Transcripts of selected news conferences and interviews in the Jets locker room following their 28-14 victory over the Patriots at New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday night:
**HEAD COACH REX RYAN
First off, I'll say this fit's much nicer coming in here after a win that it was last week. This is how it was supposed to be after last week. This was a huge game for us. The thing I'm most proud of is that it took every last man in our locker room to get it done for us today. We talked about how it's not about one player or this player or that player — it's about the team. That was so evident today. When Darrelle [Revis] went down with the pulled hamstring on the touchdown to Randy Moss, our guys found a way. I was telling everybody it is about the decal, and I'm proud of our football team. Nick Mangold was out on one of our touchdown drives, and Rob Turner was in. We had every defensive back known to man out there contributing, and it was just such a team effort. That's what I'm most proud of.
On Mark Sanchez responding to Monday night's loss…
He did respond, there's no doubt about it. I give a lot of credit to Brian Schottenheimer and his coaches. They came up with a great game plan. I thought the protection was great. We were able to run the football and we did a nice job in protection. When we do that, this young man has all the talent in the world to make all the throws. I think he found Dustin Keller a few times today as well [smiles].
On if the injury to Revis is the same hamstring he injured earlier this week…
I believe that's right, but I'm not 100 percent. I think I was in tears when they told me he pulled a hamstring.
On Sanchez responding to criticism of last week…
I thought he played great. There's no question that you're going to get some criticism here, but we never stopped believing in him. We know this is the guy that's going to do it for us. We've been saying it all training camp, and tonight we saw it. He was on the money with almost every throw. I think the ex-Cleveland connection really did a tremendous job in Braylon Edwards and Brodney Pool. It was good to see him out there with the D-backs, and those guys came up big for us as well. I have to tip my hat to the D-line. It's tough when you're no-huddle the entire game. Jason [Taylor] goes out with an elbow, comes back and gets a strip sack and hurts his elbow again. We hope he'll be all right. We got great contributions from a lot of guys.
On the Jets making in-game adjustments…
Not much. As far as you know, there weren't a whole lot of adjustments going on, but that's not true. There were a few, there's no question about it. Mike Pettine and company did a great job and had to make some adjustments on the fly. The touchdown to Moss right at the end was really upsetting. Moss is a great player and so is Brady. It's not a good thing when you're playing two different coverages. Anytime that happens, that's trouble, and those guys made us pay. I don't care what the coverage is, that was a great throw and a great catch.
On the first half being similar to the first half of Monday night's game…
I disagree. I thought we were able to move the football in the first half, and that's a huge difference. Granted, we only had three plays in the first quarter, but I disagree. I thought we played well throughout the game offensively.
On the injury to Revis…
I'm not sure. We just have to play. We will find out tomorrow. Hamstring injuries are tough to come back from. I just hope that it's not that bad.
On what he told the team at halftime…
I told them that we were going to play defense.
On what he learned from today's team performance…
I didn't learn a whole lot. I think a lot of other people learned that we are a lot tougher than they think. We have a lot of resolve. We found a way to get it done. We won't make excuses. We just go out and try to compete.
On Sanchez's confidence level after the Baltimore game…
This guy is more confident than I am, which is saying something. You have to have wide shoulders, especially in this media market. We have the right guy to pull the trigger for us.
On if this was the best game of Sanchez's career…
No, I think that was against Penn State. But other than that, today was pretty darn good. He had a 124.3 quarterback rating. That was pretty impressive. We held Tom Brady to a 72.5 quarterback rating, which is bad for Brady.
On updates on the Jets' injuries…
I don't have any. We just got off the field. I'm not sure of any of the injury situations. I know we had a few. Brad Smith had the jaw. He took an elbow to the chin. There was a hamstring, some different things. I know Nick [Mangold] had a shoulder thing. I'm not aware of the extent of any of the injuries.
On the Jets defensive adjustments…
We mixed some different calls in there to get us some protection in the middle of the field. We blitzed some guys and made some simulated pressure. I thought our guys did a great job of executing.
On the play of RB LaDainian Tomlinson…
I thought he was washed up. He only averaged like seven yards a carry today. Maybe we ought to give it to him more, I don't know. He had 76 yards on 11 carries, so we got a really unbelievable day by LT. You did see that spirit. It shows up at practice and we all see it. That's a great thing. I thought Shonn Greene ran the ball well, too. We're back to being who we think we are.
On the play of Poole…
When Eric Smith went down, we put Brodney back there. We had a lot of guys getting nicked here or there. Eric was able to come back, but we mainly played Brodney in the second half.
