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Gameday / 1998 / January 4 / Green Bay

Green Bay vs. Tampa Bay - Postgame Quotes - Green Bay

Regular Season - Packers Win 21-7

Audio Clips

HEAD COACH MIKE HOLMGREN:
(on whether his team was tight) "You could call it a number of things -- maybe a tad bit rusty. We were a little sloppy early, but I don't think we were tight. If anything, I was worried about us being too loose. But let's give credit where credit is due. Tampa Bay is a very fine football team."

(on the play of Gilbert Brown) "Gilbert did very well in spots. He's such a big, strong guy in there. He gave a good effort but his ankle won't be 100 percent until June, probably."

(on the amount of "jawing" between players) "In this game, a lot of guys know each other, so you're going to have a certain amount of jawing. But too much jawing can be a distraction and our players need to know that."

(on Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman returning kicks) "I think both Robert and Antonio did a fine job returning kicks and they will continue to return kicks. But we are not a heavily penalized team on special teams, so I didn't like the number of penalties."

(on reaching the NFC Championship Game) "It's a great opportunity. Getting to this game again is a great thing for our football team. We know San Francisco pretty well. And it will give me a chance to see my sisters, my family. That's a nice thing."

(on whether Brett Favre "aged" him today) "He ages me every day. He also gives me great joy. He's kind of like one of my kids. But I'm glad he doesn't live with me."

(on his reaction when the Bucs closed within 13-7) "The team probably handled it better than I did. We had an opportunity to go up 20-7, 16-7, then boom, they get 7 and it's a game again. But what I did like was the way we responded -- we played better, harder."

(on playing so well in cold weather) "Mentally we have a great football team. We are able to battle through the elements. Remember, these guys didn't grow up in Wisconsin. But they play here and win here because they are mentally tough guys."

(on the play of the defense) "The defense played a fine football game. Tampa Bay did a pretty nice job pass protecting, but we were able to keep them out of third-down conversions. You earn everything you get against them."

QUARTERBACK BRETT FAVRE:
(on his "conversations" with Warren Sapp) "It was kind of friendly conversation, most of the time. I think it's out of respect. He was telling me that he was gonna be chasing me down all day and I said, 'OK.' What could I say? He was back there all the time. He's a great player."

(on whether what Sapp said could be repeated) "You can't say it here -- maybe three words of it."

(on whether the team was too fired up) "I think that can happen. We were off two weeks and we were ready to play. But we know we can play better. As Mike (Holmgren) said, we looked like we had two weeks off, offensively. But we still scored 21 points. That's the good part about it."

(on facing Steve Mariucci next week) "I'm still close to him. He's a great friend and a great coach. What he has done out there is unbelievable. They're a great team and it will be the toughest game we've played all year."

(on whether the 49ers know his tendencies) "I don't think anybody knows anything about me, including myself. There's no telling what I'll do."

(on San Francisco's defense) "I don't know if their defense is much better than Tampa Bay's defense, although we haven't played them. I don't think we'll do anything different. You can't turn the ball over, you have to run the ball effectively and you have to make plays."

(on whether Dorsey Levens gets stronger as the game wears on) "I think he does get stronger. It's pretty impressive the way he ran the ball, running over people. As the game progressed, he wanted the ball more and that's what you want to see."

DEFENSIVE TACKLE SANTANA DOTSON:
(on the key to stopping the Tampa Bay offense) "The big key for us today was the first-down running. We wanted to put them in a lot of second-and-long situations, and we did that."

(on the San Francisco offense) "San Francisco has a very elusive quarterback in Steve Young, so it will be a bigger task to control their running game."

(on whether the team was rusty) "I think we were a little sluggish early. But when we locked down and just executed, we were fine."

RUNNING BACK DORSEY LEVENS:
(on if he ever gets tired) "Yeah, I get tired. I seem to run better when I'm tired, though I know that doesn't make any sense. I think I'm a little more patient -- it helps me."

(on why the Packers ran the ball more effectively this time around) "They keep the safety in the box. And I think when John Lynch went down, we were able to run the ball more effectively. When he went down, that hurt them a little bit."

(on why he plays so well in the postseason) "I don't know, I guess I just get excited. The big thing is you want to play well in these games -- you don't want to be a liability."

(on whether the top players have to perform in big games) "You have to play well in big games to put yourself among the elite. You have to have big plays in the big games."

CENTER FRANK WINTERS:
(on why the Packers ran the ball more effectively this time around) "We were sticking with it more. Our guys up front talked about being physical. Warren (Sapp) had said that they were more physical, and in this business you don't say things like that."

(on whether the offensive line was excited about Levens getting 100-plus yards) "It's a great honor for us. Dorsey is a workhorse. If he gets the ball 20, 25 times, it means we have a good chance to win because it means we're running the ball well."

DEFENSIVE TACKLE GILBERT BROWN:
(on how the ankle feels today) "It felt pretty good. It feels better on grass. I'm glad we were on this type of surface, for it to feel halfway decent."

(on his performace, considering the time he had missed due to injury) "It went pretty well. I still had some flaws in what I was doing. For the most part, I think I helped out the team pretty well."

(on the emotions of his return) "It felt really good to go out there when you've been sitting as long as I have. It feels pretty good to get out there and try to do something and help the team out. We'll take it for what it's worth and get ready for next week."

(on his matchup with the Buccaneers' Tony Mayberry and Frank Middleton) "After the first couple of plays, we just settled down and we just started playing football. I don't think there was any kind of extracurricular stuff. Everything went well and everybody just played off."

(on the defense's play against the Buccaneers' running game) "I think we did pretty good as far as trying to contain the run and not letting them get into their passing game. So I think we did okay. But that's always up to Fritz (Shurmur) to let us know how we did."

(on next week's matchup with the 49ers) "It's another tough game. The emotions are going to be high and I know they're gunning for us. We are just going to have to go out there with the attitude, 'Play football, just as hard as we can.' "

(on the play of the defense over the last few games) "I think the defense is playing okay. We still have a little ways to go -- you can always get better. That's the attitude we have to take; we always have to take a step up instead of a step back."

(on his play personally, whether there is anything he needs to do) "There's a lot of things a person can work on. It's just to the point where I have to get ready for this game and do whatever it takes to get ready to go out there. I know it's going to be a dogfight. We are going to have to go out there and be prepared to play hard."