Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Darrelle Revis React To New England Patriots’ Win Over Denver

Nov 2, 2014; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) reacts to a call during the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos at Gillette Stadium. The New England Patriots won 43-21. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Julian Edelman

(On what he learned about the team after the win)
“I learned that we have a team that, you know, prepares hard, is mentally tough, is physically tough, and that continues to try and get better, so as long as we keep on playing like that, continually trying to improve, we’ll be alright.”

(On the punt return for a touchdown)
“The guy dropped the ball, [Britton] Colquitt – I was like, ‘Is he going to punt it?’ and he punted it, and it was kind of low, and it didn’t turn over, and I set up some blocks, and I turned, and saw Tim, Timmy Wright, and he hit someone and I bolted the way we were supposed to go, and went this way, and I just saw a bunch of guys out there blocking their tails off and, you know, we got in the end zone, so it was a great team play.”

(On getting the win before entering the Bye Week)
“I’m not going to sit here and sugarcoat that one. When you go into a Bye Week, you get a week, and you don’t want to have that taste [of a loss] in your mouth, and you know, it makes things a little easier.”

Rob Gronkowski

(On what the team learned about themselves after the win)
“We’re just coming together. We’re playing as a team, and we stick together as a team, and the team chemistry is coming along very well, so we got to keep it up, keep up the hard work, and keep playing as a team.”

(On whether the team can use the victory to measure where they rank amongst the other NFL teams)
“Nah, we’re just taking every week and just playing as hard as we can, and just prepping, and practicing as hard as we can. We’re not measuring ourselves where we are, we’re just measuring ourselves as a team; as sticking together, and staying together, and whatever happens, stick together, and keep practicing hard and keep playing hard.”

(On whether he will remember that one-handed reception)
“Yeah? It was a pretty good catch. Tom [Brady] put it where I could make that play, so it just happened. It’s just a reaction – going to the ball, when you see the ball, you want to go for it, so it’s just a natural reaction to go get it, so it ended up being a one-handed, so it was pretty cool.”

(On whether he can give a rating to his catch)
“It was a good catch, but you guys can do the rating of it, but [I’m] just trying to make plays and make as many as possible when my number is called.”

(On how much fun it is to play with Tom Brady right now when he is playing at such a high level)
“Oh yeah, he’s playing unbelievable right now, so is the team. Our defense is playing great, our offense is clicking, everyone on our offense; receivers, [offensive] o-line, running backs, everyone, so we’re just come together with some team chemistry all over and we’re all playing well.”

Brandon LaFell

(On if the game lived up to the hype)
“Yeah, it was all the hype. Both teams came out and competed, gave it all. Tom [Brady] had a great game, and we came out with the victory.”

(On if he felt the momentum turning in the second quarter)
“You definitely do. Give credit to Julian [Edelman] and the punt return team. They stepped up and made a big play right when we needed it. It was like from that point on, we had the momentum of the game, and every time we got the ball after that, we just kept putting drives together and getting points.”

(On if the team has confidence that they can score points no matter what)
“That’s how we feel before the game even starts. We’ve got a guy like Tom [Brady], and when he’s on like he was today, I don’t think there’s anybody better. And when our offense is flowing, everybody getting the ball, we’re really tough to stop.”

(On how good it tastes going into the bye week with a win)
“It’s a great taste because not only going into it with a win, but [if we] win, [head coach] Bill [Belichick] is going to give us a little slack in practice this week. But if we would’ve lost, it was going to be a real tough week for us. In the end, having a little break, everybody getting their bodies back healthy, and getting a win like this, coming back and still riding that wave.”

(On if they were aware or annoyed by the media scrutiny earlier in the season when the team was struggling)
“We really weren’t annoyed because we always have saying, ‘Don’t listen to the noise,’ and the noise is the people outside the locker room. We never listened to it. We just kept doing what we do, make plays, continue to work our butt off and continue believe in each other, and eventually it started to click.”

(On the team having the lead over the Broncos in terms of playoff seeding)
“That’s thinking too far ahead, but it’s a big win. It’s a big win because at the end of the day, everybody was calling them the best team in the league and that you could go out there and imagine yourself, play this game at home, get a big win like we did, then we’re pretty good now.”

