PLAYER QUOTES
1/14/04
DE-CHAD BRATZKE (on if he feels that getting to the AFC Championship Game is an accomplishment)
"Me, personally, we want to get to the Super Bowl. That's the accomplishment. If we don't make it, to me, that's a failure. That's your goal. You don't say in the beginning of the season, 'I want to get to the AFC Championship game.' That's not the goal."
DE-CHAD BRATZKE (on Patriots Coach Bill Belichick)
"Coach Belichick is a great coach. His reputation, his record, speaks for itself. He seems to always have a wrinkle here or there (in his game plan). What that is, I don't think you can prepare for it, because you don't know what it's going to be. He's a coach that's been there, that has won it and he knows what it takes."
DE-CHAD BRATZKE (on what his emotions will be like if the Colts reach the Super Bowl)
"I (will) deal with the moment after the moment. You can't be engulfed in the moment. After the game, you can enjoy it. It's do or die. You have to win to make it to the Super Bowl. You can't get taken up with the distractions or the media. People that want tickets (for the AFC Championship game) better get that out of the way early in the week and focus on the game."
DE-CHAD BRATZKE (on the defense needing to improve their tackling from the Kansas City game)
"You always need to improve, and tackling is one of them. We need to improve our tackling. Those are the fundamental things that we need to work on and iron out before this game."
P-HUNTER SMITH (on not punting the last two games)
"There has been no difference in the previous 16 weeks other than just not punting in the games. Other than that, I warm up during the game the same way, I prepare to punt mentally the same way. In a normal two weeks, I would have punted eight times and in these two weeks I haven't done that. That's the only thing that has been different. I've prepared just as hard or harder and I've been ready."
P-HUNTER SMITH (of if not punting in two consecutive games has ever happened to him before)
"I didn't punt against Buffalo one time three years ago. Aside from that, it's been a very different experience. It's still going through games warming up, practicing and all that stuff. It's just not actually going out on the field and performing."
P-HUNTER SMITH (of if he expected not to punt in the last two high-scoring games)
"I always think I'm going to have to punt because I have to. For me to do what is in the best interests of the team, I have to assume that I am going to have to punt, and preparing the whole game to punt. You never know, I might not punt the whole game but maybe on the last play we need a punt to get us out of the end zone or something."
P-HUNTER SMITH (on being known more for not punting and scoring a rushing touchdown rather than his punting abilities)
"That's just life as a punter. Something is always different. You are known for your fake punt or your field goal or your lack of punting. It's kind of an eccentric position compared to a lot of positions on the football field."
DB-WALT HARRIS (one how Coach Tony Dungy has helped his game)
"I listen to them a lot. Coach Dungy has good leadership. He brings leadership to the team and allows you to put yourself in a position to try to step up and lead other guys."
DB-WALT HARRIS (on playing New England a second time after giving up 38 points in the first contest)
"Whenever you play a team for the second time, hopefully, you are better prepared and we will be better prepared."
DB-WALT HARRIS (on playing through a knee injury all year)
"They (injuries) are tough. They've been real tough all season. It's just something that you have to work through and get through and be able to find the right mixture of practice reps and still be able to get your fundamentals down on the game."
DB-WALT HARRIS (on the Colts lack of interceptions this year)
"Being a defensive back, your job is to stop the wideout, and getting interceptions is one of those things that puts your offense back on the field and starts momentum. We haven't had many interceptions, but the ones we have had, have made a difference."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on the status of the defense going into the New England game)
"We are getting better. We still have some problems we have to fix. Some things with the run game, some things with the pass game, but we are doing fine. We are gradually getting better."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on the biggest concerns of the Colts defense this week)
"(Tom) Brady is a great quarterback and they have some real capable backs. They like to keep their opponents off balance. We have to figure out their formations and just deal with it."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on how much QB-Tom Brady may change when he is pressured)
"It's the same with any quarterback. Pressure kind of defeats a lot of things. When we played Michael Vick, we put pressure on him and he was a different quarterback. A lot of quarterbacks can't deal with pressure. Whether we do it with the front four or with the blitz, we are going to try to put pressure on him."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on changing what the defense has done this season in an attempt to pressure QB-Tom Brady)
"We have to just correct what we are doing. We don't want to get away from what we do. Like I said, we have some fundamental problems here and there that we have to correct, maybe some assignment things here and there. If we correct those problems, we should be fine."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on correcting some tackling problems in the Kansas City game)
"Tackling is more or less like a mind frame. It reflects your intensity after you get to the ball. Sometimes you get to the ball carrier and you don't finish off. We have to learn to finish off, to complete the play."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on the ''fear'' that the defense won't play well against New England to support the Colts offense)
"There is no fear. We don't play in fear. We think positively. The offense has been doing a great job for us so far – 38 points, 40 points. We aren't going to get that effort every time, so the defense has to step up."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on how the defensive game plan will change with the absence of New England OG-Damien Woody)
"Regardless of who is in there, it is going to be the same thing. We are going to after them. We feel Woody is their best lineman but their scheme is not based on him."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on being "hungry" to defeat New England after losing to the Patriots earlier this season)
"We are always hungry. By being in the AFC Championship Game we are going to be even hungrier. We gave up 38 points to these guys before. We are going to be hungry."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on advancing to the Super Bowl)
"Winning the Super Bowl is the ultimate dream of every player. We have to take care of this game and get one step closer."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on weather being a factor)
"Weather is not really a factor. Weather doesn't become a big factor unless you are talking about blizzard conditions or something like that. Even then it doesn't really matter."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on being successful on the road and if the attitude is this is just another road game)
"Obviously, the stage is bigger, but this is just another road game. We have to take this game just like we have taken other road games – like at Kansas City, like at Tennessee. If we do like we have always done on the road we will be fine."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on teams attempting different approaches to blo
