Scott, a former Raider, recalled a game against the Patriots during his rookie season in 2008, when he sacked quarterback Matt Cassel a couple times. Scott's memories of the game were fond, except for one thing.
"Too bad it wasn't [Tom] Brady," Scott said Thursday with a smirk.
Scott plays with an edge, and he talks a good game, too, evidenced by the guts he displayed with his message about Brady. He wants to take down the best, and that's what teams need.
"I just try to be myself," Scott said. "I'm a hard worker, and I don't like to lose at things. I'm just here to win."
Scott has a track record of sacking some of the game's most high-profile signal callers. The first two sacks of his career were against Brett Favre, and his third came against Matt Ryan before the next two on Cassel. The next five were on Donovan McNabb (twice), Tony Romo (twice) and Ben Roethlisberger. Those big-game performances will come in handy for the Patriots, who have a knack for finding themselves in the spotlight.
And this could also be a nice bounce-back year for Scott, who had 12 sacks in his first two seasons before a torn ACL in 2010 derailed his production. Scott managed 1.5 sacks in 10 games before the injury in 2010 but he didn't have any in 2011, when his playing time was limited over the course of 16 games. Since it can take two years to regain full strength from an ACL injury, Scott could return to form during his debut season, who he dubbed "natural-born winners."
"You just know what to expect when you come here," Scott said. "They want to compete for the Super Bowl every year. To come in here, I'm going to have big shoes to fill."
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