The confetti hadn’t even stopped swirling around Gillette Stadium on Sunday night when Rob Ninkovich moved on.
The celebration following the New England Patriots’ 36-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game was continuing around Ninkovich, but his mind was already focusing elsewhere.
On to Atlanta.
And the Super Bowl in Houston on Feb. 5.
“I was ready to go right after the game was over,” said Ninkovich after the Patriots finished practice Thursday. “I mean, an AFC championship … Great. I’ve been there a couple of times. The next game is more important to me. You’ve got to get the next game.”
This will be Ninkovich’s third trip to the Super Bowl. He knows what to expect. And that meant taking care of a lot of personal business before the Patriots returned to practice Wednesday. Like tickets.
Each player is allotted 15 tickets to the Super Bowl. Doling them out can be dicey for a newcomer. Ninkovich has learned that it’s better to take care of the matter quickly.
“You get it over with as soon as possible so you don’t have to deal with the headache of a fifth cousin calling and saying, ‘Hey, remember me from five years ago?’ ” he said.
Asked if he’s had that happen, Ninkovich said no. “But I’ve had some friends call,” he said. “I try to stick to just close family members. My sister, nephew, mom and dad, wife and kids. That’s it.
“Mother-in-law,” he quickly added. “People I need to keep happy. I handle it and when it’s done, it’s done.”
It appears that message got to everyone on the Patriots.
Player after player said they took care of ticket requests as soon as they could.
“Oh that’s already over,” said running back James White. “Already handled that. It’s all over now.”
It’s important to get things like that done so the focus can return to preparing for a very dangerous Falcons team.
“Well, the last couple of days it was, ‘Hey, make sure you take care of all your ticket business, hotel business, travel business, because you don’t want that to be a distraction and it can be if you don’t handle it.’ ” said Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater.
With two weeks to prepare, both teams will spend this week dissecting each other, probing for weaknesses and shoring up any of their own.
It’s cramming for the biggest exam of your life.
“You really focus in and study hard,” said White. “I mean, you can’t take the studying for granted, even though you have two weeks. You study hard and get to know them the best you can so you can go out flying around.”
Asked if there is such a thing as too much time to study, White replied, “You don’t want to be a robot. But the more film you watch the more you’re going to be aware of a situation that comes up in the game or a defensive look that you may recognize from the film. The more the better.
“So it’s, ‘Everybody, get in the film room, on your iPads. Study offense. Study defense. Study special teams. Whatever. Just try to be on the same page as the rest of the team so we can go to Houston and hit the ground running.”
Once in Houston, the week becomes a blur of media obligations, beginning Monday with Media Night. You’d better have a good grasp of what’s expected on the field when you arrive.
“You try to get on top of everything as quick as possible, using the time that we have here to your advantage,” said Ninkovich. “And being as prepared as possible so when we get down there, we can really focus in on what we have to do.”
Ninkovich wasn’t the only one who turned the page quickly on New England’s celebration Sunday night.
White also flipped the switch to Atlanta soon after the cheering died down.
“Happened immediately,” he said. “That same night you flip the switch.
“It’s not the end goal. The AFC championship is great and everything but we’ve got one more game to play. We want to go out and finish the deal.”
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