G Justin Pugh
November 13, 2015
Re: how he felt this week coming out of the Tampa Bay game
A:…you don’t really know what’s going on and I’ve gotten much better. I’m a 100 percent now, so I don’t really feel any effects from it. I just have to make sure I’m more careful, and make sure I’m properly hydrated, and make sure I’m going above and beyond playing in those hot environments.
Q: A little cooler right now playing here on Sunday.
A: Yeah, it’s going to be a little bit better. It’s just something that I learned from and something I definitely have to make sure I go above and beyond next time. We’ll be alright. I’ve got a mustache now, so we’ll be alright.
Q: Practice was good this week?
A: Yeah, I felt good, I’m excited for Sunday. It’s a big game for us and it’d be huge to get a win going into the bye week.
Q: They have so many different looks that they can give you defensively, what’s the biggest concern?
A: Just knowing the personnel that are on the field, knowing who’s out there, and knowing who we have to be responsible for. Just us going out there making sure we’re on the same page, it’s going to be a lot easier that we’re home, we can communicate, not as much noise, so it’s going to be good for us.
Q: What do you expect from that atmosphere? Do you think it will have an added element knowing who they are and that they’re undefeated?
A: Yeah, I mean they’re a great team. Obviously, they’re the defending Super Bowl champs. We have to go out there and be on our game and not put our defense in a bad position. A lot of times they’ll get up on teams early and allow the defense to really go into attack mode, so we have to make sure that we hold up our end of the bargain, and make sure we do some good things on offense.
Q: What I was trying to get at, when you go up against a team like that, does it get you more hyped, more up, is there more to it?
A: I think self-consciously you have to. They’re obviously the champions, so you want to go out there and you want to beat the champions. If we want to get to where we want to go, we have to go through teams like New England. They’re a great team and it’s going to be a fun game on Sunday.
Q: Are some of the keys to their defense the personnel they actually have on the line at a certain time?
A: You know, I think what makes them so good is they have guys who are very versatile. If you look at any of their players, they can rush the passer, the front seven I’m saying, they can rush the passer, be a defensive lineman, or they can drop in coverage and be linebackers. We have to make sure we’re communicating on who’s on the field, and what we’re going to do with our protections, or whatever it is in the run game.
Q: 27 sacks from nine different guys, so that tells me that they’re not afraid to send anybody at anytime from anywhere?
A: Exactly and that’s something that makes them very good. They all are versatile and they have those guys who can play multiple positions. They got a Syracuse guy, Chandler Jones, who has a bunch of sacks, so it’ll be fun going up against him because I got to go against him for four years in college. I’m looking forward to the challenge.
