Transcripts of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's news conference and selected player interviews following the 9-3 victory over the Panthers:
HEAD COACH REX RYAN
It's always good to get a win, no matter how ugly it looked. I told John Fox it looked like a pillow fight out there with both offenses struggling a bit. You're going to have days like that. There are going to be games when the defense is going to have to pick up the offense, special teams is going to have to pick up the offense and all of that. You saw that today. Maybe next week, the offense will have to pick up the defense.
I really liked the way the second group responded to the challenge we gave them. We were trying to make plays instead of doing just the opposite, waiting for someone else to make them. Our guys were competing and challenging and making plays out there. So that was great to see. I love the effort of Chauncey Washington. Here's a guy, we challenged the whole room that somebody is going to make it. Somebody has that [small of a] chance to make a football team, and then they make it for 10 years. So you never know. That guy came down there, and that's about as good a lick as I've seen in a long time on special teams. Great hit. I liked the way he ran the football. He packed it in there pretty good.
There were a lot of positive things. Obviously, our offense, we got it handed it to us today pretty good by a defense, but I know we can play better than that. The execution wasn't very good. You're not going to win too many games that way, but we won this one.
On K Nick Folk looking like a "keeper"...
Yes, that's what we've been saying. I know we never believed it at that first minicamp. When we started at training camp the guy has been doing great. No surprise, he's been nailing the ball.
On what he felt was wrong with the Jets' offense...
The pass protection looked out of sync. We had a couple of guys get beat clean. It wasn't pretty, that's for sure. It looked like we were a little off. Had a ball that if we had thrown in front of Santonio Holmes, he may have taken it to the house. The ball was behind him. We looked sloppy today.
On the offensive line's performance...
A lot of times when you have the offensive line in protection, and if the protection is sloppy, you're going to look sloppy at that position.
On switching up his personnel late in the game...
I'm trying to win. We wanted to get fresh rushers. We had a couple of guys in there, free runners, and a couple of guys who never really knew the defense kind of limited us on calls. At the end of the game, I'd just as soon win the game. So I put the 2-sub team back out there and was going with the three-man rush to see if we could get a little heat on the quarterback with just three. That's what we did.
On Vernon Gholston's performance...
Vernon did great. You saw a couple hustle plays he made. He had a couple of good rushes. One kind of looked like holding. I'm not criticizing the officials. That'll be the next thing. I thought he did a lot of good things, and that's what we've been seeing, so no surprises.
On Kris Jenkins' play...
It's great to get that presence in the middle. He's obviously a monster in there. It's great to have him. Give the other team credit. They did a good job to get some good rushers in there and put a lot of pressure on us.
On the first offense's performance...
We never game-plan anybody in the preseason. When you break camp there are short weeks, and even though that [Giants] game was pretty emotional and we were up, the offense played well the first week. And sometimes there are some letdowns, but you can't let it happen. You've got to step up, and obviously I was hoping for a better performance. But games are going to happen like this. I was proud of the way our special teams and our defense picked it up.
QB MARK SANCHEZ
On the Jets' offense...
We didn't quite get into a rhythm like we wanted to. I think we put ourselves in third-and-longs a couple of times. It makes it easy for teams, especially in the preseason, to drop eight in the red zone or just play split safeties and make you throw underneath. That's what we did. I'm happy I didn't force anything down the field. At the same time we need to be better on first downs.
On the game...
We didn't get the chance to game-plan for the team like we will next week a little bit. We'll be in a better rhythm and expect certain plays coming in. We'll know what they are doing or we'll have a better idea at least than tonight. It was such a quick turnaround from last game. We don't accept a performance like this but at the same time you can kind of see why we didn't play our very best.
On the Panthers' defense...
Early on the first pass we got a little pressure. That kind of stuff happens. They have a good defensive line. They did well rushing the quarterback last week and they had a couple of plays tonight where they did well with that. We just need to put ourselves in better situations and when we get opportunities in the red zone we have to score touchdowns.
On the short passing game...
It just wasn't a smooth night. When we had to throw it down the field, they just played such a deep zone, making sure we didn't get anything past the sticks, and they did a good job of it. They were smart getting ahead of the count, ahead of the sticks. It wasn't our best night, nothing alarming. We'll come back and do well Friday night.
On the Panthers' turnovers giving the Jets good field position...
When you get chances like that, those are gifts and you have to take advantage. I'm glad we got field goals. I think last year I would have tried to force something downfield, especially in the red zone. It's a good thing. There are positives to take from the game. LT [LaDainian Tomlinson] ran the ball really well. That was nice. We have to capitalize on those. We'll clean that up.
RB LaDAINIAN TOMLINSON
On the game's low score...
You'll have games like that. You can't always light up the scoreboard. These guys get paid. They played good defense. You move on, look at film and try to get better and try to put up a better performance offensively next week.
On the offense's timing seeming to be off...
It's stuff we have to work on. That stuff takes time. We didn't get a chance to practice that as much as we would like. It's preseason. It's something that we try to work out and throw in at the last minute. We'll get better at it.
On his performance...
I feel good. I've told you guys all along, when I'm healthy, I can perform at a high level. I'm enjoying it and having fun playing with these guys. I've always enjoyed preseason. When my guys are out there, I want to be out there with them. Unfortunately the last few years Coach just wouldn't let me play. Now I'm getting an opportunity to play. I think it helps when the season starts because you're able to hit the ground running.
NT KRIS JENKINS
On returning to Charlotte for the first time in three seasons...
It was emotional. I had a lot of fun. It was really up and down. I had some enjoyable moments … some angry moments … some enraged moments. I've never experienced anything like that. You can be playing for one organization, and the next month you are with somebody else. This is the first time that I did come back. I have a lot of history here. I love the place as a city, I'm still trying to move back here so I can be close to all of my kids. I still have responsibilities to take care of, so I look forward to coming back. It's a beautiful place, you can't deny that. I do love where I am currently. I enjoy playing for the Jets, and I hope to have a great future with them.
On the crowd's reaction to his return...
It makes you feel good to get a reaction. There's a lot of mixed emotions. Some people told me they missed me. Some people told me they wish I was back. Some people told me they hate my guts. Some people got a little bit more verbally ignited, but that's what comes with it. I had an open mind as far as that experience because I sort of expected that to happen.
But what was a good moment for me was when they were honoring a lot of the guys that had played here in the past, like Moose, like Mike Minter, T.J. Washington. It was just really good to see a lot of guys that I played with.
On playing for Rex Ryan...
It's been great. He's a great coach, and you have to understand that. The type of personality that he has isn't abrasive for me. He allows us to be men.
