Transcript of Jets head coach Eric Mangini's Monday news conference:
Going into the game, one of the things that we talked about a lot was field position, how important it was going to be. We didn't do a very good job of that on Sunday. There were five times where they started in plus territory. It doesn't matter who you're playing, when the opponent has that type of field position, there are going to be issues. It's tough to consistently prevent the other team from scoring points when they're starting in plus territory like New England was most of the day on Sunday.
That was an issue and it relates to all three areas. It relates to special teams doing a better job with the things they have to do, the offense being able to sustain drives and move the ball so that we're punting from somewhere besides our own territory all the time, and defensively being able to hold them and not let them get two or three first downs and then be able to push us into a backup situation to change the field position like they were able to do.
There were too many self-inflicted wounds, whether it was penalties or it was just not crisp enough on some things in all three phases that were in our control. We should have done a better job there. Those are two areas that we can improve, two areas that we'll consistently work at and two areas that look to be much better moving forward.
Offensively, one of the things I was pleased with is we ran the ball pretty effectively. We haven't had a lot of success running the ball against them in the past. We did that pretty well. The third-down 50 percent conversion rate was positive, and three 10-plus-play drives — it's always good to see those sustained drives. But we need to improve the consistency of the drives and be able to have those long drives and not have a feast-or-famine situation in terms of when we're moving the ball.
You never want sacks, but I was disappointed with where the sacks came, both of them coming in two-minute situations. Another area we'll talk a lot about is our production on first down, especially the first play of the series. We need to get better there to start a drive to get into second-and-6, second-and-5, second-and-4, as opposed to where we were, which was not very good throughout the day.
Defensively, we did a good job stopping the run, especially in the first half. Both of their two top running backs in terms of production the previous week and two guys that have hurt us in the past, didn't really do very much. Moving into the second half, that needs to be consistent as well.
Holding Randy Moss to two catches was positive, but the fact that we were able to get three sacks, five quarterback pressures, five tackles for loss, those things were all really positive things. We talked a lot about [Wes] Welker on the little tear screens and those types of things. We didn't recognize that as well as we should have. Our third-down efficiency was not where it needs to be, either, and that is a function of being better on first and second down and not getting into all of those third-and-short situations.
On teams, New England's kickers did a nice job throughout the course of the day. We didn't have much opportunity in the kick-return game. We didn't have any opportunity in the punt-return game. Our kickoffs, I liked our coverage. We really weren't able to do very much in terms of their kickoff returns. Our punt-coverage situation wasn't very good throughout the course of the day, both in terms of kicking and I thought we could've improved a lot in coverage as well.
Another area that's overlooked is their field-goal block is very aggressive. They've always had a lot of push-out of their opponents and get a lot of movement there. Our guys held up well against that. We got a lot of push against their field goal team.
On the inconsistency of P Ben Graham and the punt-cover unit...
It's a situation we'll look at. We'll look at it very closely, then we'll move forward here, see where the different opportunities are and evaluate them.
On if he is disappointed in the team's effort during the fourth quarter…
I didn't question our guys' efforts at any point during the course of the game. There was not any fundamental lack of effort or toughness by any of our players. They competed throughout the course of the whole game. There were things that's we could have cleaned up. I could have done a better job in terms of the running game. Then in the second half, the types of runs that they were running was very uncharacteristic for what they've done historically and what they'd done throughout the course of the game. We could have adjusted to that a lot better.
On what was different about the Patriots running game in the second half…
It wasn't a function of the running back as much as the scheme and the types of runs we were getting. It should have been something that we could have adjusted to and done a lot better job on.
On if he feels differently about the three run attempts from the Patriots' 3...
I felt good about where we were in the running game. We were at about 6-yards-per-carry average at that point. I liked the things that our offensive line had done. I liked the things that Thomas [Jones] had done in terms of the running game. At that point we called the plays that we thought were going to be successful, and they weren't.
That's part of what happens. You're always trying to find the best play. Later on we were able to get it in. You make the decision at the time, and you go with the decision. You go with the decision based on planning things you've seen and things that have happened during the course of the game. I believe in the offensive line. I believe in our running backs. I believe we can get tough yards. I don't question that or them or our ability to do that in the future.
On if the coaches will adjust the offense to QB Brett Favre's strengths…
We're not calling plays in a vacuum. We're calling plays based on what we think is going to be successful. If they're not successful, they're not successful. It wasn't a function of not realizing that Brett was here. It was a function of what we thought was going to work at that point. We adjusted as we went on. If we knew ahead of time what was going to work and what wasn't going to work, we definitely would call those runs that are going to work. You anticipate and plan, and you go with what you think is going to be successful at that point.
On having Favre and three downs to throw the ball in that situation...
We call plays based on plays that we think are going to work, personnel — it's all factored in and we'd done an awesome job of running the football to that point. Those players are really familiar with their goal-line package. It's not something we haven't seen in the last two years, not just playing them but working against ourselves. There's a lot of similarity in the goal-line package. I thought Rodney [Harrison] made a really great play on the second play there, or we would have probably walked in.
