Patriots putting wisdom, experience to use in Super Bowl strateg - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker says being older and wiser has its benefits. Welker was among several Patriots players who spoke to the media Thursday morning ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday.

"Just being older, wiser, working harder, understanding the offense better, being on the same page as Tom (Brady) more and just going out there and doing the best I can to get open and make plays for us," said Welker.

"It just takes a lot of time and preparation, us working together and doing whatever we need to do to try and improve and get better. We are constantly working on that stuff on a daily basis," he added.

As for Brady, he's enjoying the spotlight.

"For me, it's been a very fun week. After not having been here for four years, I'm really enjoying the experience, and some of the fun aspects of the week. It's much more tolerable when you become a veteran player. I had a great time at media day, that was fun. Sunday night was cool when we got in, I got to see Rodney (Harrison) over the stadium. I've spent a lot of time together with my teammates. Unlike the other playoff games where you're not really sure how it's going to go the following week, now we know how it's going to go. We're not going to see each other after Monday. You just enjoy the experience with those guys, and hopefully we have a lot of reasons to celebrate on Sunday night," he said.

Brady also talked about the importance of mental toughness and not letting the Pats' last Super Bowl loss to New York get to him.

"Every loss hurts. When we lost to the Colts in the AFC Championship Game, that hurt pretty bad. Last year losing to the Jets, you see other teams advance and you're staying at home, they all suck. You have to move on, and use those as opportunities to learn. I think this team has done that. We're a very mentally tough team. That's probably one of the strengths of this team," he said.

While Brady says he's watched clips from that game, he said, "It's a different scheme, it's a different defense. Some of the players and the matchups are the same, but I can see those from when we played in Week Nine. There's not a lot of things that you can take from that game in 2007."

Chad Ochocinco, meantime, says he's not relying on superstition or lucky charms for this game.

"I just say a prayer and I just go out and have fun," he said. And if the Pats happen to win, or he gets a TD?

"Normally, everybody knows I have crazy celebrations that I do all the time. I've been kind of quiet on the celebrations and the production this year, so if I score this Sunday I might do something. It's the biggest stage."