8/4/08 Training Camp Practice Photos
Transcript of Jets head coach Eric Mangini's news conference before Tuesday's afternoon training camp practice:
Just in terms of the preseason game, it's a pretty unique opening with Cleveland because there are so many similarities between the systems. The defensive systems are very similar. There's a new coordinator, but it's going to carry over, I imagine, from what they were doing. There may be some nuances, but it's very similar to what we do. Offensively, their coordinator is from San Diego, the same place Schotty [Jets OC Brian Schottenheimer] is from. There is going to be a lot of carryover there.
In a lot of ways it will be like a green-and-orange game because there are so many things that we both face throughout camp. The head coaches are very similar, both gravitationally challenged [laughter]. So I think it's going to be good. I think it's going to be good work. It'll be good to get those situations and also to have a carryover facing a lot of 3-4 teams this season, especially in the division. It will be positive for our guys.
On if he knows how long the starters will play…
No.
On if he has decided who will start at QB…
Not yet. There are a lot of factors that go into that, so I'll get together postpractice and watch the tape. I'll spend some time with Mike [Tannenbaum] and with the staff, see what their input is and then make a decision after that. But you have to look at who's playing in terms of the offensive line, a lot of other things that go into the mix and there are a lot of other factors. I'll make that sometime in the near future.
On if he'll make the decision later today…
Later today, or tomorrow.
On if the media will find out after kickoff Thursday night…
No, you'll probably find out before then.
On if he is trying to keep Cleveland head coach Romeo Crennel in the dark…
No, it's actually just the reverse. There is nothing besides making sure to go through and look at who's going to be playing and how long are they going to be playing. With the preseason games, it's a lot different. There are guys that you have to find out at the back end of the roster and the different mixes of people that you want to look at under live conditions. I'm not trying to trick RAC at all.
On if it would be looking into the decision too much to say it will be qualitative…
Yes, I think so. I just want to go through the week, finish up the practices, finish up the meetings with the coaches, with Mike, and then go from there.
On if both QBs will get reps with the starting offensive line…
It depends on the game. Each game you build how long they play, so it gets a little bit easier as you're building. Then toward the end, it obviously gets a little harder.
On if the QBs will rotate playing backup during the preseason games…
Yes, some of that. Although it could be that you go on a couple of long offensive drives, the defense is out there forever and it may go into the second quarter. It's just depending on how many plays you actually have, as opposed to the time. If you have a really short first quarter, you've had three plays or six plays offensively, you may want to get them a little more work there. So it's not always just time-based. Some of it is percentage of total plays.
On how many tickets his wife's family, the Shapiros, will need…
Right now, I think it's just going to be Mark and his son.
On if they will be the only Shapiros attending the game…
That's it. They are the only branch of the family there right now. David is in Boston and Julie [Mangini]'s sister is in Jersey.
On if he is happy with his QBs' performance…
Yes, I'm happy with a lot of things. There is some other stuff that I'd like to continue to improve, and we do. Each day in practice you'll see the different team periods. I know that they probably run together because it's not like it's up on a big board: "We're practicing this now."
But there are a lot of times where a period will be a specific emphasis. It may be heavy multiple wide receivers against base defense. It may be very few wide receivers and all big people against base defense. It may be just runs that happen with substituted defenses, so multiple wide receivers versus substituted defensive personnel with a focus on the running game.
So you're going through, and as you look at it, you're trying to look at the work that you did, and then as you talk about it, you think, "Well, we're a little bit light here," so you want to adjust it. That's where you put an "emphasis period."
On if the emphasis periods are used to judge the QBs …
It's really in relationship to everybody. It's in general. If specifically we had to see something with the quarterbacks, maybe we wanted to see some more deep balls, maybe we wanted to see some of the things that are protection-based, then one group may benefit from that more than another. It's not that the whole group doesn't need it, but it is more targeted. Sometimes it could be really about the DBs and the wide receivers, stacked receivers, bunches and things like that.
On how the QBs are throwing…
It's day in and day out. Sometimes it's one guy has a better day than the other. Then it could flip in practice or flip during the course of a day. Again, it's over time, it's the consistency over time, it's the operation over time. All those factors as opposed to "Wow, he really played lights-out today, bump him up."
On how much weight he will be putting on the preseason games when determining the starting QB …
In terms of actual weight, I haven't sat down with the weight, like in college where you have the take-home exam and the final. None of that. But it'll definitely be a factor. In the preseason game, what you have that's nice is you have the ability to see the offense function — function with the playclock, function with the gameclock and function with the situations that aren't scripted.
That's why I like the two-minute stuff, when you just throw a situation up on the clock at practice because nobody really knows what's going to happen in that situation. It's just like the game. You have to adjust to sudden change, score change, backed up, end-of-game procedure, third-and-long and third-and-short. You don't really know what the situation is going to be. Then you get a feel for presence and operation.
Erik Ainge yesterday hits that ball with five seconds left to win the game. Did I know that was going to come up? I had no idea, but it's a great situation to teach off of. And did he go through the mechanics at the line of scrimmage of what we were asking him to do -- keeping the play alive, the receiver is getting down there, the distribution of defenders for that situation, ball is in the air, how did they play that?
All of that stuff, I could have scripted it and it wouldn't have been as meaningful as "Hey, Erik, here's the last play, what are you going to do?"
On the timeframe of deciding a starting QB …
I think when it happens, it happens.
On if the move to New Jersey is a distraction to the players…
We've spent a lot of time during the off-season working on that. We have a lot of guys that have houses there, coaches, players. I wouldn't say most, but a high percentage of guys have a place to live. We have temporary housing allocated. We did trips in the off-season where they'd go out in buses, look around the area and spend time with real estate agents. We did the day over there when we went to see the new facility, then we had all of the vendors and different people that are going to be in the Florham Park and surrounding areas there so our families could meet those people, they could introduce themselves to us.
