“Obviously, [they are] a great football team. The quarterback is playing as well as we’ve ever seen him play.”

Those words were spoken in the middle of Week 12 by a head coach with a Sunday Night Football game approaching. A quick glance at the NFL schedule for the week would show that the Broncos and Patriots were squaring off in that game, and the cagy tenor of the statement might make you think those words came from always the Patriots’ always brusque head coach, Bill Belichick.

It was, after all, Belichick’s protege, Josh McDaniels, who so famously referred to former Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler as “the player,” as he swept the QB out of town (and eventually the Broncos into the NFL gutter).

But, as Denver Broncos fans unfortunately know, “the quarterback” is not Peyton Manning, who’s not even playing this week, let alone “playing as well as we’ve ever seen him play.”

Indeed, Manning continues to battle plantar fasciitis and will watch the game from “the field, press box,” Kubiak doesn’t know – something he’s reiterated several times this week.

Meanwhile, Kubiak is doing his best Belichick impression – answering questions about the biggest question mark in Broncos Country, Manning’s health and involvement – while still trying to keep the focus on his opponent and the guys who will actually be on the field. Throughout the week Kubiak got a heavy dose of questions about Manning, even though the team announced Monday night that he would be out through at least Week 13 at San Diego.

Despite all the questioning about Manning, there was still plenty to say about the opponent for this week, Belichick and the undefeated Patriots. We’ve sifted through the coach’s quotes all week and trimmed out anything that isn’t directly about Belichick, Tom Brady and the most hated team in Denver.

Here’s all that Kubiak’s had to say about the Patriots throughout the week, starting with some general observations…

“They’ve had some guys out offensively and they continue to move the ball and play well. Defensively, in the past few years that I’ve played against them—they’re all healthy this year. They’ve got a lot of top picks, but they’ve got them all in place this year. They had been nicked up in the past couple years. [They are] as good a defensive football team as we’ve played this year.”

On if he looks forward to this game on Sunday…

“As a coach in this league, you go against great coaches all the time. Obviously, Bill [Belichick] has been as good as there has ever been in this league consistently through my years with Mike [Shanahan] as a coordinator, my years in Houston and last year. We obviously played them in the playoffs. I have great respect for him and their preparation. You have to play as good as you can possibly play. Our team knows that and we’re working toward getting there.”

On facing a Patriots team that is known to play with poise…

“I think the biggest thing is we need to be aggressive. We know that one of the keys to us playing better as a team is protecting the ball. We did that last week, and we played better team football probably than we had throughout the course of the year. I mean everything is important against these guys. They’re obviously the best right now and at the top of this league in the way they’re playing. They’ve got a lot of great players, but we need to be aggressive, too. We need to make plays in this football game if we’re going to be successful. It’s not so much about you can’t do this, can’t do that. It’s what we need to do, the plays that we need to make. That’s what we’re staying focused on this week and being aggressive in every phase that we’re playing. Guys are going to have to step up and make plays.”

On the challenges presented to Osweiler by facing Belichick…

“Yeah, he presents challenges to everybody. They’re playing tonight, so we’ll get a chance to watch them. [They’re] a tremendous football team. They’ve been very consistent with what they do, defensively. They’re known to play a lot of things: 3-4 and 4-3. It’ll be a great test for him, but it’ll be important that the team plays well. He’ll do his job. He’ll get ready to go and hopefully we’ll get him better this week.”

On the challenges for a young quarterback against a Belichick defense…

“I think the challenge for any quarterback against his defense is tough. He does a lot of things. They get coached up—a credit to them. They’ve got a lot of great players, obviously. You’re going to get a lot of different looks that you have not seen or haven’t worked on through the course of the week. That’s a credit to them. I don’t think it’s so much that it’s just [QB] Brock [Osweiler] going against their defense. I think [for] any quarterback, there is a challenge each and every week when you face them, or each and every time, I should say, you face them.”

On what they’re doing to prepare Osweiler…

“I think it’s our job to calm him down. There are going to be some things happening in the game that are going to be new for you. It’s just having to react and trying to get him to stay within himself, stay within his progressions and continue to protect the ball like he did last week. My focus with him is always the fact of the football team is going to play well around you. You just stay committed to your job, your part and what you have to do. Don’t try to do too much, just do your job.”

On how to defend Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski…

“I think our safeties are good cover players. We’ve played a lot of three corners with No. 29 [Bradley Roby] on the field. We’ve done a bunch of that this year, so that’s no unusual for us to do. I’ll say this, they’re going to get the ball wherever they need to get it. Obviously, you want to do your job on him and do everything you can, but there are a lot of people out there that can hurt you. We have to play good defense. We have to play good, sound defense. They present a lot of problems for you with spreading you out and matchups. That’s the most important thing.”

On the physical ability of Patriots QB Tom Brady…

“I know that I felt a lot better at 38 than at 54. He takes care of himself, obviously, and he is a hard worker, but he loves to play. When I think of Tom, I know every time that I’ve ever been to New England to play against him I watch him come out of the locker room and jog to the other end of the field and his routine he goes through. You know one thing: You’re going to get his best shot every week. I have great respect for him.”

Kubiak on Sunday will be without his own 39-year-old quarterback, who is 5-11 all-time against Brady. For better or for worse, that’s one line of questioning he hasn’t had to answer this week.