On whether playing in the city in which he attended college is special:

"It is. My wife is from there. I have some great memories of Seattle and the University of Washington, but that was a long time ago. I'm not too sure too many people remember me out there. It was a while ago."

On playing for a coach who has playoff experience:

"Coach [Joe Gibbs] has been there before. This is probably very familiar for him, [with] all his playoff wins. His record in the playoffs speaks for itself. He's just a great coach. He knows how to get his team ready to play and he knows how to win in the playoffs."

On whether he previously has talked with Seahawks QB, #8 Matt Hasselbeck about their experiences backing up Packers QB Brett Favre in Green Bay:

"We have talked, but not about that specifically."

On whether he learned from current Seahawks and former Packers head coach Mike Holmgren while playing in Green Bay:

"Absolutely. I think [Seahawks QB, #8] Matt [Hasselbeck] would say the same thing. We were very fortunate to be in that system and to be coached by that group of coaches. A lot of those guys have gone on to be head coaches themselves. For me, it was a great environment and a great team to come to right out of college. I was only there for two years, but it helped me so much."

On his best memories from the University of Washington:

"It was a great experience. We won a national championship and went to three Rose Bowls. It's a great school with great people. I still have a lot of close friends [there]. My wife's family is from there. I spend a lot of time there in the off-season. It's really [in] a beautiful part of the country. I've never played in this stadium [Qwest Field], so I'm looking forward to that."

On how he can improve upon his performance in the Redskins' NFC Wild Card Playoff game against the Buccaneers:

"You work hard. We have a good game plan. We need to execute it. We need to be better than we were last week. We know full well that we have a big challenge ahead of us playing in their stadium, against that defense. They have a very good offense also. Their team is solid through and through. Some teams are kind of one-dimensional, [with] a good offense and maybe a bad defense, or vice versa. This team is solid. Their special teams are incredible. The offense is one of the best in the league. The defense has gotten better and better since we played them. Each week, they have just improved. Obviously, they are a better team at home like most teams are. This is going to be a big challenge."

On whether the Buccaneers used different defenses compared to the teams' first meeting in Week 10:

"[They did] a couple of different things, but there was more to it than that. We didn't play very well. We had some opportunities. We missed some things. It was a bad day for us not to take anything away from Tampa, because they were incredible."

On whether players' mentalities change when they play a road game:

"You would much rather play at home, of course. I don't know about a [different] mentality. You know what you're going up against [at home]. It's much harder [on the road] for a number of reasons, [such as] the communication and traveling particularly when you have to go all the way across the country. It's a little different. You have to be real sharp and smart when you play on the road. You can't turn [the ball] over. When you're on the road and you turn it over, it's much worse than when you turn it over in your own stadium."

On whether opposing defenses or an inability to execute is more responsible for the Redskins' recent offensive struggles:

"Probably a combination. I don't know. Philly played us very tough. So did Tampa. We could look at [just] those two weeks, but we tend to look at the whole season. We've won 11 games. We've done some good things on offense. If we dwell on what happened the last two weeks, we're not going to do that. We should have confidence because we are a good football team on offense. We've scored some points, particularly in the last half of the season. We've changed a lot of things. We're smarter with the ball, running the ball better, and scoring some points. It would be easy to [only] think about last week or the week before. We're going to look at the big picture going into this game, understanding full well that we have a big challenge, but that we have the talent and ability to be a good offense and to have a good day. But it will be tough."

On whether the Redskins derive confidence from their Week 4 victory over the Seahawks:

"You can, but we were at home and it was early. We did some good things. We won a close football game. For me, personally, I don't take a lot from that game because it was so long ago. I think we're a better football team. I also know that they're a better football team, too. They're playing better defense than they were in those first few weeks of the season. Offensively, they've just improved and improved. They're just a much better football team. It's hard to look at that game and really gauge how we're going to go into this one. Looking at these guys on film, [you see that] there's not a weak link. They are solid. It's going to be real tough."

On whether the Redskins hold back on offense when the team's defense is playing well:

"I don't know if hold back' are the words. You do realize that you have to be smart. Games like that [at Tampa Bay], when two defenses are playing well, the team that's going to lose is [that with] the offense that makes the most mistakes. They had three turnovers. We only had one, and it didn't hurt us. In a playoff situation like that, you realize that being smart with the ball and not giving it to them is the most important. If you do, they're going to take advantage of it. We were the team that took advantage of their turnovers. That's why we won."

On playing in rain:

"That's one good thing about having played in Seattle all those years [during college] you get used to throwing a wet ball. When it rains, the officials do a good job of keeping the ball dry. It's never really as big a factor as you might think. Wind is a problem, but it's probably not going to be windy. It is going to rain. We're going to have to be really smart. Running backs are going to have to hold onto [the ball]. I'm going to have to be smart gripping and throwing the ball. It's usually not that big of a deal. In Seattle, it doesn't pour all of the time, but it probably will be a wet day."