(On if the team could use Corey Grant more) "Yes, I think any time Corey [Grant] is on the field, he has the opportunity to make a big play with the speed that he has. That whole room in general with Leonard [Fournette] and T.J. [Yeldon]. All three of those guys are really good players. That is [Offensive Coordinator] Nathaniel [Hackett's] job to find a way to get those guys the ball and put them in the best situation to create positive plays. They are all certainly deserving of some touches and the opportunity to make plays and we try to get it to them as much as possible."

(On what he has seen from the Patriots secondary) "They do a good job. They are as sound as you can be fundamentally and discipline wise. They are going to be in the right place and they are going to make you make an exceptional play to beat them. They try and maybe take a couple things away from you and maybe make you do some stuff that you are not comfortable doing, but like you said, they have some good guys in the back end that have played a lot of football. They have some older guys back there that have seen a lot and it is a group and a scheme that we got to go against not that long ago. I have a little familiarity with them, but it is going to be a challenge as far as us being on point and executing."

(On how hard it is to not get caught up in the early season hype of this game) "I think everyone knows what happened last year and going up there and not winning a game we felt as if we could win, but it is a fresh start. It is a new year, new team. They have new guys on their roster. I look at it as an opportunity as our first home game to play in front of our fans against a really good football team in the Patriots, rather than a revenge game or anything like that. Week [2] and we have won six in a row at home so to get an opportunity to pick that streak back up and get it going again is exciting."

(On jumpstarting the offense) "We have to find ways. There is usually always something, whether you start slow or finish slow. There is always an area in the game it seems as though you need to work on, which there always is, but we have to find a way to translate how we start the game into the second half. We have to continue to attack and try to get points every time we have the ball. Worst-case scenario, find a way to flip the field and give our defense good field position. We have to continue to work on a ton of stuff there and make sure we are locked in and focused throughout the game and every series, so we give ourselves a chance to do that."

(On the atmosphere at the stadium Sunday) "I am sure it is going to be awesome. Being around town and the buzz of everyone here. I have been hearing it for a long time about how excited people are to come to this game and be here for the Week 2 rematch of last year's AFC Championship. I am sure it will be fun. I know we are excited to play in front of a packed house."

(On if he has heard about the buzz prior to this week) "Yes, from a fans perspective, it is the home opener and it is against the team that ended our season last year. It is a big game and we know it is a big game, but it is also just the next game."

(On how much Leonard Fournette's injury will limit game planning) "It will be the staff. They do a good job of coming up with the plan and putting us in a position to be successful with the guys that are going to be available. If Leonard can play then great, we will have some stuff ready to go, but if he can't or he is questionable or whatever that may be, we will have a good plan utilizing the backs we have that are available and find different ways to get them in space."

(On if his ability to run opens up the offense) "I think so. In talking to defensive guys, anytime you can scramble and create a play as a quarterback with your legs – I know it is huge on third down. Defenses in general pride themselves in getting off the field on third down and when the secondary does their job as far as covering everyone up and you are still able to create a first down as a quarterback running, I think that is kind of a deflater from their end. I think anytime we can stay on the field and move the chains with a scramble or a run or anything, it helps out in the run game as far as keeping the backside honest and making sure they are staying home and not letting those guys chase our backs down from behind, I think it helps as well."

(On his rushing average being so high) "Mike Vick – me and him are the same guy." (laughter)

(On Bill Belichick's comparison of him to Cam Newton and Deshaun Watson) "That is pretty generous."

(On if his hamstring really tightened up on the 41-yard run of his or he was joking) "I was just kidding. Me and 'Mylo' [Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Tom Myslinksi] have been training for that all summer."

(On if he could have ran for another 20 or 30 yards on his 41-yard run) "I don't know about that. I was about done. They were coming in hot."

(On if he tries to shut out the noise this week) "It's not that hard for me to not listen to what is going on outside our locker room. I have a good amount of practice at that. Just staying locked in to the game plan, figuring it out and owning that as much as possible and making sure we are locked in as a group in everything we do each day and meetings and walkthroughs and practices and our prep. We are getting ready to play game two of our 2018 season. That is kind of how I look at it. I let everyone else kind of build the hype and all the extra stuff around of it."

(On what the team has seen from T.J. Yeldon and the outsider perception of there being a drop off from Leonard Fournette to Yeldon) "I think just watching him play the last couple years … Obviously with Leonard coming in, his [Yeldon's] role changed a little bit. He was more of the third down guy as Leonard kind of carried the bulk of the carries. In the three or four games that Leonard didn't play, I think you got a chance to watch and see what kind of back T.J. was. I think we won those three games that Leonard was out and T.J. started and he did a good job. Obviously mixing in Corey [Grant] and some different things and situations as well. I think that everyone kind of knows the kind of football that Leonard is and what he brings. He is an extremely good back. I think that if he is not going to be available and you go to T.J. [Yeldon] and Corey [Grant], I think they do a good job of picking up that slack. I think that everybody else takes pride in the fact that if we are not going to have Leonard, we have to make sure that we are on top of the game to help out the backs."

(On if games are different in terms of developing trust with receivers or if that happens in practice) "I think it's definitely one thing to get reps on it in practice. I think it is a little bit different to get them in the game. You are able to build the confidence through the week getting reps on air or the scout team or whoever it may be. I think that you have that comfortability or confidence to take it in to the game. I think that once you start doing it in the game consistently is when that confidence really grows. I think that when you are able to go out there and everything translates and we are doing it the same exact way we were doing it on Wednesday on practice field that we are doing it on Sunday afternoon, I think that is when everybody really believes."

(On the difficulty to run the ball when the defense knows it is coming) "It is a challenge. The situation we had last week – everybody in the stadium knows we are going to run it three times because you have to. You have to make them burn their timeouts and then you have to run it on third down to let the clock run just because it is pretty valuable to make sure the clock is running and they are burning their timeouts. You are going to do it against a loaded box and it is going to be hard. You have to make sure that everybody is on the guy they are supposed to be on, on the right landmark. You have to just get 2 or 3 [yards] each play and hope that by third down that you somehow find a way to move the chains because that is how you win that situation. You have to get one first down to be able to run out the clock and then the game."

(On if he thinks the team has the offensive line to be able to run the ball better than last season in those situations) "I think so, definitely. I think with Cam [Robinson] being a year older, with [Andrew] Norwell coming in and really with Brandon [Linder] and the right side with another year in Nathaniel's system, I think that everyone is comfortable with the packages that we have in those four-minute situations. I do think we have a better chance to be able to get that done this year than we did last year."