Transcripts of conference calls by Brad Smith and Chan Gailey with Jets reporters Wednesday:
BILLS QB/WR BRAD SMITH
On what his emotions will be like on Sunday facing the Jets...
It's going to be crazy. It's kind of a surreal experience just knowing those guys and playing with just about all of them. I expect to hear from Bart [Scott] and Eric Smith. It should be fun.
On how badly he wanted to stay with the Jets...
It was something that I was very comfortable with. It was a place that I liked playing, the organization, the people. I was very comfortable there and I liked it. Being here in Buffalo is definitely a growing experience just personally as a football player, just learning and have a chance to be around these guys who have an unbelievable drive to win. It's helping me grow and hopefully I'll contribute something to help them.
On how has the adjustment gone with the Bills...
It's been good. I can be honest — at first it sounded crazy. Everything happened so fast when the lockout ended and next thing you know I was on a plane to Rochester and I'm sitting in a team meeting and I know no one. It was unbelievable. It didn't feel real. Guys like Fred Jackson and Stevie Johnson, Ryan Fitzpatrick, it took time to hang out, show me around, introduce me to everybody and help me out.
On if the Bills are still trying to figure out how to work him in on offense...
I think it's just from coming from nowhere. No background with each other, learning the entire offense at quarterback and at receiver. Just trying to get the plays down for the future. They were able to work me in a few times to get the Wildcat stuff in. It was never a big deal to me. It's more about winning and both things don't always show up.
On if he had any conversations with the Jets after the lockout about staying...
After the lockout it was so quick that the short window. I was letting my agent and them just talk. I wasn't sitting in on the talks and all that, I let them handle that. Things wanted to get done and that's just the way it happened.
On S Eric Smith saying that he could arrange to hit him on the opening kickoff...
I know [laughs]. I talk to Eric all the time. I thought I told him that he's not allowed to hit me, so we'll have to get that straightened. I'm looking forward to seeing him. It's going to be different. They're football players that know what they're capable of. Special teams is a really good unit and we've got our work cut out for us.
On why he hasn't brought out many kick returns...
Part of the combination is being deep and the other ones are part of the game plan. Whether the coaches want us to keep it in, we'll keep it in or we may have something and bring it out. It's just a matter of a lot of times you're getting tackled at the 10- or 15-yard line and not putting the offense in a bad position. At the same time I think eventually we'll get our chances and when we do we'll take full advantage of it because we have a great unit and great returners in C.J. Spiller, Terrence McGee and myself. That's something we're not worried about because we have the ability to get it done. We just have to get those chances.
On if it's frustrating not being able to get many returns...
It's tough if I'm being honest with you, knowing we can make plays, but at the same time it's more about the team. There are times when you can take a chance and hit a couple but at the same time you get tackled at the 10- or 15-yard line, that hurts the team. So we have to be smart back there. We'll do our best.
On if he misses hearing Jets ST coordinator Mike Westhoff every day...
Sure I do. Honestly, he's an unbelievable coach, not just Xs and Os but as far as pushing guys to reach their maximum potential. Sometimes he can be very harsh. As I was there longer, I learned to understand him and his method. I have a lot of respect for Mike.
BILLS HEAD COACH CHAN GAILEY
On how the team has improved with basically the same personnel...
We've added a couple guys defensively that have really helped us. And being in a system for a second year everybody is a lot more comfortable and everybody knows what they're trying to get done. And I think our offensive line has really developed, that's the other thing.
On QB/WR Brad Smith...
Brad's going to be a very valuable member of this team as time goes on. We didn't get an offseason to implement him and to implement the things that I think he'll be able to do long-term for us. If we would have had that time to get to know him better and see what he can do and can't do I think we would have had a better idea on how to use the tools he has. But he's been a big asset. He's done a lot of good things that don't come out in statistics sometimes and that's what people go on is statistics. But he's had a huge impact on our team.
On QB Ryan Fitzpatrick before the season and how he's continued to grow...
He worked extremely hard in the offseason. He got the guys together and they were throwing, working out and getting on the same page and I think that that has really paid dividends for us early in the season. They didn't just go out and go through the motions. I think they went out and worked. I think that's the difference.
And once he got to the season, he has a great grasp of what we are trying to do and he understands the game. There are not a lot of people that really understand the whole game. He understands the whole game, not just offense but defense, coverages, field position, time on the clock, game management.
On stopping the Jets' running game...
We hope we are. We'll find out Sunday afternoon but we think we are better off. We're missing Kyle Williams, which hurts us. But we've had some guys step up and play well. We added Marcell Dareus via the draft and he's been a good force for us inside. We've added some speed at linebacker with Nick Barnett so we feel like we have a better chance to play run defense this year. But like I said, we'll find out Sunday.
On RB Fred Jackson's emergence...
Probably so, and you know what, me included. To be honest with you he continues to amaze me. He is really a great all-around back. He's got all three aspects of the game — he can run it, he can catch it and he can block. There are not really a lot of those that are proficient at all three.
On running against the Jets' defense...
Again we'll find out Sunday afternoon. We hope we can run it but we aren't going to go out there and be 3 yards and a cloud of dust and get to third-and-2 or third-and-3. That's not our goal. Our goal is to mix the run in and make sure we are efficient and effective in our run game because we do some good things in the passing game as well.
