Transcript of head coach Eric Mangini's news conference with the New York Jets media Wednesday morning:
We waived David Clowney from the active roster. Jonathan Vilma will not be at practice today. He's going to get some more tests done. You'll be updated on his status through the injury report.
Chad [Pennington] will be the starter this weekend. I went back through the tape, looked at it and felt very good about the decision-making process. There were quite a few plays I really liked, especially the third-down scramble he had. That is classic Chad. He steps up in the pocket, he's under pressure, his ability to throw off that significantly bigger defensive lineman, find the sticks, get the first down and try to keep the drive moving. Even his competitiveness in the last drive is also very classic Chad. Time was against us, trying to get it there deep, get the touchdown to Jerricho [Cotchery] and execute the two-point play. I thought that was another really good example, too, of Leon Washington. He was as competitive on that play as he was on any other play. He went up and took the ball away from two guys.
In terms of Buffalo, they've improved since the last time we played them. They've improved against the run. I really like their style of defense in terms of the intensity with which they play and the amount of guys they get around the football on every single play. They rotate those defensive linemen to keep them fresh and the intensity up. Aaron Schobel and [Chris] Kelsay are very difficult to handle on both sides. They're always challenging and present challenges for everybody they face. Offensively, [coordinator] Steve Fairchild is another guy I interviewed for the offensive coordinator position. Like Brian [Schottenheimer], he is very creative, smart and has a lot of good ideas not just in terms of scheme but also in terms of how to use the different personnel groupings and individual matchups. You see that unfold more and more as he spends more time there. They do different things each week that present challenges.
What you're going to get is not going to be the same as what somebody else got. They've got excellent receivers, all of which present different problems. [Lee] Evans can score at any point on the deep ball. Roscoe Parrish can turn a 2-yard pass into an 80-yard touchdown. [Josh] Reed is very difficult on third down. He is strong and has that good sense of where the man/zone answers are for him in that area. He has a nice ability after the catch and good change of direction. Marshawn Lynch is doing a nice job — physical runner, I like the way he finishes runs, does a really good job of finding the hole and pressuring the defense across the board. If you're a little bit light on the outside to the left, he'll get to the perimeter there. If you're a little bit light on the inside to the right but the edge is set, he'll be able to find that hole. Then he finishes runs very effectively.
The offensive line is big and physical. Trent Edwards is improving each week. He's been very efficient, especially for a rookie. Used a lot of cadence against Baltimore, which is a difficult thing for any offense to use consistently. When you incorporate the fact that he's a rookie quarterback with very limited experience, that's impressive. That really goes back to Bill Walsh's evaluation of him coming out.
Buffalo's special teams unit is outstanding every year. This year is no different — same issues in the return game that we faced the first time. [Terrence] McGee, whether the blocking is there or not, he can make you pay, he can score at any point. Roscoe, same thing. You saw that against Denver. He has done that to a lot of people. It's not unique to Denver. Their coverage units are very well-disciplined and have playmakers. Add in the fact that there's a significant amount of fakes and things that challenge you in that area and you have to be sound. There's really no margin for error in the special teams area.
On whether Pennington is the starter for this week or longer …
I'm saying he's the starter. This is really the only game we're focused on.
On if there have been any changes made since Sunday …
There's different things that we're doing, different approaches that we're taking.
On if he will be more involved with the defense …
It will be like any other situation. When we work at practice, we want to shift emphasis and time to different areas. It will be the same thing with me where I'll cover all three areas and there will be shifting some time and emphasis into different areas. That's not a unique thing. That's what we do week in and week out. That's what I'm going to do.
On if he will be more involved with the defense Sunday …
I'm involved with all three phases there and the decisions there. That's important to me. It's important that I understand exactly what the approach is offensively. When we get to different core situations, we talk about it. It's things that we've worked on and talked about prior to going into the game. If we want to change that approach, I'll make that decision at that point. It could be on special teams where we've had onside-kick situations, potential fake situations or long field goals. Defensively, the same approach of how do we want to deal with this third down? Do we want to make it a pressure situation, a coverage situation, post safety or split safety?
On if coordinator Bob Sutton will be calling the defensive plays Sunday …
Yes.
On why Pennington is remaining the starter …
It's the same feeling I had about Chad and I've had about him for a long time. There are a lot of really good things he did Sunday. There are a bunch of checks he got us in and out of. There were a bunch of plays he made because of the things he understands within the offense. That really is helpful with whoever you face: the ability to get in and out of plays.
On if Pennington's performance vs. the Bengals is the reason he's starting Sunday …
I looked at it in terms of not just this week but throughout the course of the season. That's what I do position by position: Who gives you the best chance to win that game?
On Pennington's success in the earlier meeting against Buffalo …
There were some really good decisions there. They had a different approach defensively to what they had shown and we had to make some adjustments. There was a real commitment on their part to get eight in the box and stop the run. Some of the things we liked going into the game really weren't there anymore and it had to transition into more of a passing game. Again, there are some throws he'd like to have back and I'd like for him to have back. I liked the way he moved us down the field on those two two-minute drives at the end of the game. I thought the two-minute drive at the end of the half was arguably one of our best.
On whether a change is needed because the team is 1-6 …
Anytime you make a change, the change should be done in order to give you the best chance to win the game. That's how I approach it. That's how I'll approach it moving forward. Any decision to insert a player, to take a player out or to change an approach offensively or defensively is not going to be just for the sake of doing it. It's going to be because we think that's in the best interest of the team at that time.
