Transcript of Jets head coach Eric Mangini's news conference before Tuesday's midday practice:
Yesterday was a little bit more difficult day because everybody was so sore. We had to push through the St. Louis information, the corrections from the game, and just touch on those briefly. Then move right into New England and try to get as much filmwork done as possible and try to get as much of the scouting report information in as possible.
My message to the players was to go home, put "American Idol" aside, "Dancing With the Stars," whatever it is, get on the film, get as familiar as you possibly can in this short amount of time leading into today. Today will be the bulk of our work here in all the different areas. It will be important.
As you look at New England, they've been consistent from the perspective of each game they're approaching differently. The packages you see against Buffalo or St. Louis or Indianapolis or whoever it is, isn't necessarily what you're going to get. It's going to be game-plan-specific for you.
Matt Cassel has done a really good job filling the shoes that he's had to fill and being as efficient as he's been. They're still explosive offensively with Randy Moss, who can score at any point. Ben Watson is back — he wasn't there our first game. He's always had a lot of big plays. Then the multiple plays that Wes Welker creates, Kevin Faulk, the different players they have at running back. It doesn't matter who they put in there. They're pretty effective there.
Defensively, they have a really stout front seven that can do a lot of things. They can generate pressure in the passing game. They can sit in there and play the run as good as anybody. They're not allowing many points.
On teams they've got an excellent core group of players. The starters play roles on teams as well. Brad Seely and Mike Westhoff are two of the best coaches I've ever been around. I know we have our hands full there.
On if the Jets signed CB Ty Law…
We released Justin Miller and signed Ty Law.
On the thought process behind signing Law…
As we move forward here, one of the things that's important to me in the secondary is to be able to continue to create versatility. Ty can play inside, Ty can play outside. I've used him a little bit at safety in the past. Just like you see with Hank [Poteat], playing a lot of different roles, I see that same ability with Ty. David Barrett is playing a lot of different roles. Now it allows you the chance to create some more matchups and put guys in different spots. That flexibility going forward is going to be very important.
On if Law will play on Thursday…
We'll see how it goes here today. I think there's definitely a chance.
On if Law will practice today…
Yes.
On the process of acquiring Law…
I've talked to Ty. I've been friendly with Ty for a long time. I talked to him multiple times during the course of the season. This is really the first opportunity that we had a chance to get something done, so we did. He looks good physically, in terms of his overall appearance, weight, those things. I felt very comfortable about it.
On if he worked Law out prior to today…
I personally did not work him out, but I have a pretty good idea what kind of shape he's in.
On what he felt the corner position was lacking…
It's not a function of what it was lacking. It was a function of what else we could do. What's important to me is if you have a certain guy in the slot that you want to match up against, and you have two or three guys that you can choose from to play in there. That gives you some real good opportunities to push somebody else to a different player.
Then the ability to push those guys back to the safety spot, now you can play with three corners if you want to. If you're playing a multiple receiver team, you can play that type of package. If you want to convert to man-to-man, you don't always have to bring Kerry [Rhodes] down, you can bring a true corner down. It's really something that we did quite a bit in the past and something I've always really liked.
On signing a player who hasn't played in 11 months and playing him in a game in two days…
I've been involved, in the past, where we brought a guy in on Wednesday, Thursday and played him that Sunday. I don't know what the other historical references are, but I feel good about where he is in terms of his physical shape. That's what we based it off of.
On how he would characterize the Jets-Patriots rivalry…
Friendly, warm, good-natured [smiles]. Like Wesleyan-Trinity and Wesleyan-Amherst. It's a great rivalry. You have two passionate fan bases. It's a division opponent. We see each other all the time. We've played each other so many times over the years. It's always loud here when they come to town. It's always loud there when we come to town. There's a lot of familiarity between the two teams. I don't know what the exact characterization would be, but it should be an exciting night.
On if the matchup will be different with both teams entering with 6-3 records…
All the division games that we play, whenever we play Miami, those games are really close. Whenever we play Buffalo, those games are really close. The whole AFC East has very competitive games week in and week out. One team beats the other team, that team then goes and beats the first team. It's tough. It's a good environment each place we play.
On the decision to waive CB Justin Miller…
Justin has primarily worked as the outside corner. We didn't see him having an opportunity to be up here this week. With the DBs that we currently bring to the game, the roles they play on special teams, we have some depth at the outside corner spot. This was more about creating some versatility inside, outside and in the back end.
On if there is a chance to bring Miller back…
The way it works, he has to clear waivers. He'd have to go through that process first before we could even think about it.
On if he would be nervous about Miller going to another team, given his return abilities…
He's an excellent returner. He's got a really bright future ahead of him. He's going to be a free agent here at the end of the year for us. I really hope that he continues to develop along the path that he developed. Justin and I spent a lot of time together. I like him a lot personally. I really wish him nothing but the best.
On if he would be surprised if Miller landed in Foxboro in 24 hours…
It's the waiver process. A lot of teams have claims. We'll see what happens.
On if he would be concerned Miller would share information with the Patriots if he ended up with them…
Yesterday was more of a scouting-report-based day as opposed to a heavy game-planning day. I feel pretty comfortable with the significant bulk of the plan going in here today.
