New England Patriots Quotes: Coaches Talk Jets, Blount, Secondary

Yesterday Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia, and Josh McDaniels met with the media via conference call, to discuss some issues regarding the New England Patriots as they prepare for the New York Jets.

The excellent Lee Schechter of ESPN Boston fills us in:

Belichick on Percy Harvin:

"“I think he’s definitely, he is a weapon and they’ve used him as a weapon,” Belichick said. “They’ve handed him the ball a number of times. He’s certainly a threat as a receiver, so he can go down the field and get behind the defense. He can carry the ball on outside plays like reverses and speed sweeps and things like that. He’s also very dangerous on catch-and-run plays like under-routes and slip-screens and those type of things. They move him around in different spots, so you don’t know exactly where he’s going to be.”"

McDaniels on Blount and Gray:

"“There are a lot of variables here — experience — LeGarrette has certainly obviously played in more games, which is a little bit of a difference,” McDaniels said. “I think LeGarrette is bigger than Jonas. Jonas, in terms of the way they read things and those kinds of things, I think it’s similar. They’ve played in different packages in our offense in the last few weeks here just because that’s kind of the way we’ve created the game plan, whether it’s more base runs or more sub runs for one of them or the other, shotgun, under center — those kinds of things. We try to make a decision as the week goes. They’re both obviously capable of carrying the ball on early downs and are doing a good job with it.”"

Patricia on the secondary:

"“I think week-in, week-out we always make a point of emphasis on the entire defense,” Patricia said. “I think for us it’s about collectively as a group trying to improve, trying to get better. I think week-in, week-out it’s going to be different players that are going to have opportunities to step up and make plays. When that happens and when that opportunity presents itself you’ve got to be prepared and ready to go and put yourself in a good position to make plays. I think as a defense as a whole we’ve had guys contribute in different ways all throughout the year and hopefully we can just continue developing that way and continue to grow the defense and to getting better each week.”"

Patricia on the Jets:

"“I think the Jets obviously are doing a great job right now of controlling games,” Patricia said. “They are trying to put themselves into a tight game every week, where now the game is going down to the last possession or the last couple of possessions where they have a chance to win. I think they are certainly doing a great job at the run game. They are the number two rushing team in the league. So, they’ve certainly done an excellent job there of getting different ways to gain yards.”"