I always want to be out there with my team. I always want to fight.
— Matt Cassel
Everybody wishes they were better at golf.
It's just part of the NFL. There's going to be moving parts constantly. There's going to be roster changes. There's going to be coaches going somewhere else.
There are guys throughout the NFL that get the chance one way or the other.
When I was a kid, we used to play 'Madden' and 'NCAA Football' all the time. I have two brothers, so we grew up on these games.
You learn, across the league, with very successful quarterbacks, nobody does it by themselves.
I've always pushed myself and taken great pride in what I do.
My father grew up in West Texas, in Lubbock, and I've got family here, and I grew up a Dallas Cowboy fan all my life.
I love the Patriots. I love this organization.
I think as the quarterback of any NFL team, you put a tremendous amount of pressure on yourself to win ball games because that's what you're here to do and ultimately, that's what you want to do.
You can't play tentative.
Honestly, I have no ill will toward Kansas City or anything that happened here.
Your leader on the offensive line is your center, because the communication really takes place between him and quarterback.
Personally, I always loved the 1 p.m. Sunday games.
My rookie year in New England was mind-blowing.
I've been on a number of NFL teams, and a lot of them address situational football. But I've never been around a team that does it as meticulously as the New England Patriots.
I was in New England in 2007 for Spygate.
I've been through a lot in my career. I've been through the ups, I've been through the downs. I've been through the highs and the lows.
I never had a car in high school or college.
As a competitor, as a guy that wants to play, of course, it would be great to go out and play.
You always have to be thinking about your opportunity. You always have to be ready.
When I go home, I love to play the 'Tiger Woods' game with my brothers. It's always fun to sit there for a few hours and play.
For the most part, from the player standpoint, the coaches do the coaching and you try to come in and execute the game plan or the scheme they put in front of you.
My preparation doesn't change from being a backup to a starter.
It's been a childhood dream of mine to be a Cowboy, honestly.
Nobody knows the future.
I don't think there's anybody that puts more pressure on himself than I do.
You can't play scared.
I'm not trying to be Tom Brady. I'm just trying to be Matt Cassel.
I think that's the genius part of what the Patriots do: They go above and beyond in identifying the issue and doing whatever they can to make sure it doesn't wreck the offensive plan.
The Thursday night game is by far the most difficult game to prepare for. You can't get into as much depth as you normally would in your game plan because you just don't have the time. You've got to jump right into the next opponent.
The first thing that came to mind when I met Tom Brady was intimidation. I'm showing up in 2005 with a guy who just came off his third Super Bowl win. So, it's a little intimidating walking in the room with Tom Brady for the first time.
We knew what was going on with Spygate. We were in football mode, and it didn't impact our day-to-day. There's so much noise on the outside - 'You're cheaters, you're this, you're that' - but the easiest way to settle that is to go 18-0 and go to the Super Bowl.
Unfortunately, I've been around a lot of organizations over my 14-year career that have dealt with off-field issues.
I have a thing for brunettes.
I collected baseball and football cards. My most valuable was probably a Mark McGwire rookie card.
I have big hopes and big dreams and aspirations to do great things in the NFL.
I work really hard and I take great pride in what I do.
In the preseason, you usually only get a small window of opportunity, but when you get out there for four quarters and you're able to put it together, then you're able to go out there game after game and continue to get better, it was great, especially when I was able to prove a lot of my critics and naysayers wrong.
Competition brings out the best in everybody.
Everything works out in weird ways in the NFL.
I've always believed in myself and I've surrounded myself with positive-thinking people. That's why a lot of times I don't watch the sports shows or listen to the radio because of that simple fact, that there's too many critics out there and if you listen to everybody's opinion, I think it works against you.
So for me, it's just continue to go out and work hard and do what I've been coached and let the other guys take advantage of what they do successfully and then just let the chips fall where they may.
I have tunnel vision. I go out and try to get better each and every day.
Any time you can come down and score on your first drive, that's what you're trying to accomplish.
In 2005, our starting center, Dan Koppen, went down with a season-ending injury. Russ Hochstein was always our interior 'swing guy' - he played guard and center - and I remember Russ stepping in and playing beautifully.
I've said this time and time again: Dante Scarnecchia is the best offensive line coach in the NFL.
The thing about the 2008 season which sticks out for so many people was we were coming off the 18-1 year where we went to the Super Bowl and lost in dramatic fashion with the catch and everything else that happened.
You've probably heard from 100 different people that the Patriots are a game plan offense. Here's what that means: We're going to watch the defense specifically to identify their tendencies, what they do situationally and what their philosophy is.
I was in Minnesota in 2014 when Adrian Peterson was suspended. In that situation, we were about to play the Patriots when his suspension came out the Friday before the game.
