Transcripts of Jets head coach Eric Mangini's news conference before Friday's midday practice:
On if he feels a certain amount of pressure to match the explosiveness of San Diego's offense…
What you're looking to do is play complementary football. Last week was a really good example of how much field position plays a role in the success or failure of any offense, or in any game. The more that you can start drives in positive territory as opposed to on your own 20-yard line, the more success you're going to have.
They're dangerous on special teams. That's going to be a big part of what we do defensively, being able to execute the game plan and stop the things that they're going to do. They can score at any point, but offensively it's being not just productive and moving the football but also protecting the football. All those things come into play. To beat a good team, you have to play complementary football.
On any component on offense that he would like to see get more involved…
I've liked a lot of the things that we've done offensively. The thing that is really important, from a whole-team perspective, is to avoid the self-inflicted wounds, whether it is penalties or assignment errors or anything like that, and to be able to finish all those games strong and be just as strong in the second half as you are in the first half. That's something that we constantly talk about, but I want to see a lot of improvement there as well.
On what has impressed him about Darrelle Revis in the first two games…
It always goes back to the way he's been working. He's worked this way since he was a rookie. He's out there and he takes to heart the point of working on his weaknesses. He has a lot of strengths and it would be very easy for him to go out to practice and play to those strengths and be successful at practice. That would be one approach.
But with Darrelle, he's identified weaknesses. He takes the coaching and he works on those things. He's gotten better and better at those things. His strengths remain his strengths, and the things that he wasn't as good at he's now improving. That will help him significantly.
On how much confidence he has in Revis…
I have complete confidence in Darrelle. It's easy to have confidence in him, because he studies not just the opponent but he has a real good sense of what we're doing from a whole defensive perspective. The things that I talked about in terms of his work ethic at practice, all that stuff is making him a really complete corner but more importantly a really complete football player.
On the development of LB Vernon Gholston…
He's contributed different things in different games. Players develop differently. There's no one set timeline that I've ever seen for a rookie. The fact that he missed a significant amount of time with the OTAs due to the college rule, some time early in camp and he's making a position change — all those things come into play.
What he has to do is just keep chipping away at it and keep making progress each week. It's a little bit better, whether it is third down, it's a little bit better on first and second down. He's really having his biggest exposure on special teams. He's playing a significant role for us there. The one thing that I know with Vernon, as he puts things in the bank, you see the quickness, the explosiveness, all those attributes that made us draft him where we did.
On if he has seen any tangible improvements in Gholston…
I see tangible improvement each weekend. You can't go into any rookie season with set expectations, because it never follows one timeline or one pattern. Every guy is really different.
On statistics implying QB Brett Favre and WR Chansi Stuckey have created chemistry…
I don't really look at it in terms of the stats correlating to chemistry. What we're looking to do with Brett and the whole offense, and each unit, is to develop unit chemistry. All those guys working together, whether Chansi catches 10 passes or no passes, he's doing what he's supposed to do. If he's opening up opportunities for other players, same thing with LC [Laveranues Coles], Jerricho [Cotchery], Thomas [Jones], Leon [Washington].
What you want guys to do is go out, execute what's called, understand what each other is thinking, and understand what we're trying to get done on the play. I can't stress that enough. If you understand what you're trying to achieve on that play, when things don't look the way they're supposed to look, you can adjust to make really good decisions. I like our offensive group. I like the stuff that they've been doing, but I really like the way that they approach things each week.
On RB/KR Darren Sproles having more than 300 all-purpose yards at Denver…
Three-seventeen. It's not just Sproles. It's [LaDainian] Tomlinson, [Antonio] Gates, [Chris] Chambers, [Philip] Rivers, Sproles. You can just go right down the line. They're all explosive. They're not limited by one distinguishing characteristic. They can run the ball. They can throw the ball deep very effectively. They can dump it off and get 50, 60 yards. They threaten the whole field.
On what has helped Stuckey emerge as a reliable receiver…
His work ethic, intelligence and instincts, but the first one is the most important one. His work ethic.
On if Stuckey's work ethic includes extra video, lifting weights or everything…
It's not just one area. You can't pick and choose where you want to work and how you want to work. You've got work hard in the off-season at those things. You have to be good in the classroom and be good at practice. You have to consistently maintain your body through the course of the season.
He's really a rookie when you look at it. He just had the benefit of that season where he was on injured reserve. It's not like he took off to Cabo and relaxed. He was here and he was working. That experience that he gained sitting in those meetings, you can tell that he was listening.
On giving RB Leon Washington more touches...
I'm comfortable giving him as many as we can give him. I was smiling, because early on in my tenure here there was a lot of questions about having a running back by committee, and what would be the thought process there, so it's interesting to see the pendulum swing back and forth. I thought I was right there with my time, but it just swings.
I have total confidence in Leon. If he had the ball 30 times it would be great. We have a lot of good playmakers on offense: LC, Jerricho, Chansi, Chris Baker, right on down the line. Dustin [Keller] has made some improvements. Thomas [Jones]. Leon. I feel really good. Brad Smith. There are so many guys there that giving each one of them as much touches as possible I feel totally comfortable.
On if the game dictates how many touches a player will get…
It's definitely how the game is going. The key thing is just throw the ball to the open one, whoever it is. Whoever gets the call in terms of carrying the football and being able to execute those runs the way they're designed to be executed. It's equal opportunity. If you want to throw over here 20 times because they're open, great.
On how CB Justin Miller is progressing…
He's working at it. With any injury, the group is always good about taking care of the rehab. We have a good protocol in place in terms of evaluating guys and getting them back as quickly as we can, but not too quick so they can reinjure it. I've been pleased with his progress. He's been working at practice. We'll see how it goes.
On if Miller will be able to suit up Monday…
There's definitely a chance.
On the possibility of using Miller just on special teams…
If he's up, we would evaluate how many plays we think he can play and then choose how we want to allocate him.
On the difference in playing on Monday night as opposed to Sunday afternoons…
It's exciting because we've all grown up watching a bunch of Monday Night Football games. It's really just such a big part of the football season. It's a unique thing. So there is that excitement, but once you get past that and get over that initial thinking about it and enjoying the concept, you start rolling. Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night, Saturday, midnight, it just ends up being a game.
On if Favre is still learning the offense…
We're all learning. It's never a function of "Hey, Brett, you can't do this." It's a very collaborative effort. That's true with Brett, and it was true with Chad [Pennington]. You don't want to go into a game with a bunch of plays that the quarterback is uncomfortable running. You like to know the things that they really like. They're part of the process of understanding why we're doing certain things. It's such a group sort of effort to put together the best plan.
It happens defensively, too. You may think, "Wow, this defense is great," and the guys look up at you with that look like "You need some more sleep," one of those looks. You might throw it out. You might love it, but they don't. They need to be able to execute it fast, have confidence in it and be able to perform well when it's called.
On how comfortable Favre is with giving his input…
You've been at his press conferences. He's about as comfortable there as he is everywhere else. He's a veteran guy. We share the same sort of age grouping, although I think he's a little older than I am. It's easy. It's a goal of mine to make it very easy for anybody to have input. Whether it's Brett or somebody on special teams, you don't want to miss out on a good idea because someone is concerned or tentative about giving their input.