On sticking with the same approach …
In terms of consistency, what I always mean by that is consistency of approach in terms of the level of preparation, the level of practice, things like that. Another thing that's very consistent about us is change. You've seen that with the roster, you've seen that with the depth chart, with the game plans from week to week. That's important, too: the ability to vary your approach to each opponent even though your core approach in terms of preparation and that element is the same.
On whether he needs to utilize more positive reinforcement with the players …
This is something that's very, very easy to do, is to show multiple plays from any game we've had this year that were outstanding examples of well-executed, smart football. If you look at just the penalty issue, going almost six quarters without a penalty, that's not something that happens very often. I think it was five or six years ago where it has happened here before, and that's something you're always looking to do because those penalties kill you. Then you get into the second half and there are five penalties. That's the inconsistency factor. Here is six quarters without a penalty, and five in a half. It's easy to find the good plays, to mix in with the handful of plays that change a game, like Marty [Schottenheimer] talks about.
On Vilma's injury …
It'll be his knee.
On Vilma saying on a radio show he didn't know why he was taken out of the game …
I don't know what time his radio show was. I talked to him [Tuesday] later in the afternoon, explained the thought process there. Sometimes you're going to see it differently as a player and as a coach. We'll just have to see how these tests go.
On if Vilma was pulled because on an injury …
That was the issue.
On Vilma not wanting to come out of a game …
Jon has a lot of Laveranues [Coles] in him. You love that about him, you really do. You respect that about him, that Curtis Martin: It doesn't matter what my status is physically, I'm going to play. That's toughness. I appreciate that. Sometimes you have to look at it and say, "Is it counterproductive? Is it not helping even though you love the fact that they're trying?"
On if Vilma suffered the injury during the game …
Yes.
On Vilma saying he was pulled because of a coach's decision …
It was. I did decide.
On whether it was performance-related …
I think the injury had an impact on his performance.
On people interpreting Vilma's comments as that there is no injury …
I understand that, too, and I appreciate the question. He is getting some extra tests on it. Like I said, I'll update you on it as soon as I know more. It will definitely be on the injury report.
On TE Chris Baker …
We're making some progress there. We'll just have to evaluate it through the course of the week. We're further ahead than where we were last week, but it's still something we have to look at. Like with the Erik Coleman situation, you have to go through the practices and continue the rehab and see how you are through the course of the week.
On why there haven't been any defensive changes …
Well, we did change two guys last week. We started a different cornerback and safety.
On how the secondary changes will improve the performance of the front seven …
It's a combination of things. When you look at some of these runs, they're runs that should be stopped for 4 or 5 yards and go 10 to 12 yards because we missed a tackle in the secondary. You list two 70-yard passes, whatever those two passes were, one was on a hitch and the other one was on a slant. Historically, those passes are 5 to 7 yards. You miss a tackle and it goes for [pause] and now it looks like you gave up a deep ball, but the reality is that you could have tackled better on that play.
We had the situation on third-and-2, a defender free in the hole, and we missed the tackle in the backfield. That really had nothing to do with the front. We should have been off the field. There have been too many plays like that. You remember in the preseason against Minnesota, it was an issue with a 2-to-3-yard run on the edge, we missed a tackle on Adrian Peterson, a guy with that kind of speed, and it turned into 43 yards.
On if it his responsibility to get the team to play better …
It hasn't been anybody else's job throughout. It's my job to continue to get progress moving forward. It's the assistant coaches' job to coach better and to provide a better plan for the players and to make sure everybody understands it. It's the players' job to get the information and execute the information on gameday. It's a collective process between all of us. Changes can take a lot of different forms. There are a lot of different things you can do to try to improve in those areas.
The other thing is that it needs to be a consistent group effort to get better each day at the core things we need to get better at, tackling being one of them. We've worked on tackling in five of the last six practices, and there's been some progress. There needs to continue to be progress there. The running game needs to continue to be more consistent in terms of our run fits with the offensive line, our run fits with the running back, the mesh between quarterback and the running back and the perimeter blocking in the running game. It can be one guy on any given play that changes a play from what should be a big play to a nothing play or a nothing play into a big play.
On how close he was to making a QB change …
It's something I wanted to look at as a group. I wanted to look at all different elements. I thought that was important, I did. I feel this is the decision. I'm very comfortable with that.
On informing the players of his decision …
I hadn't informed anybody there would be a change and there was no change from what we'd been doing.
On whether there could be a QB change made during Sunday's game …
I have never said that. It's about today. I'll assess the game during the game.
On what changes will be made …
As I said, there have been changes in personnel. The depth chart is pretty fluid. There were changes last week. There will be different things, different combinations. You're always looking for the best combination. We base that on how we practice and how different guys practice. The one thing that is consistent is the constant effort to look at what's best to move forward. That's what we're doing. That's what I've been doing.
On why he decided to announce the QB decision today …
I just thought it was something that was important so we could move forward and get this issue behind us. I had made the decision. It's always extremely tempting not to say anything along those lines — extremely tempting [smiles]. I thought it was just better to move forward, even though the alternative isn't bad either.
On if he expects the players to rally around Pennington on Sunday …
This isn't a Chad Pennington issue. This is a New York Jets issue. This is all of us needing to do a better job. We've talked about this quite a bit, where he doesn't cover kickoffs, he doesn't cover guys out on the boundary, he doesn't have to fit in the running game and he doesn't run the football — except that one third down. It's all of us needing to do a better job. He's focusing on doing the best job he can do. That's what I expect of him. That's who he is. It's really not a Chad Pennington issue. It's a New York Jet issue.
