Patrick Chung responds to questions about the difficulty in coming back from an injury and if he's been 'mystified' by the play of the defense.
On me, it's been pretty tough but the team is winning, the team is winning. I have no complaints at all. We're winning and just have to keep working and whatever obstacles there might be, you have to keep working and try to overcome those.
We have a good defense, a good defense, good players, good coach. Coach [Belichick] gives us the game plan, we execute and we've been doing that for the whole season.
[The rotation of safeties doesn't matter] the best players are going to play at the given time, whoever you have is going to play regardless. Whoever Coach [Belichick] puts out there he has full confidence in and he expects them to make plays.
Bill Belichick is asked about the challenge of getting the defense to gel with so many moving parts.
Our guys on defense, they work hard, they really do. They come in and put in a lot of extra time watching film, preparing, studying. I think all of our players really have gotten better individually. We've had some moving parts where some guys have worked with other players beside them or in front of them or behind them as the case would be. We stayed at it and some things have gotten better. We still have a lot of work to do, there are a lot of things we can improve on. I think overall, the work ethic and the confidence of the unit has been good. Hopefully we can continue to get better.
Vince Wilfork doesn't care much for rankings.
"We don't pay attention to any stats. That's something we don't do. We know how we feel about this team and we feel really good about this 2011 team. We'll see where that takes us. But, we really don't pay any attention to any stats."
TEAM TALK
- Patriots-Ravens Thursday Injury Report.
- Patriots to face Rams at Wembley Stadium in 2012.
- Andy Hart thinks this game may be decided, in many ways, in a matchup of the teams' weaknesses.
- Erik Scalavino shares a few tidbits from the Patriots outdoor practice yesterday.
- Press Conferences: Bill Belichick (19.46 min. video), Tom Brady (8.27 min. video), Patrick Chung (7.20 min. video), Brian Waters (7.13 min. video) and Logan Mankins (6.22 min. video)
- Player Interviews: Julian Edelman (2.50 min.), Dane Fletcher (4.24 min.) and Mark Anderson (2.54 min.)
- Conference Call Transcript: Vince Wilfork.
- Patriots Locker Room quotes.
- Patriots Today - The next honorary captain. (1.52 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Brady is back. (1.19 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Pats' TEs: "We're like brothers." (3.46 min. video)
- Patriots Today - A handful of Rice. (2.42 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Lewis, Suggs have eye on Brady. (3.17 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Watch these two vs. Ravens. (2.39 min. video)
- Patriots Today - Belichick Breakdown, Part I (6.14 min. video) and Part II (3.04 min. video)
- Locker Room Uncut - Faulk, Fletcher and more. (2.36 min. video)
LOCAL LINKS
- Ian Rappoport reports the Patriots will play the Rams in London next season, instead of in St. Louis.
- Mike Reiss serves up some quick hits from the media-access period in the locker room.
- Tom E. Curran suggests Bill Belichick has built his legacy because of his coaching style -- one that demands the most out his players.
- Jeff Howe finds the Patriots refuse to take this experience for granted as they gear up for the AFC Championship game.
- Karen Guregian breaks down the Patriots vs. Ravens matchups by position.
- Greg A. Bedard lays out all of the Ravens-Patriots matchups for Sunday.
- Tedy Bruschi and Mike Reiss break down Patriots vs. Ravens.
- The Herald Writers each answer the question of whether the Patriots will find redemption this week against Baltimore.
- Shalise Manza Young says the Patriots defense has chosen the right time to pick up its game.
- Paul Kenyon reports Deion Branch believes it's dedication that has made Tom Brady one of the best ever.
- Christopher Price explains how Patrick Chung brings a sense of stability back to the secondary.
- Rich Thompson notes Pat Chung is prepared to face the Ravens' TEs, especially after going against Gronkowski and Hernandez in practice.
- Michael Vega says when Patrick Chung returned to start the regular-season finale against Buffalo, his presence was unmistakable.
- Dan Duggan analyzes the matchup between Brandon Spikes and Ray Rice, giving the advantage to Rice.
- Christopher Price declares the Patriots secondary is no longer a primary concern.
