Transcript of Jets head coach Eric Mangini's news conference before Wednesday's midday practice:
We waived Marcus Mason and signed J.R. Reed, a safety, to the active roster.
In terms of this game, we've been watching the tape this morning. We started on Buffalo. We started some of it on Monday after we moved on from San Francisco. Looking at the [Bills] team, it's very similar to what we saw last time with the scheme. There are a few wrinkles that have come into play.
Offensively, the Bills getting back WR Josh Reed is definitely a real plus for them. He's a reliable, tough player and a very good blocker in the passing game. He's excellent on third down. He's caused some problems in the past. That's been a boost for them. There is a little bit of a question on where we are with DE Aaron Schobel, but obviously he's an outstanding player. If he were to come back, that would be another plus for them as well.
I'm not really sure what the quarterback situation will be. We've faced both of them. We'll prepare for both of them. They each present different problems. There are different ways that you have to attack either one of them. That's the layer that we'll look at.
On [special] teams, that's really been as consistent as can be for as long as I can remember. They do an excellent job on special teams. They have two outstanding kickers, really good returners, good scheme and a core group of teams players. Terrence McGee, he's an unbelievable returner and he's not even bringing the kicks back. That shows you how loaded they are there.
On the differences between Buffalo QBs J.P. Losman and Trent Edwards…
They both have the ability to scramble in the pocket. Losman, his scramble pattern is a little wider than what we've seen. A good example is when they played against Miami, where he gets the ball batted out of his hand, picks it up, gets out of the pocket and throws it. It should have been a first down, but it ended up being dropped. It's that type of play where it looks like it's going really bad. He somehow finds the ball and gets it to the open receiver.
Another great example last year, where exactly the same thing happened, except he picks it up, throws it across his body, I forget how many yards but it was deep, and they score a touchdown. It's that ability to generate something out of nothing. That makes him especially dangerous. He hit the long one against us last year, 6-3. They were backed up, the one to Lee Evans. They both have that ability in the pocket. With Losman, it's even a little bit wider.
On the decision to sign Reed…
We play him every year in the preseason, so I have looked at him. [Assistant general manager] Scott [Cohen] knows him from Philly. I've always liked him as a player. He is a very solid contributor on special teams. He has played in multiple games and done a good job in different roles. He has some added depth there. It was a good decision.
On if there is an update on WR Brad Smith…
No real update on Brad Smith. We'll monitor him throughout the week here and see where he is at the end of the week.
On if Smith will practice today…
It will be some light things today, not the full practice.
On if there has been a change in mood of the team between the Tennessee win and the San Francisco loss…
It has stayed pretty consistent. It is a good lesson for the young players, to see how things can radically change externally in a matter of weeks and how you have to appreciate that there's excitement and there's a lot of discussion and interest in the team, but those external things really don't affect or should not affect your preparation for the next week.
They are going to transition over the course of the season. It's a long season. There are a lot of ups and downs, and it's just part of the process. You can't let that part affect this process which is preparing for the next game.
On how well the team is keeping its morale intact…
I haven't polled all of them. It's just more of a discussion point, a good teaching point. It's something that they can't miss in terms of what they've seen.
On if QB Brett Favre has been able to help the other players through the ups and downs of the season…
I'm sure he's been through every possible media situation there is. He provides good insight, but there are a lot of guys that have been through quite a few seasons. Tony Richardson is an excellent sounding board. Alan [Faneca]'s played a lot of years. Ty Law has played a lot of years. He's been through a lot of different things.
You really want to lean on those guys, especially late in the season. Especially with the young guys who right now, they would either be preparing for a Bowl game or getting ready for exams. Their season is basically over in college football or you've got a sizable break before you play your last game.
On if there has been a players-only meeting and if anything has been done in terms of showing how critical the remaining games are…
It's not something new in terms of the significance of each game. As you get later and later into the season, the significance increases in relationship to how many chances you have left to win or lose games. It's been discussed. It's been illustrated. In terms of a players' only meeting, there hasn't been any yet, but I would never discourage anything like that.
On if Buffalo is a must-win game…
These have all been important. I've stressed that. The last time we went to Buffalo, seven weeks ago, it was talked about as a must-win game. That was seven weeks ago. Here we are again. There's really a way to approach each game, and regardless of significance or time frame, if we do the little things really well and focus on technique and all the things that we have done to put ourselves in position to win a game, we'll do that again.
On what the pass-defense needs to execute better…
I wish there was just one element that you could go and say "Hey, if we just do this one thing better, all the problems will go away." It's a function of everybody doing their job first. That's really the most important thing, is just take care of whatever you have to take care of. Don't worry about what somebody else has to take care of. Trust that he's doing it and then the defense or the offense will work well.
When you usually get into trouble, in either phase, is "I want to make a play." Usually you do make a play, but it's for the other team, because you're in the gap that somebody else is supposed to be in, you're coming underneath the tackle and the quarterback's escaping, you're going to jump a route and you're not protected and they hit a 9 [go-route]. It's those types of things where you make a call and you're taking away certain things. You guarantee that those things are taken away and everybody does their job. If it's not working at that point, then you either fix the problem or you call a different call.