On having Favre doing more controlled scrambling and spreading out the play...
Everything we have is designed. He makes some things happen and sometimes they work out great and sometimes they don't. We had a nice opportunity there on that one scramble when we were backed up on the second play in the second half. We just kind of lost the line of scrimmage there. The one back to LC [Laveranues Coles], that would have been a big play. We came back and hit it to Chansi [Stuckey] a little bit later. You're always trying to design plays that play to the strengths of the guys.
On the offensive interference call on Jerricho Cotchery...
I wish I had some say in that, and I wish I could say at that point, but I don't. It's not my role to criticize the officiating. They make the calls they think are right at the time. They have the ability to put plays through and get them evaluated and learn from them. We have one play we'll try to learn from their perspective, but it was a heck of a throw and a heck of a catch.
On if Favre is being limited at all in the number of passes he's throwing...
We're completely comfortable with him throwing the ball.
On why Vernon Gholston is playing ahead of Marques Murrell at OLB...
No, our decisions aren't based off of that [finances]. They never have been. Vernon has some real strengths, and he's done some positive things when he's been in there, and has gotten some opportunities and he's developed. Marques is working towards developing as an outside linebacker as well. He's still learning the position, very similar to Vernon.
And I probably should have used him more against Miami. I think if he had played against Miami, it would have been a plus decision to rotate him through there late. That is something we talked about. I think it would've really helped us there with the heat and things like that. But that I would have done a lot differently.
On if K Mike Nugent has a chance to return to action this week...
I'm not sure yet. We'll continue on the path that we're on with Mike. He's trying to get back. Not that anybody isn't when they're injured, but he's doing everything he can and any extra thing he can try to figure out to get back quick.
On if he talked with K Jay Feely about his missed 31-yard field goal...
Yeah, I talked to him right after the kick. And those are kicks that we should make and he has made in the past in the stadium. It's a new, completely new situation, snapper, holder. And I'm glad he came back and put the next one through. He's got an excellent track record. He's a true pro, has been doing this a long time.
Sometimes you're going to miss field goals. Nobody's ever happy about it. But where it happened in the game so early in the first quarter, there's a lot of other tough things that came up through the course of the game that we had to recover from. That early in the game, some of that sometimes that happens.
On Gholston being flagged for being the 12th man on the field...
Yes, they're young guys, you know, still just two games into the season. He heard one thing, and it was not what was called. Loved his enthusiasm, aren't happy with his confusion on that play.
Dustin [Keller] had one where he was mixed up with what he was supposed to do. There is some growth for these young guys. Dwight [Lowery] had a couple of plays where that happened, and I wish it was just contained to the young guys. But we need to do a better job as a group of minimizing the mistakes that we can control.
On Calvin Pace's roughing-the-passer penalty...
Like I said, we'll try to learn from this by putting these things through [the league office]. There are times where Brett got hit with the ball where he had released the ball and we put those things through. But it's a good officiating crew. They're all good, they're all working. And you never want to-- everybody will dispute every call. I appreciate the decisions they have to make. But I don't think the hit was in any way malicious. He was going through and trying to sack the quarterback.
On if he'd have called anything differently on first-and-goal, now having watched video of the plays...
Are we saying that I can see that? I mean, I know we're going to be successful if we do something else? We have a lot of different plays that we can call there. If I knew which one was definitely going to hit, I would call it. But at that point you're basing it off the information that you have going into it. It's not something that's arbitrarily picked up.
The one thing I will say is I believe in the offensive line. I believe in the running backs. And I have no doubt that we're good at running the football and we'll continue to run the football. What I like the most is the way these guys keep grinding and working at it.
On the second-guessing of his coaching decisions...
You know, it's part of what we do. Everybody is able to evaluate the game and look at it. You go through that whole process where you look at things and you try to learn from it. That's one of the things I've talked about with the team: "OK, last week was a win. There were a lot of mistakes in that game that we had to learn from and we had to move on to New England. This week is a loss. There's a bunch of stuff we need to learn from here, but we need to move on to San Diego."
That's what I believe. I believe the benefit now is what we can take away from this in a positive way, because we can't change the outcome at this point. But what we can change is what we do in the future. And we're all going to try to learn from it and move forward.
On traveling to San Diego to play an 0-2 team that has been described as "desperate"...
They can put up a lot of points and they're explosive on offense. They've got a lot of weapons out there. They're coming off a loss, we're coming off a loss. I don't think it's necessarily one way or the other. So we'll be ready to roll. It's a tough environment to play.
On his thoughts of the end of Sunday's San Diego-Denver game...
I just saw them going for two. I kind of caught that on the highlights.
On what he thought of Broncos coach Mike Shanahan going for two points to win the game...
It worked, so I think it's a great call. It worked.
On if the call hadn't worked...
Then I'm sure he'd be answering a lot of questions.
