Brian Urlacher Q&A

You don’t get a lot of answers out of MLB Brian Urlacher these days in these parts, but he participated in a conference call with New Orleans media Wednesday.

Here’s what he had to say:

Q: Whats at stake this week as well as last week, as you guys played with a lot of enthusiasm despite being eliminated?

A: Were just trying to finish strong. Its been a very disappointing season obviously not going to the playoffs or having a winning record. We just want to finish strong and kind of get things going next season.

Q: What came together for you guys last week?

A: Everything, offense, defense, special teams. I think all three phases scored. We just played well. We played hard. Offense controlled the ball. We made some plays on defense and our special teams as they always do, made some big plays for us.

Q: How long ago does the NFC Championship seem to you guys?

A: Forever. The season seems like its just drawn on long for us because we havent played well all season long.

Q: Obviously when the schedule makers decided the timing of this game, they didnt think it would be a game against one team hanging onto playoff hopes and another with none?

A: I dont think so. I think everybody thought this was going to be a pretty big game with playoff implications, seeding and all that good stuff, but it didnt quite work out that way. We havent played up to our expectations.

Q: What do you remember from the NFC Championship?

A: We won.

Q: Do you remember your defense dominating towards the end of the game?

A: They moved the ball pretty well. Yards dont win games, points do. I know we had some takeaways in the middle of the game, stopped the run and made some plays when we had to.

Q: Seeing the Saints overall, has their season gone like yours?

A: Im sure they had high expectations too going into the season. People probably picked both of us to be in the NFC Championship as they should have. We both had pretty much everybody coming back and we havent played the way we should have. Im sure they are very disappointed like we are.

Q: They didnt run the ball much in the NFC Championship and now have a banged up backfield. What do you expect from the Saints running attack?

A: I know (Aaron) Steckers done a pretty good job. They lost Deuce (McAllister) early and Reggies (Bush) been out for a while, but theyve still run pretty well. He (Stecker) has almost 500 yards rushing. They do a good job. They have a good offensive line that do a good job blocking. The weathers probably going to stink, Im assuming, like is usually does up here at this time of the year. Its going to be a running game if they can. Our quarterback did a good job of throwing the ball last week in this weather. I dont know how Drews (Brees) is going to react to it.

Q: Going into next season, what do you think are some of the things you guys need to improve on?

A: Everything. We have to get better in every aspect of the game.