Asked and answered: Kevin Faulk, Patriots running back

Kevin Faulk has played more halfback than true running back over the years, catching passes out of the backfield and running draws out of the shotgun formation more often than lining up in the I-formation and powering through the middle.

With an injury to Sammy Morris possibly depleting the Patriots' corps of running backs even further, though, he might end up with more traditional carries than he's seen in the past.

(A swarm of notebooks and cameras congregated around Faulk's locker on Wednesday morning.)
"I didn't have this much people at my birthday party."

With Laurence out, do you expect to see an increased workload?
"Whatever's asked of me to do. I've been here long enough to just be prepared anytime they call your number."

How did you feel about the way things went with the run game on Monday?
"It just showed that we're capable of doing that. We've just got to be consistent the rest of the year."

What do you expect out of St. Louis this week?
"Since their bye week, it's been two different teams, really. They're playing really emotional right now and have some real speed at linebacker, and they're playing aggressive."

How did Sammy Morris look before he went down in the first half?
"That's Sammy. Sammy was doing his thing, just helping the team win any way he can."

How big of a difference does it make playing at home?
"It's always a big difference. You've got your fans behind you, and they're backing you 100 percent. Then you go out there and play well as a team, so it complements each other."

Could you tell how much more confident Matt Cassel looked once he had that sort of running game in front of him?
"It was everyone. It was everyone getting confidence and getting off to a good start, and the whole team was just feeding off each other. We're just playing well.

Is that something that started from the get-go?
"The thing that was on our minds that we wanted to re-emphasize was to be emotional from the beginning of the game."