Q: Does the animosity with McCoy make this game more important to you?A: No, not at all. It's just another game on our schedule. A big game; obviously it's a division rivalry and that's the way I'm approaching it, that's the way this whole team is approaching it.
Q: Does this stuff with ballerina get to you ever?A: No, not at all. He's a great player and he's entitled to his own opinion and that's just the way it's gonna be.
Q: How would you rate this rivalry overall?A: It's big. It's huge. Obviously, there's a lot of animosity between the two teams because of the way some of the games have turned out and they're a good team. They're desperate for a win right now, obviously we're more desperate for a win ourselves, so it's going to be a great game.
Q: What kind of respect do you have for the officials who are heading back to the field?A: A lot of respect. I didn't really buy into all the hype surrounding how bad the replacement officials were. They were just out there trying to do their job and we should have been out there trying to do ours, too, so I'm happy the old guys are back and I think they're gonna continue to do a good job.
Q: How did Cam Newton help you in preparing to face Vick or do you think it's a little bit different?A: The offense is different. Cam and Carolina were basically running a college offense, the draws and the lead options and all that stuff like that. Vick is a pro-style offense. He's just a mobile quarterback, so I don't think we prepared… It was a completely different preparation for the two teams.
Q: Do you want to keep him in the pocket?A: He can pass. He's a good pocket passer also. He's more effective or he's more dangerous when he leaves the pocket. He can make those big plays down the field, so we want to keep him in the pocket, but it's not like he can't beat us from there, too, because he has a very good arm.
Q: What do you think the root cause is for the offensive line struggles that they've had?A: It's a lot of blitzing going on and the teams are blitzing. They're not really getting beat with a lot of four-man rush, so I wouldn't say it's the offensive line's fault, the tight ends, the running backs and maybe sometimes the quarterback is holding onto the ball longer than he's supposed to. I won't completely blame it on the offensive line. I think they've done a pretty good job.
Q: Why do you think you guys are so good on the road?A: Honestly, I have no idea. I wish I knew so we could play better at home. It's something about being on the road and everybody is against us. We know that we're all we've got and we just rally and play very good football.
Q: Does it seem like Vick is getting hit more?A: Honestly, yes, it does. I don't know what the cause for that is. I think more teams are just attacking him or just blitzing, blitzing, blitzing and just trying to get to him as often as possible and that seems to be the game plan. People are getting to him, but I wouldn't say it's just necessarily it's the offensive line. I think it's a combination of a lot of things.
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