On the play of Jets CB Antonio Cromartie…
He did a terrific job [joking]. You look at him and you think it's not such a good matchup with Randy Moss there, but he did a terrific job [smiling]. I know there was one play where they threw it up there looking for a completion or a pass interference call, and he ends up intercepting it. He makes a great play on Brodney's interception where he's able to tie up Moss after the ball got batted in the air. He really did a great job.
On the play of Edwards…
He made a spectacular catch. Everybody knows where he's at on the field. There's no secret that the big wideout over there is a threat, just like Randy Moss is a threat. You certainly know where he is. We were able to get him the ball despite their coverage.
QB MARK SANCHEZ
On fighting through the criticisms after losing to the Ravens…
We didn't pay much attention to any of the criticism. This team has some great leaders and a lot of experience to lean on. I think it really showed today because we worked so hard all week. We knew that last week we lost a game to a good football team because they played hard and we had too many mistakes. You can't win like that. We cleaned up a lot of them, but there are still more to clean up. It was a total team effort today. Offense, defense and special teams looked great today.
On how good it feels to rebound and win…
It didn't even feel like a rebound. It just felt like we played smarter. We knew that if we took away some of those penalties from the week before, we would have been happy after last week's game, too, with a win. This is just the beginning. It's a long season. It's just tough when you lose that first game. It feels like you're 0-10. It was nice that it was a short week, and we got to play as soon as possible. This game couldn't come soon enough.
On how practice went leading up to this game…
I think we all fell into the trap last week of having an extra day to prepare and having the whole off-season to prepare. We wanted to call the exact right play for the exact right look and the exact right personnel and the right down and the right distance. We were trying so hard and we were almost over thinking stuff. When everyone heard, "All right, let's just go out and play, have answers in our plays and not try to kill everything and check everything," we saw what could happen when we play fast, when we know what we're doing and let guys react to the defense. That's what we did today. Coach Schottenheimer did an awesome job. It was exactly the way you want it. It's how he makes the calls, just smooth, the timing of the calls and knowing when we're taking a shot, having Cav [quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh] talk to me about the coverages and then having Schotty come over and tell me what he's thinking. It's just perfect execution all the way across the board, including the guys up in the booth. It was great.
On the play of the receivers…
Both Dustin [Keller] and Braylon [Edwards], you can't find those guys without having somebody occupying Jerricho [Cotchery] because he runs such good routes, such good, crisp routes. He had a couple catches and a touchdown. Dustin had a heck of a game and there are still a couple ones that I want back to him because we weren't on the same page, believe it or not. We looked good for a while and then we missed a couple that could have kept us on the field. We'll work those and keep playing, but we've got to keep feeding those guys.
On trying to dissect the Patriots' secondary…
We knew that with great protection up front we could give ourselves a chance. We had playmakers on the perimeter with Braylon, Jerricho, Dustin and LT [LaDainian Tomlinson] as well. When they play us in coverage, giving LT the ball is not a failure as a play. It always gives us a chance.
On how getting their first win helps the team's confidence…
This is exactly the way we know how to play. The way I knew I can play. It was great seeing LT playing inspired football, playing so well. He's a guy I can lean on. It was just coming out this week and being myself and having fun. I told guys after the first game to smile and have a little fun, get animated. We're playing a kids game. We're grown men, but we're playing a kids game and to treat it like that. Be smart, but have fun.
On the difficult first quarter…
It was the fastest quarter of my life. It was weird. We didn't convert on the first down and it was important to pick everybody up and say, "Hey, we're fine. Don't worry about it. We're going to get this ball back." It seemed like a lifetime until we got the ball back and boom the first quarter was gone. That's the Patriots M.O. They can wear you down and keep your defense on the field a long time and expect you to go three-and-out or make a bad throw. Then they're back on the field wearing you down again. We tried not to fall into that trap and we did a great job avoiding that.
On the relief of his first quarter interception being challenged and overturned…
That was one Dustin and I might not have been on the same page on. I expected him to keep running and he was starting to slow down. I don't think he thought the ball was coming and I had to move out of the way of someone and let it go. It came up later than it did in practice and he wasn't quite ready for that. Either way, I told the guys there's nothing that can stop us from getting first downs. That's the way we've got to think. We got a penalty we came back and hit two passes in a row and boom we're right there at third and manageable. That's our attitude. If it's a penalty, a turnover, anything, let's eliminate them but if they happen — and they're inevitable — just don't stop.
