Transcript of head coach Eric Mangini's news conference after Thursday's morning training camp practice:
Sorry I'm late, but we had visitors from St. Mary's Children's Hospital. I've been to the hospital and visited and spent some time with those kids. They're amazing kids. They're as tough as can be, just a great group. So it was nice that they were able to come out to practice today and be with us. Hopefully we'll have them back to a game because they're definitely a lot of fun to spend time with. I also have my own kids here. They came out. They're in preschool. It was fun, too, a lot of Gatorade and runny noses [smiles], so that was good.
Tomorrow we have a closed practice and the following day we'll have our Green & White Practice over at Hofstra['s Shuart Stadium]. It'll be simulating as much as possible real game conditions, splitting the team up and just going through the mechanics of everything that happens on Sunday, which is very different for the young guys especially. They don't understand some of the nuances that take place and it'll be good for us to go through it as a staff in the booth, down on the sideline, the pictures and all those things. It has been quite some time since any of us have done that. That's open to the public. We're hoping to have a good turnout.
We're also going to have a collection for the game, which will be non-perishable items at the gate. If anybody would like to bring something, that would be fantastic. It'll be a good day and hopefully we have a lot of people to spend some time with us Saturday.
On the team's progress after one week of practices…
It's funny because I'll go through and I'll write my thoughts down, before I even look at last year, the same day last year. Sometimes I'll think that I can't believe we got that wrong, I don't understand how we possibly got that wrong. When I look back at last year, it was the same thing the year before.
There is a real progression during camp and there are so many guys, 80 guys. You try them in all different spots. You're giving them opportunities to make a case for themselves. There are some things that mechanically go wrong.
Where I get frustrated is today. I felt it was the case in our review period, it was more trying to get through practice than practicing with a purpose, and that's not acceptable. It's going to be hot in Miami — it's hot now. We're going to be tired in that game — we're tired now. We've got to be able to deal with those things and still get done what we have to get done.
When it gets to the point where you're trying to get through a rep, you're trying to get through a period, these aren't long practices comparatively. But, I mean, come on. It's a joke compared to what we have done. Everybody has to uphold their end of the bargain. To whom much is given, much is expected. We need to be efficient. We're not doing that. We're not wasting any practices, any periods.
On if this was the first practice he was disappointed in this summer…
This was really the first time that I felt that way in a whole extended period. There have been pockets here and there where that comes up, but this was really the first time. It was a nice hot morning, which obviously you want to be safe in the heat, but again, those early games in Miami are hot. That's just the way it is.
On if some of the players were annoyed by the effort today at practice…
Individually, I addressed guys on it, I addressed the group on it. The other thing that we talked about, this was the day [Sunday] we were in the bubble, we sat up at practice in the bubble and the offense came out on fire and they were tearing through the defense and it continued for a little while. We went to the two-minute drive and the whole thing flip-flopped.
My point to them that day was momentum is going to shift during the course of the game, and you can respond. You will often hear "Let's go," clapping your hands, all that stuff that doesn't do anything. Someone has to take steps to change momentum. Someone has to get the group and say, "OK, take a breath, refocus and move forward."
The other stuff, the cheerleading and that stuff, that doesn't affect anything. You have to tangibly change the momentum. It's not something that just stays until it magically disappears and the momentum fairy comes down. It has to be done.
It shifted the other way offensively. We had a two-minute drive and suddenly it looked like the '85 Bears. It ebbs and flows, but it's understanding that it's taking place and that steps have to be taken to change it. That was a good lesson from that day and this is a good lesson from this day.
On if the players' effort shows more when practice is shorter…
You know the saying "Don't confuse effort with results"? I think there was effort, there just weren't any results. In practice you have to have results and what I'm looking for is efficiency at practice. I say it over and over, it's practicing with a purpose.
On Dwight Lowery…
What I like about Lowery, he is a technician. He is a very methodical person. He wants to know what the exact steps are, then you're going to coach him on those steps and he's going to practice them during practice, he's going to practice them after practice. He's one of those guys that's going to rep it and train his body until he gets it right.
He's got very good ball skills and we saw that in college. We have seen it here early where he can transition, find the ball, make the catch, which is different than just finding the ball and batting it down. He can actually convert on those.