On what the signing of Law means for CB Dwight Lowery's development…
It doesn't mean anything in terms of his development. He needs to continue to work on the things that we've outlined. He needs to continue to compete each week. He'll get plenty of opportunities inside and outside. I've been happy with a lot of things that he's done.
It's hard as a rookie to come in and start each of these games and play as much as he played. This just gives us a chance to get another veteran guy with experience who can help share the load and give us some more opportunities to do some different things.
On what it is like to play for first place in the division…
It's much better than the alternative. We've talked about the conference, the division, how close it is. We're all very familiar with that. It's another team we're very familiar with. It's good to have these games at this point in the season. You want to keep having these types of games as the season goes on, but in order to do that, like we talked about last week with the Rams, you've got to win the game that's in front of you. That's what all our efforts are on right now.
On if games in a short week are tougher mentally or physically…
I'm not sure which one is tougher. It's a lot of information in a short amount of time, it's a lot of reps on the body in a short amount of time, so there's stress in both areas. The positive is it's the same for both teams.
On if there are teams that would be easier to face in a short week…
I hadn't thought about it in that context. New England's a tough team and a tough place to play. I didn't really think of the alternative. This is the only one they had booked for us.
On how Cassel has improved…
He continues to get more and more comfortable running the offense. You can see that. The range of throws that he's making continues to expand. His comfort level with the receivers, all those things, being able to prep the whole week long, being able to prep multiple weeks in a row as a starter, that helps. There's no greater teacher than experience. He's gotten quite a bit of that since we played them last.
On "statement games"…
I don't think that one game ever defines a season. What's important is your ability to go from game to game with the same type of approach. That's the most important thing in terms of defining a team, defining a season. It's the consistency, regardless of division game, non-division game, what the opponent's record is. That consistency to me defines a team.
On Law's character and leadership…
He doesn't lack confidence. Spending five years together with Ty, one of the things I always really liked about him, there would be times in the morning where I'd come in early and he'd be heading out and doing roadwork on a Wednesday. He'd go run five miles. He did it before anybody got to the facility or he'd go — I know this is going to be hard to believe, but when I was getting on the treadmill back in the day [smiles], he and Otis [Smith] would be running. This wasn't like the speed that I was running, the slow walk. They were rolling.
It was on a Wednesday or a Thursday, he'd run in between the reps. When the offense was doing their emphasis, he'd be doing cross-fields, things like that. On Fridays I'd be in there, and he'd be in the film room watching a lot of tape. I don't think people often see that other side of him. I've seen it for such a long time.
I moved him in a lot of spots where he had to go in and play the "star" position, understand a lot of information that really wasn't his role at that point, but that's what it called for. Different games were pure matchup. He had to know every single spot. He did a real good job. A lot of those experiences went into my comfort level with him and the decision.
On if Law has been working out for the past 11 months…
I've seen Ty in so many different sizes. This is the size that I'm used to seeing him at.
On if he feels the team chemistry will be disrupted with the addition of Law…
No. This morning when he went in there, it was like he was running for mayor. He knows most of the guys on the team and has a lot of friendships on the team currently.
On if Darrelle Revis will give Law his No. 24 jersey…
No, that was never part of the discussion. Both being from Aliquippa [Pa.], I don't know if any team has had two corners from Aliquippa before, but it was important to Ty that Darrelle keep 24. Ty is going to have 22, which is his college number.
On if it would matter more to beat the Patriots since the team has done so well against the Jets in the past…
It's beating a division leader, beating a division leader on the road. That's what would be most important. We go into the Rams game last week, I heard a statistic afterwards that we hadn't beaten them in seven straight times. It really doesn't matter. None of those teams were playing us on Sunday. Those statistics are always interesting to look at and analyze, but it doesn't affect this week.
On if he sees any of Law's style in Revis…
At the line of scrimmage, their ability to be physical at the line of scrimmage. Run support, I see some similarities there. I would have said last year that Ty had better ball skills, but I think Darrelle has closed the gap. He's done a great job working on that and improving.
Ty, when I think of cornerbacks on the stem of the route, when the receiver is pushing vertically and their ability to press that receiver and gain width, Ty was always the best I ever coached. Darrelle has really gotten a lot better at that. That can be an extreme strength for him, because he has natural size and strength. When he's running, the ability to widen the receivers is key. Darrelle has worked on that as well. Those are things I see between the two guys.
On if Law will start…
Right now it would be more of a role. That's really what I was looking at is him coming in, playing a role on the team, just like everybody else who is here or who has come here has done.
On if he discussed Law coming off the bench as opposed to starting…
It was more in the context of the team, things we were trying to get done. It wasn't in that context at all.
On if he has spoken to QB Brett Favre about the Jets-Pats rivalry…
We hadn't talked about that. This is obviously a lot more 34 [defense] than he's ever faced. Three out of four teams are in that front, that defensive set. He hadn't had as much experience with that front. Coming from Green Bay, it wasn't that prevalent in the division or even in the NFC at that point, so that's been something he's gotten used to. Working against us throughout the summer and each day, that's added to the comfort level.
In terms of the actual rivalries, things like that, I didn't specifically discuss that with him.
