HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY(on going into the bye week at 4-1) 10/13/04
"We've played pretty well. We've played close to our potential. Offensively, we're very sharp right now, and we're taking care of the football. Our special teams and defense have been a little more up and down, but we've made the big plays when we've needed too. And if we get consistency from those two groups the second half of the year, I think we have a chance to be special."
QB-PEYTON MANNING(on how he thinks the offense can get better) 10/13/04
"Well, I'd love to have no turnovers every single game. One thing we kind of want to do is build on what we started. We talked in the offseason about being more productive in the red zone, and we have done that so far. The key is running the ball well and staying out of the third and longs. That's been the mindset, and we want to keep that going."
QB-PEYTON MANNING(on the importance of Head Coach Tony Dungy keeping the team focused on one game at a time) 10/13/04
"It's the cliché you hear all of the time, but he does a great job of emphasizing that and just realizing how important the next game is, especially when you play the division games. He places extra emphasis on those games, and guys really prepare. We're playing Jacksonvillein two weeks, a team that obviously, we know well at this point. There won't be a whole lot of change between two weeks ago and the upcoming week. He talks about doing what we do and being good at what we do. That's kind of been our philosophy so far this year."
QB-PEYTON MANNING(on what it's like to be the quarterback and have so many weapons) 10/13/04
"That's really the key for us, is the balance. If teams want to blitz and take away the run game, then we feel like we can block them all up and throw on them. If they want to really try to take away the pass and play a lot of man-to-man and zone coverages, we feel like the running game ought to hurt them. But, it's not possible if you don't have the receivers that they respect like Oaklanddid, or the running back that they respect like Green Baydid. When you have those weapons and threats, it puts the defense in a tough bind."
QB-PEYTON MANNING(on RB-Edgerrin James) 10/13/04
"Edgerrin reminds me of the Edgerrin from 1999 and 2000, the way he's hitting the holes, and he's running over those safties and linebackers and taking maybe a four-yard gain for most backs and turning it into a 12-yard gain. We've had a number of drives where we haven't had even a third down. You love that."