On the offensive scoring and whether other teams have started to defend the Jets' short-passing game…
Those points have come in different ways. Some of those points have come in the return game. We had a chance again this week and it gets called back. That was a significant play in the game. That first drive, we had excellent field position. It was third-and-2. The pass was there. We're unable to execute on the pass. We don't catch it at that point and the drive stalls there.
There were other opportunities throughout the game, whether it was defensively to be able to keep them backed up or get them off the field, where we gave up a third-down conversion. That keeps the offense off the field. I don't think it's a function of just the short passing game, per se. There were points that were left on the field that we could have easily capitalized on.
On if he agrees the offense is not playing as well as it was three or four weeks ago…
One thing that we have to do significantly better, especially than we've done in the last two weeks, is third-down conversions and fourth-down conversions. Whenever you go 1-for-10 on third-down conversions, you're going to have a game where you've only got 20 minutes of possession. When you have those limited opportunities, it's hard to score a lot of points with having the ball for such a short amount of time.
On if teams are defending TE Dustin Keller differently…
I don't think Keller was the only one that didn't have a lot of opportunities last week. The coverage hasn't been significantly pushed inside. There were some good opportunities for him to catch the ball that we either didn't get it to him because of the throw, the protection, or got it to him and he couldn't convert it. I don't think it's a function of a vacuum of coverage suddenly getting to him.
On if the team will practice outside or inside today…
I'm torn on that one today [smiles].
On if he is leaning towards practicing inside or outside…
I love going outside because it's hard to simulate lousy, rainy, cold situations. I like going inside because it's warmer and you can do some things that are a little bit crisper. So it's that balance.
On the team changing its routine...
The process has been very successful when we do it well. There are things that we haven't done as well as we could have, but I don't think that a fundamental shift is needed in terms of that. What we need to do is do the things that we have done in the past as well or better than we have done them in the past as opposed to some sort of radical transformation.
In terms of being able to go out Friday to Seattle, it may or may not happen, depending on the airline. Those things are booked months in advance.
*On what Favre could execute better or differently… *
I wouldn't say it's one thing like his reads are off or his footwork or any of that stuff. It's just different things on different plays. Some of it is things that he could do better and on a specific throw as opposed to one area where "Hey, Brett, this is really lacking."
On if there are specific examples of things Favre could change...
He does a lot of things really well. I couldn't give you one thing, because there's not one glaring sort of area that needs to be addressed.
On if he senses that the confidence of the team has been lost...
No, I don't sense any loss of confidence. There are very strong lessons to be gained from the last two games. The biggest lesson is, if we take care of the things that we need to take care of, Jets-specific things, and do what we do as well as we have or better, which it should be better at this point, then everything else is secondary.
That was actually some of the coaching points that I made prior to the first Buffalo game. It's true now. You go through those cycles. Sometimes you can lose track of how important a point that is, but it's a very important point.
On if he is sure about the level of confidence the team will bring this week against Buffalo…
I always have confidence in our team and the players. I've said this since OTAs, I really like the players we have ability-wise, but I really like the people that we have. When you have good people working together towards the same goal, usually good things happen. We've got a lot of good people, and I expect us to have a good week of practice and to go out and execute well.
On if the 49ers' defensive scheme was similar to the Broncos' defensive scheme vs. the Jets…
It was different. Denver is very specific. They did very specific things based on what they wanted to take away, where San Francisco was game-plan-specific things, but they weren't as catered to areas of our offense. We may have gotten more Cover-4 than someone else they've played, but it wasn't necessarily like Denver where they'll play that Cover-4 but they'll also play it very specific to our personnel and our formations.
On if he thinks it's more important for Favre to throw the ball down the field more…
It's important to get it to the open receiver. Whether it's downfield or whether it's a checkdown, our skill players have excellent catch-and-run ability. Sometimes you'll try to get something downfield — the play against Denver where the corner was significantly off, he tried to push down there. It was just too high on the receiver at that point to make that throw. There will be a lot of separation between the front and the coverage, so sometimes those checkdowns are great plays. A 2-yard play becomes a 20-yard play.
On if WR David Clowney has made any progress…
David's been great. He's really been a great story, too. He came in last year. He was lost somewhat, but always went fast. It wasn't always going fast in the direction we wanted to, but he's done a good job learning the offense.
He's been very consistent with the show-team things that we asked him to do. He's always pressuring the defense in the way that he practices. We've been looking for a way to get him up for quite some time now. It just hasn't worked out with the special teams roles that he plays. I have no problem with David being on the 45 and playing. I anticipate that he'd be able to contribute.
On if working out a punter Tuesday is a sign that the team is unhappy with the punting situation…
I want that to be as consistent as it possibly can be. That's something that we've been looking for from that position and that's what I'm going to continue to look for.
On if there could be a change at the punter position this week…
No.
