Sammy Morris

Patriots running backs Sammy Morris and Fred Taylor joined the Dale & Holley show on Friday morning to recap the disappointing performance against the Rams on Thursday night.

“It’s kind of difficult,” Morris said of comparing the preseason to the regular season. “I hate ever trying to justify or downplay a loss, but at the same time it is preseason. There’s not as much game plan, there’s not as much starters playing, there’s a lot of things different from the regular season. So I guess for me personally, I just kind of sense how I played and I guess the coaches just imagine how everyone played and everything that needs to be improved upon.”

“Last night was just one of those things,” Taylor said. “You never want to lose. No matter who the opponent is, you never want to lose, number one. I think to go out there and seeing how our guys fought later in the second half, how they all fought back to try to win the game, it was good to see that. Unfortunately, we didn’t come out with the outcome that we all hoped for but there will be some positive things on the film as well as things that we have to correct. All in all, we still have tons and tons of football.”

Below are the highlights of the conversations. To hear the interviews, visit the Dale & Holley audio on demand page.

Sammy Morris:

How do you compare a loss in the preseason to a loss in the regular season?

It’s kind of difficult. I hate ever trying to justify or downplay a loss but at the same time it is preseason. There’s not as much game plan, there’s not as much starters playing, there’s a lot of things different from the regular season. So I guess for me personally, I just kind of sense how I played and I guess the coaches just imagine how everyone played and everything that needs to be improved upon.

If I asked you to give me an assessment of the positives from last night, what would they be?

First off, our return team did a good job of giving the offense good field position. I think for the things that we did offensively, I’ll find out today exactly what those were.

Would you like to have more work in the preseason? What were you looking for last night?

That’s the thing with the preseason, I just kind of go with the flow of the game. You never know how much everyone is going to play. You know, holding on to the ball and running the ball well and doing a good job of controlling the clock. We kind of forced a lot of stuff. Like I said, it’s the preseason and its part of the game.

Did waiting after the kickoff return have any effect on the offense?

I don’t know, I guess it can. It can happen in the regular season too and like I said, you never want to get into a place where you’re justifying things and saying it’s just the preseason and what not. [St. Louis] did a good job of answering back and like I said, whether it’s regular season or preseason, the onus is on us to go back and get things going offensively.

Bill Belichick didn’t seem very happy after the game last night. Was the post-game message that there weren’t a lot of positives to take from the game?

I don’t know, I think he was just upset about losing. I know we all feel like we could have played better and trying to be positive just looking to see where we can improve on.

You probably know the first meeting today isn’t going to be much fun.

For me personally, I just don’t like minimizing a loss or trying to justify why things didn’t go well. I think yesterday is a good example of that and the coaches job is to correct those things. We’ll find out in a little bit to see exactly how things went.

You have one more preseason to go but do you feel you’re physically and mentally to start the season now?

Well, I don’t know. Being positive, we don’t have to. There’s still time to work and tighten up some of the loose ends and try to get as ready as we can for the season opener.

Fred Taylor:

Talk about last night and give us some positives to hang on to.

Last night was just one of those things. You never want to lose. No matter who the opponent is, you never want to lose, number one. I think to go out there and seeing how our guys fought later in the second half, how they all fought back to try to win the game, it was good to see that. Unfortunately, we didn’t come out with the outcome that we all hoped for but there will be some positive things on the film as well as things that we have to correct. All in all, we still have tons and tons of football.

Last time you were one, one of our listeners said you were a motivator, an innovator, and an inspirational teacher? Is that a next career for you, motivational speaking?

Actually, I don’t feel a certain way about it one way or the other. It’s more so of always speaking from the heart and I guess that way is 100 percent honesty in what you have to say. That’s all I usually do, I’m not by any means trying to be a motivational guy. It just happens, it happens. That’s just from naturally trying to do with what God made me and that’s talking through my experiences.

Did you go into last night’s game knowing you weren’t getting the ball or was it just the way the game went?

Well, it was more so the game went that decided it overall. I knew I was going to be limited in some aspects but my job is to always remain ready. If they call your number, you have to be ready to go and that’s always the key, being ready.

Looking at veteran players, we always think of what they can teach the younger players. What are the younger guys teaching you?

You just listen. You pay attention and you listen. Like anything else, in this day and age with technology moving so fast, you blink and you’ll miss it. For example, a guy like Laurence [Maroney] will tell me, “Hey big homie, man you got to come in and do it this way.” And I’ll try it. If it works, I’ll stick with it, just like last week. Nothing really just jumps out but we have those conversations where he’ll say, “Hey try it this way homie and see how you like that.” I’m always open to try new things and see if it works because if it makes my game better, we’re all better.

I see you talking to Laurence Maroney on the sidelines when he isn’t getting carries. Is that to keep his spirits up?

No, it’s not keeping his spirits up. It’s staying ready, paying attention to what’s going on out there on the field. Getting mental reps is what we like to call it, just making sure you’re ready. Or even if we see something, to support the guy that’s in there and to show him, “Hey, did you miss this or did you pick up this or this is what we saw.” As a running back, it’s fun to do that, being able sit on the sidelines and become a coach for the moment. That’s what we’re all going through is helping each other out.

You had a great touchdown run in Atlanta. What happened on that play and were you looking for contact?

On that particular play to the left side, it was executed outstandingly upfront by the lineman, as well as Alge Crumpler who came around and delivered a crushing block. Then the receivers, they all blocked downfield. One crack, bounced off a tackle and the rest was history. It wouldn’t have been quite as long of a run if the safety had wrapped up. That’s when you go back to fundamentals. It wasn’t anything spectacular that I did, it was more so him not wrapping up when you go back and look at the film. I kept my legs moving and next thing it was a touchdown. That’s how we have to play. They say to make plays and that’s what all of our guys are trying to do, make plays. When the opportunity presents itself, you better be ready to take advantage.

What do you think of Crumpler’s blocking ability and how would you compare it to other tight ends?

You know, I’ve always thought of Alge as a very good player back in his Atlanta days, as well as in Tennessee. I always thought he was a very good player. Now that he’s here and I can talk to him about teams and blocking protection, he’s like one of those old, crazy fullbacks like back in the day fullbacks. Show me a brick wall and let me run into it, that’s Alge. He loves talking about blocking. I never met anybody that loves it so much that has the option to block and receive, whether it be a running back. You never hear a guy talking about blocking that much and getting excited about it and that’s why he’s good at it. I’m glad that he’s on our side and if I had to make a pass to a back or tight end that I’ve had, it would be Kyle Brady because he’s just the type of athletic tackle that can catch the ball, but he blocks like an offensive tackle.

What has Rob Gronkowski shown you thus far?

Straight beast mode. Everything’s always beast mode. He’s a young guy who definitely has some growing to do and he knows it, but the sky’s the limit for him. He has a lot of potential, a lot of upside, and I’m sure with the coaches on this staff, they’ll bring that potential out. Those last 5 yards, it ignited the entire team because at that point we were down and we needed some energy, and for Rob to drag that guy the 3, 4, 5 yards, whatever it was, that’s a big spark for the moment.

I can see that play igniting a stadium.

That’s exactly what happened. It was little quiet in there and we were down pretty good. Rob, he dragged that guy, it’s a 250-pound linebacker we’re talking about in [James] Laurinaitis and just for him to hold on to that ankle and Rob dragging him about 3, 4 yards, you have to get excited. Like you said, I don’t care who you are. It’s the sports, that’s what makes the sport so great. If you’re an opposing fan, you want to cheer for it a little and say, “Wow, that’s a great play,” and give credit where credit is due. Or you’re going to be one of those fans that hates everything and hates the world.