On facing Patriots quarterback Tom Brady…
I respect Tom quite a bit. I think he's a phenomenal player, but I'm playing against the New England Patriots defense, not Tom Brady. I don't think about him when we're playing them. I just know he's a great player and that's it. I'll watch the highlights and see how well he does, but I think it was our day today.* *
On winning such an important game…
We just didn't want to make it bigger than it was. Rex had a great message for us when we got back on Tuesday. He didn't want to see anybody with their heads down, moping around, frowning. Just smile, have fun, be us. Get your work done, but have fun with it. That's the way we can play, if we're focused. Schotty's message to the offense was to focus and to take one play at a time. That's it. That's all we needed to do. It seems so simple, but as complicated as this game gets, that's how easy you have to make it. Just focus on one play at a time.
On the naked bootleg completion to TE Dustin Keller…
We talked about it all week. Schotty said that the most important thing is that if you know you can run it, then as you're starting to run, take a peek at Dustin, and if he's open, then take a shot. You know you can hit it. I don't think I threw it all week. I ran it every time. It was just one of those things. I knew where Dustin was going to be. I told him to sell the fake and I know I can run for it. Then Dustin was running wide-open naked down the field waiting for me to throw it to him.
On the importance of winning a divisional game going into the next week's game vs. Miami…
We know that a divisional opponent carries that much more weight. We wanted to treat it like an important divisional game. Just like every team wants to own their division, wants to win their division, that's the way we have to think. That's the way we need to play. I think we did that today and that just makes next week's match-up even bigger. We're going to have fun with this one tonight and then move on tomorrow.
On improving on the mistakes from last week…
Just from the first day back, we were flying around and guys really held each other accountable for those mistakes and when we did commit a penalty in practice, it was immediately back on the ball, re-run the play, re-rack it, is what the defense says. Boom. Start it over, let's get it right. Braylon, you're off the ball. Dustin, you have to motion this way. Waive the guy on. Check with the referee. Mark, you've got to see all of it. That was the coaching part and then we'd run the play again. We knew by Wednesday that this day couldn't come soon enough and that it was going to be a great day.
On the big hit he took from New England DE Gerard Warren…
Whoa. [laughter] He readjusted my back. That was terrible. He made a pretty good hit on me. That was a big boy. It was too bad.
On this outing being his best game…
I don't know. I'll have to look at the film. There were a ton of plays, and some things I missed. I missed J-Co down the middle right after I got that big hit. We have to make sure that nothing is affecting us on a bad play, a big hit, on an interception or whatever. It can't affect the next play. I think that's why I missed J-Co. But who's to say. It doesn't matter as long as we win. As long as we're taking care of the football, that's all that matters.
On being more confident than Rex Ryan…
I guess he was saying, well someone asked, I can't remember what they said, something like "Rex said he's concerned with the offense, are you concerned?" And I said no, we'll be fine. That's when I said that there's nothing wrong with being 15-1 and then it was on SportsCenter the next day. That's just our mentality and this is the first step. I had fun with it today. It was a great effort. This is what we deserve to have happen when we put in a great week like we did. We need to duplicate it and do it again next week.
On being in a groove similar to the 2009 playoffs…
I think so. Especially after mid-way second quarter and especially after hitting the field goal on the two-minute drill. Those are hidden points that you get. That field goal right into halftime, I mean, three points feels like nothing but being able to take us down the field. The play before the field goal, we have slants on. there's only 10 seconds left, Schotty said to be real smart. That if it's not there, just to throw it away. That's already what I was thinking so I'm so happy to be progressing that way, knowing that the ball is most important. Braylon is on the slant, OK, it's not there, just throw it away and give Nick Folk a chance. He goes in, kicks us for three, and we're into halftime on a high note. If we turn the ball over there, it's the worst, so that was great for us.
On what if feels like to be that comfortable as a quarterback…
It's a testament to our O-line, our coaches calling great plays, Rex having faith in us and knowing that you have a defense that no matter what happens, we can come back from anything. If we turn it over, the defense will get it right back. So that's huge.
On throwing down field more this week…
We had chances to do it in the Monday night game and we had penalties that killed those plays and negated them. I don't think we really got into a groove in the first game and today we did. We hit a couple of them. We checked it down when it wasn't there, even taking a sack is OK so long as we hang onto the ball. We can come back, first-and-20, second-and-20. It's OK. We'll come back and chip away at it. If anything, just reverse field position and pin them back deeper and get the ball back. But Schotty did an awesome job. Schotty, Cav [quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh], Bloom [assistant offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren], Lance [coaching intern Lance Taylor], Samson [coaching intern Samson Brown] — everybody did a great job.
