Transcripts of news conferences and interviews in the Jets locker room following the 9-0 loss to the Packers at New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday afternoon:
HEAD COACH REX RYAN
You have to give credit to Green Bay. They did an outstanding job. They're a good football team. They were better than we were today. I thought our defense was outstanding. We held them to 14 percent on third-down conversions. We just didn't get it done as a team. We had a couple of costly interceptions, and that's all I'll say about it. I thought Mark [Sanchez] wasn't throwing the ball very effectively in the first half. I thought he threw it much better in the second half, but we just couldn't catch it. That's uncharacteristic of this football team to drop some balls. It's just frustrating. Nick [Folk] missed a field goal that he's been making in his sleep. We just weren't good enough today.
On the Jets using their second challenge in the second quarter…
Obviously, you want to keep your challenges, but I felt confident in both of the calls. I talked to Brad [Smith] about the first one and he clearly thought he was down. When you look at the video, it was ruled a fumble on the play, and we probably shouldn't have challenged that one because it was too hard to tell, but we felt good about it. On the interception, I clearly thought our receiver had possession of the football, or if worse comes to worse, it'd duel possession, which is the offensive player's football when they're on the ground. That happened twice, and I never had another opportunity to challenge it. I don't see what would have been different if I had challenged the Dustin Keller one because it was the exact same thing.
On if the Jets had won the second challenge…
We were definitely going to punt. That would have been a huge difference. Instead of getting the ball on the 40-yard line, they're getting it on the 10. It makes a huge difference.
On the fake punt by Jets P Steve Weatherford…
We knew what they were doing. They were caving that side down. This was something that Steve did on his own. I don't think he realized we'd just been sacked. We told him before that it needed to be a manageable situation, not fourth-and-20 or whatever it was. As he was running, I was trying to make sure he knew where the first down marker was. I don't think he was clear on that.
On if Weatherford called the audible on his own…
He does it on his own. He's a great athlete. He did it last year against Miami, but in that situation, it probably would have been wiser to punt.
On if Jets CB Darrelle Revis was ready to go today…
Yes. Sure was.
On Sanchez…
The kid started throwing the ball the way he's capable of in the second half, we just weren't catching it. I don't know what the stats say, but he put some balls in there on the money, and we've got to catch them. One of them would have been a touchdown on a crossing route. The ball could have been a little higher. I just never thought he was on the mark in the first half, but I thought he clearly picked his game up in the second half.
On Jets inability to run the ball despite injuries to Green Bay's defense…
Every team's hurt. I don't know who they had out, but we had Kris Jenkins out. We've played without Revis…everybody's hurt. That's a good football team. They play well on defense. You have to give them credit. They do a nice job. Dom Capers is an excellent coach, so we'll give them credit, but it might have been a different outcome if we had caught a few of those balls we dropped.
On if there was a "rust factor" coming out of the bye week…
There's no rust. Write whatever you want, that's fine. When you lose, you can say what you want. We were fresher and healthier than we've ever been, we just never got it done. That's a good football team. That's a great offense over there, and our defense pretty much handled them. We certainly were ready to play on defense. I thought we were ready to play on offense, but it never worked out that way.
On not kicking a field goal trailing 6-0 late in the fourth quarter…
No. I thought we had a better chance of converting on the fourth down. It was just one play. You convert on that or worse comes to worse, we get the ball back because I had a lot of confidence that our defense would shut them down like they'd been doing all day.
On throwing into the end zone on third down late in the fourth…
You just try to throw it to the guy that's open. Apparently, that's who he thought was open.
On why the Jets receivers had so many drops…
They are professionals. We have been catching the ball in practice in a lot windier conditions. It was disappointing. We have some outstanding receivers. For whatever reason, it just wasn't our day.
On what he said to the team after the game …
We let one get away from us. I thought we were in a great position with the way that our defense played to win this football game. We just never got it done. This is a resilient group. We'll get it together and focus on next week's opponent. We'll learn from this week and head on to next week's opponent.
On if he wished he had saved a challenge for play that resulted in Keller's turnover…
It was a very similar play to what happened with the Jerricho [Cotchery] one before. It was almost identical. I'm sure that would have been Green Bay's ball, anyway.
On if it's acceptable to have "a bad day at the office" during a 16-week season…
Yeah, pretty much. It's just that with this football team, you have to win the close ones. We've been doing that. We played a good football team. Obviously, Green Bay is one of the top teams in the NFC, but they're playing at our place, and we have to win these games. I don't care who we play - if you play at our place, we should win. That was disappointing. I thought our fans gave a great effort. They left a little early, but that was our fault, not theirs.
