Bill Belichick Press Conference Transcript 12/11

Q: Aqib Talib seems like the kind of guy that really thrives on competition and frequently draws the top wideout. Are there things that you see that we don’t that would reinforce that?

BB: I think you hit it on the head. He’s very competitive. Even from preseason practices, whether it was jumping in line to cover DeSean Jackson or Vincent Jackson or whoever it is, he always wants to compete against the best and feels like it brings out the best in him. He’s a great competitor, he’s a good teammate, he works hard. I think he’s ready to meet any challenge that we’ve given him, whether it be in the kicking game, defensively, run responsibilities, coverage responsibilities, whatever it happens to be. If it’s something that will help the team, he wants to do it.

Q: Does he bring a unique energy or personality? It seems like he’s always ‘on’.

BB: He has a very good energy and he’s a good teammate. I think he’s very respected in the locker room but liked in the locker room, which is not always the case. But I think he has a good rapport with everybody: the offensive players, the defensive players, the DBs and the skills players but also the other guys, the linemen. He just has a good way about him. He’s not the class clown, but at the same time, he has a good personality and he’s serious and he’s competitive. He’s got a nice mixture of all those things. I don’t even know what I’m saying, but it kind of goes well in a lot of different settings.