Transcript of head coach Eric Mangini's news conference with the New York Jets media before Tuesday's afternoon training camp practice:
I thought we had a really good day of practice yesterday. I was pleased with the overall effort across the board. As we talked about the day before, this really is a tough time in camp. You have all the installation that you put in early. You have the new installation going in. You've got the transition to not necessarily complete game plans but much more of an opponent-centered mentality. The people are tired, sore and dealing with all those issues. Being able to string two days together, and two physical practices together, is very important. Now to be able to string three, four, five, that's what you're looking for is those consistent days.
I thought yesterday, at the end of practice, some really good situations came up. We had 37 seconds on the clock. We were on the minus 40-yard line and needed a field goal. Chad was able to hit the big play, come down, spike the ball, and that was good. Nugent comes out, lines up the field goal, kicks it and misses, but the defense is offside. So then he gets another chance to kick it and it goes through to wins the game. So you play the whole game, there's no time on the clock and you end up losing the game because one guy has a mistake at that crucial point. And really the game is over, but that one mistake at that point totally changes who wins and loses.
Then when we come back, there's another one and Kellen hits it. He goes to clock the ball, Chris Davis isn't aligned properly and he steps up. This is really significant because when he steps up, that's considered a false start, so it stops the clock, which means there's a 10-second runoff and the clock is started when the ball is set. If he had just stayed in his lane, the play would have counted, there would have been no 10-second runoff, still would have had the penalty.
The two examples I showed today was Pittsburgh-Atlanta where it was 38-38. They had 8 seconds when they were going to clock the ball. The receiver steps up like Chris did and the game ends. They have the 10-second runoff. Atlanta wins in overtime. The other example was Seattle-St. Louis. I don't know if you guys remember this. Seattle goes up. They go to clock the ball. The receiver doesn't move. He's misaligned. At that point St. Louis is thinking they'd won the game with the 10-second runoff and they hadn't. Seattle kicks a field goal to win the game.
So it's that one small point of "Here I am misaligned." All the pressure's on. You're in a situation where you're trying desperately to stop the clock. Do you step up? Do you not step up? That decision is the difference in those two games between who won and lost. We couldn't have scripted it. It just came up. I'm really happy it did.
On reassessing after the recent injuries …
I don't think having injuries at a certain time causes you to assess it at that point. What we're really trying to do is look at it every single year, look at trends in the league and time periods where most people get injured. Most injuries actually happen the first three days of camp. That is the highest percentage. I think it's primarily hamstrings. If you look at league-wide, that bigger body of information, those things happen and you look at it over the course of time, multiple years, where it happens and types of injury. Is it more on turf or grass? Is there any correlation between the teams that have higher injuries rates and the teams that don't? Is it consistent with the philosophy of the strength coach? Is it consistent with the philosophy of the training staff? Is the type of injury just a freak injury? It's really an ongoing study that's pretty extensive and not reactionary to one period of time but more over a broad spectrum.
On whether or not he's concerned about injuries happening within a week …
Sometimes I think that just happens, where you get that block of injuries in one period. We have a study here that looks at the first 10 days of camp for every head coach that's been here. I can't remember when it started, but it's pretty extensive. It's been a relatively consistent philosophy in terms of the training staff. There's been a lot of similarities in the strength and conditioning programs. There's been different periods in each one of them, the different camps that I've been in, with the different head coaches. I don't think you can really put your finger on it and say that's definitely the reason.
On Thomas Jones' injury …
I appreciate you have to ask in light of what was said. Really, it's the same as I said yesterday.
On the kind of week Alvin Banks and Danny Ware will have …
Busy. A very busy week. That's great, though, because they are two guys that are trying to find that role and show they can contribute and make the team. For those guys, too, Mike Westhoff has to be their best friend and prove that they can contribute on teams, understand they're not just competing against each other or with Tony [Hollings], but it's across the board. It's a lot of different positions, kind of in their similar situation, their position and those guys in other positions as well at that level. So if it's the fourth or fifth running back, they're competing with the fifth or sixth safety, the sixth or seventh receiver. All those guys are trying to establish roles on special teams. Whoever is the best, you may keep a higher number at receiver than at running back because of their value on teams.
On Chansi Stuckey and his niche on special teams …
I think he's very good in and out of his brace. He has a good short area of quickness and a nice feel for where the openings are. We've actually had conversations about being more precise in his routes. I think at the break point, those have been very good but he's not quite at the depth of where that break point should be in some of those. So there's a lot of positive things in that, but if the route calls for it to be at 8 [yards], even though it's crisp at the point where you break, if you're breaking at 6, the timing's off. So it's combining those two things that are important.
On concern with running back depth …
We're working with the group that we have, and this is a good chance for us to really find out a lot of information about them. You may not have as good an opportunity as we do right now to find out that information.
On what Banks, Ware and Hollings contribute to the team …
Well, each one is really establishing what they can give to the team, and that's really what this time period is for. Somebody has to distinguish himself. They're all getting plenty of chances to distinguish themselves each day because of the extra reps they're getting.
On bringing in another back …
We'll look at it. We do look at that position. But really that's every position. We've been bringing guys in throughout camp to either add depth, competition or someone we had a strong feeling for that wasn't available before and now he is. So that will be ongoing.
On communication with Cedric Houston …
I haven't spoken with him.
On seeing if Houston is interested in coming back …
I think when you make a decision about your life and the direction you want to take your life, that's something he decided as opposed to us at the time saying we're changing directions or whatever the case may be. We're always open to any possibility. But with that, those are personal decisions, and I respect the decision he made.
On Stacy Tutt's absence …
You'd love to have everybody there, but it's really one guy goes down, it gives another guy a chance to show what he has. It gives us a chance to work different combinations of people. You really look at it in terms of what you can gain from the situation as opposed to what you may be missing.
On Tutt in a tailback role …
He's worked there. Brad [Smith] has worked there. We've worked a few different guys at running back. Again, for flexibility and variations in packages.
On prior experience with rookies holding out …
I don't ever really remember thinking about it because it just didn't matter. You coached the guys that were there. You got those guys better. That's what your focus was. Really with injuries, holdouts or whatever the case may be, if someone's not there, they're not there. You move forward. You have to move forward because they won't cancel the games and you have to get the group ready. It's really just part of the process.
On how many practices Darrelle Revis would need before playing in a preseason game …
Every guy's sort of different. You have to pass the conditioning run. Everybody does that first and foremost, the physical, all those things. There's a lot of learning how quickly you recall the information from the spring, how quickly you pick up the new information. All that stuff will weigh into it. Some guys can do that extremely quickly. Some guys, it takes more time. It's hard to really put one set time frame on anybody.
On wide receiver past the first three …
They've all really make a strong case for themselves. They do that consistently. Wallace Wright I think has done some really, really good things on special teams. He's been showing up each day at receiver. Frisman [Jackson], the same way. I think it's positive when you have so many guys showing up on a regular basis. And it's a competitive group, it's a smart group. They're a very supportive group, too. In that room they support each other but they're also hard on each other. Laveranues [Coles] and Jerricho, Justin [McCareins], those guys demand that everybody's right and everybody's ready in terms of their alignments, their assignments, that support. And also the consistent group focus is very good.
On keeping an extra player …
Yeah, that really goes back to the earlier question, the point I was trying to make where you have the running back situation. You may have four or five guys in a dead heat at another position. If the two guys that win that heat are better than the third guy in this other area, you may end up keeping those two guys as opposed to the third. Just because you had gone into camp or planned for the numbers to be a certain way, sometimes it just works out differently.