On keeping the game ball…
I sure did. But we gave it to Woody. I kind of got trumped on that one.
On the importance of the two long drives…
Sustaining drives, that was huge for us. I think the coaches' point before the game was to focus one play at a time. No matter what. A big play, an incompletion, whatever it is — just focus on the next play. Get us into the third-and-manageable. The most important thing on the third down was to give our guys a chance to convert. Get a completion. I think we did a great job on that. Those drives are huge and they are tough on offensive linemen. Those aren't those big one-play scores, and they held up tough in there.
CB DARRELLE REVIS
On what adjustments he saw the Jets defense make…
I think we stuck to our same game plan. They just moved [Antonio Cromartie] onto Randy Moss and did a couple of other things.
On the play of Antonio Cromartie…
He did a great job. He stepped up. We have corners who can step in and he did a great job today.
On if his hamstring felt bad throughout the entire first half…
It felt good pregame and during the game. I was running around with Randy the whole time. It wasn't until he scored, that's when I pulled up a little bit.
On what part of the play he felt the tightness…
When I tried to open up and run. He kind of got in front of me and that's when I started feeling it.
On if he got in front of him because of the hamstring…
Yeah, you can say that. It's just a play that happened. You can't do anything when that happens. I tried to run as fast as I could. I tried to be there and I couldn't. It slowed me down a little bit. On top of that, he made a great catch.
On how long he thinks he will be out…
I have no idea. We are just going to go about it day-by-day. I'm just going to keep getting treatment and go from there.
On if it's classified as a mild or Grade 1 strain…
We don't know yet. I'm going to get an MRI tomorrow, do a couple of other things to check it out, and then go from there.
On if there is any treatment or if rest is the only thing to do…
Hamstring injuries are really about rest and treatment. But like I said, when I messed it up a little bit before in practice, we did all that we could do to get me ready for Sunday.
On if it's now a pull…
No, it's not a pull. It just tightened up a little bit more.
On if he's in pain now…
I'm a little sore, not a lot of pain.
On having to watch the second half…
The first thing on my mind was "I want to be out there." The second thing is "Stop Tom Brady and that offense." I was just crossing my fingers that we would stop those guys.
TE DUSTIN KELLER
On being on the same page with Sanchez…
It's huge. When me and Mark are clicking, it just seems like everybody is clicking. When I open up everything in the middle of the field and they have to close up and Braylon and Jerricho are open up on the outside. In a couple of more games we get Holmes back, so that will just be one more threat so we're excited where we're at right now.
On the feeling of the team having a target on their backs…
It doesn't matter if you have a target on your back or you don't. This is the NFL, you're going to get a guy best game every time. He doesn't care if you've been saying this or that, they're going to do everything in their power to beat you no matter what. So if you truly feel like you're the best, why don't you say it? Why don't you go up there and make those comments?
On the feeling in the clubhouse…
It's not just going up there and thinking it gives us some kind of edge by saying that we're the best, these guys truly believe that we're the best.
On Braylon Edwards' day…
Braylon had a big day. He caught the ball really well. He even had a one hander somewhere up there. He caught the ball really well and when Braylon is on, this offense is hard to stop. I feel like I kind of control the middle of the field, Braylon on the outside, Jerricho on the outside and then [LaDanian Tomlinson] and Shonn in the run game. When everyone is playing a good game, Mark just has so many options out there. Just pick your poison.
On his touchdown catch…
I have to talk to Coach Schotty about what the progression is, but I don't think I'm the first one. But I'm glad that it came my way.
On the difference between the first and second halves…
It's hard to mentally beat a New England team. They just seem so mentally tough. No matter what the score is, you never play like you have the game won until the buzzer goes off, until the game is over. Because they have Tom Brady back there and he can do anything at any moment.
On the defense he was up against…
Well they were playing a lot of cover two, split safety, with a linebacker on me, so I felt really good with that matchup, me running with a linebacker and Mark saw me and he made good throws there. Whatever they made adjustments to, we made adjustments to counteract them. We were always calling good plays. Schotty did a great job and Mark did a good job of putting the ball where it needed to be.
On how often they made adjustments…
Every single play. More times than not, this play is the best versus Cover-2, but if they do go to Cover-3, Mark you play the veer. It seemed like he was doing that all game.
On keeping the defense off-balance…
Schotty called a great game and Mark did a good job of going through his reads.