On penalties …
I was pretty upset. I'll have to look at the film closely to see why it wasn't more balanced and why it was one-sided. We had a second-and-two situation and our center gets called for holding on a toss, and he was. He was holding. We have to be smart. Nick [Mangold]'s a great player. We don't need to hold. That dude's not going to make the tackle. We only needed two yards. That was a huge play in the game. Little things like that…you know, a false start. It was bothersome, to say the least.
On if a non-conference loss softens the blow…
I don't feel like it's a soft blow right now. I wish we could play it again, but there are no do-overs in this league.
On if there were any injuries …
Not that I'm aware of.
On the Jets running game …
It was ineffective. Like I said, you have to give them credit. They stopped us. I would have liked to have seen our balance be a little more run than pass, but we were in a situation where we were playing from behind a lot.
QB MARK SANCHEZ
On if he was disappointed with the game's outcome…
It's disappointing for everyone across the board, except for the defense of course. I think our defense did a really good job today. It was a great effort. They held them to nine points and we need to help them out on offense. That starts with the quarterback. I can't give them picks like that. I was happy with the decisions but the throws have to be better. It was a poor performance by myself and it's tough to get an offense going when your quarterback isn't playing well.
On slow first-half start…
I think some passes got away from me. The good thing was that I was making the right decisions with the ball. I just wasn't putting it in the right spot and I have to help the receivers out. When I'm not playing well, it's really hard for Schotty [Brian Schottenheimer] to make the right calls. It's hard to get the running game going when we're not getting completions and we left a lot of completions out there today. It's just a poor job on my part.
On if he thought WR Santonio Holmes' dropped ball would have been a touchdown…
I think so. I just have to get the ball up a foot, a foot and a half, and it's an easy catch for him and he's gone. It's a bad job by me.
On poor first-half accuracy…
It's tough to pinpoint. I'm going to go back and look at the film. I felt good in the pocket. I thought our offensive line did a good job and gave me plenty of time. Sometimes you just have days like this. When we're playing poorly like that and their defense really gets after it and takes two picks that makes it hard on us. I just have to get better. Whatever it is, I have to identify it and get better.
On if the wind contributed to his performance…
There's no excuse for the wind. I was throwing the ball well in pregame and it was windy in pregame. The wind was not a factor in my opinion.
On interception by Packers CB Charles Woodson…
I think he made a really good play. It was a pretty good hustle play and he finished the play really well. If I could have it back, I'd try to just put it another six inches inside and maybe Dustin [Keller] catches it even easier. He just made a good veteran play.
On if he felt the loss was just a bump in the road or a step backward…
With the kind of players we have and the coaching, this is definitely just a bump in the road. It something we'll be able to battle back from. It's too bad because we got a great turnout from our fans. We came back fresh and ready to go. Rex [Ryan] gave us a long bye week. We got a chance to get home and see our families and we come back and have a poor performance on offense. There's no excuse for it, but we know we can get better and the mistakes out there were physical today, not mental. Guys were running the right routes. I was throwing the ball to the right guy. I just need to be more accurate. We can correct physical mistakes and that's a good thing.
On being comfortable in the pocket…
I felt good in the pocket, standing in there. I knew they had a great edge pass rush. I thought our offensive tackles did a great job of pushing them and letting them run by me, and getting me a chance to step up in the pocket and see plays down the field late. Hitting J-Co [Jerricho Cotchery] down the middle a couple of times, I felt solid in there. I just couldn't hit anything in the first half. There's no excuse for it but it just needs to get better. That's something I'll work on this week.
On playing against Don Capers' defense…
They did a great job of mixing up their calls. We had opportunities but we just didn't execute. We caught them on the zone blitz with [Packers linebacker A.J.] Hawk running down the middle with Jerricho. That's the deep one we hit. Then, we're rolling. That's almost a 50-plus yard completion. On plays like that, we just have to capitalize. We had drives going, and then I throw a pick on two different drives. That just can't happen. That's where his defense will really get you. It wasn't that we were confused, we just shot ourselves in the foot at some times and two of those big ones were my fault.
On attempting to convert the third-down pass to Cotchery…
I think that if I was smarter, I would have run it on the third down myself. Just get up in the pocket to get a few yards back, so that it's fourth-and-manageable so that it's not fourth-and-10 or fourth-and-11. It's one of those plays that if I could have done it all over again, I would have tried to find somebody else underneath or try and run it myself.
