Whatever success I've had it is because I've tried to understand the situation of the player. I think the coach's duty is to avoid complicating matters.

I've learned a lot about the process. I had no idea how the balls got from the officials locker room down on the field and so forth and so on and all of that. That's not something I have ever thought or concerned myself about [on] game day. I've concerned myself with preparing and coaching the team.

We never use the condition of the footballs as an excuse. We play with whatever or kick with whatever we have to use and that's the way it is.

Each decision will be done on a case-by-case basis and we'll make the decision we feel is best for the New England Patriots football team.

There are no shortcuts to building a team each season. You build the foundation brick by brick.

To me the footballs are approved by the league and game officials pregame and we play with what's out there. That's the only way that I have ever thought about that.

It hasn't even been competitive. That's the first thing we're going to have to do is just find a way to stay competitive because these (first two games) have been over by halftime. We saw that last year too (on Halloween). It was 21-3 (Steelers) at the end of the first quarter.