On Sanchez's leadership…
I think he's been doing a great job all season and even in the preseason as far a leadership, but this game he stepped it up a notch. He kept telling guys to focus, focus on the play at hand and that's what we were doing and guys did a great job. The next play didn't matter, it's the play we're running right now.
CB ANTONIO CROMARTIE
On the team's performance in the second half without Darrelle Revis…
We just came together at halftime. We found out that he wasn't going in the second half and we just wanted to come out and communicate and play the way we're capable of playing. We had to step up: "He's been out. Let's get our secondary set up."
On if Revis' absence matched him against Randy Moss the rest of the game…
That was the game plan pretty much the second half. The biggest thing was going in, focusing and trying to do my job the best way I can. The guys in the secondary and the defense picked me up and made sure I did the right things that I needed to do. We talked at halftime and we knew we needed to come and just play football.
On his interception…
There was two-man coverage and basically I played inside leverage. I figured he wasn't doing an out-route, so I manned him and just turned up for the ball. We got pressure on him and he just threw the ball up. I just tried to make a play on it.
LB DAVID HARRIS
On the team's mindset coming into this game following last week's loss…
It was a tough loss last week, but we know that it's a long season and we have to approach it that way. We knew that we had a big game today. The New England Patriots are our biggest rival and it showed. We played great on both sides of the ball and came out with a victory.
On playing so well despite the injuries…
We have to have a lot of depth on this team. The guys on the back end do a heck of a job every day in practice. When [Darrelle] Revis went down, we didn't panic because we knew the type of guys we have in the back. We just continued to play our style of defense and prevailed.
On if the play of Mark Sanchez inspired confidence in the whole team…
Sanchez showed a lot of leadership today. I think he played one of his better games since he came into the league and the offense was rolling. They helped out the defense a lot. Anytime they put 28 points on the board for a defense, it makes our job that much easier.
On if he feels like the defense can play with anybody…
Oh yeah, no doubt. We have great people in that locker room, great coaches. We try to go out there and be the best every time we touch the field.
On what the coaches said when Darrelle Revis was out for the rest of the game…We knew everybody had to step up that much more. That touchdown that we gave up, I take responsibility for it. I got the call in really late and the coverage wasn't set, so I take responsibility for that. It turned out it didn't bite us in the butt at the end.
On if Randy Moss' touchdown was a wakeup call…
We just knew that we had to play our game. On their first drive, we let the drive continue on a personal foul. We knew that we just had to play sound football and get back to the way we know how to play, and it worked.
On if they added anything new for this game…
No, same mindset; same plays. We just knew that they were an explosive offense. They have some players over there, [Wes] Welker in the slot and the big tight end [Aaron Hernandez] today. He played his butt off, but we played good as a team and it helped us win.
On the satisfaction of beating a division rival…
It always feels good to win, especially against a division rival. Everybody knew it was a big game and it feels good.
On the mixup of coverages on Randy Moss' touchdown…
They went no-huddle on us and the call came in late. I gave it out really late and it hurt us. One side of the defense was playing one coverage, the other side another. We ended up giving up seven points.
CB KYLE WILSON
On being a part of his first win in the NFL…
It feels great. It was definitely a great experience. We couldn't have played a better team right now. It just showed how much we worked all week, kept our focus. Then we went out there and got the win.
On what it was like covering Wes Welker…
He's a tough guy. The big thing was just patience and just competing. He's pretty good.
On how it helps the defense when the offense has a performance like they did today…
Anytime that happens, we start feeding off each other. It definitely was a collective effort from everybody.
On what the defense did differently against Tom Brady in the second half…
We just gave him different techniques, different looks. We didn't want to sit back in the same defense. They made adjustments, we made adjustments, as well. Maybe it confused him, maybe it didn't, but it was definitely a good outcome.
C NICK MANGOLD
On how his injury happened…
I don't know. It was a football play and then there was pain. That's the same thing I told the doctor. You can ask him [joking].
On the offense's improvement today…
I think it was great. I think we were rolling on most of our cylinders. There were a couple of plays we would've liked to have back. Our third down we were much better. We executed a lot better and I think that obviously showed.
On how important a win was with Miami coming up next week…
It was important. Division games are huge, especially in the second home game, getting the stadium kicked off. We started off on the wrong foot, but we were able to fix it a little bit. We had a great time out there today.
On Mark Sanchez's ability to keep the play going today…
He's great at that. He's great at moving around. He has good quickness about him to keep his eyes down field, feel the pressure and move around. It's a great thing to have him as our quarterback.