On his frustration with dropped passes…
I just need to be better with my accuracy. With every dropped ball today, I think there were twice as many poor throws on my part. Nobody's pointing fingers. We have a great group of receivers and it's my job to get them the ball. I just need to get better.
On the loss being motivation to come out better next week…
I think for every guy, when you don't play your best game, win or lose, you're not going to try and do anything extra special or change up your routine. You'll just get back to work because you know how to play. That's my plan. I know everyone in there, especially on offense, we looked at each other and said that we didn't have our best day. We'll come back and have a real good one next week and that's it.
On what head coach Rex Ryan said to the team after the game…
I think he was disappointed because he knows the effort is there. He knows our effort is always there, we just didn't finish plays. It's hard on him when the offense is playing so poorly, the defense is keeping us in the game and at the end, we have to win that game. In some way, shape or form, we have to win that game. I can't throw up balls. I can't be 15-for-whatever I was. It was a terrible line for a quarterback. I have to be more accurate. I think that's why Coach is angry. He knows that we have good players in the right positions. The coaches worked all week to get us in the right positions and we were there or either I didn't make the throw or I threw it to the other team. So that's not good.
On remembering the last time he was shutout as a quarterback…
No, I can't. I cannot. It's not a good thing, though. We need to get back on track and we will.
On the bye week affecting the outcome of today's game…
Not the way we practiced all week. Even on Monday when we came back, we looked at the film and thought that we were doing really well for a Monday after a bye week. Usually guys are jet-lagged, or tired, and their legs are dead. But guys were flying around, we could have practiced twice as long on Monday. All week long, guys were fresh and excited to get back on the field. The effort was there, it was just poor execution so I don't think it had anything to do with the bye week.
LB DAVID HARRIS
On forcing Aaron Rodgers into one of his worst games…
We muffled the pocket a little bit. The secondary did a heck of a job covering up their wide receivers. They have some great talent on that side of the ball and we pretty much did what we were supposed to do.
On if the defense is close to where it was last year…
We still have a long way to go. We played better today, but we still have a long way to go.
On where the defense can improve…
We didn't have to let them get in field goal range a couple of times, but you just try to keep them to as few points as possible.
On doing so well on third down compared to previous games…
We just played better technique. We didn't really do anything different this week than we did in the other games. We just competed more and played better technique.
On the impact of Darrelle Revis being 100 percent…
That had a huge impact. We all know what type of player Revis is when he's healthy and he went out there and showed it today.
LB BART SCOTT
On if this is the closest this defense has come to resembling last year's defense so far…
I don't know. I have to look at the film. We always can be better. You don't want to let them get in field goal range, but it happens. They had the favorable field position and it's football out there. Early in the year, in certain games, it was happening for other teams and they had to respond. Whenever you're put in adverse situations, you deal with it.
On the different looks the defense showed Aaron Rodgers…
We just played coverage. We mixed it up, brought simulated pressure. We mixed our personnel groups up and we just tried to make plays. I think the guys did a good job, but it wasn't good enough to get the win. All the credit goes to that team. They made enough plays to win, and you just move on.
On what the defense improved on…
Getting them off the field on third down, we improved on. That's something we hang our hats on, we want to continue. You don't like to give up the long run there, but you want to be consistent. Third down, you respect the pass. They caught one on us, but even when we're in a light box, we still have to make the plays.
CB DARRELLE REVIS
On if this is as close as the defense has been to last season's…
I don't think we're trying to compete against what happened last year. I think we've got a great group of guys here and we just want to play great football, great defense. That's what the coaches preach here.
On how they were so successful in shutting down Aaron Rodgers…
We just changed some things. Our defensive schemes are very complex and we wanted to throw a couple of things at him. Dwight Lowry got a sack in the game, so we just wanted to bring pressure in different ways, try to make him move.
On if he feels completely healthy physically…
I felt great. I told you earlier in the week I was 100 percent and I felt good. I'm out here playing and I'm covering guys and I'm just trying to get back into my form of great football.
On if his coverage ability allowed the team to get pressure on Rodgers…
I'm not going to make this an individual thing because we've got some great guys on defense. I'm just one piece of the puzzle and I'm just trying to do my job.
On if the defense has to carry the offense like it did last season…
It can take you back, but our offense has been doing a great job this year. It was an up-and-down game, a lot of things going wrong, and the momentum wasn't there for us today.
