Transcript of Jets head coach Eric Mangini's news conference Monday afternoon:
I thought that this was probably our most complete game that we've had so far this season. I was pleased with the offense in terms of our ability to come out in the start of the first half, start of the second half and get points on the board. Then at the end of the first half and the end of the second half, to have those two sustained drives, I thought both those were extremely important.
I thought there were some really good situational plays offensively, catching them with 12 men on the field, the one where we ended up getting a penalty on it. It was the right idea — they had left [Dustin] Keller uncovered, and checking the play to just throw it out there to him, I thought that was a another good situation awareness play.
We didn't have any sacks this game, which is a point of emphasis. We did have the penalty, again, on the uncovered play, but overall I thought the amount of penalties offensively has declined, which is another point of emphasis. None of the false starts or cadence-related things that we've seen in the recent past.
One area that we have to obviously improve is our red-area effectiveness, only going 1-for-6 in those opportunities. We need to convert more touchdowns there. That's a good defensive team and a tough team in the red area.
I thought, defensively, I was really pleased with pressure, able to get to the quarterback with the five sacks and ended up hitting another five times. Those were key turnovers, the one for a touchdown, the one to seal the game, the one to set up points. And really the fourth-and-1 stop is the equivalent of a turnover as well. There were a lot of things that had to go right on those plays and a lot of good communication.
Then there were some plays that we need to continue to work on, like the start of the game, two or three plays in a row that weren't executed properly and it led to quick points. Both of those phases, I thought, contributed throughout the whole game. Whether it's DBs, D-line or whatever the case may be, everybody played a part.
On teams, I'd say my favorite play was probably Leon [Washington]'s awareness on the sideline, stepping out of bounds before he fielded the ball. Then I thought Reggie Hodges made a really nice play on a little bit of a higher snap on the last field goal, and also the punt with the excellent hang time to not give Roscoe Parrish a chance to return the ball.
On Washington's play of keeping the ball out of bounds…
We've practiced that quite a bit. That's something that Mike [Westhoff] has emphasized since he's been here. Leon actually got that same exact situation — it wasn't this past week, but it was the week before during practice — where we had one right on the sideline and he stepped out and fielded the ball. It was just really an aware play on his part and a substantial change in field position.
On being in a three-way tie for first place in the division…
I think it's a good place to be. Obviously, I'm happy with where we are in relationship to the rest of the division. To me, it's more being pleased with the way that we played on Sunday and the style that we played with, having a complete effort, finishing the game, all three phases, and it being complementary football. That's what we need to consistently do to win. It's a tough division and we face tough teams every week, so that's what I'm looking for each time we go out.
On if he feels different this Monday compared to the Monday after beating the Chiefs…
As I said last Monday, anytime we win, I'm happy about it. I'm happy about this game because of the way that we won, in terms of the way that we played, as opposed to the opponent or the situation. Again, it's a division opponent, so those are extremely important. You have to win those in order to be in contention to do something in the division.
It's how we played. It's complementary football and it's complete football. It's being able to finish, being able to handle adversity, and it's good situational awareness. Those are the things that make me happy as a coach, and I think we can build on it.
On if he is encouraged that they haven't played their best football yet and are still tied for first in the division…
That's a tough question to answer because I'm always looking for us to play our best football and don't really want to wait eight weeks for it [laughter]. That's something that we're consistently addressing and consistently looking at with brutal honesty — individually, collectively, players, coaches and all of us. What can we improve individually? What can we improve collectively?
The goal is to play that complementary football and to finish every game. Those are core things that we go back to week in and week out. We talk about them all the time and constantly are striving for that.
On Kris Jenkins' leadership…
I really like Kris. I've gotten to know Kris a lot better. We had our initial conversation, but as he's been here, as he has spent time here and as I've gotten to know him better as a person and as a player, he's been extremely impressive in terms of his commitment individually to do things within the framework of the defense.
That's not an easy transition going from a 4-3 penetrating guy to a 3-4 two-gap read-and-react guy. He has done that well and he's embraced it. His ability to adjust week in and week out, he's a smart guy, he's a smart player and the time that he spends with the rest of the defense, the young guys, I think all those things have been really positive.
On the importance of veterans mentoring younger players…
Veteran leadership is invaluable. You're always going to have a group of young players, whether they're draft picks, free agents or second-year guys and you want them to see what it means to be a pro and how to approach each week, how to approach each opponent. The more positive role models that you can have in the building, and most importantly in the locker room, the better off you're going to be and the better their habits are going to become as young guys. That'll help them with their careers and that'll help them each game.
On if it's a constructive pressure to be called "the team to beat" before the season…
What I want the team to have is a group conscientious mentality of we're going to be the best we can possibly be and we're going to focus on the things that we can do each week to win that game. It's not in relationship to the rest of the league, to the division or any of those things. If you take care of what you have to do and what you have to improve, all the other things come with it. Not to get caught up in anything external, but to get caught up with the internal things that we have to do to improve.
On the pressure of proving they are the best…
The pressure that I'm looking for everybody to put on themselves is to improve and to maximize their ability to contribute to the team. That's the pressure I'm looking for each week: pressuring each other to improve, setting a high bar individually, setting a high bar for your teammates, and then going out and meeting that bar.
