Bill Belichick on WEEI 9/11: "We had a our chances"

Greg Hill (0:00)

Hey, Bill.

Bill Belichick (0:01)

Morning, you're doing great.

Greg Hill (0:03)

How you doing?

Bill Belichick (0:05)

Good, good, how are you?

Greg Hill (0:06)

Well, I'm fine. Just a little, start with a little quick advice for Wiggy. Game one, Brockton, 49 to 14 loss.

How does one come back from that week one of the season as a coach?

Bill Belichick (0:21)

Yeah, it's a long season, there's a lot of games left, so keep improving.

SPEAKER_3 (0:27)

That is it, that's the mindset that we have down there, Bill. Similar to yesterday's game, obviously had an opportunity to win the football game at the end, wasn't able to come up with it, it was kind of the message after the game for your team.

Greg Hill (0:50)

Bill, obviously, anytime you don't win that football game, you're upset, but some positives that you were able to take out of that game yesterday?

Bill Belichick (1:02)

Yeah, I mean, we certainly did enough things to make it competitive. We had our chances, we just weren't able to make enough plays to win. So we just need to make a few more better plays, not just at the end, but there were multiple opportunities all the way along the line.

So, yeah, we all have to do a better job.

SPEAKER_4 (1:25)

Bill, a positive we've been talking about already this morning is the difference we saw in the offense from the first to second quarter. Was that just them kind of getting the rust off and getting back into game mode? Or was it something that Bill O'Brien was able to fix going into that second quarter?

Bill Belichick (1:46)

You know, we moved the ball in the first drive and, you know, then had to turn over, so. I mean, I don't know, we just... The goal game, we had our points where we executed pretty well and had some success moving the ball, and then there are the times where we didn't have the same type of execution.

Again, that's a combination of coaching, execution, decision making, so forth. Again, we all gotta do a better job.

SPEAKER_3 (2:20)

Bill, you talk about everybody executing and doing a better job. You know, you get criticized, obviously, sometimes for going for things on fourth and three, but then when you actually get to look at it, you guys design up a play, and, you know, unfortunately, on the fourth and three, the right guard gets beat right away, which flushes Mack from the pocket.

What's that kind of like when you sit there and you look at a play and you go, okay, if we could just shore up that thing, a play has the ability to be successful, that most people, they can't see that. How frustrating is that for you as a coach when you know it's the little executions that sometimes lead to bad results?

Bill Belichick (3:02)

Well, that's usually what it is. It's usually, you know, good plays and bad plays are the result of, you know, fundamentals, and our fundamentals on all plays are, again, at times we're good, at other times, you know, it's inconsistent. So, you know, the fundamentals, without good fundamentals, there really aren't very many good plays. So it all starts there and then the overall execution of the play.

But give them credit, I mean, it's a good team, good defense, good defensive line, and, you know, they made some plays against us. And, you know, we made some plays on them, we just didn't make enough.

SPEAKER_4 (3:42)

When you look at Christian Gonzalez and making an impact in the first game of his rookie season, how impressed have you been to see your rookies, Matthew Judon was praising them after the game yesterday?

Bill Belichick (3:57)

Yeah, I mean, I think all those guys, both sides of the ball, in the kicking game, you know, did some good things. I'm sure they learned a lot. I'm sure it was a great experience for them. And, you know, hopefully they'll continue to work hard and get better.

But that's, you know, they're in the water, they're swimming.

And it's a long, you know, long season, long way to go, and the waters will get rough. Maybe it'll be smooth at times, but they'll be rough. And so it's a lot of mental toughness and endurance in an NFL season, but we're underway. And so it's good to, you know, get everybody started, the young guys and, you know, just the whole team.

Greg Hill (4:41)

Bill, this week's diesel direct player of the game is Kendrick Bourne. Talk a little bit about what you saw from him yesterday.

Bill Belichick (4:50)