| St. Louis WR Isaac Bruce, who was the hero of the Rams’
23-16 victory over Tennessee in Super Bowl XXXIV with a 73-yard TD catch, spoke with the
media in New Orleans at a Rams press conference. Here’s a look at his responses: Q:
How will you combat the Patriots’ secondary’s style of play?
A: We’re going to listen to our coaches this week, now more than ever. What we
want to do is not waste any time at the line of scrimmage. If you’re standing up
there shaking, you’re standing still enough that they can get a hold of you and get
their hands on your chest. You can’t waste any time at the line of scrimmage. You
just have to get off and go.
Q: How does the Patriots’ secondary compare to other secondaries in the league?
A: It is definitely one of the better ones. I mean, Ty Law, Otis Smith. … Those
are guys with a lot of experience. Lawyer Milloy is a guy who has been to Hawaii a number
of times. It is definitely high on the list. I don’t know another team I can compare
it with — probably the Redskins of last year. They are the same talent-wise, and with
guys with a lot of experience.
Q: Can the Rams’ receivers be covered man-to-man?
A: I’m a big believer that I cannot be covered one-on-one. Torry (Holt) believes
the same and so do Az (Hakim) and Ricky (Proehl). If you’re going to play one-on-one,
we have to do what we have to do to get down the field and make big plays.
Q: Has the Rams’ offense peaked?
A: We have a couple times this year. Once against Miami and a couple other games this
year where they played a lot of zone, allowing Kurt (Warner) to stand back there and pick
them apart. That’s peaking for us.
Q: Do you take pride in your reputation as "The Greatest Show on Turf"?
A: There’s a lot of pride in giving the people what they paid to see. They see us
all running fast, making plays, catching balls and separating from people. So, yeah, we
take pride in it.
Q: How important is the chemistry between receivers?
A: That chemistry starts on a day like today. We make sure that when we line up on the
same side, we ask who is going first, who is doing this, who is doing that. Once we are
done in the meeting room, go through the walk-through and onto the practice field, our
chemistry is already there. By sitting down and knowing where everyone is going, we
don’t run over each other because we’re moving so fast and not really worried
about what’s in front of us.
Q: Talk about the physical and mental aspects of the Rams’ offense.
A: I think the mental part of the game takes care of the physical. If you run the right
routes, and you’re where the quarterback needs you to be, at the right depth, and
you’re precise with your routes, that’s a good part of it.
Q: How much were you impressed with the Patriots after the teams’ first meeting
in Week 10?
A: We threw for a lot of yards, but it was 24-17. That let us know that they
didn’t die. We were on the road. They’re a big-time team that relies on the
blitz and relies on giving a lot of different looks. They’ll switch from a 3-4 to a
4-3 — a lot of blitzing out of both sets. We watched the film to try to predict some
of the things they are going to do.
Q: Can the Rams’ receivers run away from the Patriots’ secondary?
A: I feel like we can run away from just about any corner in this league. It’s
just a matter of technique. Everybody in this league is fast. They have fast guys, too.
Technique beats speed.
Q: What are the biggest improvements in this year’s Rams compared to last year?
A: We have a much better defense with guys that can match our speed on offense, guys
that want to win. The hunger is still there. I think Coach Martz and Mr. Armey have done a
magnificent job of keeping us all here together.
Q: Do you perceive Mike Martz to be arrogant?
A: I don’t really see him doing anything that I would call arrogant. He’s
just being himself. He is who he is. He’s not trying to show up anybody, I don’t
think. He’s not trying to run up the score on anybody. Situations arise where he has
to do what he has to do, but I don’t think he’s arrogant. |