He's swimming like the other guys, and when you're like Dwight and you want everything to be exactly the way it's supposed to be with the volume of information that's coming in to him, it's a lot to deal with initially. He makes progress and works at it, and he has a very distinct way of working at it.
On the progress of Chansi Stuckey…
He's been really good early on in camp. He's bright, not just in terms of learning but he's very football smart. He gets it. He gets the concepts. He gets the way that the defense is trying to plan. With short-area quickness as his strength, it gives him a real edge.
On who has impressed him most out of the wide receiver group…
It's been day-to-day in different things. David Clowney has made a lot of vertical plays down the field and Clowney is a guy that's spent a lot of time learning the offense in OTAs. I've seen a lot of progress from him. He's developed very good deep speed. He's a threat there and he shows up in those cases.
I thought Brad Smith had a very good day yesterday. He caught the middle read in the two-minute drive. He caught some really nice balls on the sideline. He's getting a good feel that's progressing more and more in terms of him just being a receiver.
I think Wallace Wright had a good day yesterday, not as good a day today. He got open but didn't catch the ball. With those things he wasn't alone, but that was part of the focus issue. That group has been good.
Marcus Henry has a big body, is learning to use his hands, learning to use his gift, which is his size. He's got very good hands down the field and he really gets to the ball. I like all those guys. They all bring something different, but they've all shown positive things different days.
On if there has ever been an NFL training camp where every practice achieved the results preferred by the coach…
That's not really what I'm looking for. What I'm looking for, and this was what we talked about yesterday in squad, is we don't have to be perfect. That's always the goal, but it's unrealistic that you're going to be perfect in any given practice. My expectation is not that we are perfect. It's that we're better than when we started. We're better than we were the day before.
On bad days of practice…
Everybody has bad days, but it doesn't mean that they're acceptable.
On updates on Musa Smith, Jesse Chatman and Artrell Hawkins…
Smith, he was there. Chatman, he got a little bumped up yesterday. Hawkins has been nursing some soreness and we were going to try to see how it went early in practice. We knew that was going to be one of those touch-and-go type things. You saw Matt Chatham back. He's back in the fold. It doesn't look like anything should be prolonged, but I don't know.
On if there is an update on Chris Baker…
His status is unchanged. He's getting in good shape.
On if Baker is close to returning to the field…
I think we've just got to see as the week goes on. I know that each day we've got to be making some progress here.
On dividing the QB reps in Saturday's Green & White Practice…
I have Mike [Tannenbaum] and Terry [Bradway] — they do a draft of the team. A couple of months ago I put together the guys that we had at that point and, as the new guys would come in, we would plug them in. Coaches are split up, they split them up, then I make trades. We'll see how some of it goes tomorrow and that will be part of our practice. We'll do some sessions there with the two groups with a feeling-out process. We will see what happens.
On the restaurant for the winners…
I'm not sure what restaurant. Clay Hampton handles the upside for the winners. I'll check it out with him, see what he's got. I know it'll be good.
On FB Tony Richardson…
He's a great guy. With his wealth of experience, he can talk about a lot of different things, not just situations that happened on the field but a lot of different schemes. He's played in a lot of different schemes. He can give the history of football playing in the leather helmets like he did [laughs] that some of the young guys can't appreciate. That's been helpful to me.
On if he expects a lot of players to make mistakes Saturday…
I never go into that situation going, "God, I hope we make a lot of mistakes." I expect that they've learned and done their jobs and studied and we've coached them up. I expect them to do well and we'll respond if they don't. I'm the perennial optimist [smiles].
On Darrelle Revis participating in his first training camp…
I'm sure he's going through the same thing. I've liked the things that Revis has done. He's exerting himself more and more. He demands a very high level from himself and he's making other guys accountable. He wants the secondary to operate in a certain way.
With Darrelle, you're not going to get an uncompetitive play. You want to catch the ball, you're going to have to take it. There's no brother-in-law treatment in going out with him. He is going to challenge every play. That's how he keeps getting better. I like it and I like what he's done.
On whether Lowery is mature beyond his years…
We get the sense that that was the case in talking to people about him. When he was coming out and then when we first interviewed him at the combine, you could see that for a cornerback he saw the big picture, which I really liked. That gives us some versatility because you can play him inside, you can play him outside and you can play him deep. Those were all things that I liked and also, he's committed. He's just a diligent guy.
