Laveranues Coles told reporters he felt his 105 receiving yards and career-high three touchdown catches in the Jets' 56-35 win over Arizona in Week 4 was made possible in part by him voicing his desire to be more involved in the offensive game plan earlier that week.
So after totaling three receptions for 7 yards and no touchdowns over the past two games, has Coles spent a lot of time talking to the coaches lately?
"No, I think they've got enough pressure dealing with media and everything that's taken place as we've gotten to this point," he said. "So to get anything from me right now I don't think would be real productive. At this point I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do, playing my role, not adding any pressure and hopefully things will work out for us.
"If you take one or two guys away a game, you still have Dustin, you still have Leon, you have Jerricho, you have Stuckey. Guys make plays. That's the great thing about being in this offense. So I don't really have to step up and say 'Look, find ways to get me the ball' or cause a ruckus, because we do have other guys that are capable of making plays."
That's the kind of team-first approach you'd expect from a veteran looking for his team to rebound after two consecutive losses, but a reporter asked Coles if he was personally frustrated by his lack of production.
"If you would have caught me a couple of years ago I probably would have been," he said. "But at this point in my career, no, because I still put the film on and watch myself and watch what I'm doing. I think I do a great job of doing whatever they ask me to do and I think if anyone else watches me they will still see I am doing a pretty good job of what I am doing, because if I wasn't they wouldn't double me. So at this point, no, I'm not frustrated."
Coles said he's matured since earlier in his career when he tended to equate getting the ball with being successful.
"At this point in my career I know that you don't have to have the ball to still be effective," he said, "and I think I help my team out by just lining up on Sundays.
"Anytime you grow and get an understanding of the game, you understand what's going on around you and you don't only just look at numbers, you look at the way you can help your team out other than just wanting the football."
He was also asked why the Jets haven't been as consistent in the passing game the past two weeks as they had been in weeks prior.
"It's a number of things," said Coles. "When you do a breakdown of us and look at what we've been doing, I think teams have pretty much penciled in on what we've been doing and they've done a great job. You have to give them credit, but I think our coaching staff now is trying to make some adjustments. Of course we're still trying to run the football, because we've done a great job of that, but the main thing is they're trying to get everyone involved like we've been doing."
Coles echoed Jets head coach Eric Mangini, who told the team to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they're doing everything they can to help the team win.
"If you're not," said Coles, "then some guys need to change some things, but if you are doing that then just stay the course, don't change anything about what you're doing. And I think guys pretty much got the message and at this point hopefully we can pick it up.
"We had a great day of practice yesterday, not that practice ever wins a game. You've still got to play. But hopefully it translates onto the field for us."