We've done a lot of things gradually to make that transition as easy as possible. Then you also have the guys that weren't here and haven't settled on a place, or guys that aren't sure if they're going to be here or not. We have some contingencies there.
But what's exciting about it is, you love the Long Island fans and the loyalty and the history here, but it is a beautiful facility that we're moving into, it's a really nice area that we're moving into, and I think that as much as possible we've controlled the details. And then once we get into that new facility, it's a pretty amazing place. I think it'll be more a feeling of excitement as opposed to stress.
On his philosophy of full-contact drills during training camp…
One of the things we're stressing, or I'm stressing, is even during the tackling drills, some of that has been live, but that has been relatively limited. We have had some live goal line work. But you want guys to stay up and stay on their feet as much as possible, because a lot of those injuries happen when someone is tired, someone lunges, someone takes a shot at a guy.
Those things are controllable, and you want to get the work done but you want to minimize the risk of injury. And there's so much risk of injury built into the game, it's just good practice to minimize it when you can.
On if full contact at Cleveland will be a difficult adjustment…
I think that the jump between practice and games, even preseason games and practice, is significant. What the rookies won't understand until we get to Miami is the next jump, because the speed of the game changes dramatically from practice to preseason and preseason to regular season. It's a little bit of a shock to the system the first time you go through it. It's stark in terms of the difference.
So you progress up, practice in the preseason games and progress into the regular season. You can tell them about it, you can try to explain it and you can try to educate them. They've got to feel it.
On if a player can be both "loosey-goosey" and focused on the field…
Yes, I think you definitely can. I've been around some really great players that were focused and loosey-goosey at the same time. Ty [Law] has been known to be relaxed in the off-the-field environment but he was always very focused on the field. You don't want them to be anybody but who they are, but you need them to understand the differences between when you have a chance to really express your personality and when you have to transition into purely a focused work mode.
On the strides Justin Miller is making…
I think Justin, over the last two years, has made tremendous strides. I like the way he practices. He's focusing on a lot of the details of defensive back play, which I think has translated really well into what he has done at practice.
We'll do the off-man drill and he'll be able to self-correct right after the play. The other day it was an in-cut, and he was in the move area where the receiver is going to make his break, and you're supposed to have open hips and he squatted on it. I went over to talk to him and he said, "Yeah, I squatted on that, I should have been turned." And that's going to help his growth because he's able to give himself instant feedback. It shows me that he understands the technique that we're trying to play and he's working at that technique.
On if he has noticed Miller's dancing moves…
I've never been dancing with him, but I'm sure he can hold his own.
On what he is happy about in camp…
I like the progress of the offensive line a lot. I like the progress of the new players that we've added, both free agents and rookies. I like the defensive backs — I think their understanding of the different things that they have in their toolbox in terms of the coverages is getting better and better. Sometimes you teach it in one coverage, but it really applies to another coverage. I see a lot of those guys being able to take this concept here and apply it there without you having to lead them right to it. It's more of an association-type of thing. So that's been very positive.
I've liked the way the group collectively has been with each other. You see a lot of guys working after practice with other guys, and this is an inherently competitive time of the year. Everybody has a job, everybody is trying to either maintain a job or get a job. It would be very easy to freeze somebody out and not help them, but it's not that type of environment. Each person is trying to improve his own skill set and have the willingness to help other guys do the same.
On the offensive line…
The ability to process things on the move has improved, whether it be two-man line games where one guy is coming up and the other guy is coming around — there is a very specific way to play that. The defense can get a real edge there. Recognizing different blitzes and understanding, "OK, I may have to slide to the Will linebacker. That's my assignment. Now the Will linebacker is not coming. This other guy who is assigned to somebody else is. I can come out and help that guy and make his job easier and solidify the protection."
I like the technique. When you watch the tape, you see the unison of the footwork, which is always a good sign of the discipline of that group. So there's a lot to be encouraged by. I like the progress in the running game that we've made. So I'm pretty happy with them collectively.
On the influence on the O-line from coach Bill Callahan and Alan Faneca...
With Bill, I sit in a lot of his meetings. He's very, very detailed, he's very thorough. He spends a lot of time going through not just what happened but what could happen. Then you have the veteran guys, and it's not just Alan, but Damien [Woody] has done a really outstanding job with that group. He's a guy that can be a little loosey-goosey, but he's all business once you get in the room. Brandon Moore has been excellent.
You know, Nick [Mangold] and 'Brick [D'Brickashaw Ferguson] are headed into their third year, so they have things to associate it with. It's not just "Hey, when you see this, it's do you remember when you saw this, and this is what happened." They can build on the 2,000-plus snaps each one of them has had.
On the tight ends…
Tight end is one of those unique positions where, like receiver, you can have multiple tight ends on the field at the same time. With our system, you have the inline element of it where they're actually on the line of scrimmage, but they can also be in the backfield.
And it's nice to be able to go from a three-wide-receiver set with one tight end to a three-tight-end set, one wide receiver and have guys that can be in those positions and create problems from those formations. So I think that group is another group that's worked really well and they have some versatility, which is good.
On the possibility that Chris Baker's production will decrease with more TEs…
I don't anticipate anybody's production or lack of production being a function of just one guy or two guys coming in. I think it's going to be game plan, it's going to be opportunities and it's going to be all of those things. The key thing is to be focused on individual production and to be focused on offensive production.
So I talk about this a lot: Sometimes you're the cannon, sometimes you're the fodder. Sometimes you're taking the last shot, sometimes you're not. Whatever it is, it is. You have to do that element of your job the best you can. That group is another one of the groups where it's not me-centered. Its team-centered, which is key.
