trainers use, they use that term basketball sprain. It's not the basketball sprain unfortunately. It's more severe than that.
On if it is a high ankle injury
They may. They haven't really used that term with me. They used terms that I can't really repeat to you. I don't really understand them.
On if Lynch's injury could prevent him from playing for more than one week
Yes, but we've all seen things happen real fast and people heal real fast particularly when they're that young. He's a little bit different so we'll hope and see what happens. But if he can't go then we'll go right on to our other three guys and we like them all.
On what his injury means to the offense
We know he's a very unique player. He's got unique skills and we'd hate to play the game without him, but that's the nature of our business. We've had a number of injuries; we just have to go with it. If he can't go, you've got to believe that the guys we have can play and perform well. And we believe that.
On the nickel situation without Kiwaukee Thomas
Ashton [Youboty] was pretty healthy a week ago. He slowly came back from that injury. He practiced well last week. He had a good practice today so it'll probably just be a switch. Ashton will just come up and be active whether he'll be the nickel though, I don't know. Jeramretrius [Butler[ is there too. We only have the four corners. Jerametrius and Ashton other than Jabari [Greer] and Terrence [McGee] so we'll see how the week goes.
On relying on Jerametrius Butler and Ashton Youboty
We have to feel good about them and we do.
On if the scout team is more important this week than a normal week
I would say no. And that's really not saying anything except how important the scout team is every week in your preparation. We put a lot of emphasis on it. Our guys do a great job in terms of the look team and how they prepare, how we try to help prepare them to give the right looks so I don't know that we could do a better… we try to do the best job we can every week I guess is what I'm saying. So it's just as important this week as any week.
On how he feels his defense stacks up to New England's passing game
We have a lot of confidence in our players. I'm certain that every other team in the league does too. Nobody has really stopped these guys. Can we stop them? Yes, I think it's doable. I definitely think it's doable because it is a game and you don't know what's going to happen from game-to-game. But we're not, as I said earlier, we have a great deal of respect for their talent level and it's very high. Their talent level is very high. That's not why they win though. They win because they play well. They play hard, execute well and they have really good players. So they've got the whole thing going. Do I have confidence in our people? Yes, I do. But this is a huge test for us as a whole football team. It doesn't matter where you go, what position, you can match them up anywhere you want: offense, defense, special teams, we're all going be tested. They're talented.
On if he is hoping that the same emotion from the Monday night game will carry over to Sunday
Well again, there's no doubt that playing a home game is a lot better than playing on the road. And our fans are loud and they are good, but we have to give them something to cheer about. On that night we gave them a lot to cheer about too. Did the performance enhance the crowd? Did the crowd make us perform well? The whole thing went together so we're hoping that we can make enough plays to keep them in this game. That's what we're hoping because we know our crowd will be behind us if we give them something to be behind and that'll be the issue. We just have to prepare, play the best game that we can possibly play and try to keep them in the game and make them an issue.
On if time of possession will be key this week to keep New England's offense off the field
If you offered me time of possession every week, I'd take it, but I'll always say the same thing: it depends on what you do with it. You can keep the ball for 40 minutes and not score. It doesn't do you a whole lot of good if they score eight times in 20 [minutes]. It's what you do with it and how many points you score. It's always going to be points scored and points allowed, but I never turn down time of possession unless you offer me points for it.
On Dwayne Wright's qualities as a running back
He's tough and he's got good balance. I believe he's got good feet to the hole and through the hole. He's hard to tackle because he's a big man. He's not a tall back. He and Marshawn are about the same height. Of course Dwayne is a bout 15-20 pounds heaver so he's a different type of back but he's a tough runner. He's learning how to run. He needs to keep his pads down all the time. If he does that he's a tough guy to bring down.
On if his team is relishing the opportunity this week or if they're more nervous
Well I do. I think both. There's no way you can't be nervous. You're nervous before any game and now this is a Sunday night game, a nationally televised game against an undefeated football team in our division. All of those things [combined] I think they're really looking forward to it and I would suspect that they're nervous. I've always felt that if you're not nervous then maybe it's the time to go out both as a player and a coach. I don't know that except that's how I've always felt.
On what prompted him to hire Perry Fewell as his defensive coordinator
Well we worked together before so it wasn't like I didn't know his character and all those [things], his work ethic, his personality. All of those things are factors and how he relates to players, how the players relate to him, how he fits in a staff. All of those issues, but in that case and almost every case it starts with character for me. He's a very good football coach. He knows how he wants to coach it, every position. He's a little more familiar with the back end because that's what he's coached, but he's into the linebackers, the defensive line, he's very involved in all areas. I like everything about Perry [Fewell]. That's not any different than anybody on the staff, but I knew Perry. We were together in Jacksonville.
On if he felt Coach Fewell was ready to make the step from a positional coach to coordinator
Yes, I did. We had kept in contact since I left Jacksonville, not a lot, but talked a couple of times a year. Then the interview process, interviews are always really interesting over the course of hours and hours of interviewing, questioning, tape and just talking. I really did have a good feel for him.
On what some factors were in deciding to stick with JP Losman as the starter
He's just performed well. He's helped win three in a row. He's been on the field for two of them and the Jets game of course he finished it off. Just felt like he deserves to be out there. He's got more experience, not significantly more. They're both very young, still think very highly of both of them, but I think he deserves to stay in there. He's earned the right to stay in there.
On the Patriots' defensive line and if they're defense starts upfront
They're whole thing fits together. That's what I say. They deserve a lot of credit. They've accumulated a lot outstanding talent and then they coach it really well. They do an outstanding job. The whole thing fits together. They're front line is very good. When you look at them, the starting three are all number one picks, but they're playing to it. They're really good players, really solid. It all fits for them.
On if he has to gameplan for Mike Vrabel on offense
Well you're aware of him. It's difficult to play goal line defense against anybody. It's hard so the play-action pass is very difficult to defend down there. He's done a great job, catching the ball and is very effective. He's just a good football player. He's got a real nice feel for the game, but as I've said on goal line, it's very difficult because you've got to sellout. It's a very aggressive defensive position to be in and if you wait, if you're a reacting defense they only have to get a yard or two yards. If the goal line starts on the three. If it's a first down they only have to gain a yard a play to be in your end zone so it's not like you can take a lot of time to read it. You've got to react right now.