Transcripts of Ryan Fitzpatrick's and Chan Gailey's conference calls with Jets reporters on Wednesday:
BILLS QB RYAN FITZPATRICK
On how the team is dealing with all of the injuries...
We've had a good amount of guys go down but to be honest, the way that this team is structured a lot of the guys that have gotten the chance to play and to prove themselves had to do it by waiting their turn in line. A lot of young guys that are hungry and ready to get out there are really looking forward to the opportunity.
On the state of the offensive line right now...
We had Eric Wood go down two weeks ago, which was a huge loss for us in terms of being the anchor of the line and being the leader. We've had to have some guys come in and step up. We're still mixing and matching, shuffling some guys around, trying to figure out the right five and put them in the right spots. We'll do a good job with that. I think we'll be fine.
On if there is one consistent issue that has given them all these losses...
I think especially the last weeks have been hard on us. The biggest thing for us is we've really fallen down early, fallen behind and taken big deficits. Unfortunately we haven't been able to come back from those. I think for us it's consistency, it's being able to execute the plays when they're there. Being able to be satisfied sometimes with a throwaway or be satisfied with a 1- or 2-yard gain. On offense we haven't stayed on the field on third down, that's been a big thing for us. We haven't been able to convert. Those are some of the things we're looking forward to heading out there and fixing.
On what the latest situation is with the left tackle position...
Chris Hairston played there last week and was able to bump Andy Levitre in. And Chris and Levitre will still be out there this week.
On Hairston...
I think the biggest thing that I've noticed about Chris is that he's got the right look in his eye. Just being in the huddle you kind of know when the show is too big for some guys and it's not too big for him. He's got the right look in his eye. He has done a good job for us. It's unfortunate he had a minor setback with an ankle injury but I think he's over that now and he's playing pretty good football for us.
On how he's been dealing with his play of late...
The last three games have been really tough for us. I think just you never want to get used to losing and you're doing everything you can when your guys are losing. For me, unfortunately in the NFL I've been in this situation a lot where things don't always go the way you want them to go. We've got a lot of guys, especially young guys; they haven't had to face that adversity. In high school you're the best player on your team and you're winning and in college it was a lot of the same thing. They've come from successful programs. To be able to deal with this adversity is a big thing. A lot of it is just staying positive and working on the practice field and seeing it on Sundays.
On sharing his experience on adversity with the younger players...
I think it's an important thing for I think us to realize and it's an important thing for us to talk about, not just having something in the room that nobody wants to talk about. We haven't played well the last three games. I think that's been very obvious and anybody that thinks that we have have been fooling themselves. For us it's about looking in the mirror and figuring out what you can do better to help the team and that's how you're going to get better.
On losing RB Fred Jackson to injury...
He's definitely our best offensive player. He's been our go-to guy all season long. Anytime we needed a play he's made it. That's going to be a tough loss for us. He's such a good player. He's such a good all-around player, not just running the ball but out of the backfield and pass protection.
But we've got to go next man up and C.J. [Spiller], he's ready for this. He's done a really good job of staying patient, making plays when he's had the opportunity. Now he's going to get a big chance to go in there and help carry the workload and we'll see how he does. He's an explosive player and everybody saw that in college. We've seen glimpses of it in the NFL. I think he's really going to step up and do a great job.
On how he feels after his chest injury a couple of weeks ago...
I'm good. You know what, it's amazing how at this point of the season everybody has their bumps and bruises. I feel good. I feel healthy. That's a hard thing to say during the season especially at this point. There are no issues with me.
BILLS HEAD COACH CHAN GAILEY
On the sense of urgency this week...
Well there's a huge sense of urgency each week. The closer you get to the playoffs and when you're in contention, every game becomes huge, so there's always that sense of urgency.
On the Jets putting things on tape three weeks ago that other teams are using...
I'm sure the brothers talked and we did see a couple of their things but other than that I didn't see any evidence of that. It looks mostly like people are doing their stuff except for a couple things Dallas did that I'm sure that they talked and visited and they were able to get a couple things.
On what the Cowboys picked up from the Jets...
Blitzes.
On Ryan Fitzpatrick since the contract extension...
Well, we're not playing the way we were playing earlier in the season and it's not necessarily him even though I think he believes he can play a little bit better than he has been playing, but we can all do better, every one of us can, me included. I watch him play and it seems like we've had a different offensive line in there each week for the last three or four weeks and it seems like we've had different receivers going out there each week, so it's been hard on him. You have to stay healthy to create consistency and we have just not been able to create the consistency with the guys that are being plugged in.
On playing better defensively against the Jets...
The one thing you have to do is stop the run. I don't care what game you're in or who you're playing, you have to stop the run and once you stop the run you create a little bit of a pressure on your corners to be able to go play 1-on-1 and we did not do a good job of playing 1-on-1's last game and we have to do a better job of 1-on-1's and when we read pass getting people back into the underneath zones. It is a fine line, but you have to stop the run, I know that.
On getting pressure on Mark Sanchez...
It's not just Mark, its everybody. Every quarterback in the league, when you get pressure it throws your timing off, it throws your balance off, it throws everything off. If you're having to throw on the move or off your back foot or people in your face, it changes things. That's what everybody is trying to do, everybody is trying to get pressure on the other guys' quarterback so he can't stand there and pick you apart. We're all trying to do that and he's gotten a few times where people have been in his face more earlier in the year than here lately, but they've been able to get some people around him and it's not him, its every quarterback that has an issue with that.
