Transcripts of A.J. Green's and Marvin Lewis' conference calls with Jets reporters Wednesday afternoon:
BENGALS WR A.J. GREEN
On what he has noticed from Antonio Cromartie…
He's a long corner. He's a veteran corner. He's been around the league a long time, so I'm going to have to work him.
On how he prepares to face a player he has never played against…
I just rely on the film. I go out there and watch him and see what he does well. Like I said, he's very long, so I have to keep his hands down.
On if he noticed Cromartie playing press coverage more against the Patriots…
Like I said, I've seen a little bit but not much. But like I said, he has some real long arms and he gets his hands on well. He's very athletic. So like I said, I'm really going to have to work him well.
On if he can take advantage of anything Cromartie has struggled with this season…
I don't think he's struggling. I just think guys are putting him in good position, putting the ball in good position. He's a great corner. Like I said, he's been around this league a long time. Corners are going to get beat here and there but I think he's one of the best in the league.
On where he has developed in his game…
I think the biggest thing for me is being more a student of the game, be able to play different positions and run all the routes that they want me to.
On if he was a one-position receiver at Georgia…
Yeah, I really didn't play a lot of slot areas but now I am.
On what the toughest adjustment has been to playing all over the field…
Just being more patient. Just not being so fast. A lot of it's got to be feel.
On how he went about making adjustments to playing more positions…
Yeah, I've got to be more studious. Just watching film, watching some of the older guys like Reggie Wayne and the way he's working out of the slot.
On what receivers he studied…
Andre Johnson, Larry [Fitzgerald], the way they move him around, Calvin [Johnson], some of those guys.
On what he does to be more studious…
Like I said, I go home, I've got an iPad so it's real convenient. I take it home while I'm watching TV and during commercials breaks I'm usually watching some film or it just takes an hour or two to watch some of the corners.
On developing his relationship with Andy Dalton…
I think the biggest thing for us is we're communicating more. I tell him what I see, he tells me what I need to do. The biggest thing for us is communication.
On when he started communicating well with Dalton…
It was probably coming into this year. We were definitely communicating much more.
On if he tells Dalton about what he sees on his routes…
Yeah, exactly. What I need to do. "Not take this a little higher" or "shake this down a little more," "get my eyes around a little quicker."
On his success this season and what he needs to do to be one of the best receivers in the NFL…
Just getting better, continuing to get better each week. That's what I try. I try to work on every little aspect of my game and watch game film or watch what I need to do better. I think that's the biggest thing, just not being complacent with where I was and just continue to build.
On where he feels the Bengals are as a franchise…
I feel like we're a young team and the sky's the limit if we continue to get better.
On if there is an optimistic vibe because they are a young team…
Yeah. I feel like the sky's the limit for us. We've got all the weapons to be that great team. We've just got to continue to take that next step.
On Dalton's style and what makes him stand out…
I think the biggest thing is his leadership this year. He's more vocal. He's really not a talkative guy, but you know he's the leader of the team because when he says something, he knows what he's talking about. His biggest thing right now is if he says something, you know we've got to do it. His communication's much better.
On how he has seen Dalton be more vocal…
It's both practice and in the film study. He controls all the meetings. We have Friday meetings with just the offense and he's the one talking, going through the film, going through the protections.
On if Dalton had taken that kind of vocal role before this year…
No, this is his first time taking the meetings into his own hands.
On what it does for a team to have that type of leader…
I think it shows leadership and we definitely know he's our leader.
BENGALS HEAD COACH MARVIN LEWIS
On what he has seen from Geno Smith through seven games…
I think with Marty [Mornhinweg] and other coaches and Rex [Ryan] and so forth, they've really, I think, done a good job of building this offense and doing the things around his abilities and skills. You see him growing and obviously when he takes care of the ball, they're going to be successful. That's what you want from a young quarterback and I think he's done a great job of that. He's not playing like a deer in the headlights and necessarily, when you watch how he played a week ago, he doesn't necessarily look like a rookie quarterback.
On Ryan's defense being part Buddy Ryan, part him, part Dennis Thurman, part Mike Nolan and how his experience with the defense helps him prepare to face it…
I don't know that my experiences with Rex have helped us prepare for it very well. They're a big, physical group. Rex, he did a great job as a position coach with me, he's done a great job as a coordinator after me and now as the head coach there and installing what he wants. He rallies the troops. They've built a big, physical group over there and they're playing very well.
On his thoughts on how the Jets-Patriots game ended…
No comment. That's something I learned from Rex, right? That's what he would say, right? No comment [joking].
On saying that he goes over new rules weekly and that the Patriots players that committed the penalty must have been doing so on their own behalf…
I don't know that because I don't know what guys were coached to do on either side of the football that day. It is a rule change. There was a rule change in order to prevent certain things and I do know that it's been something that was somewhat kind of going around and people had noticed it and I know there had been some talk about it.
On how Andy Dalton is playing…
I think Andy has to continue each and every week to really just play his football game. A lot of times when you have a really good player like we have in A.J. [Green], people think A.J. was in a slump. Well, A.J.'s going to get balls and chances every time we make a first down, every time other guys make plays against the weakness of the coverage. And the problem is, Andy can't listen to others outside of this building talk about "A.J. needs the ball," because we can set guys around A.J., Rex and Dennis can put guys around A.J. and make it very difficult to get A.J. the football. And if we try to keep throwing that ball in to A.J., we're going to have turnovers.
He's got to kind of have that mentality just to be focused on him and what his job is and that's to allow the play to work, get us in and out of the right plays, let the play work, work the coverage and then get the ball to the guy who's got the 1-on-1 and those particular players have to win the 1-on-1's.
On his experience as a coach without contract assurances …
Actually, it really didn't weigh much on my mind whatsoever. After the 2009 season, I was offered a new contract, never came to an agreement throughout the year. I was offered it before the season and within the season and we just didn't come to an agreement until after the season was over. I just chose to wait until after the season was over and then we came to an agreement after the 2010 season.
I think every coach's situation's a little different. To me, a guy of Rex's quality, he's going to be fine either way and I think deep down you've got to know that. I don't think he's worried much about that. He's done a great job there getting that football team into the [AFC] championship game, what, two years in a row and into the playoffs, into the championship game. He's really done a fine job. I'm obviously, most weeks, a fan of his and things, and reach out to him quite a bit that way. I'll just send him a text. I'm a fan of his all the time.
On if he modeled his Hard Knocks performance after Ryan…
No. I don't have that type of personality [joking].
On if he is pleased with how his team is progressing…
We are. We're pleased to kind of figure out our own identity and keep them working at it. We've got to keep that up. That's why this is a big, important game for us. It's a huge game against a very good team and we've got to be up to the challenge and play well.
On if his team is embracing playing in close games or if he is hoping for a few laughers…
Well, we would always hope for a laugher, but I've been in the NFL for 22 seasons and I'm still waiting for those. I haven't been on the side of many of that. I don't know that that occurs much. I point to that all the time to our players, how many games in the NFL are decided by three points or less and seven points or less and how much each possession really means.