Devin McCourty

(On the importance of Brandon Browner’s third-quarter interception)
“Oh, that was big, to come up and to make a play like that and get us right back in scoring position. Like we’ve been saying all season: line Tom [Brady] up, line the offense up and get them back on the field. If we give them a short field, we’re guaranteeing points. With our offense and with Steve [Gostkowski], at worst we’re going to get three. And, I think, defensively, that’s how we’re playing. We’re playing confident that if we get our offense the ball in scoring territory, we’re going to get at least three points. And that will help us win every week.”

(On the physical play of the Patriots’ secondary)
“I think it’s big for us as a defense. No matter who we play, we’ve got a six-foot-four corner [Brandon Browner], we’ve got [Darrelle] Revis, one of the most patient corners as far as getting up there and pressing. I think that everybody knows what Kyle [Arrington] and [Patrick] Chung – they’re not the biggest, but they’re like little pit bulls down there. And I think that’s the key for us each week. We’ve got to go out there and play physical. And if we’re playing against a team that’s built on being physical, we’ve got to match it. We’ve got to play to that. And a team like [the Broncos], like you said, who have so many weapons and their passing game can get going – there can be ‘unders,’ ‘fades’ and just everything – it’s big to try to throw off the timing and go that way. I thought those guys up there did a great job of throwing off timing and making it tough. You’re not going to make every play against them. They have great players over there. I thought we did a good job of just making everything tough all game, for 60 minutes.”

(On defending Peyton Manning)
“You get up there, you get too physical and all you want to do is jam the receivers, they’re going to pick route. It’s a balance of – I think our guys did a great job this week coming in and studying. Knowing what we’ve got a chance – you don’t fully know what you’re going to get, I told you guys earlier in the week. But knowing what you’ve got a chance of and stopping what can hurt you the most and then going and playing from there. I thought we did a great job of that for 60 minutes and just battling them. A couple times they got right down in the red area, we got off the field on fourth down. That’s huge. No matter what’s happening in the game, when you get off the field against Peyton Manning and that offense, that’s huge.”

Darrelle Revis

(On the team’s defensive plan)
“You always have to be physical, especially how we play on the defense. We want to be aggressive and you’ve got to be physical. That’s how we play. Today we mixed it up with a bunch of coverages and at times we had to get physical with them. We executed those.”

(On Denver’s offense)
“It’s an explosive offense. They put up big numbers every game and they’re explosive, all of them. Emmanuel [Sanders] is fast. Demaryius Thomas is big and fast. Julius Thomas is big and fast as well. We did a great job. We understood what they were trying to do and what they were trying to accomplish on offense and we definitely came out and played every down. It was 60 minutes and we executed like we were supposed to.”

(On the play of Tom Brady)
“Tom has a lot of heart. He’s probably our No. 1 leader on this team and to see him go out there and execute and just be fearless…he’s been fearless out there. He’s been doing it throughout his career. You want your big players to step up in big games and when his number is called, he always executes and does what he needs to do.”

Matthew Slater

(On Julian Edelman’s punt return for a touchdown)
“…We gave [Julian Edelman] some space, we didn’t let him get lit up back there by those gunners. The guys did a good job blocking and Julian did what Julian does.”

(On special teams having a big impact on a game played in adverse weather conditions)
“Definitely. And let’s not also forget about our specialists. In those conditions, it’s very difficult. Danny [Aiken] doing a good job snapping it. Steve [Gostkowski] is always – I’m biased, but – the best kicker in the league. And then Ryan [Allen] has some huge punts for us, especially that 65-yarder or so. Those guys don’t get a lot of [publicity] or credit, but hats off to them as well.”

(On why the Patriots’ special teams unit is so consistent)
“I think we put a lot into it. We take a lot of pride in what we do. We have guys that understand their role and are willing to sacrifice for the greater good and I think that goes a long way. [Coaches] Scott [O’Brien] and Joe [Judge] do such a good job of getting us ready and we really have a lot of confidence as a unit. We enjoy one another, we enjoy playing together and, fortunately for us, it shows up on Sunday.”