Fire Me Boy!
11-23-2005, 06:39 PM
I didn't see this on the first two pages... sorry if it's a repost.
http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2005/11/23/qa_rb_larry_johnson_pats/
Q&A RB LARRY JOHNSON
Nov 23, 2005, 2:52:07 PM
NEW ENGLAND CONFERENCE CALL
Q: How are you doing with the extra workload? Have you had to temper your enthusiasm early in the game and realize you cannot break everything, but it looks like you have been breaking things from long distances.
JOHNSON: “Basically you just have to be patient and kind of pick your spots, battles and wars. I think in some sort of aspects of the game you can’t make everything a knock-them-down-drag-out run when it’s the first run of the game because you know you have to last throughout the whole game. I am getting my endurance and tempo back as far as trying to do that every single play all the way from the first, second, third to the fourth quarter.”
Q: New England has had some difficulty stopping the run this year. Do you feel like you will have some opportunities to get some seams against them?
JOHNSON: “No, it’s going to be a hard five yards. Everything we are going to get it’s going to be very hard for us to get. Those guys are impressive up front. Their linebacker corps is impressive, so it’s going to be a tough battle trying to get those guys to move them off the ball since they are so good on defense.”
Q: Larry, have you adopted a different mindset at all personally with RB Priest Holmes gone for the year?
JOHNSON: “I came into a situation knowing that I was going to get a chance to play. Any given time he could go out. I had to prepare myself mentally for that and I have been doing that since we started the season. I just came in getting more carries than I am used to getting except for playing every third series. Instead of every third series I am playing every series now.”
Q: What does a guy like Tony Gonzalez, in your offense, do in order to help the running game?
JOHNSON: “Basically he doesn’t know if he is going to go out and catch the ball or stay in and block and I think people have been very aware of TE Tony (Gonzalez) catching ability but also his blocking ability to run up in there hit and knock guys off. He has been good since the last couple of games and he is starting to catch the ball real well now. He is definitely someone you have to watch out for.”
Q: Does having a good tight end help an offense get to the next level as opposed to being able to either concentrate on the backs or the receivers?
JOHNSON: “Definitely because you know if you don’t have a good tight end then you don’t have a linebacker or a defensive end to respect that and all they will do is come down hill on the backside or front side and crash in to him and hope that he doesn’t go out for passing routes. Tony Gonzalez can do both. He can block and pass catch. You can come down and blitz if you want to but you don’t know if he is going to slip out and burn you with a long pass or really take on a block. He has done so well doing that.”
Q: Did you think of yourself as a backup when you were playing behind RB Priest Holmes? Did it bother you at all to have that label?
JOHNSON: “No, not really. Even Coach Vermeil said we had two starters back there because both of us were capable of starting at any time. It just happened I was starting on third series and Priest was starting the game. We did that whole rotation from the beginning of the game to the end of the game, so basically I never thought of myself as a backup.”
Q: Have you noticed much of a difference in the Patriots run defense over the last two games?
JOHNSON: “I just know that they have gotten better. It’s our first day at practice and we haven’t had a chance to watch tape yet but as much as we watched today they still look impressive. They still look ready.”
http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2005/11/23/qa_rb_larry_johnson_pats/
Q&A RB LARRY JOHNSON
Nov 23, 2005, 2:52:07 PM
NEW ENGLAND CONFERENCE CALL
Q: How are you doing with the extra workload? Have you had to temper your enthusiasm early in the game and realize you cannot break everything, but it looks like you have been breaking things from long distances.
JOHNSON: “Basically you just have to be patient and kind of pick your spots, battles and wars. I think in some sort of aspects of the game you can’t make everything a knock-them-down-drag-out run when it’s the first run of the game because you know you have to last throughout the whole game. I am getting my endurance and tempo back as far as trying to do that every single play all the way from the first, second, third to the fourth quarter.”
Q: New England has had some difficulty stopping the run this year. Do you feel like you will have some opportunities to get some seams against them?
JOHNSON: “No, it’s going to be a hard five yards. Everything we are going to get it’s going to be very hard for us to get. Those guys are impressive up front. Their linebacker corps is impressive, so it’s going to be a tough battle trying to get those guys to move them off the ball since they are so good on defense.”
Q: Larry, have you adopted a different mindset at all personally with RB Priest Holmes gone for the year?
JOHNSON: “I came into a situation knowing that I was going to get a chance to play. Any given time he could go out. I had to prepare myself mentally for that and I have been doing that since we started the season. I just came in getting more carries than I am used to getting except for playing every third series. Instead of every third series I am playing every series now.”
Q: What does a guy like Tony Gonzalez, in your offense, do in order to help the running game?
JOHNSON: “Basically he doesn’t know if he is going to go out and catch the ball or stay in and block and I think people have been very aware of TE Tony (Gonzalez) catching ability but also his blocking ability to run up in there hit and knock guys off. He has been good since the last couple of games and he is starting to catch the ball real well now. He is definitely someone you have to watch out for.”
Q: Does having a good tight end help an offense get to the next level as opposed to being able to either concentrate on the backs or the receivers?
JOHNSON: “Definitely because you know if you don’t have a good tight end then you don’t have a linebacker or a defensive end to respect that and all they will do is come down hill on the backside or front side and crash in to him and hope that he doesn’t go out for passing routes. Tony Gonzalez can do both. He can block and pass catch. You can come down and blitz if you want to but you don’t know if he is going to slip out and burn you with a long pass or really take on a block. He has done so well doing that.”
Q: Did you think of yourself as a backup when you were playing behind RB Priest Holmes? Did it bother you at all to have that label?
JOHNSON: “No, not really. Even Coach Vermeil said we had two starters back there because both of us were capable of starting at any time. It just happened I was starting on third series and Priest was starting the game. We did that whole rotation from the beginning of the game to the end of the game, so basically I never thought of myself as a backup.”
Q: Have you noticed much of a difference in the Patriots run defense over the last two games?
JOHNSON: “I just know that they have gotten better. It’s our first day at practice and we haven’t had a chance to watch tape yet but as much as we watched today they still look impressive. They still look ready.”