Q: What do you have to do to get the offense rolling against the Tampa Bay defense?
A: Well, you’ve just got to execute. They’re talented. They’re fast on defense. They haveplaymakers. They have a good scheme, so it’s just a matter of everybody knowing their assignments. When we have opportunities to make some plays, we’ve got to do that. It’s just pick up the intensity a little bit, have a great practice, have a great work ethic and know the game plan. When we get out there Sunday, just go play hard and there’s going to be opportunities to make some plays and we’ve got to come up with those.
Q: How difficult has it been waiting for a week and half for this game coming off a performance none of you were happy with?
A: I think guys did a good job of coming in with the attitude after the game on that Thursday saying we’ve got to play better, but everything that occurred is very correctable and it’s just going to come down to fixing it, making better plays, better decisions during the game and… I think that was a good mentality. Guys said we can fix this. We’ve got to work a little bit better this next week. Enjoy the weekend off. Came back to work on Monday. Had a good practice and had another good practice today.
Q: How much are these three games in about 14 days kind of throwing you guys off?
A: Not right now. We had a full week to prepare for our first game. We’ve had a little extra time, an extra practice to get ready for this one, so we’ve got to use that to our advantage for this week and our focus is just worrying about this game, so that’s all we can do.
Q: How much can Mike Sullivan help them?
A: We know a lot about their offense as well, so it works both ways. Obviously he’ll have some advice for them, I think. It’s still a matter of execution. We’ve got to block them up. We’ve got to get open, so he doesn’t know what play we’re calling at that time. It’s always going to come down to execution. Will he give them some advice on a few wrinkles that they’re going to try to do? Probably so, but it’s still going to be a matter of if they call it at the exact right time that we’re in a certain coverage, so we’ve got to go out there and play our game and play smart.
Q: Do you have to change the way some things are called, though?
A: Yeah. That’s something we’ve done in the past under certain circumstances that we’ve changed signals. You had to change some verbiage and different things, so that’s something we’ve been prepared for. We’ve known about this game and Coach Sullivan has been there a long time, so having a couple different signals and working those in training camp just so >everybody is on the same page, so you can go to different ones whenever you need to.
Q: Can you talk about how your chemistry is building or evolving with Martellus Bennett?
A: I think Martellus has done a good job. He’s worked hard trying to learn this offense and understand, so he is a talented guy. He makes plays. Every game he plays is going to be very important. I think he’ll grow and get better with every game because he is athletic. He is smart. He wants to come in and play well and have a big season. Obviously he got one touchdown and some catches in the first game, so hopefully we’ll continue to grow and he can be a great weapon for us.