Patriots Blog: MNF Crew, Ryan's Plan
FOXBORO (CBS) - The Monday Night Football commentating crew of Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski and Mike Tirico were on a conference call earlier this week.
Here were some of their thoughts on the Pats and the Jets game:
On the importance of the game for both teams:
Gruden: "The game is equally important for both teams but given the fact that it's at New England and the Jets have already beaten New England this season, I think it's a little bigger for the Patriots. I don't see anybody sweeping Tom Brady twice in the same season in my lifetime. It's going to be a tall order for the Jets. I think Brady is at the top of his game and the consecutive winning streak at home is unbelievable."
On Bill Belichick and Tom Brady's relationship:
Jaworski: "I can't think of a quarterback and coach in history or this period of time to have what they've accomplished. They are literally joined at the hip. When I think about the success they've had, the one thing that jumps out at me is that, they are fierce competitors that hate to lose."
On Jets head coach Rex Ryan:
Gruden: "He assembled a great staff and he's very confident in his abilities. He is who he is. I think he's funny, I think he's a riot. I love watching his press conferences. I like watching it during the week, and I like watching his team back it up on game day. He has his own style and he's consistent with that. I give him credit for that and he's also got the players to back it up."
ROSTER MOVES
The Patriots have made a ton of roster moves this week. First, they put Stephen Neal on injured reserve. The right guard has had a nagging shoulder injury and he's missed the last three games. Neal will be replaced by Dan Connolly in the lineup. The 34-year-old has one year remaining on his contract.
Welcome back Thomas Clayton. The Patriots picked up the running back on waivers from the Cleveland Browns. Clayton returns to the Patriots for a third time after two stints with the Browns. He takes the open roster spot created by Stephen Neal. Thomas now joins BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead, Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris. The Patriots inherit his two-year contract, which extends until the end of 2011.
The Patriots announced today the signing of outside linebacker Derrick Woods. He is now part of the team's 53-man roster. They in turn released Pierre Woods.
BUSY BRADY
A busy couple of weeks for the Patriots and Tom Brady. First the always tough Indianapolis Colts game, then the short week and the Detroit Lions and now the big Monday night affair against the New York Jets. This one, because both of the teams are 9 and 2 may be the biggest. If the Patriots lose, this could change their whole outlook for the rest of the season. Tom Brady understands the big picture but plans on focusing on Monday first.
"This is not the Super Bowl," Brady said. "There are games after this game that are very important as well. This game, for what we are trying to accomplish, win our division -- always the first goal of this team -- is a big game. We can't expect to win the division and lose to the same team twice. We've got to really go out and execute at a much higher level than we did the first time we played them. They don't leave you much room for error."
Brady struggled in that Week 2 loss at the New Meadowlands Stadium, throwing two interceptions and getting strip-sacked for a third turnover.
"Hopefully we play better than we did in Week 2," Brady said. "I think that's what we're all trying to accomplish this week. I didn't think we played very good, we need to play a lot better this week to beat a team that is playing great football and is proving it can win in a lot of different ways. We like to think of ourselves as very tough, physical, smart, resilient and that's what they are too. As much as it pains me to say."
RYAN'S PLAN
The Jets are not going to tip their hat and tell the Patriots what they are going to do defensively on Monday night but Rex Ryan did say he plans on using as many different looks as possible. Ryan believes, that's the only way to beat Tom Brady.
"Brady is a guy that if you just run standard coverages, he'll kill you. He can write up what he wants," Ryan said on a conference call yesterday.
Ryan pointed to the Patriots' 31-20 win over the Jaguars in the playoffs after the 2007 season. Brady was 26 of 28 for 262 yards and three touchdowns that day as the Jaguars hardly pressured.
"That was the most embarrassing thing I think I've ever seen," Ryan said. "We're not going to let him sit back there and go through pass [skeleton type work with no rush]. We're going to pressure, mix our coverages, change our coverages, change our blitzes -- all-out blitz, sometimes simulated pressure, sometimes three-man rush, sometimes four-man rush, multiple coverages. That's how you play Brady. You can't just sit back and let him know what you are in."
As far as coaching goes, Rex Ryan paid Bill Belichick a huge compliment.
"There are very few coaches that I steal from but Bill Belichick is one of them," he said. "He's so creative, what he does coverage-wise, how he looks at things, puts traps out there. The guy is an amazing coach, the best coach in football. It's not even close."
It's weird hearing Rex say that. Bill better be careful.
