Selected quotes from the Jets' and Browns' locker rooms in FirstEnergy Stadium following the Jets' first road win of the season by 17-14 in Cleveland this afternoon:
Head coach Todd Bowles on what the Jets have accomplished by beating the Browns and improving to 3-2...
"We haven't done anything. We've won three games, three out of five, and we've still got 11 to play. It's good to string together wins, no matter how pretty or how ugly ... but we've just got to keep getting better every week. By no means are we perfect."
Bowles on the 97-yard touchdown drive that enabled the Jets to open a 17-7 lead...
"It was big. We needed it. We were struggling. It was almost like pulling teeth the whole game. They had a good scheme, and they made some good plays to stop our running game. For us as a team to go 97 yards when it counted showed a lot of determination."
QB Josh McCown on the Jets fighting to win this game despite not playing their best...
"We didn't play well enough consistently the whole game, but that's the NFL. If you don't play your best when your best is needed, you lose games. ... This was a credit to our character, the coaches' character, our group. We've got to play well when we need to. When we do that, that's when I think the tide will turn."
LB Demario Davis on Coach Bowles saying he came back from his one year in Cleveland more grown up...
"Most definitely. I just give all honor to God. I've always described last year as a one-year sabbatical. God took me to the wilderness, he grew me up as a player, he grew me up as a person, he grew me up on a personal level so I could relate to the guys on this team. It's been perfect for me to come into this locker room and be able to lead a team like this."
CB Morris Claiborne likening today's game to a boxing match...
"We went out and we fought. We knew this team wasn't going to lay down for us. We were going to throw punches, they were going to throw punches back. In the end, we threw the most punches and we landed the most."
S Rontez Miles on how it feels to be 3-2 and continue to confound the "experts"...
"It's an awesome feeling. As long as we believe. The critics can have their own thought process but we're the ones that have to play the game."
Rookie RB Elijah McGuire on serving as the Jets' featured back after Bilal Powell left with an injury at halftime...
"The guys in the huddle, they see me in the game, they're fist-bumping, 'Hey, let's go, Eli, we're going to make a hole for you, just run hard and do what you do.' Just to get words like that from those guys means a lot to a young guy in this league."
K Chandler Catanzaro on hitting a franchise-record 57-yard field goal to end the first half..."Everyone protected me really well. You have to have that kind of protection for a 57-yarder. You have to have all of those factors come in, so it was a team effort. And that record is all of ours, not just one person."
Cleveland coach Hue Jackson on if benching DeShone Kizer after the first half "opens Pandora's box" at his QB position...
"I'm going to go watch the tape. I'm not going to say it opens Pandora's box. Let's watch the tape and see where we are, but we weren't functioning as well as I thought we could on offense. I thought Kevin [Hogan] came in and did some good things. It's unfortunate the one ball that went up got tipped. Demario [Davis] ran through the back door. We missed the block back there. That ball should have been a huge completion for us, but it wasn't. New York made plays, we didn't. That's what happens."
Jackson on what McCown, the Browns QB last season, said to him after the game..."I will just keep that between me and him. Josh obviously is a good player and I have a lot of respect for him. He is outstanding as a person so I really appreciated his message. We will keep that between me and him."
Kizer, the Browns' first-round rookie, on his fifth loss as a pro starter...
"This is all new to me. Being 0-5 is new to me. Being in the NFL is new to me. I just am trying to do whatever I can to continue to represent my team and my organization the best way I possibly can and continue to work as hard as I possibly can to become a better player to experience some success in this league. This organization and this city deserve wins. It is on me as the quarterback of this team to do whatever I can to help us get some wins."
