No huddle: Slater on special teams, Brady, the Bills

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By Mary Paoletti
CSNNE.com Staff ReporterFollow @mary_paoletti
FOXBORO -- The Patriots are all aware of that 15-0 winning streak against Buffalo. But according to special teams captain Matthew Slater, nobody in New England's locker room is looking to throw a party about it.

"The Bills are always going to be amped because it's a big division game," he said. "They're 2-0 and they're at home, and they're going to have their crowd behind them. This is a big game for them and a big game for us, so we have to approach it as such.

"We have to have a good week of preparation and we can't take these guys lightly. What's in the past is in the past. Winning streak . . . that doesn't mean anything. These guys are a good football team."

Slater isn't surprised Buffalo is getting it done without a group of big name players. He says it's about good ol' fashioned effort.

"They play with tremendous effort, and they're very well coached, and they have players that buy into what they're trying to get done. That always makes them a handful for us."

Here's a few other topics Matthew Slater touched on during Wednesday's media scrum.
BRADY WAS NAMED AFC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AGAIN. WHAT'S THERE EVEN LEFT TO SAY? "When a guy's playing like that... how do you even explain it? I couldn't even get on the video game and put up those numbers, but I'm sure Tom would tell you the same thing -- anyone around here would tell you -- we've got to worry about this week. He's going to prepare and he's our leader, we look to him. He doesn't get caught up in what he did last week, he's worried about this week."

WHAT ARE YOU SEEING FROM BRAD SMITH, FORMER JET, NOW IN BUFFALO? "They use him in the same ways. He's a good player. We've got to be ready for him in two phases of the game. He can give us problems if we don't prepare for him."

HOW HAS BEING NAMED CAPTAIN CHANGED YOUR WORK WEEK? "More preparation, I guess. Just try to make sure I'm on things. If anybody has questions they can come to me with them. I've been trying to encourage these guys out there, but we have so many good players and veterans who've done it... It's been a blast playing with those guys and I think we're off to a good start, we've just got to keep it up."

CALLING COIN TOSS ON THE ROAD TOSS IS THE BEST PART, RIGHT? "No. Laughs I let the older guys do it. Just go out there and just try to continue to lead my group as best I can."
HOW'S YOUR SPECIAL TEAMS CORPS DONE OVER TWO WEEKS? "I think there's been some good and some bad. There's some areas we can improve upon. We played a little bit better last week. But it's about this week and it's going to be a test because Buffalo's always tough in the kicking game."
NOT TO BE MORBID, BUT IF ZOLTAN MESKO IS REALLY HURT..."There might be some changes with punting, but we've got to adapt. We're all professionals and we've got to be able to adjust to whatever happens out there. Injuries are obviously an unfortunate part of the game. But we're hoping and praying Zoltan's going to be okay, but if not, then we have to be ready to go."

Mary Paoletti can be reached at mpaoletti@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Mary on Twitter at http:twitter.comMary_Paoletti

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