INDIANAPOLIS -- Shortly before training camp in July, I had the opportunity to speak with Patriots safety Sergio Brown about the upcoming 2011 season. Thursday morning at the Patriots' team hotel in downtown Indianapolis, Sergio and I had the chance to talk again and catch up and talk about his increased role, thoughts on the defense, and how the secondary has coped with so much change throughout the season.
While Sergio probably won't too many snaps on defense tomorrow against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, his role on special teams certainly can't be discounted, as he has become one of the team's best at covering kicks.
On turning training camp opportunity into bigger role:
I stepped up into a bigger role after those guys [Meriweather, Sanders, McGowan] left at the beginning of the season and played a little bit more and now I'm just contributing to the team [any] way I can. It's a blessing because I'm better than last year and I just keep taking steps forward.
On how he has improved as a player:
Experience; I've gotten older and I've been able to focus on the important things while trying to weed out the things that don't matter. I'm just really focused on getting better and everything we need to do as a football team.
Thoughts on his emergence as a special teams player despite up-and-down playing time on defense:
Special teams is a big part of the game - there is a lot of hidden yardage in special teams and whatever value we can get we need to have. So every chance I get out there to do anything I just want to give it 100% and try to contribute to the team.
On transition in defensive backfield and how the secondary has coped with it and improved:
We just want to play our best football after Thanksgiving - play our best football going into the playoffs. And once the playoffs hit, we wanted to really narrow down and really, really play our best football because it's like another chance, or another season. In the whole scheme of things, once you get to the playoffs, that's the only thing that matters. It doesn't really matter what happened before or anything so we just [have been] trying to come together as a group and play our best, best football in the playoffs - the postseason.