On accepting the penalty that gave the Bills another chance at a first down…
It led to a touchdown, so I guess it was a plus decision, in retrospect. I'm happy for that reason.
It's like anything else. I've done it the other way where I haven't [accepted the penalty], and it's allowed someone to be in field goal range and kick a field goal. I was really thinking we probably should have taken that and played tight coverage and seen what was going to happen.
It's like anything else — they convert it, it's a negative decision, if they don't, and you get them out of field goal range, it's a decision that takes points off the board. Like I said, I've done it both ways, and you don't anticipate that they're going to convert on, what was it, third-and-16? Not really a high percentage of conversion rate typically in the NFL. I don't know what percentage it is, 5 percent or 8 percent?
On if the Bills could have gotten into field goal range with a pass…
They could have, or they could have gotten sacked or it could have been incomplete. There are a lot of could-haves, but the good thing is they threw a pick and we went 92 yards for a touchdown.
On Abram Elam's interception…
It's funny, we give a test each week prior to the game, and Jerome [Henderson] had a questionnaire -- they're not all just straight football questions, there are some that let guys show their personalities. But one of the questions was "If we pick the ball off and go 99 yards for a touchdown, who is most likely to do the following," and he had a list of things. I forget what they were, but they were all basically lighthearted. One of them was "It doesn't matter, he can't run it back that far anyways."
You had to assign a DB for each answer, and every DB put Abe down for that answer [laughing]. I don't know whether Jerome was just being a prophet there, or just lucky, but they all chose Abe. It wasn't 99. Maybe if it was 99 he wouldn't have gotten there, but 92 he did.
On Elam's play in coverage…
Abe, he's good in the box. He does good things against the running game, and he's improved in the passing game as well. You're looking for it to be complete. What's most important, in that situation — it was double coverage at that point — is that you're where you need to be in relationship to the other defensive back, and Abe was.
When Roscoe [Parrish] fell down he was able to jump up and take the ball. I thought it was well executed. Sometimes there's that tendency to panic. You see all that sideline, the ball is coming, you start thinking about running and you drop the ball. He did a good job catching the ball first, focusing on that, and then running as fast as he possibly could.
On saying in a meeting that no one's job is safe…
It was just postpractice and it wasn't anything that dramatic. It was just stating the obvious, that a lot of these young guys have really pushed and improved, not just young guys but different guys that have been in roles, that they have pushed and improved.
As that's happening, the people that are in those current roles need to maintain their level of performance or improve their level of performance, because it is a meritocracy and we're going to play the best players. I just wanted to remind everybody that that's the case and there had been a lot of progress by players and they were pushing for playing time.
On why he chose to bring that discussion up the day after a win against Kansas City…
It wasn't introducing a new concept. It was just reminding everybody of a concept that exists. It wasn't anything that was premeditated necessarily. It was just something that I thought was important to remind the group. I remind the group of things all the time. It just seemed, at that time, to be the right moment.
On if this is the most balanced he has seen the AFC East…
I know one year [2002] we went 9-7 in New England, the Jets went 9-7 and Miami went 9-7. We beat Miami in the last game of the season to end up being in contention to win the division and to go to the playoffs, but the Jets ended up winning on a tiebreaker. That was pretty tight. I think there was another year like that where it came down to the final game.
On the balance of the AFC East…
I think it's an extremely competitive decision. I felt like the Dolphins were a really good team as we were going in to play them that initial game. They've shown that. They're one game out and the other three teams are tied. It's about as balanced as you can get at this point in season.
Really, we all play each other here throughout the next eight games, and that's going to decide it, I think. The group of teams we play are well-coached, they're tough, they all have playmakers, and the different environments we go into are challenging to play in. It's not an easy path, I don't think, for anybody.
On if Dwight Lowery is struggling at cornerback…
David [Barrett] has been playing some more corner, and David has done a lot of good things for us at corner. Hank [Poteat] has worked in at corner and Justin Miller has worked in at corner, so you're going to continue to see that. It could be Dwight, it could be David, it could be Justin, or it could be Hank. I have confidence in all those guys, and it's important that we're able to do the things that we need to do. Whoever is doing it at that point the best is going to get the most playing time.
On if teams are targeting Lowery since he is a rookie…
It definitely happens to rookies. I think Darrelle [Revis] is playing really well now, and you make a choice each week where you want to place the ball and who you want to throw it against. That's not going to be inconsistent, I think, moving forward, as long as Darrelle keeps playing at a high level, whoever is over there is going to get a lot of action.
On if it will be difficult to stay focused on the game against St. Louis with the New England and Tennessee games on the horizon…
It won't be any different for us than what we've done consistently. You can't lose track of the next opponent. You saw it again this week. Teams that were favored didn't quite do as well as they thought they'd do. That's not uncommon. No matter who you play, they're good teams, they're well-coached teams and it's a challenge. It doesn't matter what their record is and it doesn't matter what they've done before. It just matters what you do on that day.
On if he examines the trade for Brett Favre compared to Chad Pennington's success in Miami…
I don't examine that. There is so much other stuff to do. All I examine is how we're doing, the things that we're doing and the opponent that we're playing. That's not something that I do on any kind of weekly basis, or monthly basis or quarterly basis.
On injury updates…
They're one week further along than they were and we're really hoping that they're going to continue to make progress.
