New England Patriots Talk Dallas Cowboys Matchup

Sep 27, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) walks off the field after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 51-17 at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

Here are yesterday’s quotes from the New England Patriots:

(Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski’s transcript)

Tom Brady

Q: What are your initial thoughts on Greg Hardy?

TB: He’s a great player. We played against him a few years ago, and he’s a really dynamic player. So they’ve got a couple of them back this week – [Rolando] McClain and Hardy. It’s a good defense anyway, so I’m sure having those two guys back will help a lot.

Q: How do you go about playing a team that’s lost so many starters?

TB: Well, I don’t think, you know, there’s no let down for us. We’re trying to establish a certain level of play, and we got off to a decent start this year. So we’ve got to keep it going. You know, we’ve got to sustain good practices, good games, good weeks, and see if we can just keep building. This team could easily be 4-0. They’re playing at home. They’ve got a lot of good players, very talented team. Last year they were one of the best teams in football. They could’ve beaten the Saints easily last week in overtime, so they’re a very good football team. I know it’s going to be a big test for our team.

Q: Do you change your routine on the field to get used to a new stadium in pregame?

TB: You try to study what you can on tape and see how the other quarterbacks kind of adjust some of their rhythms and mannerisms. It is a little different for me not playing in a place where I’ve played before. [In] a lot of environments I kind of know what I’m getting myself into. I know where the clocks are. So this will be, you know, it will take a little time, get out there a little earlier and kind of get a feel for things. But I’m excited. I’ve heard a lot of great things about this stadium, so it will be fun to play in it.

Q: Did it tick you off when Greg Hardy when he said he hopes your wife comes to the game?

TB: No, I’m just getting ready to play, man. I’ve got to focus on my job. He’s a great player. We’ve got to … It takes a lot of different things to handle a guy like that. But he’s been a great player since he’s been in the league, so we’re going to have to prepare for him and be ready for all different types of moves that he’s got. But they’ve got a good D-line anyway. They count on getting pressure from their front four getting to the quarterback, so I don’t really care about his personal feelings.

Q: This will be the second time in your career you’ve made 100 consecutive regular season starts. What would that mean to you?

TB: Well, I’m happy I’m available to my team. I think that’s something I’ve always taken a lot of pride in, so trying to be out there and be a consistent, dependable player and certainly being available to those guys is what my job is. It’s pretty fun. It’s great to go out there and play a lot of football, and I’ve been very fortunate to be protected so well by the offensive line. So a lot of good luck, it all helps.

Q: Does the first game after a bye week affect the team at all?

TB: I’m not sure. I think the execution is ultimately what’s most important. It’s kind of different now with a lot of different schedules that we have and Thursday night games and Saturday night games and Sunday night games and Monday night games, so I think you’ve just got to be able to adjust and have enough mental toughness to try to make it as regular a week as possible. We’re really in a regular season mode now, so Wednesday you kind of have your Wednesday routine. And you just gear up for that one game a week, so you try to put everything you can into it. You know, we haven’t had many normal weeks yet. I think after this week it really starts getting into a normal feel because we’ve had a lot of long weeks. And then when you throw the preseason in there – a lot of night games and a lot of weird kind of weeks for those. So much is just kind of getting into a normal flow. It’s football season, and I think it’s good to kind of be in that.

Q: Is it hard to find that normal flow?

TB: It can be. I think it definitely can be as you, you know like I said, have some of those Monday night games, or we just had that Thursday night game, the early bye. So I just think we’ve got to, you know, regardless of what it is or how the schedule shakes out, you’ve just got to be ready to go when they tell you to play. So we’ll be ready to go at four o’clock on Sunday.