- Ian Rapoport spotlights the Gronk TD spike, which has become a fan phenomenon.
- Mike Petraglia tells us why Haloti Ngata is the man the Patriots fear the most.
- Kirk Minihane questions whether Joe Flacco will have to do more than manage the game to silence the critics on Sunday.
- Mark Farinella points out that Joe Flacco is getting more respect from the Patriots locker room than he is from his own.
- Chad Finn gets ex-Raven Mike Flynn's take on Patriots-Ravens.
- Ron Borges calls Ravens' Dean Pees an unheralded genius with defense.
- Mike Reiss highlights Bill Belichick breaking down the Broncos game in two parts. Interesting segment on how McCourty is effective at safety.
- Mike Reiss says Trent Dilfer likes Tom Brady's chances of playing at 40.
- ESPNBoston sings Happy 10th Birthday to the Tuck Rule game.
- Ian Rapoport Patriots Notebook: Tom Brady was back participating fully at practice Thursday; Tedy Bruschi was named the third honorary captain for Sunday's AFC Championship game; Belichick wasn't in the mood to look back at the 10-year anniversary of the 'Snow Bowl'; Brian Waters savored his first playoff win, but is keeping his emotions in check.
- Michael Vega Patriots Notebook: Tom Brady wasn't as concerned as the media about his missed practice; Tedy Bruschi shared some memories of the Snow Bowl; TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez were each taken with picks immediately ahead of the Ravens. Brady feels fortunate they're not any of Joe Flacco's weapons instead of his; Josh McDaniels has integrated very smoothly.
- Mike Reiss offers the transcript of his weekly online chat.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Kerry J. Byrne (SI) Playoff preview: Ravens-Patriots.
- Kevin Fishbain (Pro Football Weekly) Patriots-Ravens matchup of the day: Patriots TEs vs. Ravens defense.
- Video (ESPN) NFL Live: Law Firm joins Trey Wingo Thursday. (2.53 min. video)
- John McTigue (ESPN Stats & Info) Ravens can stay tight with Pats tight ends.
- James Walker (ESPN) Pats-Ravens: Will Hernandez keep running?
- Tom Lakin (ESPN) Vince Wilfork anchors Pats' defense.
- Jason Cole (Yahoo! Sports) Patriots may be able to overcome woeful D.
- James Walker (ESPN) Has Patriots' defense turned the corner?
- Dan Hanzus (NFL.com) Lewis has never hid his admiration for Patriots QB Brady.
- Erik Frenz (Cold Hard Football Facts) New England Patriots: 3 things we (might) learn in AFC Championship game.
- Kevin Fishbain (Pro Football Weekly) Five questions with Patriots radio color commentator Gino Cappelletti.
- Jason Whitlock (Fox Sports) Ravens-Patriots is ultimate culture clash.
- Tom Danyluk (Pro Football Weekly) The conference confluence.
- Michael Rosenberg (SI) Is NFL really a quarterback league? It's not as clear as you think.
- Greg Garber (ESPN) 'Tuck Rule Game' changed destinies.
- Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) Conference championship picks: Brady's greatness, 49ers' completeness provide slight edges.
VIEW FROM BALTIMORE
- Mike Preston (Baltimore Sun) This is the perfect scenario for a Ravens victory.
- Sarah Ellison (BaltimoreRavens.com) Why Ravens can pull off major upset.
- Ryan Mink (BaltimoreRavens.com) Can Ravens win a shootout?
- Matt Vensel and Jeff Zrebiec (Baltimore Sun) Years later, Bernard Pollard still connected to Tom Brady injury.
- Jeff Zrebiec (Baltimore Sun) Ravens defensive coordinator Pagano thrives under pressure.
- Jeff Zrebiec (Baltimore Sun) Flacco not thinking contract, although playoff run could make Ravens decision easier.
- Matt Vensel (Baltimore Sun) Cam Cameron praises Joe Flacco's play from the Texans game.
- Edward Lee (Baltimore Sun) Ricky Williams not antsy over limited role.
- Garrett Downing (BaltimoreRavens.com) Patriots defense better than numbers suggest.