"We're just blessed to have another opportunity, to be on the same field as the New England Patriots," running back Maurice Jones-Drew said in a slow, drawn-out, tongue-in-cheek fashion. "Tom Brady is my idol. He's from the Bay Area, dates supermodels. He's everything a kid wants to be."

Defensive end Paul Spicer even jokingly offered to let the Patriots borrow his digital camera if they wanted to take snapshots of Jacksonville's defensive signals.

"We are confident," Spicer said. "It's us against them. They're 16-0, they're wonderful, they're great. But the bottom line is they have to beat us Saturday. Until that happens, we're 1-0 and they're 0-0."