On if the time off caused the team to be rusty…
I think Rex [Ryan] did great, letting guys get away for the whole week to just clear their minds and come back fresh. I don't think this has anything to do with us getting the week off. We practiced well the whole week. Everybody felt good. Everybody is healthy. We just let one slip by.
RB LaDAINIAN TOMLINSON
On how frustrating the loss is…
Mama said there'd always be days like this. We don't like to have those days, but sometimes it's going to happen. This is definitely embarrassing, not to put any points on the scoreboard. The credit goes to them. They were well-prepared. They did their job in getting us off the field, and we couldn't score.
On joining Walter Payton as only the second player to rush for 13,000 rushing yards and 4,000 passing yards…
It's a great honor for me. The late, great, Walter Payton, he was my favorite player of all-time, the reason I wanted to play the position. It's an honor to do what he did. To be considered in that class, to do the rushing and receiving, to join him, it's special. It really is. I grew up watching him as a younger kid before he retired. There was no better person or player that I can say I am right there alongside with him.
On not having scored a touchdown in their two losses…
It is alarming, but at the same time, we can look at ourselves and say a lot of times, it's what we didn't do. Today was that case. We just killed ourselves with self-inflicted wounds, had a couple turnovers that are not like us. It definitely wasn't our best performance.
WR JERRICHO COTCHERY
On the turnovers in the game…
My understanding of the rule is when both guys have the ball and hit the ground the ball goes to the offense. I had the ball in my hand once we hit the ground and I relaxed. I thought the ref saw, then he ended up ripping it out at the last second and it ended it up being a turnover. I don't know how it looked in the replay booth but they got this one.
On struggling as a unit…
I only can speak for myself. I had opportunities to make plays and didn't do so. They did a great job playing the ball and when that is in the air, you've got to snag it out of the air fast from one of those guys on the defense.
On the hit that knocked out the ball…
What happened was when I went up and caught the ball and brought it in, he put his helmet right on the ball and plucked it right out. I said to myself, "You have to be kidding me." Play after play they did a great job playing the ball.
On being a frustrating game…
It really was. I don't ever want to play on Halloween again, I can tell you that much. This is a very frustrating game for me because I had some plays that could have been made and that's the frustrating part about it; but we've got to move on. We've got a long season ahead.
TE DUSTIN KELLER
On the play where a pass he thought he caught was ruled an interception…
It's one of those things where, in the course of my mind, I thought I was down, but they made the call. The ball went the other way and nothing you can do about it now, learn from the mistake. It shouldn't have really been in a position, for it to come loose like that. I just have to make that correction.
On his emotions after the loss…
Definitely frustrated, especially when the defense played as well as they did against a powerful offense that can put big points on the board. On offense, we didn't play our type of ball today. We have to get back to our type of football.
On the coverage against him during the game…
They kind of changed things up. It was hard to get a real tell on what they were doing. They kept on switching things up, but we have to be able to read that. When we're manned-up, beat the man and find the open spots in the zone.
P STEVE WEATHERFORD
On the fake punt…
It would have been a good decision had it been fourth-and-nine, but that's my fault. I made the decision to try to make the play, but it didn't work out for the team. We're a team that's willing to go out there and lay it on the line, but it just didn't work out today.
On if he has the authority to make the decision whether to fake the punt or not…
It's a situation where I don't have the green light, but if I do it, he's not going to be mad if I get it. It has worked out in the past. It worked out in Oakland, it worked out in Miami. Today, it didn't. It could have been a huge swing for us in the game, but obviously we came up about a half-yard short.
On if he was aware of how far he had to run for the first down…
Yeah, at the time, I knew it was third-and-nine when I went out there. I didn't see exactly how many yards we lost on the sack. Once I get out of the pocket, I feel like if it's 12, 15 yards, I think I can make it. Like I said, I came up about a half-yard short.
On if the coaches told him to play it safe since it was fourth-and-18…
No, it's nothing like that at all. I watch film all week for formations that I feel would be good for that particular play. They had given me that look on the first punt of the game, they gave it to me again on the third. I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to get a big swing in the game. I came up a little bit short.
On what special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff said to him after the play…
He was disappointed we didn't get it, obviously, but he's never going to fault you for trying. He's a legendary special teams coach and he's taken risks in his career too. Nine times out of ten for him they work out, but every once in a while, you're going to come up short.
