Rob Gronkowski, Brandon Browner, Akeem Ayers React To New England Patriots’ Win Over Chicago Bears

Oct 26, 2014; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) takes the field prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

After the New England Patriots dismantled the Chicago Bears 51-23 yesterday, a few players spoke with the media about the win.

Here is the official transcript: (And Tom Brady’s)

Tom Brady

Q: How big was it to have Rob Gronkowski up and running today?

TB: It’s pretty sweet. He was a big-time player today. It was great to get him going like that. Certainly running the ball was great. The guys up from played awesome. A lot of guys contributed. We got great play defensively. There were a lot of big plays and we got a lot of momentum, so it was a fun day. Those don’t happen like that very often.

Q: Does this send you guys into the Denver game as confident as you have been all year?

TB: We have a week to prepare, so we’ll kind of build our confidence throughout the week. They’re a different team. Obviously they are good team and we’ll need a week to prepare for them. It will be a fun game next week.

Q: Can you talk about Brandon LaFell who’s been coming on as of late and really had a breakout game?

TB: Yeah, he made a bunch of plays. He has great catch-and-run ability. He’s such a strong runner and when you get the ball in his hands good things happen, so we’ve got to keep finding ways to get him the ball. Gronk [Rob Gronkowski] did a great job. The backs did a great job. Danny [Amendola] made some plays, Jules [Julian Edelman] did, Tim Wright did. It was great to kind of get everybody in the flow and to score a lot of points like that. We need that. That’s what it’s going to take.

Q: Does the type of play like Rob Gronkowski’s third touchdown catch really define the type of player he is?

TB: That’s the way he’s been since he got to our team, fortunately for us. He’s a tough matchup. He’s big, fast, strong and when he plays like beast mode, he’s tough to stop.

Q: What’s allowed Brandon LaFell to turn the corner and get more in tune with you?

TB: Just the opportunity that he gets out there – I think he’s taken advantage of them. When he gets a chance to make a play, he’s making them. I think with new players sometimes you really don’t know what someone’s able to do in your offense until you actually get out there and do it and you make the plays in game-type situations. Even like his run after the catch ability, that doesn’t show up in training camp because we’re not tackling. And it doesn’t show up in the preseason – if he gets two catches a game it’s hard to tell. And then all of sudden you see it over eight games where he’s doing it every week and it becomes a big strength for your team. He had great run after the catch tonight; Gronk did, Jules and Danny have. The backs all ran hard. It always starts with the offensive line, with the way they protected and they did a great job as always. I give those guys a lot of credit. They’ve worked really hard to get to the point we’re at now. To start 2-2 and now we’re 6-2 and everything is ahead of us, that’s all you could ask for as a player.

Q: Was there any point in the first half where you felt everything was going right?

TB: We didn’t punt there until the middle of the third quarter, so it felt good at halftime. Everything was working. You come in and you want to make adjustments at halftime, but really we were just sticking with the plan because we did a good job keeping them off balance and when we were throwing it, we had great protection and guys were making a lot of plays in the passing game. It was one of those days where that’s what we needed. They have a really good offense and we needed to get ahead of them and make them play from behind and we did that and that’s why it turns out the way it does.

Q: With a big lead at halftime to come out up tempo, is part of that keeping your focus sharp?

TB: Yeah, and just keeping the pressure on them. I think you don’t want to [let your guard down]. I think you’ve got to still be aggressive. There was a lot of football left. We want to go out and establish some rhythm yourself and we did that on the first drive – it was a great drive. And then the second time, we punted. We had a couple completions, got a first down and then got stopped in short-yardage and I think we got a field goal there to start the fourth quarter. It was a good day offensively. We’re going to need it. I think we understand what we’re capable of and it’s good execution, good playing. Days like this, they don’t always happen so I think you enjoy it for a short period of time and then we move on like we always do.

Q: Can you put your finger on what has maybe changed for the offense that has allowed you to be more productive since the 2-2 start?

TB: I’m not sure. I haven’t tried to evaluate that. I just think we’re playing better. I think we have a lot of confidence in what we’re doing and we have to keep doing it.

Q: As a veteran quarterback, do you think you see things that a young quarterback might not? Does the game sometimes seem very easy?

TB: I think you rely on a lot of experience over the years and a lot of situations. You get pretty quickly to the things that you have confidence in when you’re out there. There are a lot of looks I’ve seen over the years, so it’s hard to really surprise me with certain things, especially if we’ve been preparing for it. I think like anyone, you’re just trying to be consistent and dependable for your team. I think a lot of guys on offense were like that today.

Q: I know you’re just getting through this game, but what are your initial thoughts as you look ahead to another matchup with Peyton Manning?

TB: I mean, we’ll see – like you said, I think we like to kind of get through this game. It will be a great game. It always is. It’s always pretty meaningful. It’s another game on our schedule that we’ve got to bring our best to. I think playing at home and [we] understand the challenge that they’re one of the best teams in football, so we’re going to need to play our best. Hopefully we do.

Q: Is there an added comfort level going into the next few games knowing what a good day you had today?

TB: I think all these games turn out differently. They’re different matchups and everything is different next week. I think like we did four weeks ago when we got our butts kicked against Kansas City, you have to put the game behind you and move forward – understand the things you screwed up and the way that you need to play. I think today we played the way we need to play: we got ahead, we stayed ahead. I think that’s probably been the biggest thing in the last four weeks: finally playing with some leads. That’s where you can really keep the pressure on and you’ve got your whole game plan you can still use defensively. You hopefully can turn it into a one-dimensional game like they did today where they’ve got to throw it a lot. It’s pretty tough to come from behind in the NFL, so it’s good to get ahead. If we do get behind, we’ve got to do our best to score more points and try to get the lead back, but it’s a pretty good recipe when you’re playing from ahead like we have the last few weeks.